Essential oils, carrier oils and herbal massage oils: what the words mean

Labels in Pakistan use "essential oil" for almost anything in a dropper bottle. It matters, because a true essential oil used the wrong way burns the skin, and a carrier oil sold as an essential oil is an overcharge. Here is what the words mean.

Carrier oils

A carrier oil is the oil pressed from a seed, nut or fruit: mustard, coconut, sesame, almond, olive, castor. It is mild, it can go on the skin neat, and it is what you use in quantity for hair oiling and body massage. The name comes from its job in blends: it carries the small amount of something stronger.

• Use: hair, skin, massage, baby massage.
• Amount: tablespoons.
• Price: honest, because it is a simple pressed oil.

Essential oils

An essential oil is the concentrated aromatic extract of a plant: clove, eucalyptus, peppermint, lavender. It is distilled, not pressed, and a few drops carry the whole smell and effect of the plant. Used neat it irritates or burns skin. It is always diluted, a few drops in a carrier oil, or used in the air.

• Use: a few drops in a carrier for massage, in a balm, or for the scent.
• Amount: drops.
• Warning: never neat on skin, never near eyes, never for children without advice.

Herbal massage oils

A herbal massage oil is a carrier oil that has been infused with herbs, or blended with small amounts of essential oils, so it does a specific job. Onion oil is coconut and castor oil infused with onion extract and fenugreek for the scalp. Josh is sesame oil carrying ginger, clove and cinnamon for a warming massage. The carrier makes it safe to use in quantity; the herbs make it do something.

• Use: whatever the blend was made for. Read the label.
• Amount: drops for concentrated blends, tablespoons for light ones.

Rubs and balms

Not oils at all, but they belong here because they do the same jobs. MARK Balm is menthol and camphor in a wax base; MARK Iodex is methyl salicylate in wax. They stay where you put them and act longer than an oil.

So which do you need?

• Hair oiling: a carrier oil. Coconut for lengths, mustard for the scalp.
• Hair fall: a herbal blend for the scalp, such as onion oil.
• Body massage: a carrier oil, warmed.
• Warming massage for men: a concentrated herbal oil, in drops.
• Headache, blocked nose, joint pain: a balm or rub.

If a bottle says "essential oil" and tells you to pour it on, be suspicious of either the label or the price.