Hello beautiful!
I hope your day is bright!
This is for you daliajojo, and of course you too – if you’re one of those that love DIY natural beauty or just want to make sure what you’re using on your skin is totally good for you, read on for a gorgeous natural skincare recipe you’ll love.
Awhile back I wrote about a popular beauty product called Darphin Aromatic Cleansing Balm with Rosewood and how to make it yourself. This is a follow up to that (plus I received a great comment –thanks daliajojo –)
She was wondering about another product from Darphin called: 8 Flower Nectar Elixir.
Here’s their product info for a little background:
A precious youth elixir
Rejuvenating elixir, in the pure tradition of aromatherapy, blends rare and radiance boosting aromatic essences from 8 precious flowers. Opulent formula with anti-oxidants, nourishes and helps smooth the look of lines and wrinkles, firm skin and renew skin suppleness, resilience and youthful radiance, key evidence of truly, younger-looking skin. With an exquisitely feminine, sensual fragrance that could double as a perfume, it is the quintessential holistic beauty care that creates a feeling of overall beauty and well-being while rejuvenating skin’s appearance.
The Result
- Relieves discomfort due to dryness
- Nourished, firmer skin
- Renewed softness and suppleness
- Youthful-looking and radiant complexion
- Reduced appearance of lines and wrinkles
99% of the total ingredients from natural origin. Formulated without parabens. Non-comedogenic. Clinically-proven efficiency.
Ingredients:
Essential Oil of Everlasting, Iris, Jasmine, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender), Neroli, Patchouli, Rose, Ylang Ylang
Usage:
PM. Apply 5 drops to face and neck. Massage 8 Flower Nectar gently in upward motions from the inner to the outer part of the face.
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Funny that they mentioned it could double as a perfume, because it totally is. In fact, I’ve got a natural perfume recipe that is almost the exact thing..except for the Everlasting otherwise known as Immortelle or Helichrysum Italicum essential oil.
Essential Oil of Iris is a rare and rejuvenating delight. Tuscan Iris from Florence is a majestic perennial plant with a rhizome and large spring flowers which give off a sophisticated fragrance.
Initially classified as a lily, like all herbaceous plants with large flowers, this flower gained noble status in the XIIth century when it became the emblem of the kings of France.
Iris was first used in perfumery in the XVIIth century, its rhizome, an excellent fixative and aromatic reservoir, is ground to obtain a violet-fragranced powder with cleansing properties for the skin and hair.
The many benefits of Iris have also been exploited in cosmetics. In particular, this precious oil is derived from its rhizomes: Iris Essential Oil (Concrete).
Astringent and moisturizing, Essential Oil of Iris has toning and stimulating properties, a real natural rejuvenating delight.
And here’s an ingredient that I’ve not mentioned before; Iris essential oil, which might also be called Orris Root Absolute or Concrete. This beautiful rarity is a special addition mostly because of it’s wonderful skin care toning properties. It’s also great as a base note in natural perfumes because of its fixative qualities.
Iris Absolute is beautiful material, the aroma is slightly sweet, earthy, green and violet.
Iris oil is a deeply fascinating and time consuming material to produce. The main producers today are located in China, France and Morocco and the species that count for the bulk of production are Iris pallida, Iris germanica and Iris florentina. The process starts with the rhizomes/roots (orris root). These are collected, washed, surface layer removed, cured and stored for as long as 4 years. The length of time the orris root is stored is largely responsible for the percentage of the prized constituent – IRONE, the aroma of Irone is a lush green violet accord with excellent tenacity. Most material commercially offered will have a 1%, 8% and 15% Irone content.
To get the Iris essential oil, or orris root , the rhizomes (roots) are taken out of storage, blitzed, until material resembles a starchy pulp. This is then steam distilled to produce essential oil and due to the chemistry containing myrstric acid, so the material hardens up very quickly – resembling a waxy concrete and this is the reason so many people refer to the essential oil as Iris Butter. Then to get Iris Absolute the Iris Butter/Essential oil is used. This material is alcohol washed to remove the myrstric acid and the oil left is vacuum distilled to get the absolute oil. Although now quite rare, Iris Absolute with a content of 80% Irone or more is still produced, but the current starting price is 70’000GBP/105’000USD per kilo.!!
Places I’ve found to buy pure Iris essential oil or orris root concrete butter:
- http://www.edenbotanicals.com/products/essential-oils-pure-therapeutic-grade/essential-oils-o-p/orris-butter-15-irones.html
- http://hermitageoils.com/product/iris-absolute-iris-pallida/
- www.oshadhi.co.uk/iris-absolute-75-in-25-organic-alcohol-iris-pallida/
RECIPE for 8 flower nectar elixir:
This makes about 0.5 oz (15ml) if of product.
And making this at home is so much easier than you might think.
The hardest part is getting all the ingredients. They are quite expensive, but you’ll be able to make them go a very long way, so it’s totally worth it.
But one thing they don’t mention in their ingredients list is the carrier oil. Most likely they have used essential oils diluted in jojoba since this carrier is closest to the natural oils in our skin.
List of ingredients: Essential Oils of:
- 40-50 drops Everlasting aka Immortelle jojoba diluted Helichrysum Italicum
- 40-50 drops Iris,(orris root absolute or butter) – melted in double boiler
- 25-30 drops Jasmine absolute,
- 40-50 drops Lavandula Angustifolia (organic Lavender),
- 35-40 drops Neroli (orange blossom absolute) diluted in jojoba,
- 40-50 drops Patchouli,
- 30-40 drops Rose otto or Rose absolute,
- 25-30 drops Ylang Ylang extra
that’s it….well, almost. Just make sure that you’re using jojoba diluted essential oils. You never want to use straight (or undiluted) essential oils on your skin. With the exception of lavender or tea tree.
Treat Essential Oils With Respect
Treat essential oils with the same care that you treat medicines. You don’t need to be afraid or avoid essential oils and I’m certainly not trying to scare anyone out of enjoying all the benefits that aromatherapy offers. They can be an amazing blessing within a holistic lifestyle. Do remember, however, that when working with essential oils, less is more.
Dilute your essential oils prior to use on the skin and avoid the oils that are more likely to cause irritation and sensitization. When using an essential oil for the first time, do a skin patch test. You can learn how to do a skin patch test by reading AromaWeb’s Aromatherapy Safety article.
Add all drops to a pretty glass bottle and use in the evenings before bed and after cleansing your face. I use a 1 oz (30ml) serum bottle, but if you want it filled to the very top, use a 1/2 oz (0.5 oz) or 15 ml bottle with glass eye dropper.
How to get Radiant Skin
Now for those that are concerned about wrinkles or want an anti-aging serum the recipe’s essential oils are wonderful, but I would add the following for extra benefits:
GREAT ADDITIONS for anti-aging effects: Frankincense, Sandalwood, Myrrh, and Carrot seed oil,
for sensitive skin use Frankincense, Myrrh, Lavender, and Roman Chamomile, you may want to use Neroli too in a 2% dilution (or about 12 drops pure e.o. to 1 oz carrier).
Another excellent word of advice is to add carriers like Rosehip seed oil, jojoba, argan, tamanu, evening primrose, avocado, olive, and kukui nut oils. There are many other fabulous carriers for radiant skin.
Always get enough water, sleep, and good nutrition for a glow that starts on the inside!
I recommend starting with a base of jojoba oil and adding another oil that is suited for your skin type. For example, I have dry skin so I like to add Argan and Evening Primrose, Vitamin E and Rose Hip Seed oils. If you have acne-prone skin, you could create a combination of jojoba and tamanu oil. Got combination skin? Try jojoba and argan. It’s all about finding what works for your skin.
It may take a bit of experimentation to find just the right combination for your personal skin type. I usually start with an 80% ratio of jojoba and 20% of another oil specific for my skin type. You can adjust this ratio as needed. Several carrier oils can be combined to get the perfect combination.
And quality does matter. I recommend buying the best quality oils that you can find. Your skin is your biggest organ, and everything you put on it absorbs directly into your bloodstream. The best oils are cold-pressed, pure, and unrefined oil with no additives.
Resources and more reading:
how to dilute essential oils; http://www.aromaweb.com/articles/dilutingessentialoils.asp
http://www.savorylotus.com/7-best-carrier-oils-for-radiant-skin/
Darphin Aromatic Cleansing Balm with Rosewood and how to make it yourself.
