
Which essential oil should you use?
Using Essential Oils Safely During Pregnancy
- Benefits of essential oils while pregnant. Let’s start by saying there’s not a wholesale ban on the use of essential oils while you’re pregnant.
- Safety of essential oils while pregnant. ...
- Guidelines for using essential oils while pregnant. ...
- Oils that are safe. ...
- Oils to avoid during pregnancy. ...
- The takeaway. ...
What are essential oils and what are they used for?
Essential oils are natural oils that come from plants and they have been used for thousands of years to treat various ailments naturally. In the past decade, scientific evidence has shown how they can effectively alleviate many problems ranging from depression and anxiety to respiratory conditions such as sinus infections.
Do essential oils really work?
Various essential oils (most notably tea tree oil) have been effective fighting antibiotic resistant bacteria. This suggests tea tree oil could be effective for use again infections, in soaps and cleaning products and even treatment for things such as acne.
What is the most soothing essential oil?
Minty Essential Oils
- Tea Tree. Tea tree is a minty herb that aids with coughs and colds, soothes skin inflammations, treats dandruff and dry skin, and prevents oily skin.
- Eucalyptus. Eucalyptus essential oil contains a high concentration of eucalyptol (cineol), a compound that helps with deep breathing.
- Peppermint. ...

What is essential oil?
Essential oils are concentrated plant extracts. “Plants are made of structural materials and phytochemicals. These chemicals have properties that not only benefit the plant but benefit people, too,” explains Dr. Lin. It takes a tremendous amount of plant material to make essential oils.
Why do people use aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy involves smelling essential oils to improve health. “It’s a great way to change your mood quickly. As you breathe in, the oil’s aroma immediately stimulates your central nervous system, triggering an emotional response,” explains Dr. Lin. “It can reduce anxiety and stress response quickly.”
What is the best oil for acne?
Tea tree oil. Dr. Lin says most people use tea tree oil as an antiseptic, antimicrobial or antifungal. You can also use it to help: Acne: “Take a cotton swab and dip it into tea tree essential oil. Then apply it directly on the acne — this is one exception where you don’t have to dilute it,” says Dr. Lin.
What is the botanical name of peppermint oil?
Use the plant’s botanical, or Latin, name. For example, peppermint oil would also list Mentha piperita on the label.
How to smell essential oil?
Dry evaporation: Put a few drops of essential oil on a cotton ball and smell the aroma as it disperses.
What essential oil to use for cold?
Eucalyptus is a great essential oil to have on hand during cold season. It soothes a stuffed-up nose by opening your nasal passages so you can breathe easier. (Peppermint oil can also help with this.)
Does aromatherapy help dementia?
One caveat is that aromatherapy may not work as well for older adults with dementia or behavior problems, she notes. That may be because people tend to experience loss of smell as they get older.
What is essential oil used for?
Bottom line. Essential oils are often used in aromatherapy, a form of alternative medicine that employs plant extracts to support health and well-being. However, some of the health claims associated with these oils are controversial. This article explains all you need to know about essential oils and their health effects.
What are the benefits of essential oils?
Here’s a list of 10 popular essential oils and the health claims associated with them: 1 Peppermint: used to boost energy and aid digestion 2 Lavender: used to relieve stress 3 Sandalwood: used to calm nerves and help with focus 4 Bergamot: used to reduce stress and improve skin conditions like eczema 5 Rose: used to improve mood and reduce anxiety 6 Chamomile: used to improve mood and relaxation 7 Ylang-Ylang: used to treat headaches, nausea, and skin conditions 8 Tea Tree: used to fight infections and boost immunity 9 Jasmine: used to help with depression, childbirth, and libido 10 Lemon: used to aid digestion, mood, headaches, and more
How are essential oils obtained?
Essential oils are obtained through distillation (via steam and/or water) or mechanical methods, such as cold pressing. Once the aromatic chemicals have been extracted, they are combined with a carrier oil to create a product that’s ready for use.
How many types of essential oils are there?
There are more than 90 types of essential oils, each with its own unique smell and potential health benefits. Here’s a list of 10 popular essential oils and the health claims associated with them: Peppermint: used to boost energy and aid digestion. Lavender: used to relieve stress.
What essential oils are used to fight infections?
Tea Tree: used to fight infections and boost immunity. Jasmine: used to help with depression, childbirth, and libido. Lemon: used to aid digestion, mood, headaches, and more. Summary. There are over 90 commonly used essential oils, each associated with certain health claims.
What oils are bad for your skin?
Trusted Source. ). The oils that have most commonly been associated with adverse reactions are lavender, peppermint, tea tree, and ylang-ylang. Oils that are high in phenols, such as cinnamon, can cause skin irritation and shouldn’t be used on the skin without being combined with a base oil.
Can essential oils be swallowed?
Essential oils are not meant to be swallowed.
What are essential oils used for?
The oils are made from concentrated plant extracts and often used in aromatherapy or massage therapy. You can use the oils in a diffuser or mix in a massage oil for a soothing massage.
How to use essential oils?
Once you know the basics of essential oil use and you’ve selected your scents, there are a few ways to use the oils. Use a diffuser to fill the whole room with your selected scent. Or place a few drops on a cotton ball and set it a few feet from you for indirect inhalation.
Why choose Bon Vital’ essential oils?
The oils are steam-distilled or cold-pressed to create scented oils that massage therapists, spa owners, and home users love. Looking for more details? Check out this information about our plant sources, the scientific name for our oils, blending suggestions, and general cautions.
What is synergy oil?
Synergy oils are blends of undiluted essential oils that work more effectively together to achieve one mood, such as relaxation or sensuality.
What is the purpose of cleansing and clarifying?
Cleansing and clarifying, invigoration, reduces appearance of water retention
Is Bon Vital oil pure?
Bon Vital’ essential oils are 100% pure and natural. The oils are steam-distilled or cold-pressed to create scented oils that massage therapists, spa owners, and home users love. Looking for more details? Check out this information about our plant sources, the scientific name for our oils, blending suggestions, and general cautions.
What are essential oils used for?
Uses. Manufacturers use essential oils to create a range of products. The cosmetic and makeup industry use essential oils to create perfumes, add fragrance to creams and body washes , and even as sources of natural antioxidants in some beauty care products. Many natural medicine practitioners, such as aromatherapists, use essential oils.
Why is it important to dilute essential oils?
It is important to dilute essential oils to help prevent side effects.
Why do essential oils smell so strong?
Manufacturing processes can extract the useful compounds from these plants. Essential oils often have a much stronger smell than the plants they come from and contain higher levels of active ingredients. This has to do with the amount of plant matter required to make essential oil. There are different ways that manufacturers extract ...
How to contact poison control for peppermint oil?
Anyone who has accidentally ingested essential oils should call poison control. Those in the United States should call 1-800-222-1222.
Do essential oils help the body?
Aromatherapists believe that breathing in essential oils might allow them to enter the lungs and bloodstream, where some of the potentially helpful compounds may benefit the body.
Can essential oils burn your eyes?
Getting essential oils into the eyes or mucous membranes may also cause burning and damage in the area. If essential oils come into contact with the eyes, rinse them thoroughly with water and contact a doctor.
Does menthol help with shortness of breath?
Trusted Source. note, inhaling menthol in this way can reduce feelings of congestion and shortness of breath. As well as inhaling them, adding essential oils to a carrier oil and massaging them into the skin may also deliver the active compounds to the body.
What essential oil is good for cold sores?
For cold sores. Clove oil has antiviral properties, especially against herpes simplex. Put a drop of clove oil on a cold sore to significantly decrease the pain and promote healing time. In fact, all of the essential oils in this article are good for this. For arthritic pain.
How does frankincense oil help with meditation?
As a meditation aid. Use frankincense oil to help calm and center the mind, to promote spiritual awareness, and to cultivate a sense of inner peace while meditating . Frankincense contains compounds known as sesquiterpenes which work directly on the limbic system of the brain, the center of memory and emotions.
How to use clove oil for toothache?
For toothache and dental abscesses. Apply clove oil to a cotton swab and press it against the sore tooth and surrounding gums. Clove oil has great pain-relieving properties and has been used by the dental industry for years. Clove is often included in dental rinses and mouthwashes.
What is the best oil to drink to help you lose weight?
Grapefruit Essential Oil. In your drinking water. A drop or two of grapefruit oil added to drinking water helps to boost metabolism, supports weight loss, and adds an immune boost with its high level of the phytochemical d-limonene. Grapefruit oil is also a potent antibacterial, and gives you a hit of vitamin C too!
What is the best oil for cramps?
For premenstrual tension and cramps. Massage geranium rose oil across the abdomen and lower back to help relieve cramps, muscle tension, and promote relaxation.
Can you heat essential oils?
Never heat essential oils, because heating them diminishes their therapeutic effects. To calm nightmares. Dilute frankincense oil as described below and rub over the large arteries along the sides of the neck before bed, to help relieve nightmares (yes, really!). Skin complaints.
Can you add lemon oil to a dish?
Add a drop or two of lemon oil (or any citrus oil) to cake batter, muffin batter, seafood dishes, salad dressings, or any dish where lemon zest is required. For spot-free dishes. Add a drop of lemon oil to your automatic dishwasher soap. Run the cycle and enjoy spot-free dishes and a cleaner dishwasher.
What are the benefits of essential oils?
Derived from the roots, leaves, flowers, barks, and peels of select plants, these aromatic oils are believed to boast a host of health benefits, including diminished anxiety, a happier mood and a more radiant complexion. Where to start with essential oils, however, can be dizzying. With this in mind, we’ve created an A to Z guide ...
What is essential oil?
Essential oils —or “EOs” to the devoted—are trendier than ever. They’re popping up everywhere from yoga classes to cocktail parties to cleaning products, and make up an industry that’s expected to hit $11 billion by the year 2022. Derived from the roots, leaves, flowers, barks, and peels of select plants, these aromatic oils are believed ...
How to choose an essential oil?
Look for therapeutic-grade essential oils, and ensure that the supplier you’ve chosen is upfront about how they source and extract their plants. Also, go with an EO that has not only gone through purity testing but is also organic and unsprayed. In return, you should receive what you paid for: A superior product that contains the unalloyed “essence” of the healing botanical.
What essential oil is good for a sunburn?
Used to reduce jet lag and mental fatigue, the sweetly-aromatic essential oil is also a popular ingredient in skincare. Lavender: Lavender is as soothing as it is diverse. In addition to promoting a good night’s sleep, it’s used for minor wounds such as bruises, cuts, scrapes and sunburns.
What is the best essential oil for heartburn?
The same holds true for ginger essential oil, which is used to alleviate heartburn and relieve gastrointestinal distress. †. Grapefruit: Grapefruit essential oil smells as ah-mazing as the fruit—and offers just as much zing.
What is the best oil for cellulite?
Geranium: This pleasant, floral oil—with a scent as lovely as the geranium flower —is typically used to reduce fluid retention, curtail cellulite and balance hormones. †
What is the best oil to use for menstrual cramps?
Cinnamon: Beloved for the cozy feeling it evokes, cinnamon essential oil is best used for an emotional lift, in that it soothes anxiety and promotes ease and comfort.
What are essential oils?
In short, essential oils are potent natural extracts from flowers, plant stems, and leaves. They provide a wide array of health benefits ranging from promoting healthy sleep to treating the common cold. If you want to know how to use essential oils, this article will be perfect for you. It contains everything and anything you need to know about these highly concentrated natural oils! But let’s start with the basics.
What is eucalyptus oil good for?
On the other hand, peppermint essential oil is commonly used for treating irritable bowel syndrome, as well as other digestive issues. The reason peppermint is excellent for digestion is that it helps with pain in the GI tract, and it also relaxes those muscles.
How are essential oils made?
You may be wondering, how are essential oils made? In short, professionals extract essential oils from plant materials through different removal methods that suit the section of the plant containing the precious oil. Hence, the essential oils we use today are liquids that have been isolated from plants. This way, the beneficial effects of the plant will reach the bloodstream quicker than would be possible by ingesting the plant itself.
How to apply essential oils to your skin?
If you’re about to perform a back massage, start by applying a tablespoon of your desired oil to the skin, and use long strokes to spread the liquid over the entire area. Keep in mind that ideally, you will want to spend around 30 seconds on each individual muscle group.
How to diffuse essential oils without a diffuser?
The only thing you need to do is select the essential oil of your choice (you can also use a blend) and put a couple of drops onto a cotton ball. Next, place the cotton ball in the vent of a fan or a floorboard. This method truly works, as the moving air will diffuse the scent as it flows through the cotton ball.
What is CO2 used for?
Some types of essential oils are extracted using CO2 as a solvent, resulting in a final product that can be used in natural perfumery as well as aromatherapy. Oils derived through CO2 extraction are typically thicker and give off the true aroma of the spice, plant, or herb than essential oils that have been distilled.
What essential oil is good for a headache?
Arguably the most well-known essential oil in the wellness world is lavender, known for its distinctive relaxing floral scent. Experts claim that breathing in lavender helps alleviate headaches and calm the nervous system. Also, when applying it onto the skin, it’s known to reduce the swelling and itching from insect bites. However, some users claim to experience headaches, chills, nausea, and even vomiting when using this essential oil.
How are essential oils obtained?
What are essential oils? Essential oils, which are obtained through mechanical pressing or distillation, are concentrated plant extracts that retain the natural smell and flavor of their source. As an example, about 220 pounds of lavender flowers are needed to produce a pound of lavender oil.
How many chemicals are in essential oils?
According to an analysis of the chemical components of 93 essential oils, the eight chemicals selected in the NIEHS study appeared in most, as indicated in the list below. Each of the eight chemicals is followed by the number of oils in which it appeared.
What is the effect of lavender oil on the body?
Have researchers studied essential oils? Previous studies have shown that lavender and tea tree oil may act as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which are natural or man-made compounds that mimic or oppose the actions of hormones produced in the human body.
What chemicals are in lavender?
The researchers tested pure essential lavender and tea tree oils, as well as four chemicals commonly found in both: eucalyptol, 4-terpinenol, dipentene/limonene, and alpha-terpineol.
Can essential oils be used as EDCs?
The researchers want the public to be aware of the findings, since some essential oils and their components display hormonal activity and could be potential EDCs.
Why do people use essential oils?
Many essential oils are used in aromatherapy to manage stress and anxiety. For example, scientists found that orange oil had an anxiety-reducing effect on male volunteers who inhaled 2.5, 5, or 10 drops. More research is needed, but initial results were promising.
Why are essential oils important?
But modern medicine supports many of the ancient claims made about them, including: Stress Reduction. Many essential oils are used in aromatherapy to manage stress and anxiety.
What are the benefits of essential oils?
Health Benefits. Health Risks. Amounts and Dosage. Essential oils smell great, reduce stress, treat fungal infections, and help you sleep. They are concentrated extractions from plants. A process called distillation turns the “essence” of a plant into a liquefied form for many medicinal and recreational uses. ...
Can essential oils be used in children?
Improper use can cause serious adverse reactions or even poisoning, so they must be used and stored according to manufacturers’ specifications. Essential oils should be kept away from children and pets, whose bodies often can’t tolerate the same dosages as an adult.
Does lavender oil affect the endocrine system?
Lavender oil applied directly to the skin might affect the endocrine system . In one case, prepubescent boys using it developed gynecomastia, a swelling of breast tissue. The condition went away after the essential oil was discontinued. Amounts and Dosage.
Does lavender oil help with sleep?
Sleep Aid. Lavender oil’s relaxing fragrance is thought to improve sleep quality. Scientists tested this claim on older adults living with dementia. They found that sprinkling the essential oil on towels around their pillows significantly increased their sleep time, helping them slumber longer in the mornings.
Can essential oils cause rash?
Many widely used essential oils, like orange, must be well diluted to avoid side effects. Undiluted essential oils are very potent, and direct skin contact with certain oils can cause inflammation and a bad rash needing medical intervention .