Plant Oils to Use + Those to Avoid

Let's talk for a minute about plant oils. I love using them and highly recommend them for all kinds of skin and body care but it's important to know which ones are best and how to use them.

Plant oils like jojoba and coconut can be used very efficiently to dilute essential oils when used on the skin topically. they can also be used to cleanse the skin and to moisturize.

The key to using plant oils effectively is to look at how saturated they're fatty acids are. you can easily look up each plant oil to see what percentage of saturated versus mono or polyunsaturated fatty acids they have.

Technically speaking the more saturated fatty acids they have, the more stable the oil will be. And this is really important! Plant oils that are higher in saturated fats are more stable so they are less likely to go rancid as quickly.

Polynsaturated fats from oils like almond and sunflower are more likely to go rancid faster so the likelihood that they are rancid even before you open the bottle is pretty high. you don't want to put rancid oils on or in your body because they can cause skin damage some sensitivity and inflammation. they're just not great for you at all. some people can smell in an oil's gone rancid but most of us cannot so that's why it's important to just note that the oils you're using for your body care and your skin care should be high and saturated fats.

My favorite oils to use on the body are:
⚡shea butter
⚡coconut oil
⚡jojoba oil

My favorite oils to use as the main base for the face are:
⚡jojoba oil
⚡shea butter

I don't like using coconut oil as the main base for skin care on the face because it can cause some issues with poor clogging for certain people.

Once you have your main base you can add in other oils that are not as high in saturated fats like rose hip, tamanu and sea buckthorn because they each have their own beneficial properties. The key is to buy these oils and very small amounts and to buy them from really good sources.

If you need links for sources I have them in my Blog Post “Resources”.

let's recap:

• use the oils I listed above that are high in saturated fats as the main plant oils for the face and body.
  use -in smaller, limited amounts- other oils like rose hip and sea buckthorn stay away from truly processed oils like sunflower safflower canola and corn

• always buy your oils and small amounts and from good sources so that you know that they're fresh as possible

• choose oils that are unrefined on cold pressed whenever possible

• If an oil smells "off" or stale to you do not use it