The Different Ways to Use Essential Oils

If you are like me, you probably think of aromatherapy when essential oils come to mind. For me, essential oils always came in handy when I was taking a nice, relaxing bath using eucalyptus or sandalwood oil.

There are, however many uses for essential oils that I had yet to implement, some of which really surprised me! Here I will tell you about a few of the ways to use essential oils in your home, garden and even for your natural healing purposes!

It seems that the Egyptians were the first to make essential oils and they even used them to embalm people for burials. Today essential oils are still part of religious, cosmetic and medical purposes.

Using essential oils in the bath

Baths are one of my favorite indulgences.

I love when the water is hot and I have added my favorite essential oils. A bath alone is not the same without the essential oil therapy as they repair the body and reverse mental stress-a real mind-body experience!

There have been a few times when baths saved me from getting the cold or coming down with some flu.

Times when I couldn’t relax enough to sleep at night were when these luxurious baths were so helpful. One time when I had been walking in cold weather it started rain and forgetting my umbrella, I was completely drenched. I went right home and took a bath with eucalyptus essential oil, a stimulating decongestant.

I felt so much better afterwards and you would have never known I was on the verge of a cold.

Using essential oils every day

 French perfumer and chemist René Maurice Gattefossé invented the term aromatherapy in the 1920’s as we know it today.

Even though he was not very convinced of the alternative health movement, he still saw validity in the medicinal uses of essential oils.

The aromatherapy benefits of essential oils are what they are most known for. Because the brain is connected to the body, essential oils can effectively assist with one by influencing the other.

Using essential oils for aromatherapy is as simple as grating an orange and inhaling the invigorating smell.

The skins from citrus fruits such as lemons, limes and oranges reduce anxiety due to the high level of oil in the skins. Doing aromatherapy is as simple as opening a bottle of oil and breathing deeply.

Essential oils, wounds and infections

For cuts that are non-emergency, essential oils are a good choice for fast wound recovery. Lavender works wonders on burns, ensuring you won’t have to deal with scarring afterwards. When I was in the kitchen last month I managed to get a burn on my wrist where the skin is really sensitive. Remembering what I had in my cabinet I immediately applied a drop of lavender essential oil. In a day you could hardly see that I had even been burned! Really powerful stuff! I’ve started using lavender for all the little scrapes/cuts. A definite must in your natural first aid kit.

 A topical beauty aid

Essential oils are highly concentrated and for this reason they are irritating to the skin. Some essential oils will not irritate your skin and others will. It depends to a certain degree how sensitive you are. However, do not underestimate the powers of essential oils. Do a patch test first by dabbing a small amount on the inside of your arm. For the face and neck, essential oils should almost always be diluted with a carrier oil or base oil. Base oils are natural vegetable oils like coconut oil, olive oil, hemp seed oil, etc.

 Natural perfumery

Lavender is my all time favorite essential oil. I am in love with the clean, floral fragrance! Making lavender-scented soap, hair perfume and deodorant are only a couple things I like to do with lavender. Today, some of the best perfumes in the world are made from pure essential oils. You can make your own perfume by learning how perfume notes work in harmony to creating a balanced fragrance. Some masculine scents are citrus, pine, mint and woodsy essential oils like sandalwood or cedar wood oil. More feminine essential oils are flowery like jasmine or geranium essential oil.

 A natural pesticide

Essential oils are the best at repelling bugs!

I have a real aversion to bugs and insects when they are crawling on me and regular chemical sprays are never something I would turn to.

You can use essential oils as a bug repellent, too and use them to make citronella scented candles. Citronella oil is obviously the most popular but all citrus oils deter mosquitoes and chiggers. Eucalyptus and deters a lot of bug varieties as well such as sand flies, stable flies and ticks.

To make your own personal bug spray, add some citronella, orange oil and eucalyptus oil to a mister bottle. Shake well every time you use it as the oils separate.

Culinary uses of essential oils

Eating essential oils? You heard right.

If you are using 100% essential oils you can certainly eat them as food flavorings. Surprised?

Essential oils are added into sodas, candies, cakes and other desserts. Did you know that colas have lime oil as an ingredient? Lime oil is one of a lot of essential oils present in cola drinks and essential oils, plant extracts being the reason the original cola recipe was designed to be a medicine.

They are less commonly used to flavor foods that are not sweet. However, cooking with essential oils is healthy as long as the oils you have chosen are 100% pure and aromatherapy grade. Here are some cooking tips for experimenting with essential oils. 

 Always use very small amounts-no more than 1-2 drops for all your cooking needs. 1 drop of essential oils is equal to 1 Tablespoon of the dried herb. Because essential oils are so concentrated a little goes a long ways to adding depth and flavor.

Substitute herbs with essential oils. If you are out of rosemary, for instance, you might add a few drops of rosemary essential oil to the lamb stew you are cooking. The taste will be very similar.

 Whenever cooking, avoid absolutes since solvents are used to extract the oils. Some safe essential oils methods for ingestion are cold press and steam distillation method.

 To retain the natural co-enzymes, vitamins, and amino acids, remember to add the oil towards the end of cooking. High heat destroys essential oils. 

Your journey to finding all the many uses for essential oils has only started!

Did you know you can even use essential oils for cleaning your house? In my experience, I have found essential oils to change the way I do things in general and they have simplified my life. 

The delicious fragrances of essential oils will add a touch of aromatherapy to all you do, another side benefit to using them!