I have been quite familiar with the use of essential oils since I was young. The knowledge of these oils passed down from my grandfather to my mom and she used them on me and my sister. I didn’t know better than that whenever I had a bruise or cut, my mom would get her “special oil” and rub it on the affected spot, or when I had any blemishes during my puberty, there was this one particular oil that would help them dry out. Also when I was dealing with anxiety & stress during exams, my dad would put together a mix of oils and put them in a roller bottle to rub on my wrists, which helped me to relax and calm down. But I have never shown much interest in these oils myself to be completely honest, so I didn’t have much knowledge about them, until a few months back. It caught my eye that you can use these oils for a plethora of reasons in one of those cute diffusors, something I wasn’t yet familiar with. I started reading about the benefits of diffusing these oils and about all the other uses. And let me tell you, the possibilities are endless!
Use of Essential Oils
Essential oils are most commonly used in aromatherapy, in which they are inhaled through various methods. Inhaling the aromas from essential oils can stimulate areas of your limbic system, which is a part of your brain that plays a role in emotions, behaviours, sense of smell and long-term memory. Essential oils can also be diluted and applied to the skin, since they can have medicinal effects when absorbed.
Just be aware that essential oils may cause some side effects for some people, especially if applied directly to the skin or ingested. The latter is still a topic for debate, some say you can ingest certain essential oils (diluted) but others say essential oils should never be swallowed. Therefore, I will not include any recipes in this blog post that suggest ingesting these oils.
Benefits of Essential Oils
The benefits of essential oils are seriously endless, but I will share a few of my favourites.
Essential oils:
- Can relieve period cramps
- Can grow your hair/nails
- Can repel bugs
- Can improve your sleep
- Can ease muscle pains
- Can rejuvenate the skin
- Can boost your energy
- Can aid in the healing of bruises and cuts
- Can soothe your hangover
- Can reduce stress
- Can clear sinus congestion
- Can serve as a natural household cleaner and disinfectant
- Can treat blemishes
- Can enhance your immune system
- Can increase your libido
Favourite Blends to Diffuse
I absolutely love to diffuse my essential oils and that I can choose the oils based on what effect I am looking for. The process from inhalation to your brain corresponding with the smell only takes a matter of seconds. I love looking on Pinterest to find an oil blend I like. Just look for the result your want to achieve and there will be multiple blends to choose from. But to get you started right away, I will give you some of mine:
- Focus:
Lemon: 2 drops
Peppermint 1 drop
Rosemary: 1 drop - Headache:
Peppermint: 3 drops
Lavender: 3 drops
Eucalyptus: 1 drop
Rosemary: 1 drop - Energy:
Orange: 3 drops
Lemon: 2 drops
Peppermint: 1 drop - Relax:
Lavender: 2 drops
Bergamot: 2 drops
Patchouli: 2 drops
- Sleep:
Lavender: 3 drops
Chamomile: 2 drops
Bergamot: 2 drops - Immunity:
Lavender: 3 drops
Lemon: 3 drops
Eucalyptus: 2 drops
Rosemary: 2 drops - Date night / Libido:
Jasmine: 2 drops
Rose: 2 drops
Patchouli: 2 drops
DIY’s
Most of these “Do It Yourself” projects will need a carrier oil. This is necessary to dilute the essential oils because applying them to your skin directly can be harmful. Some examples of carrier oils are: jojoba oil, almond oil, fractionated coconut oil and my personal favourite for my face & hair is squalane oil. If you never heard about squalane before, I really recommend it because it does not clog your pores and it absorbs really good & fast (far better than other thicker oils).
In these DIY’s I do not include the amount of drops because it depends how strong you want your product to be. But there are some general dilution guides that I recommend you should follow. Since I use essential oils from Tisserand, I included their dilution guide.
- Muscle pains:
Mix a carrier oil with Ginger, Rosemary & Lemongrass. This will bring warmth & enhance local circulation. - Period cramps:
Mix a carrier oil with Lavender, Peppermint & Clary Sage. This will relax your muscles which helps releasing the tension associated with cramping. You can apply it topically on your abdominal area or add a few drops (of the pure essential oils) to a warm bath.
- Blemishes:
Mix squalane oil with Tea Tree & Rosemary. This will dry out your pimples and is anti-inflammatory so it will reduce redness. When you have pimples beneath your skin, like cystic acne I would recommend a more gentle approach. For this you can mix squalane oil with Lavender & Eucalyptus. These oils are both antimicrobial and will soothe the painful area.
- Hair growth:
Mix a carrier oil (squalane for an oily scalp, or fractionated coconut oil for a dry scalp) with Peppermint & Rosemary. This will increases blood flow to your scalp and helps improve the strength of your follicles. Always test patch first, because the peppermint can be quite strong and you don’t want to feel like your scalp is on fire, just a nice tingling sensation. What I recommend doing when you apply this oil to your scalp is to flip your hair over, so you are upside down and massage the oil into your scalp in this position for 5 minutes. This is called the inversion method which will also boost your circulation and gets your blood flowing to your roots, which means better results! I leave it in overnight and wash it out in the morning but you can also wash it out sooner (when the tingling feeling subsides). - Bruises and cuts:
Mix a carrier oil with Lavender, Helichrysum & Frankincense. This combination will disinfect, calm/soothe, reduce swelling & rejuvenate the skin. - All purpose household cleaner:
For 500 ml of all purpose cleaner, you will need 375 ml distilled or boiled and cooled water, 125 ml white vinegar and around 25 drops of essential oils. For the essential oils your can use Lemon, Tea Tree & Peppermint. - Skin serum:
Of course, this will depend on your skin type, so I have a few recommendations for the most common skin types:
Oily skin: Mix a carrier oil (I advise squalane or jojoba oil) with Tea Tree & Geranium & Lavender
Dry skin: Mix a carrier oil (I advise sweet almond oil) with Frankincense & Lavender
Aging skin: Mix a carrier oil (I advise argan or castor oil) with Frankincense & Geranium & Lavender
Wondering how to mix these oils? Do you need a visual? Watch this quick video to get you started!
The blends I mentioned above, to use in a diffusor, can also be used in a roller bottle. This way you can take your roller with you and use it in times you need it. For example, take “Focus” to your exams or use “Sleep” to roll on if you have trouble sleeping in a different bed (or if you don’t have a diffusor in your bedroom). The inner wrist, your temples and behind your ears are common locations to apply roll-on essential oils, because your arteries are running alongside these places, it makes it easier for your body to absorb the essential oils into the bloodstream.
I hope you liked this blog post and this inspired you to (safely) start playing around with essential oils! Remember to keep them out of reach of children.