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Thick, grounding, and healing, vetiver is on our list of top essential oils for holistic skincare and overall wellness.
A lesser-known oil that could be grouped aromatically with other earthy base notes such as cedarwood and sandalwood, yet has a unique damp and mossy aroma that sets it apart.
Vetiver essential oil is an unsung HERO in the skin care world, powerful enough to be effective in eczema salves, and gentle enough to be used in daily blends for acne and other epithelial inflammations.
Also used as a sedative, immunity enhancer, and tension-buster, vetiver essential oil has so much potential for use in wellness products.
Get ready to add a new essential oil to your library and learn a handful of holistic skin care blends that you can make with vetiver and a few other simple ingredients!
Vetiver essential oil is a root oil because it comes from the actual roots of a perennial grass also known as ‘khus’.
These roots are incredibly aromatic and reach impressive depths – between ten and thirteen feet in the first year.
See the accompanied photo to give yourself a shocking visual reference (this picture is showing just part of the root length)!
The essential oil is removed from the roots via steam distillation and is most popularly used as a base fixative in perfume blends.
Steam distillation is a common method to obtain oils from leaves, roots, and botanicals (see below for a step-by-step video of the steam distillation process):
Essential oils are made up of around 200+ tiny molecules, and the variations are what make one oil different from another in terms of aroma, use, and safety precautions.
Some of these molecules are in very small amounts, whereas some are so significant in number that they dominate the overall behavior (or ‘personality’) of the oil.
Is the oil heavy? Light? Thin? Thick? Absorbed easily? Slowly? Toxic? Non-toxic?
All of this is crucial information to know before using essential oil for any reason, but especially for use in skin care.
Vetiver(Vetiveria zizanioides) is highest in components khusimol at 9.52% and (E)-Isovalencenol at 10.32% (view in the red box illustration below), which are both in the sesquiterpenol chemical family.
These percentages are significant* when compared to other constituents present in vetiver essential oil.
*This chart is taken from a GC/MS report for a batch of Vetiveria zizanioides ct. Haiti on April 7, 2021 Lot #: Vetiver V30109 – however, most vetiver essential oil is rich in the same components.
In vitro research supports that in general, oils in the sesquiterpenol chemical family have the following therapeutic activity:
antifungal, anti-inflammatory, cooling (some), grounding, sedative, immune stimulant, and skin-healing
To be forthright, you don’t need to memorize the chemistry notes above to formulate blends with vetiver.
This quick peek simply gives you the science-backed WHY behind using vetiver essential oil for HOLISTIC skincare.
In the descriptions of sesquiterpenol components above, notice the range of observed therapeutic activity:
We will use these characteristics to help guide our formulations for holistic skincare in the next section!
Essential oils are incredibly concentrated, and using them directly out of the bottle without doing your homework can cause skin reactions from as minor as a rash to as painful as a real-deal chemical burn.
No essential oil lasts forever, but vetiver has a pretty long shelf life, especially when compared to the ever-popular citrus essential oils.
Sesquiterpenol-rich oils (the prominent chemical family of vetiver) are made up of 15 total carbon atoms. Compared to the 10 carbon atoms in citrus oils, this is much bigger.
This larger size means that sesquiterpenol essential oils evaporate slower, have longer-lasting aromas, and have a longer shelf life.
Vetiver essential oil has a shelf life of 6-8 years , assuming your bottle has been tightly sealed, stored in a cold environment, and away from direct sunlight.
Vetiver is a non-toxic, non-irritating essential oil, yet it still must be used safely to avoid skin reactions.
The safety information from Tisserand quotes a 15% maximum topical use (due to the isoeugenol content), but you still need to consider where on the body you are placing it, as well as the specific individual you are using it on.
To safely dilute it (reference the percentages noted in the chart below), simply add the appropriate number of drops of vetiver essential oil to a carrier oil (such as jojoba or sweet almond oil) and/or a thick (melted) unrefined butter such as shea butter or cocoa butter.
Vetiver essential oil can be used during pregnancy or when breastfeeding, but the basic essential oil safety during these times should still be followed:
Likewise, vetiver essential oil can be used on/around children, but the following safety parameters with all essential oils should be followed:
In holistic health, you consider the treatment of the whole person, taking into account any mental, social, and physical factors rather than just the immediate symptom(s) at hand.
From the view of a holistic skincare entrepreneur, you’ll want to communicate to your customer that all of the details below contribute to the health and appearance of their skin:
Vetiver essential oil is a calming, grounding oil known to relax and cool the mind.
These characteristics, coupled with the sedative properties of vetiver, make it a perfect oil to include in a bedtime aromatherapy roller.
Wondering what sleep has to do with holistic skincare?
While you sleep, your body produces new collagen. Collagen is what prevents age spots, wrinkles, and sagging. Sleep is also when your body repairs any cells damaged by UV exposure.
Vetiver essential oil is also helpful in recipes formulated to help with arthritis, rheumatism, sore muscles, and muscle tension.
Wondering what pain has to do with skincare?
When our pain and stress levels are high, our immune systems are focused on immediate ’emergency’ issues…not so much on cell regeneration and turnover.
Pain also tends to create shallow breathing, less restorative sleep, and limited exercise (if any) – all of which decrease the number of resources your body is able to provide to your skin.
When used safely, vetiver is one of the top 27 best essential oils for topical skin care recipes.
Since vetiver essential oil is a large molecule with high amounts of sesquiterpenols, it is particularly useful for acne and eczema care formulations (thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties).
While diffusing essential oils can offer many wellness benefits, it is important to note that not all oils can be diffused equally.
Due to the large molecular size of vetiver essential oil, it can easily clog diffusers and is not recommended.
As a certified aromatherapist, Plant Therapy is my go-to essential oil distributor.
You can buy vetiver essential oil in 10, 30, and 100 mL sizes, as well as in bulk sizes at 0.5 kg, 1 kg, and 5 kg.
Enjoy the journey of using vetiver essential oil for holistic skincare – formulating with a lens of complete body and mind wellness is a game-changer.
If you are a fellow skin care entrepreneur looking for products that go over well with a natural-living-loving target market, these recipes will be a goldmine for you:
Christine Glaser, C.A.
Christine is a certified aromatherapist, essential oil specialist, and organic skin care formulator. She loves empowering others with tools to make healthy changes and understand where natural options can be woven into the fabric of everyday routines.
