Massage oils can be broken down into two main categories, natural or synthetic. And in today’s “green” market, massage/spas are moving away from synthetic formulations but not all natural oils are fit for this job.
While there are two distinct categories, those two categories cover thousands of formulations and ingredients. Here is the breakdown:
Synthetic:
- Usually contain at least one of the following elements: silicones, glycols and chemically modified mineral oils
- Have significantly decreased in use over the past 10 years.
Natural:
- Are made from vegetable oils and other botanically derived oils
- Commodity oils, while natural, are used primarily in food. These oils (sunflower, safflower and canola) are generally extracted to maximize their oil yield to produce massive volumes for the food industry’s demand. While these oils are suitable as base lubricants they are mainly used in massage formulations as a means of cost saving. Many low-end formulations will use commodity oils as the bulk base lubricant for this reason.
- Specialty oils have been the main staple ingredient in European massage formulations for years now. These oils (grapeseed, sweet almond oil, avocado oil and apricot kernel oil) increase performance properties like feel, glide and also provide added cosmetic benefits to the skin. (Scandles produce an all-natural, cosmetic-grade soy massage oil)
Have you tried both synthetic and natural? If so, what’s your take…..
