Your Ultimate Guide to Essential Oils

Today, more than ever, we are hearing more and more about essential oils and just how magical these powerful gifts from the earth are.

Essential oils can be the natural solution for an infinite number of physical, emotional and spiritual issues. There are so many different types of essential oils, and each oil offers a different benefit.

Below is our guide to essential oils and why we at 'Love Your Health' use and love them.

What are essential oils?

Essential oils are extracted from plants, they are taken from trees, roots, flowers, seeds and bushes. Nature offers us medicinal alternatives, this is why many turn to essential oils to relieve various symptoms.

Essential Oils Are Powerful

When an oil is extracted rather than squeezed it means you get a high concentration of the ingredient. Every drop can equal a few tea teaspoons of a dried herb. This means that usually they are much more powerful than the actual plant that they were extracted from. A good example would be Peppermint essential oil. It takes 25 cups of Peppermint just to match a single drop of Peppermint essential oil.

Hopefully this gives you an idea of why we value these oils so highly. They have become part of our routine at Love Your Health.

How Can You Use Essential Oils?

There are two easy ways to use essential oils on a daily basis. You can either diffuse them or simply massage them on to your skin.

Aromatherapy sees you inhale the essential oil, this can be done by running them through a diffuser, vaporiser or even straight from the bottle. When applying them to your skin it is advised that you mix it with a base carrier. Our suggestion is Jojoba or Almond oil, which is then massaged into the body. The other option is to be simply placed on your pulse points around the body, we find it helpful to have a Lavender Scent placed on our temple during a stressful day. Not all oils have to be blended, but its best to follow guidelines according to the label.

8 Ways To Use Essential Oils

1. Create non-toxic cleaning products

You can create your own toxic-free cleaning products using essential oils and you'll know the exact ingredients that are being used.

Have you ever looked at the back of the ingredients on your store brought cleaner? Have a look and you'll be surprised just how toxic some of the ingredients can be. Do you really want to be breathing those harmful ingredients in, touching your skin, and using them in your home environment?

Some essential oils that we use to create our cleaning products are:

Just mix a few drops of essential oil with water, vinegar or both for a non-toxic, easy, cheap and natural cleaning product!

2. Create your own beauty products

Did you know that our skin is our largest organ? That means that whatever we put topically on to our skin gets absorbed straight into our bloodstream and lymphatic system. This is why it's so important to be aware of what products we are using on our skin and always checking the ingredient list.

Using essential oils, you can also create your very own beauty products such as perfume, skincare, deodorant, hair products, body scrubs, soaps, face masks, mouthwash, toothpaste, and so many other products that are non-toxic and won't be full of nasty chemicals.

Essential Oil Hair Treatment

You will need:

Spray bottle
5 drops peppermint essential oil
5 drops rosemary essential oil
5 drops cinnamon essential oil
15ml MCT oil
15ml castor oil
30ml silica
30ml water

Method:
1. Wash out the spray bottle (a wide nozzle works best as if it’s too small it may get clogged)
2. Add all ingredients into the bottle and put the lid on, shake to combine
3. Spray product from roots to ends and comb through, put hair in a sleek bun or plaits and let treatment sit in hair for an hour or so

4. Wash out hair with shampoo, you may need to wash twice in the roots to fully rinse

3. Relax both your mind and body

Essential oils have been used globally for thousands of years to promote wellbeing and are wonderful for the mind. Essential oils are capable of enhancing our mood and emotions, treating our brain chemistry in order to improve our emotional well-being and offering peace in stressful and turbulent situations.

Want to de-stress and help calm down your nervous system? Reach for grounding and calming essential oils such as lavender, vetiver, clary sage or sandalwood.

Would you like an afternoon 'pick me up'? Try using a pick up essential oils that will help to reduce fatigue and improve clarity and focus such as sweet orange, peppermint, lemon, and lime.

4. Improve your sleep

We love searching for ways to improve our sleep, as sometimes sleep can be hard to come by with the pressures of modern day life, the use of electronics, and an increase in sleep related problems. If someone is experiencing a higher stress load than usual, the body responds to this stress and can struggle to relax of an evening.

Natural methods such as certain essential oils can help to improve sleep. Sometimes a few drops in an air diffuser, in a night-time bath, on a pillow, or simply massaging directly on the skin with a carrier oil can land someone suffering from insomnia comfortably in dreamland.

Some of our favourite essential oils to use and incorporate into our evening routine are:

Lavender essential oil - one of the most popular essential oils used for both relaxation and sleep as it contains both linalool and linalyl acetate, both compounds have relaxing properties. When used before bed, lavender oil can not only help you fall asleep but improve the overall quality of sleep.
Chamomile essential oil - when diffused in the air, the subtle floral aroma has a calming and relaxing effect on the mind.
Bergamot essential oil - like Lavender essential oil, it also contains the compounds linalool and linalyl acetate. Bergamot has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties, and has been know to reduce blood pressure and heart rate and prepare the body for sleep.

More tips for improved sleep: Create a relaxing sleep environment, avoid electronics and bright lights at least 1 hour before bed, and get into an evening routine. Here at LYH, we love using the Aromamist Essentials Sleep Trio too.

5. Take your health into your own hands

You can turn to essential oils first for things like headaches, skin rashes, insect bites, cuts, burns, bites, fungal skin and nail infections, dandruff and hormonal menstrual cycle support. The possibilities are really endless!

6. Diffuse them

Because diffusion distributes essential oil molecules into the air so quickly and effectively, it is such an excellent way to maximize the beneficial properties of essential oils. Plus, it's so simple and cost effective!

Diffusing essential oils have been shown to have the following benefits;

Produce negative ions
Relieves headaches
Eliminates odours
Repels insects
Stimulates neurotransmitters
Improves mental clarity and concentration
Helps to eliminate airborne germs and bacteria

7. Find a greater connection with nature

There have been many benefits of connecting to nature that have been well documented in numerous research studies and scientific publications. Our physical and mental health is positively impacted when we have a daily connection with nature. Sometimes, we can feel feel separated and disconnected from nature but one way to connect with nature is through aromatherapy and essential oils. Essential oils are truly a gift from Mother Nature through the flowers, plants, trees, bark, roots, seeds and stems.

8. Massage

We all know that a good massage can have such a positive impact on our mental well-being. Physical touch can also lead to a reduction in depression and low mood. Other benefits of massage are reducing inflammation, relieving back pain, calming sore muscles, lessen joint pain and arthritis, reduce cramping, reduce stress and anxiety, reduce stretch marks, boost circulation and promote relaxation.

As powerful as the physical and emotional benefits of massage are, adding essential oils and turning it into an aromatherapy massage can make it even more powerful, and add a great deal of value to a massage.

Before you begin, you should always prepare the massage oil and essential oils of choice by diluting them with a carrier oil such as jojoba oil, coconut oil, or almond oil.

LYH stock and offer a wide range of essential oils, essential oil carriers and oil diffusers.

Click here to see and shop the Love Your Health essential oil range.

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