Essential Oils Guide

Of all the plants on the Earth, only about one percent contain essential oils. Plants provide essential oils through their roots, wood, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. Essential oils are held in sacs or special microscopic cells within the plan tissue.

Essential oils perform a variety of functions in plants. Shrubs like frankincense and myrrh secrete resin, a sticky substance rich in essential oils, to protect themselves if their bark is cracked or damaged. Fragrant essential oils contained in flowers – like lavender, rose and jasmine – serves to attract pollinating insects. Humans have made use of essential oils for centuries for perfumes, incense and medicine.

Below is our Essential Oils Guide of all the major oils infused in Mélan Skincare’s products.

Aloe Ferox

Origin: A tall, single-stemmed aloe, indigenous only to southern Africa.
Fragrance: A light, non-bitter verdant gel fragrance.
Use: Healing and cleansing qualities; detoxifying; stimulates cell renewal.
Products: Balancing Day Créme, Balancing Night Créme, Hydra Day Créme

Calendula

Origin: An essential oil extracted from the golden-orange Calendula flower heads
Fragrance: Green, distinctive garden-type aroma and fresh floral fragrances.
Use: Gentle, cooling, soothing and anti-inflammatory; rejuvenates dry and damaged skin.

Frankincense (Boswelia carterii)

Origin: Extracted from the resin of a robust, desert shrub.
Fragrance: Fresh and sharp initially, deepening to woody, resiny with sweet notes.
Use: Disinfects and heals cuts, wounds, eczema and damaged skin, tones and rejuvenates all skin types, comforts anxiety and emotional stress.
Products: Hydra Day Créme, Hydra Cleanser, Revitalising Mist

Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens)

Origin: A perennial shrub with velvety, frilly leaves. Rubbing the surface hairs releases a strong, rosy aroma.
Fragrance: Rosy, sweet and strong with a hint of lemon and fresh green tones.
Use: Soothes cracked and inflamed skin, eczema, acne and oily skin; calming and soothing effect.
Products: Hydra Cleanser, Hydra Day Créme, Revitalising Mist, Energising Booster Oil, Treatment Mask, Cherry Clay Bar, Charcoal Detox Bar.

Grapefruit (Citrus x paradise)

Origin: An essential oil expressed from the peel of a grapefruit.
Fragrance: Green, bittersweet, zesty and fresh, with a soft, powdery after note.
Use: Helps clear toxins, improve areas of cellulite; eases anxiety, depression and stress.
Products: Essential Hand Care, Body Sense

Lavender

Origin: An evergreen shrub that produces masses of beautifully scented purple flowers above green or silvery-grey foliage.
Fragrance: Soft, sweet and floral tones.
Use: Soothes cuts, burns, wounds, sore skin, eases headaches, muscular aches and tension; helps insomnia, nervous tension and anxiety.
Products: Gel Cleanser, Balancing Cleanser, Balancing Day Créme, Balancing Night Créme, Energising Booster Oil, Charcoal Detox Bar,

Lemon Verbena

Origin: A long, green, perennial shrub originating from South America. Lemon verbena oil is extracted from the freshly harvested leaves through steam distillation.
Fragrance: Clean, sharp lemony scent.
Use: Reduces inflammation; has a calming effect on the skin; good antiseptic and bactericide.
Products: Body Sense, Essential Hand Care, Hand & Body Wash

Neroli (Orange blossom)

Origin: A plant oil extracted from the blossom of the bitter orange tree.
Fragrance: Creamy, sweet, citrusy, rich and soft with green undertones.
Use: Tones and rejuvenates the complexion, especially dry, mature or undernourished skin; helps scar tissue, wounds and cuts; has calming and soothing effect.
Products: Intensive Treatment Créme, Revitalising Eye Serum

Palmarosa (Cymbopogon martini)

Origin: Aromatic grass from India with a sweet smell and a mild effect when used.
Fragrance: A long-lasting, sweet and rose-like aroma, soft and gentle with slightly lemony tones.
Use: Soothes and calms irritated skin, acne, eczema, dermatitis; improves the facial complexion in all skin types, calms and de-stresses the nerves.
Products: Intensive Treatment Créme

Patchouli (Pogostemon patchouli)

Origin: A thick, golden-brown essential oil with a very pronounced aroma. The leaves of the patchouli plant contain microscopic sacs of essential oil, when rubbed it leaves a very strong aroma.
Fragrance: Rich, velvety, musky aroma that develops spicy, earthy and sweet tones with time.
Use: Soothes cracked, chapped and dry skin and eczema, improves the complexion of mature and dry skin.
Products: Collagen Booster Créme, Body Sense, Essential Hand Care, Charcoal Detox Bar

Sandalwood (Santalum album)

Origin: An essential oil extracted from a small tropical tree that takes approximately 30 years for the wood to mature to its full aromatic potential.
Fragrance: Rich, woody, spicy and sweet.
Use: Soothes dry, chapped skin and improves the texture of all skin types; eases depression and anxiety.
Products: Gel Cleanser, Balancing Cleanser, Balancing Day Créme, Balancing Night Créme, Cherry Clay Bar

Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis)

Origin: A fruit oil expressed or crushed out of the rind of the fruit of the sweet orange tree.
Fragrance: Sweet, warm, fresh and citrusy.
Use: Soothes and rejuvenates congested and slack skin; uplifts depression, anxiety and stress.
Products: Collagen Booster Créme, Enzyme Exfoliator