REPOST: Fiona's Nail & Cuticle Oil
Fiona Webster
*** Fiona's Nail & Cuticle Oil ***
Acknowledgement: I learned what I needed to come
up with this recipe from _The Essential Oils Book: Creating
Personal Blends for Mind & Body_ by Colleen Dodt. It's
a great beginner's book for learning about essential oils.
This looks complicated but is really easy. I'm just long-winded
and tend to overexplain things. <smile>
First, some useful measurement equivalents
(all approximate):
--1/2 fluid ounce (oz) = 15 milliliters (ml)
--1 ml = 20 drops
--5 ml = 1 teaspoon
--15 ml = 1 tablespoon
WHAT YOU NEED
(1) at least 3 ml of each of these essential oils, *undiluted*:
--benzoin
--frankincense
--lavender
--lemon (not the juice, the essential oil)
--patchouli
--tea tree
--ylang-ylang
SOURCES: natural foods stores, herbal shops,
and also on the Internet. One online company I
have had good experience with is Nature's Gift:
(2) pure Vitamin E oil (you'll need 10 drops)
(3) a base or carrier oil, such as sweet almond oil
(you'll need at least 15 ml of it)
NOTE: The essential oils don't need to be refrigerated,
just kept in a dark place. But after you've opened it,
sweet almond oil *does* need to live in your fridge.
(4) at least 2, but preferably 3, 15 ml dark glass
bottles with dropper tops and lids; these can be
old essential oil bottles you've cleaned, but they
need to be *really* clean (easiest is just to boil them);
this is a common size for bottles, so it shouldn't
be hard to find
(6) at least 1, but preferably 2, clean eye-droppers;
if you can find 'em, the disposable plastic kind is easier
to use, because if you use glass ones, you have to avoid
*ever* having contact between the oils and the rubber bulb
of the dropper; so if you're using glass, you might want to
practice with water, to make sure you can halfway
fill the dropper without getting fluid up into the bulb
STEP ONE: Getting Ready
--put all the above stuff on a clean surface where
you can sit down (it's better if the surface isn't wood,
and if you're near a sink)
--remove the lids and dropper tops (like with a clean
nail file) of the empty bottles and set them aside
--have some tissue handy for spills
--set the benzoin apart from the rest of the essential oils
STEP TWO: Making the Concentrate
What you're combining is 2 parts of all the oils except
ylang-ylang to 1 part of ylang-ylang, measuring them all
into one of the clean glass bottles.
You have a choice here. You can measure out the oils with
their dropper tops OR pry the dropper tops off, one at a
time, and use an eye dropper. (Be sure to put back each
dropper top and lid before going on to the next one!) The former
method is cleaner, the latter is faster. They vary in how fast
they drip, but benzoin is so slow, you *will* need an eye
dropper for it. If you choose to use a dropper, you can rinse
(in hot water) out your dropper between oils--it's not the tidiest
technique, but it will do. Just remember: no fluid in the bulb!
First, 46 drops each of
--frankincense
--lavender
--lemon
--patchouli
--tea tree
Second, 23 drops of ylang-ylang
Last, with a different eye dropper, 46 drops of benzoin
Why is benzoin different? It's so thick and gooey, it's
hard to get it to come out of the dropper top. Either this
is the only one you need an eye dropper for OR if
you decided on the eye dropper method, you should
use a separate dropper just for it.
Put the dropper top back on the bottle, put the lid on it,
and shake. Label it "nail oil stock" (however you want, but
I find white electrical tape with a permanent black marker
is easy, and less likely to react with the oils than ordinary
tape); put the date on either the label or on your print-out
of this recipe; or just use a different color of electrical tape
for the concentrate (make a note so you won't forget).
STEP THREE: Making the Dilution (the stuff you actually use)
What you're doing here is making a 20:1 dilution, plus
adding Vitamin E. You can make one bottle of nail oil or
two. I prefer two because I can keep one by my bed and
one somewhere else, like in the kitchen or by my favorite
chair.
To each bottle, add:
--15 drops of concentrate (nail oil stock)
--5 drops of Vitamin E
--about 14 ml of base or carrier oil (easy way is just
to hold the bottle up to the light, and fill it to the bottom of its
neck with your carrier)
Put the dropper top back on the bottles, put the lids
on them, and shake! Add labels or pieces of colored
electrical tape (if the latter, write down on your recipe
the color of the tape and the date). If you get confused
which is stock and which is the oil, just take a whiff:
the stock is way more concentrated. It will last you
for quite a few refills of the nail oil bottles.
HOW TO USE THE NAIL & CUTICLE OIL
--5 drops is enough for both hands: I find it easiest to
put one drop on the last knuckle of all 5 fingers of one hand,
then rub the knuckles of both hand together, to transfer
some of the oil; then just rub it in
--2 or 3 times a day will dramatically improve your cuticles
in a matter of days, and your nails in a matter of weeks
to months (as soon as they grow out and new nail
comes in); you can wear all the polish you want: the
oil works by penetrating to the nail bed at the base,
where the nail grows out from.
--but it's especially good for your nails if you give them a
"night off" after taking off polish, and put the nail oil
on the dry nails; then you can polish 'em the next day
Have fun! And as always: your mileage may vary.
--Fiona Webster <f...@oceanstar.com>
george wehrenberg
What would you estimate the initial investment to be for these
materials? Is this a case where one spends a fortune and makes enough
product to last 100 years?
Val
Fiona Webster
> What would you estimate the initial investment to be for these
> materials? Is this a case where one spends a fortune and makes enough
> product to last 100 years?
Not if you use essential oils in other ways, for sure. Lavender
is great, just straight, on zits, cuts, etc. Plus a drop on a tissue
tucked in your pillow is calming, will help you sleep. And tons of
other uses: it's not called a panacea for nothin'. Tea tree you can use
straight on your feet to combat fungus (almost everyone has fungus in
their toenails). All of 'em except tea tree smell good in an aroma lamp
or just on a piece of tissue put in a clothes drawer. You can add 'em
to your wash or dryer load (see previous threads on this topic) for
nice smells. Frankincense smells festive at winter holiday time if
you put a couple drops on steaming water on the stove top. Add a few
drops--choose which ones depending on which smells and effects you
want--there's a ton of free info on the Internet--to shampoo, conditioner,
hand lotion, etc. etc.
But just for grins, I went to Nature's Gift (http://www.naturesgift.com )
and checked out prices for the smallest quantity they sell of the
essential oils:
--benzoin: $10
--frankincense: $7
--lavender: $12
--lemon: $6
--patchouli: $5
--tea tree (or lemon tea tree, which smells a bit better): $10
--ylang-ylang: $8
The ylang-ylang is not absolutely necessary, by the way: it just
makes the mixture have a sweeter aroma. All the rest, though, are
essential to the synergistic action.
For the smallest quantity sweet of almond oil: $6.99
15 ml. cobalt bottles: $1.79 each (you need 2 or 3)
Glass eyedroppers: $3.99 each (I'd suggest asking Marge at NG if
she has any plastic ones she could give you for free)
I forget what Vit. E oil costs, but you can buy it in a drugstore,
and it's an essential, I think, of anyone's first aid kit--really
hastens healing; reduces scar formation and pigmentation; good in
anti-aging blends, etc. I've been using up a bottle every few
years for a couple decades now.
So add that up and you tell me. <smile> I bet it's still cheaper
than Dr. So-and-so's magical cuticle oil or whatever. And you can
get lower prices if you find smaller quantities locally, though.
Almost all health food stores, natural/organic food stores, and
organic herbal shops sell EO's these days. My local herb shop
presses and sells their own homemade lavender, lemon, and other
common ones.
I posted the recipe not just for that alone, but also as an introduction
to making your own potions with essential oils. It's fun and easy--
and you'll love the odors! <smile>
--cheers,
Fiona
MG
>almost everyone has fungus in their toenails
Ugh, I am going to throw up now.
Reminds me of learning about the parasites that live all over our
bodies...
Thanks for posting the great EO info and links -- I'm always meaning
to use them more often.
MG
**to email me, remove the attitude**
readandpost rosieŽ
that is not true....................
rosie
--
Fiona Webster
> almost everyone has fungus in their toenails
Rosie replied:
> that is not true....................
Well, how's that for a Mexican stand-off? <smile>
I'm not talking about the kind of fungus that is obvious,
Rosie--the kind that causes ripples, ridges, and other
stuff too gross to mention. I'm just repeating what a
few different podiatrists have told me over the years--
that especially in the little toe and next-to-last toe,
a certain amount of thickening of the nail due to fungus
is so common as to be almost universal. But I (and they)
could be wrong.
--Fiona
Diane Hardin
<f...@oceanstar.com> wrote:
according to everything I've learned, you are right, Fiona.
-Diane
MG
>Well, how's that for a Mexican stand-off? <smile>
>I'm not talking about the kind of fungus that is obvious,
>Rosie--the kind that causes ripples, ridges, and other
>stuff too gross to mention. I'm just repeating what a
>few different podiatrists have told me over the years--
>that especially in the little toe and next-to-last toe,
>a certain amount of thickening of the nail due to fungus
>is so common as to be almost universal. But I (and they)
>could be wrong.
From what I've learned, this sounds perfectly plausible. I had a
weird thing with one of my pinky toenails where the nail got much
thicker, but that was the only thing I noticed. Is there a fungus
among us???? Eeeeeeeeee
MG, hiding under the covers