Beginners Guide to Essential Oils

Essential Oils are a beautiful way to support your mind, body and spirit. They can bring about an instant sense of calm or rejuvenation, help physical ailments and are also a wonderful way to bring natural fragrance to your home.

This is your guide to getting started with Essential Oils. In todays post, I am going to share some of my favourite oils with you, along with their healing properties and how you can use them in your everyday life.

In aromatherapy, the scent from concentrated extracts of plants (essential oils) send subtle signals to a part of the brain called the limbic system. The limbic system controls our emotions and response to stress and the world around us.

Aromatherapy is gentle, but can also be incredibly healing. There are many different ways to use essential oils, I’m going to share some of them with you in todays post.

The First Step – Purchasing Your Oils. 

When buying essential oils, remember to look for oils that have ‘pure essential oil’ written on the label. This will mean the oils are in their pure undiluted form and not mixed with anything else. 

Two of my favourite essential oil brands are Tisserand and Absolute Aromas (I’ll link to their websites at the end of this article.)

If you live in the UK a great place to find high quality essential oils is Homesense in the health and body care section. Homesense is also a fab place to find an abundance of natural skincare products and candles, but that’s another topic for another day (just wanted to share a little tip off for you if you are a fellow UK person!)

So, once you have purchased the oils you feel drawn to, you will then want to bring them into your everyday life and create your own oil rituals. Here is a guide on exactly how to do that.

Different Ways to Use Essential Oils 

Aromatically 

A beautiful way to use essential oils is to diffuse them into your home. You can choose whatever oils you need that day, be it a refreshing blend to fill the air as you start your day, or a relaxing blend to help you wind down. You can either use a diffuser that you plug in or a traditional oil burner with a tea light candle. (I will link to a couple of examples at the bottom of this post)

How to diffuse your oils….

Fill your oil burner bowl or your diffuser with water, then add a few drops of your chosen essential oils into the water. The amount will depend on your personal preference. But to give you an idea, I will often use 4 drops of lavender, 4 drops of lemon and 2 drops of lime. That kind of ratio. The fun thing is, you can play around with blends and amounts. I will be sharing the properties of different essential oils further down in this post which will help you select the best oils for you.

My advice if you are new to essential oils is to start off with just a few drops. Maybe 2 or 3 drops in a diffuser to begin and build gently from there. Everyone has different sensitivity levels and although essential oils are beautifully gentle, they can also be powerful.

Bathing Rituals 

Another lovely way to use essential oils is by adding them to your bath. Make sure to blend your oils with a carrier base oil first, such as jojoba or almond oil. In a bowl or bottle, add a few drops of your chosen essential oil into your base oil, mix and then add to your bath. Swirl your oils in the water, the lay back, and enjoy.

It’s important to remember that your skin is the largest organ in your body and will absorb things very easily, especially with the heat of warm water which will naturally open your pores. If you are sensitive, use essential oils with extra care in the bath and do your research first as to which are best for bathing and non irritating to the skin. Lavender is an oil that most people find relaxing and safe to use.

Topical Application 

Most oils cannot be applied directly to the skin and will need to be mixed with a carrier oil such as almond oil or jojoba oil. Get a little bottle/small bowl, add your carrier oil and then add 2 – 5 drops of your essential oil and mix. Apply the oil blend to your skin by gently massaging in. Giving yourself a gentle shoulder massage or dabbing your chosen oil blend into your wrist can be a lovely thing to do for yourself.

There are a small number of essential oils, including Tea Tree or Lavender, that can be applied undiluted to skin and work great as antiseptic aids, but please do your research on which oils are safe to use in this way.

Inhalation

Simply inhaling your chosen oil straight from the bottle is an easy way to use your essential oils.

Keep a bottle in your bag, on your desk or bedside table. When you feel you need to relax, gain a sense of clarity or feel refreshed, you can simply take the top off your oil and take a few deep slow breaths.  This can calm you in the midst of a busy day, or help you wind down before sleep.

Whenever I travel I always have a little bottle of Peppermint Essential Oil and Lavender Essential Oil in my handbag. Peppermint helps clear the mind, uplift, refresh and is great for travel sickness and headaches. Lavender is soothing, calming and relaxing.

Essential Oils and their Individual Healing Properties.

(Different oil combinations to blend at the bottom of this list)

Lavender Oil

Soothing, Calming, Relaxing

Reduces Anxiety and Emotional Stress
Improves brain function
Helps to heal wounds (anti bacterial)
Alleviates Headaches
Improves Sleep
Calms and Soothes

Peppermint Oil

Refreshing, Cleansing, Energising

Boosts Energy Levels
Clears the Mind
Great for Colds & the Flu – due to antimicrobial, antiviral properties
Natural Painkiller
Eases Headaches
Reduces Nausea
Amazing for IBS

Grapefruit Oil

Mood Boosting, Antibacterial, Reduces Stress

The smell is uplifting, soothing and clarifying
Known to relieve stress
Helps to boost weight loss
Natural Antibacterial Agent
Boosts Metabolism
Reduces Sugar Cravings
Natural energiser

Lemon Oil

Invigorating, Purifying, Fresh

Purifies air and surroundings
Purifies and detoxes the body
Natural DisinfectantBoost Immune System
Improves Digestion
Fights Infection
Invigorating
Energising

Orange Oil

Immune Booster, Uplifting, Tonic.

Eases Anxiety
Fights Infection
Anti Bacterial
Increases Circulation
Eases Fatigue
Stimulates Digestion
Boosts Immune System

Bergamot

Citrus, Reduces Anxiety, Antiseptic

Stress Relieving
Anti Anxiety
Uplifting
Antiseptic
Analgesic (pain relieving)
Balances Blood Sugar
Supports Cardiovascular Health
Anti Fungal

Frankincense 

Woody, Spiritual, Grounding, Meditative

Promotes sense of Peace
Relaxing
Grounding
Anti Anxiety
Sedative
Lifts Mood
Improves Concentration

Sandalwood 

Mental Clarity, Calming, Anti Anxiety

Anti Anxiety
Grounding
Eases Fatigue
Sleep Aid
Mental Alertness
Calming

Ylang Ylang

Floral, Feminine, Heart Centred. 

Grounding and Calming
Mood Boosting
Balances Emotions
Soothes and Heals the Heart
Increases Blood Flow
Helps PMS Symptoms
Aphrodisiac

Clary Sage

Supports Hormonal Balance, Soothing.

Balances Hormone Levels
Eases Menopausal / Pre Menstrual Symptoms
Relieves Insomnia
Lowers Blood Pressure
Promotes Skin Health
Eases Stress
Nerve Tonic and Mild Sedative

Essential Oil Blends 

Below are some oil combinations that I love…

• Lavender, Lemon and Lime
• Frankincense and Lavender
• Sandalwood and Orange
• Peppermint, Lavender and Lemon
• Lavender and Clary Sage
• Grapefruit, Lemon and Lime
• Lavender, Bergamot and Orange
• Frankincense and Orange
• Lavender, Ylang Ylang and Lemon

I often do 3-6 drops of each essential oil in the oil burner/diffuser, but as I said above, experiment with what feels best for you. Some oils (such as ylang ylang) have quite a strong scent, so you will need less of these types of oils. One of my favourite way to choose my oils each morning is to simply centre myself, tune in the my heart centre and then smell them. Once I have chosen the two or three I want to use, I smell them ‘together’ from the bottles to check how they smell in a duo/trio, before adding them to my oil burner.

Using essential oils is a lovely way to support your wellbeing. I love the ritual of choosing my oils each morning and lighting my essential oil burner. It feels like a really nourishing way to start the day.

I hope you have enjoyed todays post! Do comment below with any questions or to share your feedback on your own essential oil journey. I’d love to hear from you.

Emma x

Resources for your Essential Oils 

Absolute Aromas 

Tisserand 

Oil Diffuser (with plug)

Oil Burner (with candle) 

Note – I am in no way affiliated with the above brands or products. 

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Disclaimer: This Website and all the information which it contains is based on my own personal experience and health journey which I am sharing for educational and informational purposes only. Please consult your own doctor or healthcare provider to determine the best course of treatment for you.