Balance: a Skin Hydrating and Cleansing Scented Oil

packaged in frosted glass bottles, sealed with beeswax, available in three sizes.  For soap-free skin cleansing, massage, hair and beard oil, cuticles, dry skin, etcetera.

Over 2,000 years ago,  the Romans cleaned their skin with lavender-scented olive oil and a curved metal instrument, a strigil, which was used to scrape the grime off their bodies. The entire ritual was a little more involved, including sweaty exercising and three temperatures of bath to move through, not unlike a sauna.  Pretty simple, otherwise. And very public, as the Baths were common meeting places for business and relaxation.. 

And yet, as ancient as the practice is, using oils pressed from seeds, nuts and herbaceous plants has become a modern fad either embraced or pooh poohed today.

I have been studying the idea for several years, and have created a number of scented oils that would tempt even our Roman ancestors! Jojoba oil, for example, has a make-up so similar to our skin's oil, or sebum, that our body can't tell the difference. In Balance, the Rose Bourbon oil balances with sebum and is excellent in healing burns, wounds, discolorations and ulcers. Ylangylang diminishes scarring, soothes irritations and inflammation. So Balance is a lot more than just a way to clean your skin! 

What is skin anyway??

Our skin is made up of several layers  Just beneath the epidermis which we commonly call skin, lies the thickest layer,  the dermis, "within (which) ... are nerves, blood vessels, sweat glands, oil glands, and hair follicles, though it primarily consists of collagen, a protein that gives the skin strength and contributes to its flexibility." *(All About Skin). 

"Within the dermis are the sebaceous glands or oil glands. .... These glands produce sebum, an oily fluid that lubricates the skin. Sebum also breaks sweat into many fine droplets to prevent dehydration. If the glands malfunction or are overactive, they can produce too much sebum. ...(and) the oil can lead to pores becoming clogged and dead skin cells accumulating on the skin’s surface."*(All About Skin). 

The basic idea is that the skin hydrating plant oils, which closely match the sebum in our skin, help soften skin excretions which are then removed by exfoliation and hot water. Instead of a strigil, a modern washcloth does the trick.

While this is primarily a regimen for the face, it is possible to use it on other parts of the body where the skin is suffering from clogging pimples, blotchiness, sloughing skin, flaky, itchy skin or eruptions.

No soap is necessary every time you wash.  In fact, some argue that the use of soap dries out the skin, blocking our skin oils from doing their job.  (Clearly, there are body places that need to be washed with good, natural soap and clean water, and I encourage that activity!!  I do make soap, after all!)

The Aromatherapy piece of this:

Rose geranium and Ylangylang share calming, relaxing & soothing properties. 

Ylangylang ties the body to emotions and beliefs, helping to bring balance to unsettled thoughts and feelings.  It can assuage depression, grief and anger or, when emotions are settled, encourage amour.  Ylangylang has been used as an aphrodisiac for centuries.

Rose geranium encourages stability in your emotional life by helping you release troubling feelings.  It reduces stress and promotes a sense of peace deep into the core of your being.

We capture the synergy of these two essential oils with healing skin oils and, together, they offer balance to the heart, mind & body.

Not ready for a cleansing ritual?  How about...

Herb Garden Naturals is: 

solar powered

plant based

hand crafted

organic and sustainable

What's in it? sunflower oil, cherry kernel oil, hemp seed oil, jojoba, rose geranium essential oil and ylangylang essential oil.

INCI Ingredients: Helianthus anuus (sunflower) oil, Prunus avium (cherry kernel) oil, Cannabis sativa (hemp) seed oil, Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba), Canaga odorata (ylangylang) essential oil, Pelargonium graveolens (rose geranium) essential oil, Rosmarinus oleoresin extract (natural antioxidant for product shelf life)

 

 

* Facty.com/anatomy/integumentary system