Tips on using essential oils for health & beauty
I was clearing my stash recently and noticed amongst others, that I have numerous essential oils of the same scent. Actually, I’m not a heavy user of essential oil. I probably used more in my younger days. The ones I have currently are mainly used for my son and in some DIY concoctions. Even then, I don’t use them on a daily basis. So what essential oils do I own and what do I use them for?
The essential oils I use on a frequent basis are rose geranium, lavender, tea tree and eucalyptus. Occasionally, I’ll indulge on lemon, lemongrass and bergamot too.
Create a specific mood or atmosphere
My husband likes to use the lavender essential oil with a burner when he is resting; I guess it helps him feel relax and calm. Aside from the essential oil, he has stocked up lots of scented candles too. Me? Well, I usually just enjoy alongside but using essential oil in a diffuser is not something that comes to the top of my mind. If I do use one, my favorite is rose geranium but my husband dislike that scent so I don’t use it as often as I would like to.
Provide relief from a cold
I use eucalyptus essential oil a lot more, especially on my son. I use it when he’s having a cold and to help him inhale the smell, I’ll drop some into a bathtub with reasonably hot water for him to soak in or dilute it with a base oil and rub onto his chest. Eucalyptus is widely considered as an effective remedy for respiratory ills because of its invigorating action on the mucus membranes. So even though my son doesn’t like the scent much but he will quietly let me rub the oil on him as he knows it provides great relief each time. Occasionally, I’ll get him to inhale from a tissue paper scented with a few drops of the essential oil. I was told that it is also good to rub a diluted essential oil on the feet for direct benefits but I haven’t tried this.
Disinfect the air
At the same time, I also use both eucalyptus essential oil and tea tree oil to disinfect our room each time someone is ill with a flu bug at home. What I do is to pour numerous drops of the oil onto our pillows and bed and this can help to prevent the flu bug from spreading. Tea tree is good because it is anti-bacterial but like eucalyptus, the medicinal scent is very strong. So every time I do this, I get a earful from my husband and son. Aside from disinfecting the air, I sometimes use a few drops of the essential oils in a pail of water to mop the floor.
Use as aromatherapy in body oils and DIY mixtures
Rose geranium is my current choice when I want some stimulating massage oil or body scrub. I love the scent and my mood always get better using this essential oil. I also use tea tree oil heavily as a body deodorant some times. It also works to reduce acne inflammation when I apply it directly on my skin or dilute it with aloe vera.
Caution when using essential oil
Essential oils do get absorbed. When you smell it, the scent is transported into your olfactory mucous membrane sending electrical impulses to the brain, which affect both body functions and emotions. When you massage or bathe, the essential oils you used are absorbed into the skin and enter the blood circulation. That is why those who are pregnant, breastfeeding or have a medical condition should try to avoid using them. Here are five other things to take note when using essential oils:
1. Never apply undiluted essential oil directly on your skin
While essential oils such as lavender and tea tree are considered safe to apply topically, it is always best to use essential oils on the skin by diluting in a base oil. Never use too much essential oil all at once; as a guide, add 10 – 25 drops in 100 ml base oil for body massages or create a facial mask by mixing 2 to 4 drops of essential oil into your mixture.
2. Keep away from eyes and mucous membranes
You should take caution not to get any of the essential oil into your eye or mucous membrane such as rubbing the oil directly onto the nose.
3. Conduct a patch test if you are using essential oil for the first time
If you have sensitive skin but want to apply essential oil on your skin, please conduct a patch test prior to using. You can do this by blending 1 drop of essential oil with about 10 drops of a base oil such as Jojoba or Almond oil, and apply to the inside of your forearm. If your skin turns red, you are allergic to this essential oil.
4. Some essential oils increase photosensitivity
Some essential oils should not be used before sun exposure. Most of these are of the citrus family such as Bergamot, Bitter Orange, Grapefruit, Lime, Mandarin, Orange, Lemon, Lemongrass. So it is best to use this in the night rather than in the day.
5. Increase shelf life of essential oils
Most essential oils have a shelf life of at least 2 years; some can get stored for up to 18 months. You can probably tell that it has degraded when the smell is not as strong as before. The key to extending the shelf life is to store the essential oils properly such as keeping away from direct sunlight, and certainly they are not to be stored in the fridge.
So are you an active user of essential oils? What are your favorites?
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I only became an essential oil user recently, when I gained interest in DIY recipes. I use them for aroma, for face steaming and for my DIY body/face oils and masks. I love the scent of lavender and lemongrass. I’m keen on getting Rose Geranium next. If I continue mixing my own face oils, I’ll probably get Neroli,too. Right now, I’m loving Carrot Seed EO in my face oils and masks. ?
A few drops of essential oil into the water to mop floor. That’s new & interesting! ?
i’m using 8 drops of tea tree oil for scrubbing. mix it with bath salt and olive oil. it will give you beautiful radiant skin.
Carrot Seed EO sounds nice! Neroli is good ah, but I find it expensive.
Like an anti-bacterial wash but in DIY style. ?
Sounds interesting! I tried one foot hot salt scrub using eucalyptus essential oil. Wrote about it here:
https://www.vivawoman.net/2010/12/06/diy-beauty-a-natural-bliss-hot-salt-scrub-dupe/
yeah.. neroli is too expensive… ?
I got the same tea tree oil as u and
I often use the oil directly on skin..
There is once that i got a small insect bite and after I apply the oil, the bite got even bigger & redder..
It shocks me, luckily it subsides after awhile.
And I think tat tea tree is good for pimples & rashes to me.. Tiger balm works better on my bites..
i’m using rosemary oil and clove oil for my hair. they are good for eliminate dandruff.
Tea tree works well for some but not for others. A few readers mentioned that they had success using it for acne…for me, it only reduce inflammation but doesn’t do much otherwise. But now your comment reminded me that I had good success using tea tree to get rid of some red spots on my body. But I never found out what they were!
Yes, I noticed that essential oils are good for some scalp problems. But I’ve only used commercial products that include essential oils in the formulation but never tried using essential oils on their own on my hair.
Thursday Planatation Tea Tree Oil has been my multi-purpose oil for the past 2 years. I use it for insect bites, acne, pimples, skin rashes & mild skin infections.
When I was sporting long hair, I had tried mixing Lavender Essential Oil with unscented shampoo as I was told it prevents hairloss. However, the results was not significant. I had since chopped off my chest-length hair to shoulder length and I think my hair has lesser hair fall now.
Looks like Thursday Plantation’s Tea Tree Oil works very well for you! And I didn’t know lavender can prevent hair loss…shall find out more. ?
Where can we buy essential oils online? what kind of oil (besides tea tree) is good for treating acne?
http://www.milagrotrading.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=16_18
– small quantities and not wide range
Mountainrose herb-
http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/aroma/ess.html
I still prefer Plant and Planet at Centrepoint (if you are in singapore ;))
I love citrus smells especially bergamont! I was had a shampoo customized at plant and planet with citrus mix with a touch of patchouli- super wow!
I prefer ylang ylang to lavender for relaxation.
Tea tree oil as mentioned above, is all time multi-tasker at my home- cleaner, disinfectant, deodorant etc etc ;))
TLE: I must try to visit Plant & Planet. Hardly go to Centrepoint these days.
Well, it didn’t worked out for me. You may have to try mixing it with some carrier oil and massage onto your hair scalp.
I recently mixed tea tree oil in my organic shampoo to improve my scalp ? it helped a lot! ?
Love lavender, frankincense & rose too asaromatherapy…
I do this as well with tea tree oil for mopping as well, and it helps to refresh the air at the same time too.My husband use hinoki oil to ward our dogs off his car, apparently dogs really hates them!
I was just at Aveda, where they mixed a complimentary blend for me, using a carrier oil and orange, lemon and lime – refreshing. I won’t be spraying it on myself, but into the air.
hi, can you elaborate more on base oil? thank you ?
and where did you buy diffuser? im interested in getting one. haha
Oh using tea tree in your shampoo? Sounds like a good idea for those with problematic scalp.
Hinoki oil? Never heard of this one…interesting!
I can just try to imagine the scent…must be rather uplifting! ?
Base oil are pure oil like olive oil, jojoba oil, almond oil, grapeseed oil, etc.
Diffuser can be gotten at stalls/shops selling essential oils. Seen a number of them available at pushcarts. I got mine a long while back so can’t remember where I got it now.
I started using different essential oils when I started my healthy hair journey. I was using Peppermint, Rosemary, Lavender, Tea Tree, Sage, Clove. They each have benefited my hair’s health and growth. As a carrier oil I use either Jojoba, or Castor oil. Also, I created my own cuticle oil using a mixture of EO and Jojoba Oil. Love the various EOs.
Hmmm…I tried a blend of hair serum with essential oils to keep my oilies at bay and it worked well. It was a product though. Maybe I should experiment myself.