Today’s featured essential oil has many therapeutic applications,
but when it comes to skin-care, that’s where she shines!
Essential Oil of Carrot Seed
Daucus carota
The Foundations
Geographical source: Hungary, United States
Plant Part: The essential oil is distilled from the seeds of the wild carrot (commonly known as Queen Anne’s Lace). It is not from the sweet carrots enjoyed by bunnies. Many consider wild carrot to be a common roadside weed which demonstrates how much our plant world has to offer if we would just get to know it better!
Essential Oil Characteristics: Carrot Seed essential oil is orange/amber in color and smells sweet and earthy. I love it, especially in Carrot Seed Soap!
Carrot Seed Essential Oil Chemical Families
This is a very complex essential oil. Carrot Seeds is high in sesquiterpenes and sesquiterpenols (high in carotol), but also contains small amounts of components from the monoterpene, monoterpenol, ester, and oxides families. You can learn more about essential oil chemical families HERE.
Therapeutic Properties of Carrot Seed Essential Oil
(Note: click here for a glossary of therapeutic terms)
- Antibacterial
- Supports the liver which, in turn, gives a healthy glow to the skin
- Skin Healing Warrior for everything from burns, maturing skin, wrinkles to eczema and psoriasis
- Cicatrisant action for wounds (helps the skin to heal and form scar tissue)
- Can have a mild diuretic action
Some Suggested Applications for Carrot Seed Essential Oil
- Renowned for its benefits to mature skin, you can always add 1-2 drops of this oil to any skin care product to soften tissue.
- Add to organic Aloe vera gel to help heal burns and regenerate skin.
- Because of its detoxifying effect on the liver, it’s helpful for arthritis, gout, edema even rheumatism making it a great addition to massage oils and baths.
- Add 2 drops in a facial steams to rejuvenate your skin.
- Diffusing Carrot Seed can be grounding and effective in relieving stress and anxiety and may be helpful when doing energy work that focuses on the sacral chakra.
Carrot Seed Essential Oil Blends well with: Citrus oils (bergamot, lemon, orange, lime, mandarin, yuzu), Lavender, Melissa, Neroli, Petitgrain
Carrot Seed Essential Oil Recipe
Mature Skin Renewal Lotion
This recipe is designed to soften wrinkles and add elasticity to mature skin.
Ingredients:
2 oz glass jar
2 oz fragrance free lotion
10 drops Carrot Seed essential oil
8 drops Frankincense essential oil
3 drops Neroli essential oil
Directions: Gently rub into face, around eyes and neck before bed and again in the morning.
Subtle Properties (vibrational and energetic)
Because of its color and affinity with the liver and kidneys, Carrot Seed oil is a real friend to the sacral Chakra (2nd Chakra).
We balance and clear the second chakra with orange oils like Carrot Seed and, in particular, this oil will help ground your sacral chakra as well as your emotions. Like all seed oils, this one also symbolizes birth and renewal and can be a great oil to use during a period of transition (such as a change of seasons) or when you would like to celebrate or call forth something new in your life. A nice affirmation for Carrot Seed oil is “I welcome and embrace all the changes in my life.”
Fun Facts
Queen Anne’s Lace is a wild summer flower and can be found growing along the sides of roads, in fields, and vacant lots and grows throughout the United States. Her wide white flowers are actually a collection of many flowers, each growing on a stem that radiates out in a starburst pattern. This is typical of flowers in the Asteraceae plant family. You can learn more about essential oil bearing plants and their families here: https://aromaticwisdominstitute.com/essential-oil-plant-families/
The plant name has a fun origin: The flower was growing in the royal gardens when Queen Anne became bride to James I. Queen Anne was an accomplished lace maker and she challenged her ladies-in-waiting to a contest, to see who could make lace as beautiful as the flower. The Queen won the contest and the flower won her name!
WARNING – do not confuse Queen Anne with Poison Hemlock
Carrot Seed VS Poison Hemlock: If you plan on picking Carrot Seed and distilling it for either the essential oil or the hydrosol, please please please be careful. Carrot Seed has a deadly look-alike called Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum). Poison Hemlock flowers are white with 5 petals and no sepals. They have smooth stems and can be very tall, as much as 8′. Even touching Hemlock can poison you, and ingestion means almost certain death unless treated immediately. As the toxins from the plant absorb into your system, you slowly become paralyzed and the respiratory system fails.
You can read more about the difference between the two in this article, and read about poison hemlock on Wikipedia, and watch a short video about it on YouTube.
Carrot Seed Essential Oil Safety Information
According to Robert Tisserand, Carrot Seed is contraindicated in pregnancy and while breastfeeding.
MyAromatic Wisdom SoulCollageCard for Carrot Seed:
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Leave a comment below sharing what you think of Carrot Seed essential oil!
This blog post was updated for accuracy and relevance on August 2, 2024 and may contain affiliate links which means I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase using them at no extra cost to you.
You’ve sold me. I will definitely try Carrot Seed essential oil. Thanks so much for these tips, they are so helpful.
Woo Hoo! You will love it Terese!
I have never seen “carrots” have these “flowers” on the above ground portion of the carrot plant while it is still in the ground. Where are these “flowers” coming from? What are they called, REALLY?
The carrots that we eat (Daucus carota subspecies sativus) are not the same as the Wild Carrot that produces the essential oil. That’s why you’ve never seen flowers on the Daucus carota subspecies sativus. Liz
Not to mention carrots flower and go to seed in their second year, which is usually after most have picked theirs to eat the root vegetable.
Liz, I just wanted to say that I really love your approach in choosing which companies you’ll use as a source of your oils, and your little “blurb” that explains it! I can really use a blend that helps me welcome change in my life these days, so thank you for this post!
Thanks for your kind words, Amy. I can’t think of a better way to choose essential oils and I appreciate that you “get” it! Let me know how the blend works in welcoming change in your life 🙂 Enjoy! Liz
Thank you for this, Liz. I’ve seen many natural cosmetic recipes use carrot seed oil, and it’s usually quite expensive. I never knew the plant used was one that grows everywhere where I live.