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Adding Essential Oils as an Active Ingredient Correctly
I have checked Google and have seen conflicting answers to how to properly add and Essential Oil as an Active Ingredient to a Lotion.
Some say to first dilute the Essential Oil in a Carrier oil and then add it to the lotion.
Others say to add the oil directly to the lotion.
I am trying to put 3% Marigold Essential Oil into my lotion - not as a fragrance but as an Active Ingredient.
Does anyone know if there is an accepted guideline or the proper way to calculate the 3%? Do you dilute first or do you not before adding it to the lotion?
In addition some say to heat and mix others say just to mix the oils in.
Thank you
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3 Replies
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Can you define the oil you want to use? The reason I am asking this is because there are several different materials that go by this name.
Some marigold oils are not essential oils per se but infusions of marigold flowers in a vegetable (fixed) oil. These will require different treatment in formulating into a lotion than a true essential oil.
3% oil, especially if a true essential oil, seems excessively high. Is this figure correct?
For us to help further, can you give some indication of the constitution of the lotion you are using?
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Either way, incorporating that much oil you should add this to your oil phase, assuming you have an o/w emulsion at work here. You only need to have it heated to 75C for an hour or less, and most EO are not as thermally sensitive as literature (or even $&#! google, for that matter) would lead you to believe.
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The real problem with heating essential oils or perfume compounds for any extended period is the loss of the material by evaporation.
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