Exerted frankincense essential oil to make beauty products

What is frankincense(Ru Xiang)?
Many trees would secrete liquid grease from the scars to protect themselves once they were cut by knives, damaged by insects, or subjected to fungal infection. This concretionary exudation is usually called resin. Hence, the aromatic resin produced from trees of the genus Boswellia in family Burseraceae is given the name frankincense, which comes from Old French "franc encens", literally "high-quality incense", since it is a common raw material in producing perfume and incense. It can be obtained in several Boswellia trees, especially the species of Boswellia carteri, Boswellia sacra, Boswellia bhaw-dajiana (Burseraceae), Boswellia frereana, and Boswellia thurifera. Other names of it include Frankincense Carterii, Boswellia Resin, Resina Boswelliae Carterii, Resina Olibani, and more. They mainly grow, wild or cultivated, in Somalia, Ethiopia and other places in Africa. The frankincense olibanum resin is usually harvested in spring and summer. The steps are to upwards slash the bark of the trunk, let the resin ooze gently out of the cut, wait it to harden, and finally collect the hardened resins a few days later. Medicinally it is used broken and raw, but often fried when orally taken.

Boswellia carterii is a dwarf shrub, usually 4 to 5 meters or rarely up to 6 meters in height. Stout trunk is pale brown, papery, and with smooth bark. Bough bark is scaly and gradually peeled off. Odd pinnate leaf is alternate, 15 to 25cm long; leaflets are 15 to 21 in number, bigger in sizes from down to up, long oval shaped, 3.5cm long, or even 7.5cm long and 1.5cm wide atop, and with obtuse apex, rounded, nearly heart-shaped or truncate base; margin is entire or with crenature. Small flowers sparsely arranged in racemes; cup-shaped calyx is 5-parted and with triangular-ovate lobes; petals are 5, pale yellow, oval, 2 times of the length of sepals, and with acute apex; stamens are 10, grown outside of flower disc, and with short filaments; ovary is superior and with 3 to 4 rooms and capitate stigma that is slightly 3-lobed. Drupe is obovate, about 1cm long, and with 3 edges, blunt end, fleshy pericarp, and 1 seed in each room. Bloom time is in April.

Frankincense resin benefits
As mentioned previously, this resin comes with a pleasant and soothing aroma. Just like its famous rival of nag champa incense, burning frankincense resin can emit smoke with a distinct scent too. So it is frequently used to make herbal incense for medical purpose since the smoke is quite versatile – drive away mosquitoes, treat respiratory diseases and joint pain, and reduce a depressed or irritable mood. And today some related studies show that it also helps several cancers, such as breast cancer, bladder cancer, brain tumor, skin cancer, etc.

But in different regions, the frankincense uses are different. In ancient time, the Egyptians and the Hebrews burned frankincense resin in the ritual in order to worship God in the temple. In fact, this traditional, ancient custom is still practiced today in some churches. In addition, viewed as the life energy focus of Boswellia tree, it could be used to fumigate and disinfect the patients in order to expel the "sickness demons" out of the body.

As everyone knows frankincense oil is distilled and extracted from its resin. It is colorless or pale yellow in color and deep, refreshing in odor that smells like camphor. As a matter of fact, as early as ancient Egypt, the Egyptians already knew how to extract its essence from wood and bark by distillation and exerted frankincense essential oil to make beauty products, for example skin rejuvenation lotion.