Essential oil benefits are countless. Even though these plant oils are cool and hip to use nowadays – they’ve been around since the time of the Black Plague (and probably before that!).
You may already have a fancy diffuser at your home or office where you use essential oils as a room freshener. But there are soooo many essential oil benefits besides just making the air smell nice.
By the end of this post, you are going to want to start an essential oil collection! Let’s dig in:
Why Use Essential Oils?
Not gonna lie… I have a love affair with essential oils. (And the way they work is fascinating!)
Besides the fact that they smell incredible, there are many essential oil benefits for your well being!
Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on the internet. If you’re pregnant or have a health issue, check with your doctor before using essential oils. And don’t ingest them.
Essential Oil Benefit #1: They’re all Natural
My family used to laugh at me when I would spend “extra” money for organic products. My response was always the same: “If I spray Windex on an apple and then wash it off with water, would you eat the apple?”
Everyone had the same response, “No way, gross!”
I rest my case :)
One of the best essential oil benefits is that you don’t have to worry about side effects because they are not loaded with chemicals like commercial products.
Essential oils are simply the distilled compounds of plants—that’s it! Au naturale! They are super concentrated, so you only use a few drops at a time.
Just to illustrate, one drop of peppermint essential oil is compared to 28 mugs of peppermint tea. I love peppermint tea as much as the next girl, but how much of it can you really drink in a day? 28 cups? Me thinks not.
I’d rather drink one or two cups of tea (because it tastes amazing) and put a couple of drops of peppermint oil in my diffuser to get the full benefits. (DON’T ingest peppermint oil!)
Tip: To ensure the oils are really all natural and not synthetic chemicals, you must buy quality oils. I only use Arome oils because they are 100% pure, undiluted and therapeutic grade.
Essential Oil Benefit #2: They Work on a Cellular Level
The over-the-counter medication you use to make you feel better when you’re sick may alleviate your symptoms (or not), but essential oils are said to help the root of the issue.
Essential oils work with your body to improve its natural response – instead of masking symptoms.
Our bodies have so many natural healing abilities that we don’t consider often enough. Though essential oils are NOT medicine and are NOT a cure, they are said to give our bodies natural responses some extra oomph!
For example, a doctor can give you antibiotics to fight a bacterial illness. But antibiotics won’t help viral and fungal issues.
But, there are many essential oils that are antiviral and antifungal! (we’ll talk about these in a minute)
And it’s fun to keep a little kit of essential oils to keep on hand… eucalyptus oil in the diffuser when you have a cold? Yes, please!
Here’s a quick list of issues that I personally use essential oils for (in my diffuser or diluted in a carrier oil and rubbed onto my skin):
- Headaches – lavender oil, peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil
- Allergies
- Asthma
- Sinus problems – tea tree oil
- Ear issues
- Sore throat
- Digestive discomfort – peppermint oil
- Muscle pain – eucalyptus, sage, basil oil
- Depression/feeling “blah” – lavender oil
- Anxiety – lavender oil
- Skin irritations – tea tree oil
- Nail fungus – tea tree oil, lemongrass oil
- Better sleep (and dream recall)
- Increased psychic ability
This gives you an idea of the wide range of benefits you can get from a few splashes of essential oils. But there are many, many more!
Essential Oil Benefit #3: They are Cost Effective
Sure, a little bottle of essential oil may cost a little bit of money up front, but it will last a long time (because you only use a tiny bit at a time.
Tip: Create an essential oil “kit” to keep in your home. Of course, it should include some of the most popular essential oils and of course, a diffuser. When you feel a headache or sore throat coming on – voila! You can reap the essential oil benefits immediately!
How to Use Essential Oils
There are several ways use essential oils and reap their benefits, such as:
- Diffusers. You can inhale the oils (aromatherapy) using a diffuser (personally, this is my favorite method because it makes the house smell amazing and my whole family benefits from the properties in the oils). If you don’t have a diffuser, you can put a couple of drops of oil on a cotton ball or rub a drop in your hands. Breathing in the oils can do things like: kill germs, open your nasal passages and relax you.
- Use topically. Essential oils are great rubbed onto skin for things like headaches and sore muscles. Tip: When using essential oils topically, it’s important to use a carrier oil so that your skin doesn’t get irritated. That’s because the oils are uber concentrated. Mixing a few drops in a carrier oil will “carry them” into your skin where they can be absorbed. Carrier oils are vegetable oils like sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, grapeseed oil, olive oil or coconut oil. You can use this method to relieve achy muscles, get rid of headaches and open sinus passages.
- Take internally. Some people take essential oils internally in the form of gel caps, though I NEVER recommend it. You must be VERY experienced using oils to use this method.
Specific Essential Oil Benefits
I’ve personally used essential oils for some of these common ailments:
- Headaches—I ease headache pain using essential oils in a few different ways. For migraines, I put a few drops of lavender, peppermint and eucalyptus oils into a carrier oil. After mixing it well, I rub it into the bottoms of my feet, the crown of my head, behind my ears, at my temples, across my forehead, and behind my neck. If I have time, I add the same oils to a cool foot bath. I soak my feet for 15 minutes and soak up the goodness. If you must keep working in spite of a headache (like I often do), you can add the oils to a diffuser to get relief.
- Insomnia – A couple of drops of chamomile and lavender oil on your pillow is soothing for insomniacs. You can also add these oils to a diffuser in your bedroom. I encourage you to try this if you want to sleep like a baby!
- Cuts and scratches; colds, flu – Tea tree oil is wonderful for anything that needs to be de-germified. Not only is it antiviral, it’s also antimicrobial, antifungal, and an antibiotic (and probably some other “anti’s” I’m forgetting). In other words, it kills it all! Just mix a few drops of into a carrier oil, then rub it on the affected area. If you have a cold, a little tea tree oil mixed into a carrier oil is great to rub under your nose or onto your chest.
- Sore Muscles – Sometimes, I get super painful fibromyalgia flare-ups. A simple recipe of eucalyptus, sage, and basil oils and Epsom’s salt to a bath does wonders. As an added essential oil benefit, you’ll also smell great!
The Best Essential Oils
I have tried and researched many, many essential oils. My family and I have settled on Arome because they are 100% pure, undiluted and “therapeutic grade”. My personal favorites are:
- Lavender oil – I diffuse this every day with eucalyptus in my living room.
- Eucalyptus oil – Smells amazing! LOVE!
- Peppermint oil – Sometimes, I mix it up and add 2 drops each of lavender oil, eucalyptus and peppermint. Divine!
- Tea Tree oil – A “classic”. We use it for cuts and scrapes and in some of our homemade cleaning products.
Essential Oil Benefits Takeaways
As you can see, there are TONS of essential oil benefits. If you’re not sure where to start, pick up a bottle of a tea tree oil. Then, use it rubbed in a carrier oil under your nose when you feel a cold coming on or you need an antibacterial.
I just know you’ll fall in love with essential oils and add them to your bag of tricks!
Did you know? Another benefit of essential oils is that they can clear negative energy from your body and home? Read the post 7 Ways to Clear Negative Energy