The many uses and benefits of essential oils range from skin care, muscle relaxant, aromatherapy, first aid and stress relief.
Let’s take a moment to acquaint ourselves with the basic knowledge and uses of essential oils.
Essential Oils: The Basics
Essential oils are not really oils. They do not contain the fatty acids that constitute what we would consider an actual oil.
Most essential oils are high in antibacterial, anti-fungal, and antiviral properties: This makes them an excellent addition to your homemade cleaning preparations. Oils that are best for cleaning are: Lemon, grapefruit, eucalyptus, peppermint, tea tree, lavender, and rosemary.
Essential oils are minuscule in molecular size, which means they are absorbed well by the skin – making them perfect ingredients in personal care items intended to heal, soften, and nourish. However, they do not accumulate in the body over time – they simply offer up their healing properties and then pass on through.
Scientific studies have shown that rosemary essential oil helps your brain perform. Specifically, smelling rosemary essential oil helps memory recall and performance on tests. Interestingly, this study also showed that groups that inhaled either rosemary or lavender essential oil felt much more relaxed than those who inhaled no odor at all.
Fragrance oils and essential oils are NOT the same thing. As a rule of thumb, if you see the word “fragrance” or “fragrance oil” or even “perfume” on anything, you can assume this is synthetic and NOT natural. (Even if it says natural fragrance.)
Essential oils are wholly natural and cannot be patented; which means that you’ll never see an essential oil in a pharmaceutical drug. Because essential oils cannot be patented, drug companies will not waste money studying them. This limits our scientific knowledge of essential oils greatly, and the majority of what we know about them are things that have been passed down through thousands of years of personal use and experimentation.
Most essential oils should never be used undiluted on the skin. Instead, they should be combined with “real” oils (called carrier oils), waxes, butters, alcohols, or other diluting measures. If you don’t dilute, you may end up with an unfortunate reaction (and unhappy skin).
There are a few essential oils that are generally recognized as safe to use undiluted. The only essential oils that are widely acknowledged as safe to use undiluted (sparingly) are: lavender, German chamomile, tea tree, sandalwood, and rose geranium.
Never use an undiluted essential oil on a baby or child. Children have much thinner, more delicate skin than adults have, and tend to be very sensitive to the potency of essential oils. In fact, even if you do use essential oil in a recipe for children, only use half of the essential oil recommended in the recipe.
19 Essential Oils Safe for Babies
Bergamot (Citrus bergamia)*
Cedarwood (Cedrus atlantica)**
Chamomile, Roman (Chamaemelum nobile)
Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens)
Frankincense (Boswellia carteri)
Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens)
Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
Lemon (Citrus limon)*
Mandarin (Citrus reticulata)*
Marjoram (Origanum majorana)
Melaleuca-Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia)
Orange (Citrus aurantium)*
Rose Otto (Rosa damascena)
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)**
Rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora)
Sandalwood (Santalum album)
Thyme (Thumus vulgaris CT linalol)
Ylang Ylang (Cananga odorata)
*These oils are photosensative; always dilute. To prevent a rash or pigmentation of the skin, do not use citrus oils when exposed to direct sunlight.
**These oils should never be used undiluted on babies and children.
Avoid The Following Essential Oils While Pregnant or Nursing
Almond – bitter -Toxic
Aniseed – Anethole rich
Angelica – Emmenagogue
Basil – Possible irritant
Birch – Possible irritant
Black pepper – Skin sensitization
Boldo leaf – Toxic
Buchu – Liver hazardous
Calamus – Toxic
Camphor – Toxic
Cassia – Skin sensitization
Cedarwood – Emmenagogue
Chamomile – Emmenagogue
Cinnamon – Skin sensitization and emmenagogue
Clary sage – Emmenagogue
Clove – Skin sensitization
Elecampane – Skin sensitization
Fennel – Anethole rich
Fir – Possible irritant
Ginger – Emmenagogue
Horseradish – Toxic
Hyssop – Could cause toxicity
Jaborandi leaf – Toxic
Jasmine – Emmenagogue
Juniper – Emmenagogue
Lemon -Possible irritant
Lemongrass – Possible irritant
Marjoram – Emmenagogue
Melissa – Possible irritant
Mugwort – Toxic
Mustard – Toxic
Myrrh – Emmenagogue
Nightshade – Toxic
Nutmeg – Skin sensitization
Oregano – Skin sensitization
Parsley seed – Apiol rich
Pennyroyal – Toxic
Peppermint – Emmenagogue
Pine – Skin sensitization
Rose – Emmenagogue
Rosemary – Emmenagogue
Rue – Toxic
Sage – High thujone content
Sassafras – Toxic
Savin – Toxic
Savory – Could cause toxicity
Southernwood – Toxic
Stinging nettle – Toxic
Tansy – Toxic
Thuja – Toxic
Thyme both Red and Linalol) – Possible irritant
Wintergreen – Toxic
Wormseed – Toxic
Wormwood – Toxic.
(and skip Essential Oils completely in your first trimester):
To test if you’re sensitive to an essential oil combine one drop of essential oil with 1/2 tsp carrier oil (like olive, jojoba, or sweet almond). Rub this on the inside, upper portion of your arm and wait a few hours. If no redness or itching develops, you’re most likely not sensitive to that essential oil.
Keep all essential oils out of the reach of children – and avoid contact with your eyes. This is just standard safety precautions, but must be mentioned.
Do not take essential oils internally, especially oils like wintergreen and eucalyptus. While some essential oils may be used well-diluted in something like toothpaste with safety, it’s generally recognized that there’s no need to take essential oils internally. In fact, there are several toxic essential oils that should be avoided even through skin contact. Luckily, these are NOT common essential oils, and most of them you’ll never find in the store.
To test your essential oil to see how “pure” it is, put a single drop of it on a piece of construction paper. If it evaporates quickly and leaves no noticeable ring, it is pure. If you have a ring left, then it is likely diluted by the manufacturer with an oil of some sort (this test will not work for myrrh, patchouli, and absolutes).
Essential oils will last for at least 5 years (if not 10), so one bottle could literally last you a decade. The only exception to this rule is citrus oils, which will see a reduction in potency after a year or two.
Store your essential oils in dark glass bottles out of direct sunlight. This is simply to help preserve their potency.
Remember that what you’re allergic to in food, you will be allergic to in essential oils. So if, for some reason, you can’t eat sage without breaking out in a rash, steer clear of sage essential oil (or any product containing it).
Use essential oils to help your mood. Lavender, peppermint, grapefruit, chamomile, lemon, ylang-ylang all help produce happy, joyous moods. Clary sage helps with PMS (although there have been reports that overuse of clary sage can lead to intoxication). Rosemary increases focus and concentration.
> 21 Things You Should Know About Essential Oils | Crunchy Betty