I love essential oils- just not on my face or in my skincare, here's why

I love Essential Oils- just not on my face.
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I talk about this often + every time I receive hundreds of DMs asking “BUT WHY!”
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First, let me clarify that essential oils are not bad. I love and use them everyday and they have so many MAJOR benefits. (Shout out to @burkesporch for taking time out of her busy schedule to teach me about @younglivingeo last year). I use lavender in my diffuser before bedtime to relax me, I diffuse citrus in the morning to energize me, I clean my counters with Thieves oil to make my counters fresh and shine, I dab peppermint oil on sore muscles. I mean they really do have 🌟 benefits.
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With that being said- WHY DON’T I LIKE THEM IN MY SKINCARE? Read the science papers. They will tell you that essential oils applied to your face can cause breakouts, irritation, inflammation, collagen breakdown, and desensitize your skin. 😯 It will cause your skin to take a lot longer to heal and recover from a dark spot or pimple mark. + Let’s not forget little Alex 8 years ago suffered from MAJOR skin problems. Self-provoked acne. I was using all sorts of fragrant oils (and picking) and caused such a mess.
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Most of my clients have said to me, “but Alex I’ve been using my lavender and rose moisturizer and cleanser + my skin is fine!” Yes- this may seem true, however, it’s doing damage on a cellular level. On @drunkelephant blog I read such a perfect analogy. They wrote, “When you smoke a cigarette, you don’t get lung cancer or emphysema the same day and you can’t see the damage because it shows up years later. When you walk out to the parking lot without sunscreen you don’t get brown marks right then. Those show up years later. The same thing with essential oils. Damage is being done and you don’t even know it.”
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I’m not saying all natural products are bad. There are some great natural products that aren’t essential oils in your skincare products. Those being avocado oil, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, licorice, chamomile, green tea, honey, aloe, rose hip seed oil, hylaronic acid, and pomegranate. These are all fabulous for you skin. I would suggest to avoid citrus, lavender, rose, lemon, lime, ylang ylang, peppermint, bergamot, and all the other fragrant oils.
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Some great product lines that contain no essential oils include @paulaschoice , @drunkelephant , @peetrivko , and get savvy reading your ingredient labels. Some brands may have a really awesome moisturizer and a not so great cleanser. Start to educate yourself. The Beautypedia app has been a life saver for me. I suggest you download the app to start getting familiar with the ingredients in your products! I wish you all fabulous, healthy, and glowing skin forever. x