With “self-care” on the rise, where people are eager to improve their sleep quality and overall wellbeing as well as prioritising rest and recuperation over late night adventures, we find ourselves on a search to find the very best practices and rituals to incorporate into our daily wellness routine.
Just like your skin care, where you have a specific set of products within your cosmetic tool kit, your wellness regimen requires the same application – finding the right products for your self-care toolkit in order to help you thrive, not just survive.
One underrated tool that you need to incorporate into your self-care toolkit is essential oils. These gentle yet powerful drops hold the key to helping you in life’s daily struggles. Struggling to relax before bedtime? There’s an essential oil for that. On your travels and need to deter pesky bugs? There’s an essential oil for that. Feeling sluggish, and sick of relying on caffeine? There’s an essential oil for that too.
You get the gist – whatever little life dilemmas you find yourself in, you can bet that there’s an essential oil that can be of benefit. That’s why you’re going to add them into your wellness routine and we’re going to tell you how.
Using Essential Oils Safely
Before we get started on the different applications of essential oils and methods you can use to incorporate them, we want to give you an understanding of how to use them safely and effectively.
Essential oils are delicate, natural and safe to use. One drop is both small and mighty. Being so highly concentrated makes them incredibly effective, which is why, if you’re looking to apply an essential oil topically to your skin, you need to dilute it with a high-grade carrier oil beforehand to ensure you don’t irritate any sensitive skin.
Carrier oils are used to dilute essential oils, reducing their concentration level so that you can reap the benefits without causing any agitation – and, an added bonus, you can even use the carrier oils for a sensational massage experience. Heavenly.
Essential Oils for Relaxation
Essential oils have all sorts of incredible benefits, but if you’re looking to add them into your regular routine, we’d suggest beginning with using them for relaxation. As our lives get busier and busier, we need all the help we can get to rejuvenate our bodies and calm our minds before a good night’s rest. A soothing lavender essential oil is the ideal blend to introduce into your evening routine. Try diluting with carrier oil and rubbing onto your temples and wrists to help soothe your stresses before getting into bed.
You can even try combining different essential oils to enhance the ritual – some lovely combinations to accompany lavender and aid relaxation are: rosewood to add another floral layer; palmarosa which would give a layer of sweetness; or geranium to add notes of fruit – each one is unique and sampling different concoctions to find your favourites is all part of the essential oil journey.
Essential Oils on the Go
Given their dinky size, essential oils lend themselves to use on the go – you can even take them in your hand luggage if you’re headed for a flight, making them the perfect travel companion.
When travelling in warmer climates, you often find yourself deterring countless insects. Do you find them buzzing around your room as you tuck yourself in for the night? Do you find yourself swatting them away as you dine alfresco? An ideal travel-size insect repellent is a citronella essential oil which you could add to an oil burner or spray to keep the bugs at bay. Citronella also has a fresh, lemony scent which is always a welcome addition.
But, if you’ve learned the hard way and didn’t take precautions beforehand and became prey to the pesky insect bite – you can use a refreshing mint based oil, such as peppermint or spearmint which will offer a cooling pain relief to help soothe the sting.
Essential Oils as Medicine
Not only can you use essential oils for calming irritable bites or aiding relaxation, believe it or not, you can also use them to help heal cuts and scrapes. The healing properties of essential oils are often massively undervalued and certain essential oils have anti-inflammatory or antimicrobial properties, helping to avoid infection and speed up the healing time of a wound. Helichrysum, clove and tea tree oils when diluted all have their own healing benefits which are useful on cuts and scrapes, helping you get back to enjoying life’s simple pleasures as quickly as possible.
Or, if you’re looking for medicine for the mind – like a pick me up to help recharge your batteries, giving you an energising boost to see you through the mid-afternoon lull, try a zesty orange oil. Simply add a single drop to the palm of your hands, rub together and inhale the sweet uplifting scent of pure joy at your fingertips. Bliss!
There’s an abundance of ways you can enjoy essential oils, whether you want to use them topically onto your skin (but always be sure to check the label first and dilute with carrier oil), or you can use them aromatically, maybe in a diffuser or a burner.
With such a vast assortment of essential oils for you to discover, you’re sure to find a blend that works for you at Buckley & Phillips Aromatics. So, take your time, there’s no rush – enjoy the experience of experimenting with essential oils and find a balance that works for you.
