Essential Oils Guide: What You Need To Know Before Starting

Essential Oils Guide: What You Need To Know Before Starting

Essential oils – these fragrant concentrated plant extracts that are brimming with health benefits. A drop or two is all it takes to attain emotional, physical, and even spiritual benefits.

There is no doubt about it – the power of essential oils is worth learning how to harness. But with so much misinformation out there, finding the right resources can be tricky.

If you want to switch to essential oil to support a more natural, holistic lifestyle but don’t know where to begin, you’ve come to the right place. Our essential oils guide will cover everything you need to know.

We’ll teach you how to use essential oil, which ones you should use, how to stay safe, and even where you can find the best products. Let’s start by addressing what these oils even are.

What Are Essential Oils?

Essential oils are concentrated natural extracts from plants. Different oils are extracted from different parts of the plants: leaves, stems, flowers, roots, resin, etc. Rose essential oil comes from the flowers, frankincense is extracted from the resin of Boswellia trees, tea tree oil from the melaleuca leaves, and citrus oils from fruit rinds.

Essential oils have distinct properties which help determine their various application. Lavender, for example, is calming and can help induce sleep. These potent and concentrated extracts offer therapeutic benefits.

They are widely used in a number of commercial skin and hair care products. Many establishments also diffuse essential oil to promote a calming and relaxing environment. At home, they can be safely used to freshen the house, promote sleep, clean surfaces, treat minor cuts and bites, relieve an upset tummy, etc. Let’s take a look at all the different ways you can use these oils.

Using Essential Oils: Guide To Attaining Benefits While Staying Safe

There are so many different ways you can use essential oils! They’re incredibly versatile. As such, the bulk of our quick essential oils guide will highlight these different methods. Let’s start off with our personal favorite: aromatherapy.

Essential Oil Aromatherapy

When you open an essential oil bottle, the first thing that will greet you is the scent. Being concentrated, they have strong scents.

Each oil has its own set of unique aromatic compounds, and inhaling its scent has an immediate effect on the body and mind. By stimulating the smell receptors, essential oils send chemical signals to the brain, which, in turn, affects the body emotionally, physically, and mentally.

How to Use:

The easiest way of enjoying the aromatic benefits is to simply smell the essential oil by popping open the bottle. You can also drop a few drops in your hands, rub your palms together, cup them close to your nose, and inhale the scent deeply.

You can enjoy their calming scent by diffusing the oils in an aromatherapy diffuser designed specifically for this purpose. We love our REVIVE Ultrasonic Diffuser. It lasts for up to 10 hours with automatic shut-off for home & office safety.

Top tips:

–  Add a drop or two of lavender essential oil to a cotton ball and leave it near your pillow

–  Use essential oil with dryer balls or sheets during the laundry’s drying cycle

–  Add to a spray bottle containing water and a little witch hazel and spritz all around the room

Topical Essential Oil Use

Essential oils are extremely popular ingredients in commercial and DIY recipes for skin and hair care. This is because they have a low molecular weight, which means they are readily absorbed by the skin.

The beneficial components of the oil sink into the skin and are carried around in the bloodstream. What’s even more interesting is some essential oils are processed and excreted by the body within a day.

This suggests that we can reap maximum benefits from essential oil by using it topically. However, there are a few Dos and Don’ts that need to be followed.

How to Use:

As we mentioned earlier, undiluted essential oils are extremely concentrated and it is important to check which essential oils can be applied neat (directly onto your skin) and which ones need to be diluted (mixed with a carrier oil).

Carrier oils like coconut, almond, jojoba, sweet almond oil, etc are all good options. Also, pay attention to dilution ratios; for beginners, 1 percent dilution is recommended, i.e. six drops of EO to an ounce of carrier oil.

The best places to apply the mix would be the nape, forehead, temples, chest, abdomen, and the soles of the feet. Avoid using on sensitive areas like the eyes, under eyes, inner ears. If you want to learn how to make your own essential oil roll-on, check out our complete guide.

Do a Patch Test:

The best way to check for sensitivity is to do a patch test. Just wash and dry your forearm, then apply the essential oil blend to your inner wrist. Leave for 24 hours. Check for irritation or any other adverse reactions.

Top tips:

–  Add essential oils like geranium and frankincense to your skincare products like face creams and body lotions

–  Make your own nourishing hair conditioner by mixing rosemary essential oil with coconut oil

–  Mix essential oils like lavender and peppermint with bath salts or milk, and add this to your bath water for a relaxing soak

Ingesting Essential Oils

Internal use of essential oils can refer to placing a drop or two of essential oils directly into the mouth, mixing oils into a beverage, or taking a capsule containing essential oils. Not all essential oils are approved for internal use, so be sure to read the safety guidelines of the particular oil before ingesting.

It is recommended to start with one drop of essential oil at a time, and increase to up to three drops to achieve the desired effects. Do not exceed 18 drops daily, divided into 1-3 drop doses. Particular dosage requirements vary from person to person and are dependent on age, weight, and general health. You should always start with the lowest dose possible, and only increase dosage if necessary.

How to use:

Essential oils can replace certain herbs and spices in recipes; however, since they are highly concentrated, a small amount will go a long way. Some essential oils are very strong and potent; it’s best to dip a toothpick in these oils and add to the recipe instead of using drops. You can also add essential oils to a veggie capsule for more targeted applications.

Top Tips:

–  Oregano and basil essential oils can replace the herbs in recipes

–  Start the day with a detoxifying glass of lemon water by adding a drop of lemon essential oil to it

–  Enjoy a refreshing cup of tea in the morning by adding a drop of peppermint essential oil to it

Staying Safe With Essential Oil

Now that you know all the different ways you can use essential oil, let’s quickly cover a few areas of concern most people have when getting started: children, pregnancy, and interactions with other medications. Here is what you need to know to keep you and your family safe while reaping the benefits of diffusing essential oils:

Using essential oils on children

The good news is you can safely use essential oils on or around your children. In fact, there are some really fun DIY projects with essential oils you and the kids can do when you have some free time! All the while, they’ll get to enjoy the benefits that many essential oils offer.

Just be sure to follow the same safety protocols you would for yourself. The recommended dilution for topical use on children is 8 drops of the carrier to one drop of essential oil. If no irritation occurs, you can increase this to 5 drops of carrier oil to one drop of essential oil.

Using essential oils while pregnant or taking prescription medications

Although some essential oils are approved for use during pregnancy, many mothers-to-be choose to avoid the use of essential oils altogether. While some essential oils should be avoided during pregnancy, many are still safe for topical and aromatic use. We actually wrote a complete guide on essential oils and pregnancy if you’d like to learn more.

If you are taking a prescription medication, internal use of some essential oils may negatively interact with your medication. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking prescription medication, or attempting to treat a chronic condition with essential oils, you should always consult a medical professional before use.

Wrapping Up Our Essential Oils Guide

When used properly, essential oils are a valuable addition to your daily routine. They can be diffused throughout your home to ease stress and anxious feelings, applied topically to alleviate muscle pain and reduce inflammation, and even taken internally to boost the immune system! By following proper safety precautions, you can improve your overall wellbeing in an easy, natural way.

Find The Best Essential Oils Online At Revive!

There is just one final thing you need to know before you get started with essential oils – where to find the best of the best! If you’re looking for the most popular essential oils in the industry, look no further than Revive.

We’ve got a full collection of essential oils for sale, and we even offer organic essential oils if you’re serious about what you put on or in your body. Shop essential oil blends, essential oil sets, carrier oils, roll-on essential oils, diffusers, and more. There is so much to love about the Revive catalog!

With over 900 five-star reviews and a 100% money-back guarantee, you can start your essential oil journey in confidence today at Revive.

Essential Oils for Beginners-REVIVE