Eczema is uncomfortable and unpleasant, to say the least. It affects mood, sleeping habits and even day-to-day activities. Broken skin and red, sore, itchy patches are never welcome but there are natural ways to help soothe, build moisture and protect the skin barrier.
Carrier oils have a long-standing reputation for offering relief for inflammation and stress that may help those with eczema symptoms.
Firstly, What Is Eczema?
Eczema is one of the most common skin conditions affecting both children and adults. In fact, it affects over 1 million Australians.
Its cause is still unknown although it can be hereditary and is often associated with other allergies like asthma or hay fever. Because of this, eczema symptoms can flare up from contact with pollen, synthetic fabrics, grass, carpets, animal hair, or from using chemically-based products.
If you have eczema, you’ll be familiar with having dry, easily irritated skin that can’t effectively retain moisture. Skin becomes itchy, but scratching makes it worse and itchier, creating red, blotchy patches of dry skin all over the body. It’s unpleasant and downright frustrating.
Benefits Of Carrier Oils For Eczema
Carrier oils are made by cold-pressing the seeds, nuts or kernels from a variety of botanical plants. While some essential oils are known to soothe eczema symptoms, carrier oils also are known to further help relieve eczema and other skin conditions due to their naturally occurring qualities. These may include:
- Anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antimicrobial properties
- Reduce itching
- Soothe dry, cracked or irritated skin
- Reduce redness
- Calm swelling
Carrier oils also provide a great base for essential oil dilution, helping them safely absorb into the skin.
5 Best Carrier Oils For Eczema
Some of our most popular carrier oils for relieving eczema symptoms include:
1. Jojoba Oil
Jojoba Oil closely resembles human sebum and contains a rich content of vitamins B and E, antioxidants and essential fatty acids.
It’s highly moisturising and is known to have anti-ageing, cleansing and conditioning properties. Because of this, Jojoba Oil is known to help repair skin cell damage, build and retain moisture and is well-suited across all skin types.
With powerful healing and anti-inflammatory properties, Jojoba Oil has been known to relieve dryness, flakiness and itching symptoms when used topically. It may also help encourage wound healing, soothe sunburns, assist with acne breakouts and help with the appearance of scars.
You can dilute your favourite essential oil with Jojoba Carrier Oil, add your dilution to a roller bottle or glass pipette bottle and apply it as a massage oil or skin serum. We recommend a 1-2% dilution for skin application and a 0.5-1% dilution for facial application.
2. Evening Primrose Oil
Evening Primrose Oil is best known for its rich essential fatty acid content, particularly Gamma Linoleic Acids. This means it is widely known to facilitate healing and soothe skin irritations, inflammation, and is a great base to dilute with your favourite essential oil.
Evening Primrose Oil is also one of the best known carrier oils for anti-ageing remedies and has been seen to assist with maintaining normal skin function.
It may help to reduce itchiness, redness, inflammation, pain and dryness so it’s a great option for eczema and psoriasis.
You can dilute your favourite essential oil with Evening Primrose Carrier Oil, add your dilution and apply it as a massage oil or skin serum. We recommend a 1-2% dilution for skin application and a 0.5-1% dilution for facial application.
3. Sunflower Oil
Sunflower Oil has a rich content of vitamin A, B, D, E and K as well as minerals and essential fatty acids. In other words, Sunflower Oil contains anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and regenerating properties that are known to nourish the skin.
It also helps protect the skin from environmental damage. Because of this, it’s one of the best known carrier oils for eczema and is great for dry, cracking and irritated skin.
Its antioxidant properties may also help to hydrate the skin and reduce the appearance of premature ageing.
You can dilute your favourite essential oil with Sunflower Carrier Oil and apply it as a massage oil or skin serum. We recommend a 1-2% dilution for skin application and a 0.5-1% dilution for facial application.
4. Grapeseed Oil
Grapeseed Oil has a high concentration of linoleic acid, vitamins C, A, E, antioxidant properties and phenolic compounds. With a lightweight consistency, it leaves the skin feeling like satin and is favoured among massage and aromatherapists as a great all-rounder oil.
Among a plethora of anti-ageing, astringent and protective benefits, Grapeseed Oil may also assist in soothing dry and sensitive skin as well as eczema symptoms.
Grapeseed Oil may help to build and retain moisture in the skin with its naturally occurring vitamins and antioxidants. It may also help to increase skin elasticity, promote skin softness, soothe acne breakouts, protect against sun damage and even out skin tone.
In fact, it’s widely sought after in a range of cosmetic creams, ointments, body butters and moisturisers, making it a great option for sensitive, dry and irritated skin.
You can dilute your favourite essential oil with Grapeseed Carrier Oil, add your dilution to a roller bottle or glass pipette bottle and apply it as a massage oil or skin serum. We recommend a 1-2% dilution for skin application and a 0.5-1% dilution for facial application.
5. Coconut Oil Refined
Coconut Oil has an almost neutral aroma and contains antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and hydrating qualities with a high concentration of lauric acid and antioxidants. Its consistency lathers well into the skin, making it a great base to dilute your favourite essential oils.
Coconut Oil is extremely gentle so it’s perfect for moisturising and softening the skin and is extremely popular for those with dry skin. Its naturally occurring lauric acid helps fight against bacteria and the risk of infection from scratching eczema flare-ups. Its anti-inflammatory properties may assist in relieving itchiness and reducing oxidative stress within the skin.
You can dilute essential oils with Coconut Oil, add your dilution to a roller bottle or glass pipette and apply it as a massage oil or skin serum. We recommend a 1-2% dilution for skin application and a 0.5-1% dilution for facial application.
Note: When kept at room temperature, pure Coconut Oil can change from a liquid to a solid.
What About Essential Oils?
You can also pair carrier oils with a range of essential oils that are known to help soothe dry, irritated or cracked skin. Below are some of our favourite essential oils with qualities known to help relieve eczema symptoms:
- Tea Tree Essential Oil
- Chamomile Roman Essential Oil
- Frankincense Essential Oil
- Lavender Essential Oil
It’s important to always dilute essential oils with a carrier oil before using them topically. As a general guide, we always recommend a 2-4% dilution for skin application and a 1-2% dilution for facial application.
Other Tips For Treating Eczema
Apart from carrier oils, there are medications available and home remedies that may help with eczema symptoms. Talk to your GP or pharmacist for advice to discuss your options. You may be advised to try:
- Avoid synthetic or chemically-based soaps or perfumes
- Avoid food allergies
- Avoid pollens
- Antihistamines or prescription topical ointments
- Colloidal oatmeal
- Calendula cream
- Practice relaxation techniques e.g. yoga, meditation and tai chi
How Do You Know If You Have A Quality Carrier Oil?
The quality and purity of carrier oils will vary depending on where you buy them from. For this reason, it’s important to keep your eye out for certain things to ensure you’re purchasing a quality carrier oil.
Top 6 Things To Look For
- Look for the oils Latin name listed on the bottle. If a product doesn’t have the Latin name listed, it’s probably a mix of synthetic ‘fragrance oils’.
- Oil packaging is in a dark glass bottle. This will prevent light and heat from damaging the oil.
- The label clearly states ‘100% pure X Carrier Oil’. This will ensure the product isn’t blended with any other oils.
- Be sure to check the expiry date if buying in store.
- The product clearly states where the oil is from.
- Be wary of a very low price. It could be an indicator of low quality or adulterated carrier oils.
Considerations For Using Carrier Oils
Although rare, using carrier oils may result in skin irritations or allergic reactions. That's why we always recommend performing a skin patch test before incorporating any carrier oil into your routine.
At AWO, our carrier oils are for cosmetic and aromatherapy uses only - you should never ingest them. We also recommend storing your carrier oil in a cool, dry place at room temperature, ensuring that they are not directly exposed to sunlight and are out of reach of children or pets.