If you’ve ever spent any time looking at wellness-related magazines or social media, you’ve encountered people raving about the benefits of essential oils. Essential oils are everywhere, and they are popular for good reason. But if you want to incorporate essential oils into your life, it’s important to first know what they are and the best ways to introduce them into your lifestyle.
What Are Essential Oils?
An essential oil is a concentrated plant extract that contains volatile (easily evaporated) organic compounds. They are extracted by distillation and contain potent chemicals from the plants from which they come. It takes a significant amount of a plant to make such a concentrated product, and a little bit of these beneficial oils goes a long way.
People seeking to improve their mental, physical or emotional health can benefit from using pure essential oils, and they also work great for beautification and cleaning. Different essential oils offer different benefits, and they are often blended to deliver combined benefits.
Essential Oils Basics
The easiest way to incorporate essential oils into your life is to simply inhale them. You can reap the aromatherapy benefits by holding the bottle up to your nose and taking a deep breath. Another popular method is to use a diffuser. Electronic essential oil diffusers are easy to use and circulate the scent around the room.
You never want to apply undiluted essential oils directly to the skin or household surfaces, so if you’re going to use them topically, you’ll need to dilute them. You can add a few drops to lotion, body oils or a hot bath, and adding them to a spray bottle of water and vinegar makes a great household cleaner. You can also add a few drops to a sink of dishwater or load of laundry.
There are so many essential oils to choose from, with many different helpful properties. If you want to get started with the most useful, check out this list of oils everyone should have–including their aromas, best uses and benefits:
Lavender
Lavender is one of the most popular essential oils because of its delightful floral aroma and its powerful soothing abilities. It has the power to calm the mind, improve circulation, and lessen feelings of tension. It’s a lovely oil to use on the body by adding a few drops to lotions, body oils, hair treatments and in your diffuser.
Tea Tree
Well known for its ability to cleanse, tea tree is an excellent choice for use as an astringent and cleaner. It has a crisp and spicy herbal aroma and works well when added to body washes, body scrubs, cleaning sprays and diffusers.
Sweet Orange
This delicious citrusy aroma is refreshing and balancing, and can promote feelings of wellbeing. A little of it goes a long way in helping you feel more upbeat and energized. Add just a couple of drops to your favorite skin products.
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus has a medicinal and forestry aroma. It’s excellent for using topically in salves and rubs to lessen the effects of minor skin irritations. It also helps to promote clear nasal passages when added to hot steamy water and inhaled.
Peppermint
Peppermint has a classic menthol aroma that is herbal and invigorating. This uplifting oil works great to energize the body and offers cooling benefits for the skin. Add it to scalp oils and hair rinses, salves or pre-workout body mists for an extra energy boost.
Rosemary
This essential oil can awaken the mind and improve concentration. It’s uplifting and energizing and purifies the airspace. It has an herbal, medicinal aroma and works wonderfully as a part of scrubs, soaks and room mists.
Lemon
This crisp, fresh and fruity essential oil is most commonly used for air freshening and household cleaning but can also be added to your favorite body care products. It’s refreshing and pungent and works well in cleansers, lotions, cleaning sprays and diffusers.
Lemongrass
The fresh, earthy, citrus-like aroma brightens and uplifts, making this essential oil great for cleaning the body and the home. The purifying properties of lemongrass are excellent for adding to cleaners, creams and cleaning wipes. Add a few drops to a diffuser in the morning to start the day on a fresh note.
Patchouli
The earthy, floral essential oil aroma is grounding and relaxing and makes a great blend with other oils. It can help deodorize the body and soothe irritated skin. Add it to body creams, perfumes, body mists, diffusers and during meditation or yoga.
Cinnamon
This warm and spicy essential oil has impressive abilities to boost alertness, improve blood circulation and freshen breath. Use it in your diffuser when you want a warm and calming way to increase your mental focus while staying relaxed.
Frankincense
This complex, earthy aroma has been a sought-after essential oil since ancient times. It is uplifting yet grounding and a favorite fragrance to use in spiritual practices like prayer and meditation. Frankincense also has the ability to smooth the appearance of wrinkles, making it an excellent addition to night creams and moisturizers.
Things to Keep in Mind About Essential Oils
The most important thing to consider when choosing essential oils is quality. Not all oils are created equal, and you want to stay away from those that are synthetic. Always make sure you choose high quality, unadulterated, pure essential oils. It’s important to do your own research and always make informed, safe choices with essential oils.
There are many helpful online essential oils resources that can educate you on what to use for specific purposes and how to use them. Overall, essential oils are a safe and affordable way to aid in well-being without the adverse effects associated with synthetic chemicals.
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