While there are more than 10 reasons to start using Essential Oils, I am only discussing 10 in this post. I am sure once you go through my list your creativity will kick in and you will see the wonders of essential oils too.
I started getting into essential oils in my 20’s. At that time it was mostly for beauty purposes. Today, after all that time I am still finding new uses and combinations.
Keep in mind that incorporating essential oils into your life is very beneficial, it doesn’t mean you have to go all in and purchase every essential oil available. It doesn’t mean you have to be a fanatic. It can be as simple as integrating one or two oils into one or two components of your life.
What are Essential Oils?
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetherolea, or simply as the oil of the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An essential oil is “essential” in the sense that it contains the “essence of” the plant’s fragrance—the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived.[1] The term “essential” used here does not mean indispensable or usable by the human body, as with the terms essential amino acid or essential fatty acid, which are so called because they are nutritionally required by a given living organism.[2]
While there are countless uses for essential oils, let’s start on the list of reasons why you should start incorporating them in your daily life.
1. Essential Oils are a Natural Alternative
Essential oils are gifts of nature compressed into small drops. Nature, aside from being beautiful contains so many wonderful elements. When we can use something so natural and good for us why would we chose harsh chemicals that are not compatible with our own bodies?
Essential oils are the perfect alternative for use in cleaning, skin care, hair care, fragrance and more.
2. Essential Oils are Cost Effective
Since essential oils are so concentrated, they make a very cost effective choice. In many conventional products you are paying for water and ineffective ingredients.
Here are some examples of just how concentrated and precious essential oils are.
Lavender Essential Oil(15ml) = 3 pounds of lavender flowers
Rose Essential Oil (5ml) = 242,000 rose petals
Lemon Essential Oil (15ml) = 50 lemons
A 15 ml bottle of essential oil containing 320 – 400 drops per bottle.(drops vary based on type/thickness of oil). When using an essential oil for most things you are using a few drops. Based on an average cost of a 15 ml bottle of essential oil, it comes to mere cents per drop. I call that extremely cost effective.
3. Essential Oils are Customizable
Essential Oils are customizable to your needs. Meaning you have a wide open canvas of possibilities. There are endless options of blends you can use for diffusing. Diffusion is any method or device that disperses essential oil molecules into the air.
Other than diffusing, there are many was to incorporate essential oils into your daily routine. Incorporating essential oils into your life doesn’t mean you have to make everything you use from scratch. You can use essential oils to make some of your current/favorite products better.
Some examples of improving products could be hand sanitizers, shampoo, conditioner, lotions and more. Given the state of the world now we are all using quite a bit more hand sanitizer. Let’s say you don’t like the smell or you notice it dries your hands out. You could make your own hand sanitizer using essential oils. Recipe here. Or you can customize your current hand sanitizer. Add a few drops of lavender or sweet orange to improve the smell. Lavender acts as an antiseptic and moisturizers skin. Sweet Orange has antiseptic and antioxidant properties as well as boosting your mood.
4. Essential Oils are Versatile
The versatility of essential oils are vast. Whether making products, improving products or diffusing essential oils can be used in so many different ways.
I myself, use essential oils for diffusing, in my laundry products, skin care, hair care, for better sleep, freshening my trash cans and car. I also use them with my senior dog.
As an example of how versatile just one essential oil can be, let’s look at Lavender. Lavender is a common easily available oil. It can be used in all the things I listed above and more.
Each essential oil has multiple properties that can solve multiple issues. Inviting Effects created a line of natural essential oil body washes and lotions.
5. Essential Oils Have Amazing Effects
I am only half way through my list of 10 reasons to start using essential oils and I must touch on the effects they have. The effects of essential oils are boundless. They can have amazing effects on all areas of your life. While there are many more, I am going to just site one of the effects that essential oils can have on your life in this section. The other sections of this post have more.
Essential oils can have remarkable effects on your skin. From anti-aging to clearing acne. I only use Inviting Effects body products and essential oil serum on my face. After all my years in the beauty industry, essential oils products have made my skin the best it has felt in years.
6. Essential Oils Provide Better Results
This may seem repetitive but essential oils can give you better effects. Even if you are just adding essential oils to a current product that you use and like, the results you will achieve are far superior.
As an example, I like my hair conditioner I have been using for years. I didn’t want to mess with a good thing. I was using essential oil products on my skin so I thought why not try to improve on what I thought was fine. I added Jasmine and Geranium to my conditioner. Wow! I turned what I thought I liked into something I love. Adding those 2 essential oils to my conditioner made my hair softer, shinier and healthier.
That is just one example and supports my position that essential oils do make things better with better results. I have many more examples that will be shared in upcoming posts.
7. Essential Oils are Easy to Use
Essential oils can be relatively easy to use there are few safety and general guidelines to follow.
- When just starting with essential oils, always use a carrier. Do not apply an essential oil directly to the skin. While there are some oils that can be used in this fashion, as a novice it is best to remember they are very concentrated.
2. Always wash your hands before and after handling essential oils.
3. Use quality therapeutic grade essential oils. If you use poor quality you will get poor results.
4. Do not ingest. While there are some oils safe to consume internally, it is best to consult an expert first. Some oils can be harmful if ingested.
5. Do not use if pregnant or on small children. There are some essential oils that may be harmful to pregnant women or children – again consult an expert. As well as not all essential oils are good around pets. Always check an essential oil before use.
6. More isn’t always better. Remember essential oils are highly concentrated. For general purposes use a dilution rate of 2 – 3%. This means for every teaspoon of carrier oil you would add 2 – 3 drops.
8. Essential Oils Have Mood Benefits
Feeling stressed? Blue? Need to focus? There is an essential oils for that and more? Our sense of smell is very powerful. Inhaling a particular scent can change your mood and create positive results. Through inhaling an essential oil it sends signals to the brain which can alter your state. We often associate smells with memories – good or bad.
