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Essential oils are fast becoming recognized as important natural therapeutic ingredients to personal care products. Extracts of many plants, including Rosemary and Sage (now popular hair care essential oils) have long been used to stimulate hair growth, and promote truly healthy and beautiful hair. Here's a look at creating a personal formula specifically for stimulating hair growth for both men and women. The recipes are easy to make at home, with readily available ingredients. Building a Super-Effective Hair Growth Stimulating Recipe Many essential oils have found a place in today's ultra-high end skin and hair products, often listed as "botanical extracts". The active essential oils will generally fall into one of these categories: Stimulating, which enhance the "throughput" of the follicles -- increasing their metabolic rate, and thus hair growth. Then there's Nutrient Providing: several essential oils have a deep reddish or orange color, indicating a high concentration of growth promoting vitamins and vitamin-like compounds. Finally, the all-important Balancing oils create the optimum environment for the healthiest skin, follicles and hair, potentially moving out-of-balance conditions (over-oily, over-dry, or even hormone-deficient) to healthier states. The Stimulating Essential Oils: Sage and Rosemary Rosemary and Sage essential oils, as well as "low-tech" infusions from these herbs, have a VERY long history in hair care. Women have been using these herbs for centuries to promote full, lustrous heads of hair. Though their use by women does not preclude their use by men. The are certainly "gender neutral". Each of these essential oils contains unique molecules that are considered "regenerative", stimulating the growth of new cells. In terms of growing hair, this activity is thought to activate the follicles to work a little faster at their job. Note that the oils of choice here are "common" Sage, and a special kind of Rosemary called "verbenone". The "cineol" type will not have the same effect, so be careful in your choices. Use these at a maximum of 2% of your blend (that's total, not each!). Getting Some Vitamins to the Hair Follicles There are certain vitamins and vitamin-like compounds known to stimulate hair growth. Like the pharmaceutical preparation "Retin A" contains something similar to vitamin A (and does stimulate hair growth for some men), Carrot and Sea Buckthorn essential oils contain similar compounds. These are actually found as CO2 extracts, found in the same category as essential oils in stores. These oils are often used between 1 and 2 percent concentrations. Bringing Balance to Those Follicles Many, many people have either over-dry or over-oily scalp conditions which wreak havoc on hair growth. Balance is what's needed here, and here's the oils to do it. Lavender is the most widely used "balancing" oil, that has a wealth of therapeutic effects. If you do not have an outstanding skin condition that really needs clearing up, add a little Lavender to your blend -- it is thought to really tie all the components together to help them work most effectively. If you've got an over-oily condition, a little Myrtle essential oil is thought to do the trick. It's cleansing and balancing at the same time, restoring sebaceous output to proper levels. Finally, for mature women, be sure to use a little Clary Sage, thought to restore cellular estrogen levels to their optimum for the most beautiful skin and hair. Delivering the Oils to Your Scalp: The Carrier Oils One would imagine for an "oil treatment", there must be some oil involved somewhere. The essential oils, interestingly, are really not "oils" -- they are very complex natural mixtures made up of readily-evaporated compounds. "Oils" on the other hand, are made up of larger, longer chain molecules that don't evaporate so easily. Olive oil is an example -- though in aroma-therapy, generally seed and nut oils are used due to their diverse array of therapeutic activity. In these blends, the oils of choice are Coconut -- very therapeutic, and may stimulate hair growth all by itself. Rosehip Seed -- highly regarded for its regenerative properties. Jojoba -- important for those with dry, brittle, thin hair. And Evening Primrose, who's essential fats are excellent for inflamed scalp conditions, and can offer important nutrients which may be missing from the diet (Hemp seed is also an appropriate choice for the same reasons). Each carrier can be used alone, or in combination with others. Use all four if you like, you're hair won't be sorry! Putting Your Blend Together Finally, to make your blend, start with an empty bottle of between 1 and 8 ounces. Calculate the amount of each essential oil you'd like to use, remembering that the average amount is 1% of each essential oil. This works out to eight drops of essential oil per ounce of carrier, so if you're making a four-ounce bottle, and want to add one-percent Lavender, add 8 (drops) for each of 4 (ounces), or 32 drops of Lavender to the bottle. Stimulating oils can be used at 1/2% or less, meaning 4 drops of essential oil per ounce, and nutritive oils can be used at up to 2%. When done adding the essential oils, fill the bottle the rest of the way with your chosen carriers -- the carrier measurement needn't be as precise. If you're making a 50/50 base of Rosehip and Coconut (warm to make liquid first!), for example, filling the bottle close to halfway with each is just fine. High End Botanical Extract Hair Growth Stimulating Formulas Here's two great recipes. For men, to make 4 ounces (which should last 2 to 4 months): To a base of equal parts Rosehip Seed, Hempseed and Coconut oils, add 32 drops Sage (Dalmatian or Common), 64 drops Carrot Root (also called Helio-Carrot), and 32 drops Lavender. For women, to the same base, add 32 drops Rosemary Verbenone, 64 drops Sea Buckthorn, 32 drops Lavender, and 32 drops Myrtle. Feel free to adjust as you see fit -- using your intuition is an excellent means of customizing your recipe. Now you can lightly swirl or invert your mixture until you feel it's blended. Don't shake it if you can avoid it, as it's not such a good idea to introduce air into your oils too much (it can shorten the shelf life -- which, by the way, should be about six months if kept in a cool, dark spot). The most effective oil treatment program is to first shampoo your hair, or at least moisten your scalp with warm water. This opens the pores and increases absorption of the oils. Then using an eye-dropper, distribute 1 to 2 droppers-full around your scalp and massage the oil in. Wrapping your head in a warm moist towel for the next 20 minutes to an hour can maximize absorption, and/or you can sleep with it on your scalp. And there you have it! A simple, effective means of supporting hair growth with the therapeutic potentials of essential oils.
Article Source: http://www.gamblingarticlessite.net
The author is a consultant to aroma-therapeutics practitioners around the world. For an excellent chart of essential oil uses, and more on essential oils for skin care, visit The Ananda Apothecary online.
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