Why We Select Certain Carrier Oils

St. John’s Wort fresh flowers steeping in apricot kernel oil.

At Cloverleaf Farm, we take great care in selecting the ingredients used in our products. Most of our items contain a base carrier oil in which we steep the herbs. This oil must be great for your skin, properly absorb the properties of herbs, and be shelf stable. We avoid oils that will turn rancid very quickly and carefully review the process by which the oil is created prior to obtaining the drums of oil.

Our two most used oils are apricot and almond. We avoid olive and grapeseed in any of our products as they don’t meet our shelf stable requirement. Not only does grapeseed oil turn racid quickly, but many are manufactured using a chemical process that is anything but natural.

Apricot Kernel Oil

Botanical Name: Prunus armeniaca

This is a cold pressed oil obtained from the apricot kernels. This oil is rich and very nourishing for all skin types and has very little scent. Loaded with vitamin A, it absorbs quickly into your skin delivering it’s healthy goodness quickly. There are no known cautions for this oil and it’s shelf life is easily two years. As with all the oils we use, this is cosmetic grade meant only for external use.

Sweet Almond Oil

Botanical Name: Prunus dulcis

Also a cold pressed oil, this is also VegeCert and Kosher Certified. This protein rich oil is a great emollient that softens and reconditions the skin. Sweet Almond oil is rich in proteins, Olein Glyceride Linoleic Acid, and Vitamin D. It is considered extremely nourishing especially when you use it regularly. There is very little scent and absorbs into the skin at a medium rate. It can stain fabrics leaving a slight oily feel to the skin until fully absorbed. This oil also has a 2 year plus shelf life when stored properly. Some people with nut allergies are concerned about products containing this oil which is why we do offer our popular products with jojoba in place of sweet almond.

There are our two most popular oils. Both excellent for your skin and terrific for making our skin healing salves. Want more information about the ingredients used in our products? Feel free to search here and on our other sites for more. You can also use our contact form and let us know your specific questions.