Essential Oils have been used across many cultures and in all continents of the world for their soothing and medicinal properties. These traditional folk medicines go as far back as the 12th Century and make up a lot of the core ingredients in modern medicines that are used today. Lately, Essential Oils have made a massive resurgence due to consumers adopting more natural and holistic approaches to health care and beauty.
How Essential Oils Enhance Your Life
When thinking of ways in which Essential Oils can be of benefit to you in everyday life, the main component that jumps to mind, is your Mind.
Mental health benefits are widely acknowledged by regular users, and so many people keep small rollerball applicators or a liquid dropper with them to apply some much need calming energy. They can also be utilised with a diffuser when meditating and psychotherapists and counsellors may diffuse the soothing aroma of Clary Sage or Lavender to aid calm thoughts and relaxation.
Rosemary is said to improve focus and concentration, it also aids memory. This is a fantastic tool in revision sessions or prior to examinations or important meetings when quick brain recall is essential.
Lavender is used to help sleep and there are many products that you can spray on to your pillow or into your bedroom to help you relax and drift off for a good night’s sleep. A few drops of Lavender oil into a hot bath before bed is a great way to unwind the day's stress and help with a good night’s sleep.
Frankincense, sometimes referred to as the ‘King of Essential Oils’ is used as natural mood booster. This is particularly effective for women, as it acts a natural balancer of hormones. It has been shown to stimulate the area of your brain that governs emotions. It can boost your mood and energize you. One study found that it even reduces depression in terminally ill patients.
Bach Rescue Remedy has been Trusted for over 80 Years
A very popular product is Bach Rescue Remedy, developed by Dr. Bach in the 1930s, this blend of five flowers; Rose, Clematis, Star of Bethlehem, Impatiens, and Cherry Plum alleviate stress and anxiety. It is great to have in your bag and simply use when faced with difficult moments throughout your day.
Bach’s Rescue Remedy is world-famous and used by so many people when they feel in need of a natural boost to their mind, body, and soul, it can help restore inner calm. The product on Amazon UK has nearly 9000 reviews scoring 4.6 stars, so clearly lots of happy users out there. I would suggest this is a great place to start your journey into experimenting with natural therapies to aid mood and mental health. This is a helpful tool that can take the sharp edges off overwhelming emotions.
Please note that not all Essential oils are made for ingesting so make sure that you read their instructions carefully before using, also do not use them if pregnant or breastfeeding.
Essential Oils to Benefit Physical Health
Moving on to physical health, the best oils to use for pain are Bergamot, Chamomile, and Marjoram. They will assist in joint and muscle pain.
Headaches are often treated with Peppermint or Rosemary rollerballs. Ginger is a good digestive oil that can help relieve nausea.
Arnica is very well-known for its healing properties and used for bruises, sprains, reduction of swelling and even arthritis patients utilise it for joint pain. I know lots of mums that would not go without it in their medicine box, as it is a great way to reduce bruises on little knees that so often take a bashing after a day out in the park.
Tea Tree oil is great for blemishes and spots, due to the anti-bacterial properties. Applying a small amount of Tea Tree oil on a spot or blemish will bring down inflammation and the anti-bacterial action will speed up the healing and stop any further infection.
There really are so many different oils to experiment with and different combinations that work in unison. It is a case of seeing what works for you individually.
Ways to Use Essential Oils
There are many ways to make use of Essential Oils. A diffuser can be placed around the home for a subtle room fragrance enhancer, the basic oil with sticks option is easily available in all home stores and is priced from around £6.00 up to £60.00 depending on how fancy you wish to go.
The electrical diffusers sell for about £25 upwards, and they expel a light mist of oil and water into the room. These work particularly well with Lavender oil in your bedroom for sleep and relaxation. Another great idea is to use the diffuser in the winter months with Lemon and Eucalyptus as they can help stave off colds and flu.
If you want something simple, then you can use your favourite oil into some potpourri or a small piece of wood that will naturally emit a light fragrance into the atmosphere. This is a very easy and inexpensive way to freshen your home.
Adding a few drops into your massage oil is a great way to apply the oils, lovely citrus oils such as Lemon, Grapefruit, or Orange will provide a massive energy boost to tired muscles.
Homemade Beauty
With consumers becoming a lot more eco-aware and health-conscious there has been a rise in the popularity of homemade beauty products.
I personally like to make body butter from Shea Butter, Beeswax, Vitamin E oil, and few drops of Lemon Essential Oil. This makes a great intensive moisturiser that smells great and is very energizing after a shower.
Adding some lovely smelling Essential oils to moisturisers or lip balms is a brilliant idea. Rose Oil is very good for a facial moisturiser as it has anti-aging benefits.
Uses Around your Home
Similar to home-made beauty products consumers are also moving away from harsher chemical cleaning products when cleaning their homes. There are lots of ways you can use Essential oils to assist cleaning in a more natural way that is good for your health and the environment.
A fantastic natural way to deodorise your bin is to drop some Lime or Grapefruit Oil onto a few cotton wool balls and leave them under the bin bag in your kitchen bin. This will help with unwanted food smells.
Drop some Lavender oil onto some small pieces of sanded wood and add to your drawers to repel moths, this will also add a lovely aroma to your clothing or underwear to stop clothing from smelling musty when not in use.
Add some Orange or Grapefruit oil into your bucket when washing floors or add some into a water spray bottle and use it as a natural counter cleaner. Obviously, these are natural so will not be as strong or germ-busting as a chemical cleaner but when used regularly, they will cut down the need for harsh bleach-based products, and the less used all the better for the world overall.
My Top 10 Essential Oils – Quick Use Guide
These are my top 10 favourite oils with a quick handy guide to their benefit. I have a great set from Phatoil that is a really good set comprising of 12 oils a wooden diffuser and handy glass droppers.
- Lemon - Energise
- Lavender - Aids Sleep
- Tea Tree - Anti Bacterial
- Citronella - Repels Mosquitos
- Arnica - Reduce Bruising
- Rosemary - Concentration/Focus
- Peppermint - Mental fatigue
- Frankincense - Mood Boosting
- Grapefruit - deodorising
- Rose - Anti-aging/skincare
These other blogs might be of interest
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