Essential Oils

CathJ

CathJ

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I went to a class last week on making bath treats - fizz balls, bath salts, that kind of thing. It was suprisingly easy and fun to do, so I want to do more at home.

One of the key ingredients is your choice of essential oil. Essential oils seem to be terribly expensive - R90-odd for a 10ml bottle of lavender oil! On the other hand, Clicks is selling lavender oil for burners for just R10. Does anyone know if I can just use the cheap oil instead of the expensive stuff? Is it a different concentration, or quality? I'd hate to use it in the bath if it turns out to actually not be safe for your skin :o
 
I drove to some place out in the sticks near PE last week and the farmer I visited was making essential oils. I couldn't believe how much lavender it took (It looked like a half cow sized hay bale of lavender to make a small puddle of Lavender oil) These people invest in industrial boilers, condensers, distillers and whatnot so maybe that's why it's so expensive- and the more concentrated, purer essences need to be diluted by a carrier oil before they can be used. If I recall, his mark-up was tiny and I remember thinking it's not even worth all that effort. Maybe the reason then that it is expensive is the supplier- it's certainly not the manufacturer from what I saw.
 
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I don't think its skin that is the problem with bubble baths, does bubble bath and that sort of thing not give some ladies infections and what not in their private area? I know my fiancee never uses that kind of stuff for that reason.
 
Hi CathJ -- those oils are definitely not suitable for body products!
A friend of mine makes essential oils in Zululand: http://www.soil.co.za and they're available in health shops around the country.

His site lists lavender oil at R45 for 11ml, so there are definitely cheaper oils available.
 
texo said:
Hi CathJ -- those oils are definitely not suitable for body products!
A friend of mine makes essential oils in Zululand: http://www.soil.co.za and they're available in health shops around the country.

His site lists lavender oil at R45 for 11ml, so there are definitely cheaper oils available.
Click to expand...

Cool, I'll just have to look around for bath-quality, reasonably priced oils then.

(Note that it's just for my own use, maybe family as well, so there's no risk of me harming payingcustomers ;))
 
CathJ said:
Cool, I'll just have to look around for bath-quality, reasonably priced oils then.

(Note that it's just for my own use, maybe family as well, so there's no risk of me harming payingcustomers ;))
Click to expand...

Christmas presents for those distant relatives that might show up? Let them be the guinea pigs :D

Cheap stuff probably comes from China, so that might be reason enough not put it anywhere near you body.
 
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