Essential oils have become increasingly popular within the past few years due to holistic medicine becoming more accepted in society.
I have been using essential oils for the past 8+ years, and I swear by them. I personally use the Young Living Essential Oils brand because they are pure and safe. There are three ways you can use essential oils:
- Topically: apply directly onto your skin. It’s recommended to mix the essential oil with a carrier oil (coconut oil is my favorite) to avoid a skin reaction.
- Aromatically: run through a diffuser in bedroom, living room, or office space. You put water into the diffuser and add a few drops of essential oils (you can use several different oils to make your own blend).
- Internally: you mix with food or drink. ONLY use safe and high quality essential oils (Young Living Essential Oils are the only ones I use and they are pure and great quality).
Below are some of the most popular essential oils that I would say are great for starters, along with some uses and benefits!
- Peppermint: apply topically on stomach for stomach pain, cramps and/or nausea. Apply topically to temples and back of neck for headache relief. Add a few drops to water to wake up and enhance healthy gut function.
- Lavender: apply topically to the bottom of your feet before bed for a restful sleep. Add a few drops to your bath to unwind or diffuse in your diffuser to relax after a long day. Add a few drops to your lotion, shampoo or skincare products for a classic scent.
- Tea tree: apply topically to acne to reduce blemishes. Add a few drops to a water in a spray bottle to freshen linens and towels. Add a few drops to homemade moisturizers and soaps for cleansing properties.
- Lemon: add a few drops to water to help maintain a healthy immune system and receive antioxidant properties. Add a few drops to a diffuser when you are feeling down or depressed. Add a few drops to tea, baked goods, marinades, etc.
- Thieves: add a few drops to water, tea or coffee to help maintain a healthy immune system and receive antioxidant benefits. Add a few drops to food helps cleanse the digestive tract. Apply topically to outside of throat or add a few drops to spray bottle with water and spray in throat if experiencing sore throat symptoms.
- Frankincense: apply topically to body after a workout for anti-inflammatory benefits. Add a few drops to your moisturizer to help even skin tone.
- Purification: add a few drops on cotton balls and place them in places that need freshness (air vents, drawers, gym bags, etc.). Add a few drops to a water bottle and spritz on linens to ensure no musty scent.
There are two final tips I would like to give all you readers who want to start dabbling with essential oils. First, make sure you do your research on the brand to ensure they are pure and safe (so that you can use them topically and internally). If you just plan on diffusing them you can get away with using a random cheaper brand off of Amazon or something. But if you want to try the other methods of using them, definitely ensure the quality of the oils you are putting into your body. And second, be careful diffusing oils if you have pets. Certain oils will make your pets feel sick, and can be poisonous to them. Tea tree, cinnamon, citrus oils, wintergreen, ylang ylang, pennyroyal and sweet birch are just a few that are not good for pets.
