One of my favorite things about walking into my med spa is the smell. When you walk in the door you are greeted by a fragrance that immediately embraces you and relaxes you. It always lifts my mood. We like to use different combinations of essential oils in the diffusers to match the seasons or events that are happening.
Before I had the spa I didn’t know a great deal about essential oils, but learning all about them has been fascinating. There are a lot of essential oils and combinations of these oils that smell great and lift your mood, but they are more than just fragrances. Essential oils have been used for centuries for many purposes, dating all the way back to ancient Egypt, China, India and Persia. They were and still are used for medicinal purposes as well as aromatherapy. Essential oils are called “essential” because they are thought to represent the true essence of a plant. They are oils that are derived from steam distilling or cold pressing oils from certain plants. They are highly concentrated, and it takes a lot of plants to make just a little oil. For example, according to Dr Yufang Lin, MD in the December 2021 edition of Living Healthy, it takes 250 pounds of Lavender flowers to make 1 pound of Lavender oil and 5,000 pounds of rose petals to make 1 pound of Rose oil! That’s why they are so powerful and that’s why the good ones can be on the expensive side.
Some of the widely known benefits of essential oils include:
Lifting your mood Enhancing Libido
Reducing stress Boosting skincare
Improving Sleep Fighting bacteria and fungus
Soothing sore muscles and joints Reducing Inflammation
Some of the common ways that people use essential oils include:
Breathing or inhaling them via diffuser, steam, aroma stick or evaporation.
Applying them to the skin. It is important to note that many of these oils SHOULD NOT be applied directly to your skin without being diluted or mixed with what’s known as a carrier oil. These essential oils can be very strong and could cause skin irritation if applied to skin without the carrier oil.
Ingesting them. Unless you are under the supervision of a practitioner that is highly qualified, this is not recommended. Just because essential oils are derived from plants does not mean that they are always safe to ingest. They are very potent and should never be taken internally without highly skilled supervision.
There are many, many essential oils available with many different uses. Here are some of the most popular essential oils and their uses:
Lavender has to be the powerhouse of essential oils. It smells divine and is great to put in a diffuser. It can be added to a bath, mixed with a carrier oil as a body oil or added to water to make a room spray or body mist. It can be applied to toenails to kill fungus. It has been shown to help with stress and anxiety, pain and sleep. You name it – and Lavender can probably do it.
Eucalyptus is another very popular and widely used essential oil. It can open up a stuffy nose. It can also help soothe pain, it can even fight the herpes simplex virus because of its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. It has been studied for improving memory and boosting immunity. A word of caution though, Eucalyptus should never be ingested internally and can be toxic to pets and children. It should always be mixed in a carrier before applying it to skin.
Tea Tree Oil is an essential oil that is found in many products. It has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antioxidant properties that make it a very popular addition to things like shampoo and cleaning products, as well as for aromatherapy. Tea Tree essential oil properties include the fact that it is calming and soothing, it boosts immunity, it can help support sleep, it can help clear up skin breakouts, it can strengthen hair and nails, and it is cleansing. While Tea Tree oil has many wonderful benefits it is TOXIC to pets and should not be used for young children!!!!!!!!
Clary Sage may not sound as familiar as some of the other essential oils, but it is used for and in many things. It has an herbal, tea-like, soft aroma and it is used a lot for aromatherapy and in perfumes. It is kin to Lavender and has many of the same properties such as boosting mood, helping with stress, improving skincare and even helping with PMS!
Bergamot essential oil is an oil with a fruity, floral aroma that can be used topically on the skin in a carrier oil or diffused. It is diffused from a small inedible fruit grown in Mediterranean climates and can be used to reduce anxiety and stress. It is also a great natural treatment for pimples, oily skin and blackheads. It can cause some increased sensitivity to the sun and should be used with a carrier oil when applied to the skin.
Frankincense has been around since biblical days and is known as the “King of oils”. It can be used in aromatherapy and has a woodsy, spicy scent. It can also be used on the skin (diluted or in a carrier) as an anti-inflammatory or anti-bacterial agent. It is good for anxiety and sleep and pain. It is also sometimes used as an ingredient in skin creams.
Peppermint is a classic as far as essential oil is concerned. It smells cool and minty in aromatherapy. It has multiple uses including lifting mood, helping headaches, soothing sore muscles, boosting hair growth, powerfully supporting the respiratory system, reducing nausea and even improving memory. I use it in my diffuser to repel mosquitoes and gnats and it works better than any toxic bug sprays out there.
Lemon and orange oils are zesty and fresh smelling and have been used for freshening air and pepping up mood for years, but they have many, many other uses. They are known for their antibacterial and antifungal properties, they can reduce pain, ease nausea and brighten skin. One thing that is pertinent to senior women’s health is that they have even been studied to improve the cognitive function of people with Alzheimer’s disease.
These are just a few of the essential oils that can be found. One thing I did learn while doing research on essential oils is that quality counts. It does make a difference how they are sourced and packaged. Always do your research when you purchase essential oils.
Here are some things to watch for:
Essential Oils should be packaged in a dark color glass bottle. True essential oils are very concentrated and would erode through a plastic container. Clear glass bottles allow the oils to degrade faster.
Look for a label the has both the Latin name of the plant and the name of the oil. Sometimes plants have more than one variety and the oil from each is different.
If an oil is being marketed as organic see if it is “certified organic”
Make sure it does not say Fragrance Oil, Aromatherapy Oil or Perfume Oil. These are just mixtures of different chemicals that smell good. They might have a little bit of essential oil in them, but they are not pure essential oil
Watch the label for any additives or preservatives. True essential oils do not have them. Look at how they grow the plants and how the oils are processed. Read about their quality control processes. Many reputable companies use third party testing and announce it on the website, proud to show that they do not contain anything they shouldn’t.
Never buy from a company that has all their oils at one price. Different oils use differing amounts of raw material to make so some are more expensive than others. If all oils are priced the same, they are not pure.
Because of the information that I gathered for this blog article, I decided to change my essential oil supplier. Aromatics International clicked all the boxes for me. I read a research study from consumersadvocate.org (2024) that named them one of the Best Essential Oil Brands based on independent reviews. They looked at things such as quality, safety and consumer education on a company’s website. They also looked for sustainable sourcing and responsibility to the environment. Many of their products are “certified organic”, “wildcrafted” which means the distiller harvested plants that were grown wild and then distilled, and “unsprayed” which means the distiller isn’t “certified organic”, but they do not use chemicals, herbicides or pesticides on the plants. Their website has a lot of educational material on it and a lot of valuable information about sourcing and sustainability. Art of Graceful Aging is partnering with them as an affiliate (we may earn a commission if you purchase through this link) and are going to use and carry the products in the Foothills Center for Women Spa& Aesthetics Center. Here is the link to take a look at what they have https://www.aromatics.com?sca_ref=6812376.l0Uc2Vum6i. You can also find some favorites on the resource page.
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Finally, one of my favorite ways to use essential oil is to make a “recipe” for the diffusers. Here is one from Aromatics International to kick off fall season with:
Festive Fall Fusion:
4 drops white pine essential oil
2 drops Frankincense essential oil
2 drops Lavender essential oil
1 drop Patchouli essential oil
Fill your diffuser with water to the water line. Add essential oils and switch it on!
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