Essential Oils For Oily Skin

Using essential oils to treat oily skin enables you to apply the most powerful compounds from beneficial botanicals. Most essential oils come from steam distillation of the leaves, petals, bark or roots of a plant, and many of the oil-busting essential oils are pressed from the peels of citrus fruits. Use essential oils in homemade face cleansers, herbal steams, face masks and skin toners, or add them to your favorite store-bought products.

Lavender

The University of Maryland Medical Center notes that lavender essential oil is one of the few essential oils that you can apply undiluted directly on skin without irritating it. Put 1 to 2 drops of lavender oil on a cotton ball and use as an astringent. Lavender oil also works well in face masks and herbal facial steams. According to "The Green Witch Herbal," lavender essential oil makes an ideal treatment for acne-prone and oily skin because it helps disinfect the bacteria that clog pores, balances the glands that produce sebum and even contributes to cell production--making it useful to skins that are fragile as well as oily.

Lemon and Lemongrass

Lemon essential oil comes from the expressed peel of the lemon fruit, while steam distilling the Indian herb Cymbopogon citratus yields lemongrass essential oil. Both work well for controlling oily skin. Consider using them together, as lemongrass works especially well for "degreasing" oily skin and hair, while lemon oil addresses the bacteria related to acne. Aromatherapist Jeanne Rose's formula for an anti-oil skin cleanser involves adding 5 drops each of lemon and lemongrass essential oils in 8 oz. hazelnut or calendula-infused olive oil and 1 oz. wheatgerm oil. Other essential oils added to the cleanser include 5 drops each of cypress and clary sage oil and 1 drop of peppermint oil.

Grapefruit

As with the lemon oil and lemongrass oil, grapefruit yields a citrus-scented essential oil noted for helping treat oily skin. Rose notes that not only does grapefruit essential oil work well on oily skins but it also removes dead skin cells and uplifts the mood in the bargain. The book "Herbs for Health and Healing" includes a cleansing formula for oily skin that combines 2 drops each of grapefruit and cypress essential oils with 6 drops lemon essential oil. Add these essential oils to 2 oz. witch hazel, 1 tsp. each vinegar and glycerin, and ½ tsp. of the natural preservative grapefruit seed extract.

Cypress

Cypress oil, steam-distilled from the evergreen tree Cupressus sempervirens, helps reduce overactive oil and sweat glands, according to Rose. She uses it in both shampoo and facial formulas; not only will treating an oily scalp result in better-looking hair, it also keeps the hair's oil from causing acne on the neck and face. "Herbs for Health and Healing" recommends including 2 drops of cypress essential oil in both cleansers and face masks.