it seems to absorb through the skin quite readily and to accumulate in the lungs, spleen, heart, and liver. perhaps rosemary in your homemade oat and coconut oil body-butter (i also add cocoa+shea butter, olive oil, and a touch of beeswax). process the oats and rosemary in a vitamix/blendtec, simmer in the oils, strain into jars (tempered!)
Percutaneous absorption of rosmarinic acid in the rat.
Ritschel WA1, Starzacher A, Sabouni A (1989)
Rosmarinic acid (RA) is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agent. The purpose of the study was to investigate the transdermal absorption of RA, its tissue distribution and absolute bioavailability. In ex vivo experiments, permeation of RA across excised rat skin was about 8 times higher from alcoholic solution than from water, indicating that ethanol may act as sorption promoter. The flux from water or alcoholic solution was 4.4 or 10 micrograms/cm2/h, and the tleg was 7.8 or 3.7 h, respectively. After I.V. administration, RA is best described by a 2-compartment open model; t1/2 = 1.8 h, t1/2 alpha = 0.07 h, V tau = 2.3 L/kg, V beta = 15.3 L/kg. Upon topical administration of RA in form of a W/O ointment (25 mg/kg, 50 cm2), the absolute bioavailability was 60%. 0.5 hours after I.V. administration, RA was detected and measured in brain, heart, liver, lung, muscle, spleen and bone tissue, showing the highest concentration in lung tissue (13 times the blood concentration), followed by spleen, heart and liver tissue. 4.5 hours (peak time) after topical administration of about 3 mg on the hind leg over 20 cm2, RA was measured in blood, skin, muscle and bone tissue. The percutaneous route of administration seems to be a promising one for the therapeutic use of RA as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agent.
This study says ethanol is the key. I'm no chemist or biochemist so I've got zero knowledge in terms of how to use ethanol to create a solution of topical RA with moisturizers like coconut oil, etc. I imagine it's not too difficult, but probably would not be as simple as taking 70% ethanol, dumping RA 20% powder linked earlier in this thread, mixing it with oils and just rubbing it on skin. There's probably more to it. I also have no idea how much purity is required or the effective percentage and what would be considered toxic or overkill.
I found this study using it for atopic dermatitis way back in 2008. Not sure why nothing has come of this or why cosmetic companies aren't suddenly including it in their products.
Edited by Nate-2004, 07 July 2016 - 05:54 PM.