Essential oils have become all the rage in the wellness space. And while we love a good aromatherapy sesh, EOs can be more harmful to your body than you might think, especially if taken internally. Plants are powerful! At Botnia, we’ve formulated most of our products to have very little essential oils in them since they have the potential to penetrate cell walls and change your DNA. We’ve written before about using EOs in our products but wanted to share more about the ones we do use in our skincare and why we don’t list the full blends in our ingredient lists.

Regulations

In America, the FDA and beauty industry don’t need a full listing of ingredients if they compose less than 1% of the formulation if the product isn’t specified as a drug. A lot of companies will use this to their advantage, hiding potentially harmful ingredients as “fragrance” in their ingredients list. In our essential oil blends, we typically use far less than 1% of EOs in the formulation for scent, preservation of the product, and their beneficial uses for the skin. One of the reasons why we don’t list them, honestly, is for spacing purposes on our tiny labels. There’s just not enough room! However, if you’re ever curious which botanical EO blends are in any specific product, we’re more than happy to share them with you! Just email or DM us. When we use a single EO in a product, we specify it in the ingredients list. 

Essential oils we use

All of the EOs we use have been thoroughly researched to be non-dermotoxic and are sourced from reputable vendors. Droplets are used in entire batches of our skincare because that’s just how strong they are… a little goes a long way! The two most popular essential oils we use are lavender and rose geranium. We love these two EOs because they’re effective against many toxins and we’ve found them to be perfect additions in helping to heal skin.

Lavender EOs are steam distilled from the flowering top and have antiseptic (slows/stops the growth of microorganisms), anti-inflammatory, analgesic (relieves pain) properties, and helps to prevent the build-up of excess sebum which bacteria feed on. The fragrance of lavender is also said to open the third eye and induce clairvoyance and inner vision if you believe such things! Its scent has also been clinically evaluated for its relaxing effects. 

Rose Geranium EOs are typically distilled from the leaves of the plant. It’s antibacterial and antifungal which makes it a great preservative. It’s also anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic (relieves spasms), antitumoral (prevents formation or growth of tumors), hemostatic (stops bleeding), and astringent (tightens pores). Other wonderful properties of Rose Geranium EO are that it revitalizes skin tissue and balances sebum in the skin, cleanses oily skin, and restores and livens up pale skin. All from one plant! It’s no wonder why we use rose geranium in some form in all of our products!

Here’s a list of all the essential oils we use across our product line:
Bergamot
Cedarwood
Cilantro 
Clary Sage
Frankincense
Helichrysum
Jasmine
Juniper
Lemongrass
Lime
Neroli
Orange
Patchouli
Peppermint
Petitgrain
Rose
Yarrow

Have sensitivities?

If you’re unsure how your skin will react to an essential oil, it’s good to do a patch test on the inside of your wrist or behind your ear to check for sensitivities. Apply one drop of the oil or a product to these areas and check the spot for redness or irritation after a few hours. 

If you’re looking for EO-free products, here’s a list of our skincare formulated without essential oils:
– Rose Water Toner
– Eye Cream
– Balancing Oil Cleanser
– Replenishing Facial Oil
– Kale Mask
– Sulfur Mask
– Exfoliation Mask
– Flower Mask
– Any of our hydrosols
Note: Our products will still have a slight scent from the raw ingredients we use, but we don’t add any additional EOs to these products. 

We love working with plants in all their different preparations, and essential oils can be so useful not only to make products smell beautiful but for the skin-loving benefits that each botanical brings to the table. We hope that when you’re using our skincare, you’re taking a moment to breathe in the delicious blend of scents we’ve combined and enjoy washing the day away!  

Xo,
Botnia