Use & Avoidance Of Herbs, Essential Oils, Plant Extracts,

[Dave Clark]

Rhodiola is in the formula, and unfortunately some people get agitated or anxious when using it. I have quit using rhodiola for that reason. I seem to have no issues with other herbs, maybe ginseng can ramp me up a bit, but rhodiola is a nervous, uncomfortable stimulation for me. Perhaps that part of the formula is having a negative effect.

 

[Lejeboca]

An interesting use of essential oils (EO's) is skin permeation enhancers for topical intake of supplements and drugs.

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Note: EO's are not to be confused with essential fatty acids (PUFAs). An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the oil of the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove an essential oil is essential in the sense that it contains the essence of the plant's fragrance—the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived. (wikipedia) ​

Development of essential oils as skin permeation enhancers: penetration enhancement effect and mechanism of action

"In penetration the stratum corneum (SC) barrier, the enhancement ratio (ER) values of turpentine, Angelica, chuanxiong, Cyperus, cinnamon, clove oils and azone were determined to be 2.23, 1.83, 2.60, 2.49, 2.63 and 1.97, respectively. Skin permeation studies of ibuprofen across rat abdominal skin with the presence of 3% w/v EOs were carried out; samples were withdrawn from the receptor compartment at 8, 10, 22, 24, 26, 28, 32, 36, and 48 h and analyzed for ibuprofen content"​

Conclusion: ​

"Compared with azone, the investigated EOs possess significantly higher penetration enhancement effect and lower skin toxicity. EOs can promote the skin permeation of ibuprofen mainly by disturbing rather than extracting the SC lipids."​

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Essential oils and their constituents as skin penetration enhancer for transdermal drug delivery: a review

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"Essential oils effectively facilitate the permeation of both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs with low cytotoxicity.​

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Key findings: Essential oils and their volatile constituents can penetrate through the skin as well as enhance penetration of different drug from topical formulation into the lower skin layers using different mechanisms of action based on (1) disintegration of the highly ordered intercellular lipid structure between corneocytes in stratum corneum, (2) interaction with intercellular domain of protein, which induces their conformational modification, (3) increase the partitioning of a drug. After application to the skin, essential oils and their components are rapidly metabolized, not accumulated in the organism and fast excreted what strongly suggest that they can be successfully use as safe penetration enhancers."​

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My notes: (I) "Except for pig and rat skin, rodent skin generally shows higher permeation rates than human skin. [9–12]."​

(II) EO's concentrations were all ranging between 0.25% -- 10% w/v or v.v ratio.​

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Lemon (Citrus limon, Burm.f.) essential oil enhances the trans-epidermal release of lipid- (A, E) and water- (B 6 , C) soluble vitamins from topical emulsions in reconstructed human epidermis

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"α-tocopherol (E) and retinyl acetate (A), pyridoxine (B6) and ascorbic acid (C) ... flux through the skin [reconstructed human epidermis, (RHE) @ 34⁰C] was enhanced by a factor of 4.1, 3.4 and 5.8, respectively, in the presence of lemon EO. The penetration of vitamin E was nine-fold enhanced. Lemon EO produced only reversible modification of trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL), and it is a safe and effective penetration enhancer for topical administration of lipid- and water-soluble vitamins."​

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[Ginali]

I forgot to mention that if anyone wanted to try making this preparation, that using cold brewed coffee or green tea at the end are also nice additions, especially for those that do not care for flower scents. Both coffee and matcha are beneficial topically for skin.

Never put Matcha on your skin! I once made a simple face mask using just Matcha and water, and accidentally fell asleep with it on. After an hour or more, I woke up feeling as if I were dying. It's hard to describe everything what was happening, but it was so severe that I had to call Emergency Services. Please, read thoroughly about how caffeine is absorbed through the skin. It gets absorbed better than through the stomach.

 

[Nicole W.]

Never put Matcha on your skin! I once made a simple face mask using just Matcha and water, and accidentally fell asleep with it on. After an hour or more, I woke up feeling as if I were dying. It's hard to describe everything what was happening, but it was so severe that I had to call Emergency Services. Please, read thoroughly about how caffeine is absorbed through the skin. It gets absorbed better than through the stomach.

I think, as always, the dose makes the poison.
In the case of the ghee moisturizer I make, I dilute the matcha in a cup of hot water just as I would if I were preparing a beverage. Then I mix it into the moisturizer. Whatever is not absorbed or integrated, I throw out. Since, you only use a small amount of moisturizer at a time, there is no risk at all of overexposure to caffeine.