All About Carrier Oils 

Courses, Research & Trainings 

with Susan M Parker

Study and learn with Susan M Parker, author of Power of the Seed

The success of your formula...

...starts with exceptional ingredients 

Any chef knows that the simpler the dish the more essential high quality ingredients are. And formulating is no different. With a high quality foundation, the simplest formula becomes a work of art. We are seeing this in the skincare world when brands base their identity and their foundational products on a single, luxurious plant oil such as plum kernel oil, grapeseed oil, argan oil, marula oil, shea butter. Each oil has a story, its role in human history and food, beauty and nourishment, the region where it grows, how it is harvested and by whom. 

Foundation to finished product

Single oil skincare to the foundation of your formula

A single oil, when chosen well, is a complete facial oil on its own. Selected for skin type, antioxidants and results single oils are effective, simple and luxurious. Carrier oils and other lipid plant oils also create the foundation for most formulas and recipes. From herbal infused oils for medicinal balms to a high end face cream, you will find a carrier oil at the base of everything. 

Create naturally preservative free skincare

Lipid oils and butters are naturally shelf stable. So when working with oils and butters exclusively you can create beautiful skincare formulas and recipes without the need for a preservative. 

Anhydrous skincare and sustainability

Waterless skincare, also called anhydrous, is potent and concentrated. Many skincare products contain large amounts of water which is expensive to package and ship around the world. With the need for minimal packaging and more concentrated results, anhydrous skincare is becoming increasingly popular. And without water and other water soluble ingredients, the quality of the plant oils makes the finished product, from facial oils and oil serums to lotion bars, herbal infusions, melts, oil cleansers and more. 

What is the difference between lipid oils and carrier oils? 

Olive, olive groves and the Lipid Oils Academy

I’d like to tell you a story. 

Not a long one but one that covers thousands of years and transport you back to ancient Greece. In an early Greek myth, Athena launches a javelin into the air and where it lands on the earth the first olive tree bursts forth.

The olive tree was revered as sacred by the ancient Greeks and its fruits touched all parts of Greek culture. Abundant in its lipid gifts the tree supplied cooking oil, food oils and meats, oils for sacraments and for lighting in lamps.

For this reason olive groves were considered sacred and were dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom. The gymnasium made famous by Plato as a center for learning outside the city gates of Athens was conducted in those olive groves.

And it was under those olive trees that gave us the expression "the groves of Academe” from the gymnasium dedicated to the Athenian hero Akademos who saved Athens from destruction.

This was a round about way to introduce you to our Lipid Oils Academy.  For the name oil comes from the ancient Greek elaion, Latin oleum, and old French oile. The olive grove, tree, fruit and oil are the ancient source of our study. Olive is literally the root word for oil.