You don’t need to be an aromatherapy expert to use essential oils! This simple guide on how to use essential oils will give you the information you need to feel comfortable using oils in your home. We use essential oil products in our household for everything from getting a better night’s sleep to cleaning our home safely with no nasty chemicals.
Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
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What are essential oils?
Essential oils are compounds extracted from plants (or other natural sources). Raw materials like flowers, leaves, wood, bark, roots, seeds or peel are subjected to a distillation process, cold pressing, or resin tapping. These methods extract the potent “essence” of the plant. Some examples of common essential oils include Lavender, Peppermint, Frankincense, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Rosemary and Lemon.
Essential oils can be used individually or mixed into blends and used in so many ways! Some of my favourite blends are Stress Away, Citrus Fresh, Purification and Peace & Calming.
How do you use essential oils?
There are three main ways to use essential oils:
1. Topically – applying the oils to your skin
2. Aromatically – inhaling the oils
3. Ingesting – internalizing the oils
Topically
This means applying oils directly to the body. It’s recommended that you dilute your essential oils with a “carrier oil” (e.g. coconut oil) to do this. A common method of topical application is making a roller bottle with a few drops of oil topped up with the carrier oil to roll onto your skin.
Tips for applying oils topically:
- Some essential oils are “hot” and should be diluted with a carrier oil (ex. Peppermint or Eucalyptus).
- Always dilute using a carrier oil when applying oils topically to children.
- Apply oils like perfume behind the ears, or on the chest or wrists.
- Roll oils down your spine or on the bottoms of your feet before bed.
- Apply oils on your stomach, near your belly button, for super-fast absorption.
- Put a drop of oil onto your scalp for a calming effect.
Aromatically
This means breathing in the oils. You can use a diffuser to expel the oils into the air in a fine mist. Diffusing is the most common way essential oils are used.
I have my diffuser running for at least a few hours a day. In large, open areas we don’t keep track of how long we diffuse. If we are diffusing in a room where doors are closed, like the kids’ bedrooms, we simply add less oil and use the intermittent setting or keep the door open a crack.
You can also simply put a drop or two of oil in your hands, then cup them over your nose and mouth and breathe deeply!
Ingesting
This means taking your oils internally by adding them to food or drink, or by filling a vegetable capsule and swallowing them. You could add a drop of Lemon to a glass of water in the morning or add Peppermint to brownies, or a drop of Cilantro to your summer salsa recipe! The options are endless.
Disclaimer: Not all oils are made to be ingested, so please refer to the label of each oil for proper usage instructions. Do your research and if in doubt consult an appropriate medical professional.
Why are essential oils effective?
“Inhaling the aromas from essential oils has been proven to stimulate areas of your limbic system, which is a part of your brain that plays a role in emotions, behaviors, sense of smell, and long-term memory. “
Source
“Interestingly the limbic system also plays a role in controlling several unconscious physiological functions, such as breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure. Therefore, some people claim that essential oils can exert a physical effect on your body”
Source
Your sense of smell is strongly linked to memory as well as unconscious physiological functions. The same part of your brain that is responsible for memory creation is also responsible for your sense of smell.
Whenever I smell the ocean, I’m immediately and vividly immersed in memories of growing up in Southern England near the sea! Whenever I inhale Lavender essential oil I can immediately feel my body relax. So Cool!
If I am stressed or sad I can take my “Unicorn” blend and rub it on my palms and inhale or apply it with a roller. Within seconds I will feel more peaceful, calm and safe!
It really is amazing what these incredible and natural compounds can do for our minds and bodies.
Where should you buy essential oils?
It’s important to buy high-quality oils in order for them to be effective. Not all essential oils are created equally. Some oils sold in health food or grocery stores or online contain chemicals and fillers.
I choose to buy my oils from Young Living. You can use my referral # 19017226 when you check out if you want to order from Young Living too.
How to use essential oils in your home
If you aren’t familiar with essential oils you might think that they are just a way of making your house smell nice. But essential oils and oil-infused products can be used in so many ways. Here are some of the ways that my family uses essential oils daily!
1. Support Wellness with Essential Oils
Essential oils can be used to support wellness & immunity. They can be used to combat everything from seasonal allergies to common colds. Each member of our family has our own wellness roller that we keep by our beds and apply at night. If we feel a little under the weather we will diffuse Thieves blend or Eucalyptus.
Last winter I even used essential oils to make a round of Stomach Flu much more bearable! You can read about it in 7 Ways to Use Essential Oils for Stomach Flu.
Essential oils can also be used to support hormonal issues! A few blends that have helped me include Clary Sage for hot flashes and PMS, Endoflex for thyroid support, and Dragon Time for cramps and muscle aches.
You can also find essential oil-infused supplements including multivitamins, joint health supplements, protein powders and sports supplements. My current favourite is NingXia Red, a super antioxidant drink made from Wolfberries. I take 1-2 oz in the morning instead of coffee. It gives me a more even energy boost without the jitters and the highs and lows.
2. Essential Oils for Sleep
It’s become a nightly ritual to clean our rooms, turn down the covers and put a sleepy blend into our diffusers. The girls each have their own diffuser in their room and we have one in our master bedroom as well. The girls love choosing their blends for the night and we’ve noticed that they fall asleep more quickly and seem to sleep more soundly through the night. My favourite oil for sleep is Lavender.
3. Household Uses for Essential Oils
One of the unexpected effects of starting to use essential oils in our home was that I became aware of just how many toxic substances I was using. I assumed that if products were sold to consumers then they must be safe, but I was shocked when I started looking into the ingredients in my cleaning products (as well as makeup and even food).
I switched over to cleaning our home naturally using staples like vinegar and baking soda as well as essential oil-infused products like Thieves Household Cleaning Concentrate.
When I checked the labels of products in my house, one of the places I found the most toxicity was in my bathroom. My makeup, personal care products etc.. were all full of toxic chemicals and most of the products were meant to be applied daily to my skin.
Changing my daily routine and using fewer products that I know are safe has been a relief. I currently use mineral makeup, natural whitening toothpaste, hair oil and more!
I love that I can provide nontoxic beauty options for my daughters as well. My oldest has started a simple nightly cleansing routine for her face. She uses charcoal soap and rose ointment for her slightly oily skin.
4. Essential Oils for Kids & Pets
Oils can be used for kids and pets too. However, it’s important to read the labels, follow instructions and proceed cautiously to make sure you are using oils safely with your family’s most vulnerable members!
My favourite line of oils for kids are KidScents. These blends are pre-diluted blends and safe to use for little ones. T-GIZE is probably our most used of these oils. We will pop a roller top right onto the bottle and rub on sore tummies for immediate relief. Dreamease helps little ones rest at night and Geneyus is great for helping with concentration during homework time!
I hope you found this quick guide on how to use essential oils informative. Happy oiling!
Thank you, Amanda, for sharing this comprehensive beginners guide to essential oils! I’ve always loved using essential oils and your post shed some light on the many different ways to use them around the home. I totally agree that it’s worth it to buy the higher quality oils. You can tell the difference between the cheaper oils and the real stuff. Thanks again for the information!
Thanks for reading! Glad you found it helful!
Essenial oils are awesome. Thanks for sharing so many great ideas for using them as well. I react very poorly to many medications, chemicals, and fragrances. I’m so thankful for alternatives!
Same! Very thankful for oils!