Effects of essential oils

[lynnala]

I've asked this before in various threads but never gotten an answer. I'm wondering if using essential oils in place of a brew would have the same effect on hair, for example, would a rinse of chamomile EO in water have the same effect on my hair as a brew from chamomile flowers? (okay, I admit it, I'm asking from a purely lazy perspective, it would be so much easier just to use the EOs!)

[Blu11]

Interesting question and I'm not an expert in eo-s but I would guess no.
Plus, I think it would be a more expensive alternative since chamomile eo is pretty expensive. Just my opinion...:)

[ChloeDharma]

I would say no. I've used a rinse of rosemary infusion and used rosemary EO in treatments and although i do like rosemary EO i didn't find that it gave the same effect on my scalp as the infusion did.

Also when you think about it, EO's are just the essential oil of a plant.....whereas an infusion uses the whole part so i'd assume that would mean more parts of the plant are extracted in an infusion....though in a less concentrated form.

That doesn't mean i'm saying that EO's are no good, quite the opposite, they are great.

[IsabelS]

Definitely not, the essential oil of a plant doesn't necessarily have the same therapeutical properties as an infusion or extract of that plant.

ChloeDharma, what was the effect of the rosemary infusion on your scalp? I use rosemary EO in my vinegar rinses, mostly because it doesn't give me an headache and some others do, but I always wondered if the infusion would be more effective to prevent white hairs (isn't that one of the benefits of rosemary?)

[mellie]

Yes, I agree, I have tried the lazy route of using rosemary or lavender EOs and they do not act the same as infusions do.

[ChloeDharma]

Definitely not, the essential oil of a plant doesn't necessarily have the same therapeutical properties as an infusion or extract of that plant.

ChloeDharma, what was the effect of the rosemary infusion on your scalp? I use rosemary EO in my vinegar rinses, mostly because it doesn't give me an headache and some others do, but I always wondered if the infusion would be more effective to prevent white hairs (isn't that one of the benefits of rosemary?)

I used it for my scalp. The first time was when i was a teenager and had horrible flaking so i tried a Rosemary infusion as a final rinse. It worked really well and left me completely flake free. I do find it can darken a little but that wasn't the effect i was looking for.

For darkening a common recipe is to use rosemary and sage infused as a rinse. HTH :)