Carrier Oils For Aromatherapy

• Hazelnut Oil

• Latin Name
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  Corylus avellana
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  Family: Corylaceae
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  Etymology
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  Also known as the cobnut or filbert. The name in French is noisette and in German hazelnuss. Korylos is the Greek name for the plant and avellana denotes that it is from Avella Vecchia in S. Italy.
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  The Plant and its Environment
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  This small deciduous tree )3 meters - 10 feet) is native to, and can bee seen growing wild in the whole of northern Europe, although it may have originated in Greece. It has both male and female flowers on the one tree and the long, yellow catkins which appear in February or March are a conspicuous feature.
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  The Oil
  Hazelnut oil is amber-yellow in colour and has a very pleasant taste. The oil is often used as a substitute for almond oil, to which it has a similar composition (Bruneton 1995).
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  Method of Extraction
  This oil is usually obtained by cold pressing, after which it is left for a few days for the sediment to settle before filtering . The yield is almost 40% by weight.

Principal Constituents

 Physical Properties

• Therapeutic Properties - internal use
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  Hazelnut oil is said to be digestive and vermifuge, and is used internally in cases of urinary stones, kidney colic and tapeworms. It is recommended for adolescents, old people, pregnant women and diabetics.
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  Therapeutic Properties - external use
  Said to penetrate the skin quickly
  Nourishing to the skin
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  Light astringent action
  Stimulating to the circulation
  It is often used for oily skins and, in the cases of acne, sometimes diluted with grapeseed oil or another base oil such as sunflower.
• Cosmetic Use
  Studies carried out for the Institute for Technological Research in Chile by Bio- Tox Labs in France (INTEC1992), have shown that hazelnut oil acts as a sun filter with a factor equivalent to 10 in the FDA category. The oil is recommended for cosmetics such as sun lotions and creams, hair regenerators, shampoos, soaps etc.
• Culinary Use
• For culinary use, the nuts are roasted before pressing, to increase the flavour. The resulting oil, tasting of hazelnuts, is excellent for salad dressings and baking. Noisette is much prized by French cooks and is found in many cakes and pastries.
• Cautionary Notes
  Hazelnuts are reported as causing immunological contact urticaria and possibly anaphylaxis (Lovell 1993)
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  References: Carrier Oils for Massage and Aromatherapy: Len Price with Ian Smith & Shirley Price