Aromatherapy has been quite a thing lately: somehow people are looking more for natural remedies for stress, anxiety, and tiredness or just a way to relax after a long day at the job and create a different atmosphere at home, hence the enthusiasm for aromatherapy.
Put in simple words, aromatherapy is the fact of using plants, plant extract, and essential oils to enhance somebody’s psychological and physical well-being. Even if the benefits of plants and essential oils are widely recognized, and that you’ll find plants and natural ingredients in the composition of any medicine today, there are no scientific proofs of their action on a medical condition and their effectiveness in healing. That’s why they are usually used as a complement to more traditional treatment.
Essential oils are liquids containing aromatic compounds from seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers, and other parts of plants. Aromatic compound is simply the organic molecule that has the odor of the plant it is extracted from, basically it’s a fragrance.
There are three main ways to use essential oils in aromatherapy :
– Aromatic diffusion: you heat the oil on an oil-burner and let the surroundings get the smell of it
– Inhalation: when you inhale directly (or diluted in a carrier oil/water) an essential oil
– Topical application: when applied directly to a determined body area
The most popular essential oils can be very handy to have at home since they can be used to create a relaxing atmosphere (lavender oil on an oil burner) or to help to relieve the soreness of a cold (inhalation of few drops of tea tree oil in hot water).
Here are the most popular essential oils that you can get easily, can use in many opportunities and that will bring you benefits :
The most popular essential oils: Peppermint
Fresh, invigorating and easy to recognize, peppermint is a must in your pharmacy. We would recommend using this cooling and energy-boosting oil in a foot bath after a long day/warm day on your feet or as a massaging oil (used with lightly-scented carrier oil) after sport or physical activity.
The most popular essential oils: Lavender
Here we come to an all-time favorite: it smells great, enough to take you out of your home and in a lavender field in Provence and it’s stress-relieving and relaxing. In some cases, it can be also used for its antidepressant and antiseptic properties. You can add few drops in a bath to complete a relaxing at home spa moment or you can add few drops into some cotton pads, wrap it gently in cotton fabric and put in your closet to keep your clothes fresh and lightly lavender scented. If you cherish this smell, you can also drop a little lavender essential oil in your cosmetics.
The most popular essential oils: Rosemary
As a herb, rosemary gives out an amazing taste to oven baked potatoes. As an essential oil, it’s praised for its brain stimulating capacities providing you with lucidity and spirit vivacity.
It’s mind stimulating: don’t hesitate to use it before an intense day at your workplace. It also can be very good for the hairs, so you can add a few drops in your regular shampoo/ mask/conditioner.
The most popular essential oils: Lemon
Fresh, fruity and energizing, the smell of lemon essential oil will conquer almost anybody! Lemon is already well known for its purifying and cleaning functions (for domestic or cosmetic use), and the can use lemon essential oil likewise : you can add a consequent amount of drops into pure water and clean and disinfect your home, or you can add it to pure water (very diluted dose) and use it as a toner : thanks to its astringent properties and powerful antioxidants, vitamin C and citric acid it’s going to be a must-have for any person who is dealing with oily/acne-prone skin or who is willing to give a rejuvenated look to their face.
The most popular essential oils: Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus has a very strong and recognizable smell. It comes originally from Australia and has very strong medicinal properties. As for its essential oil, it also helps in many different ways.
As a remedy to cold and flu, you can add few drops into hot water in a bowl and place your face over it and cover the head with a towel (to capture the vapor and benefit a maximum from it), it’s going to help to relieve the chest pain or also, if you are coughing, you can add few drops into a carrier oil like coconut oil and massage it on your torso/back : it will create a warming sensation and help you to get rid of the cough.
The most popular essential oils: Tea Tree oil
Probably the most popular essential oil of this list. Tea tree essential oil is used very often in aromatherapy and is well-known for its antimicrobial powers. It can be used as described above (Eucalyptus essential oil) and will equally help with a cold, flu or respiratory infection.
You can also do your very own hand sanitizer simply by mixing tea tree essential oil with aloe vera gel for instance.
Essential oils are a gift straight from the nature to our homes (with the help of extraction techniques) and these most popular essential oils won’t take too much room in your pharmacy but will definitely help you when you will need, either you want to have a relaxing foot soak, create a chilled atmosphere in your living room or if you have a flu.
Today these essential oils are very wide-spread and you can get them at the pharmacy, drugstore or supermarket, but to ease it up for you, here’s a selection of what you can simply order online :
Peppermint – Art Naturals® Peppermint Oil
Lavender – Majestic Pure Lavender Essential Oil
Rosemary – Majestic Pure Rosemary Essential Oil
Lemon – Majestic Pure Lemon Essential Oil
Eucalyptus – NOW Foods Eucalyptus Oil
Tea Tree – Radha Tea Tree Essential Oil
Aromatherapy Top 6 Essential Oils by Radha Beauty
Aromatherapy Essential Oils Set of Top 8 by Majestic Pure
If you are not very familiar yet with aromatherapy and you would like to get to know the oils before to invest properly and see what kind of essential is more useful for you, can get one of those kits gathering the most popular essential oils.
