If you want medicine from nature, and not from a laboratory, then you will love essential oils.
Essential oils are for more than just smelling good. They are potent substances that promote healing, kill germs, uplift your mood, and stop inflammation. There are numerous scientific studies that demonstrate these effects. The oil from one plant may contain hundreds of chemical compounds that work in harmony with each other and your body to promote well being.
There are so many essential oils that it can be over whelming to know where to start. Here is a quick guide to some of my favorites to help you get started using essential oils.
5 Must Have Essential Oils
If I had to choose the 5 most important, can't-live-without essential oil singles (not blends), it would be these:
Lavender   Everyone loves lavender. You probably know that lavender is very calming and promotes sleep and relaxation. But did you know that it also it is antiseptic? It soothes and heals burns. Lavender helps clear acne. My husband rubs drops of lavender, peppermint and lemon oils behind his ear and down his jaw to ease hay fever. Lavender is extremely gentle on sensitive skin. Use it on irritated skin, scratches, burns, for sleep or relaxation, and allergies.
Copaiba   Copaiba stops inflammation. If you have tight muscles or old injuries that ache, copaiba will be your best friend. I was first turned on to the power of essential oils when a friend gave me a little copaiba to dab on my wrist that had a torn ligament that really bothered me. Soon after applying it, the throbbing stopped. I don't use over the counter pain killers, and I hadn't realized that there was a natural product that could turn off inflammation that quickly. I also witnessed copaiba reduce the swelling and itch of a sting on an eyelid within a few hours. When I am feeling tight or sore, I love nothing more than to take a hot bath with a few drops of copaiba and lavender sprinkled in.
Oregano   Oregano is a potent antimicrobial. If you are sick or have an infection, rub oregano oil on your feet. Swallow capsules of oregano oil to kill unwanted bacteria and yeasts in your gut. Taken internally, it also stimulates bile flow and aids digestion. Be cautious with oregano as it is very strong.
Peppermint   Peppermint refreshes and relaxes.  My favorite use for peppermint is to apply a few drops to the back of my neck if I have a headache. It can be applied to any tight muscles and it will penetrate for deep relief. You may combine it with copaiba, lavender, and palo santo for synergistic benefits. Peppermint is great to relieve nausea. Inhale it to clear up sinuses when you have a cold or allergies. You can make home made tooth powder or mouthwash and add a few drops of peppermint to give it the classic minty taste and freshen your breath.
Palo Santo Palo Santo is great for joint pain. I lovingly call palo santo the "stinky sock" essential oil. It is one of the few oils that I do not love the smell of, unfortunately. But I still use it if my knee or any joint hurts. Palo santo promotes cartilage regrowth, and reduces inflammation.
What is So Essential About Essential Oils?
Essential oils are completely natural substances, but it would be difficult to make them at home. They are not made by steeping dried herbs in a base oil (that would be infused oil), something which is easily done in your kitchen.
Essential oils are made by taking massive amounts of plant material and distilling out the volatile compounds, yielding a small amount of oil.
The result is a super concentrated product full of the plant's phytochemicals. A little goes a long way.
Ways to Use Essential Oils
If you are using oils on a child, or someone who has very sensitive skin, you should dilute your oils.
For some applications I put the oils directly on my skin, such as rubbing it on sore muscles, achy joints, infections, etc.
In other cases, such as when you have respiratory illness, or when your goal is to uplift your mood, it's good to breathe in the oils rather than absorb them quickly through the skin. You can dab oils on your shirt collar (if you are not worried about minor oil stains, which honestly, are hardly noticeable) or on a necklace with large beads (such as amber or lava rock). The smell with stay with you for hours.
A popular way to fill a room with essential oil is to use a diffuser which blows a fine mist of oil into the room. Limit the use of a diffuser to about 3 hours. (It can be unhealthy to breathe in diffused oils for too long.) Diffusers are especially good for when you are combatting respiratory infections.
As a soap maker, I only scent my soaps with real essential oils. Why ruin home made soap by adding toxic fragrance oils to it, when essential oils would increase its therapeutic effect? Fragrance oils are cheaper, but essential oils are worth the money. Use 2 to 4% the weight of base oils of the recipe in essential oils.
Salves and body butters are other great ways to utilize essential oils.
Some oils can be added to a bath, but not all. I like to add lavender and copaiba to a bath, but definitely not peppermint or oregano as they cause a prickly sensation.
Once you get started with essential oils, you will be hooked. I'm constantly amazed at how well they work.
No where is the saying more true, You get what you pay for, than with essential oils. Because good quality oils can be pricey, cheap versions can be found that are adulterated or mixed with a cheap base oil.
Do you have a favorite essential oil? How do you use it?
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