Using Your Essential Oils
Bringing essential oils into your life can be fun and rewarding. Listed below is a guide to the use of essential oils in everyday life. Remember this is only a guide and careful attention to the safe use of essential oils must be adhered to at all times.
- Basic Inhalation – Add 2-4 drops of essential oil on a tissue. Place the tissue under your nose and inhale. Initially, use only one drop to ensure that you do not have a sensitivity or reaction to the oil.
- Steam Inhalation – Boil 1 cup of water. Add 3-7 drops of oil. Lean over the bowl and breathe in deeply. If you notice any irritation, stop immediately. Steam inhalation is good with colds and chest-related ailments. Depending upon the blend, therapeutic benefits can be used day or night.
- Oil Burner Diffusion – Add around 5 drops of oil or blend into the oil dish, fill the balance with warm water. Light a candle that sits below and allow the candle to warm the bowl, slowly heating the blend and thus dispersing the essence within the room. Remember if you leave the room for an extended period extinguish the candle. Also place the burner in a safe place, away from flammable material. Essential oils are highly flammable, so great care must taken.
- Lamp Ring Diffusers are a terra-cotta ring that sets directly onto a light bulb. It has a grooved lip that goes all the way around it. This lip holds essential oil. The heat from a light bulb heats the essential oil in the Lamp Ring and the oil is then gently diffused into the room.
- Clay Pot Diffusers resemble small terra-cotta pots. They also can be found in many small shapes. A clay pot diffuser contains an opening for adding essential oils. Usually a cork is the method by which the opening is closed. The oils permeate through the pot and then diffuse out into the room. The intensity of the aroma depends on how much essential oil is added to the clay pot.
- Candle Diffusers utilizes a tea light or other candle to gently heat the essential promote diffusion into a room. A candle diffuser may be ceramic, glass or metal.
- Fan Diffusers come in a variety of sizes and styles. It uses a fan to blow the essential oils into the air when placed them onto a disposable absorbent pad or into a tray.
- Electric Heat Diffusers are similar to a fan diffuser. They use heat and a fan to gently heat the oil and disperse the aroma into a room.
- A Nebulizer is a device that takes essential oils and breaks them into separate molecules before dispersing the smaller molecules into the room. It is said that these smaller molecules can be more readily absorbed by the lungs and thus create greater therapeutic value than by use of other diffusion methods.
- Scenting your room – Use the steam method, with up to 10 drops of oil or blend to 2 cups of water and place the bowl in your room. Using of an Aromatherapy diffuser or lamp scent ring will provide the most effective diffusion of your oil blend.
- General Household Freshening – Add a few drops of oil to your rubbish bin, laundry wash, drain, vacuum bag filter, or on a tissue for placement in your drawers.
- Insect Repellent – Many essential oils including citronella, lavender, and peppermint act as a natural insect repellent. Use a diluted oil and massage onto skin like suntan oil or add an essential oil blended with water in a spray bottle and spray onto skin like insect spray. You can also add a blended oil to your burner to scent the air and keep the insects away. Be sure to read all safety data on the oils you use as some oils may not be suitable for use around pets. Be careful not to apply the essential oil directly onto delicate surfaces.
- Massage - Add up to 20 drops of essential oil to 1-ounce carrier oil such as sweet almond oil and massage onto yourself or partner. Keep away from eyes and genital areas. Do not apply essential oils to the skin without first diluting them.
- Bath - Add 5-7 drops essential oil to 1-ounce carrier oil. Add this blend to your running bath water and mix well before getting into the tub. Conversely you can add 5-7 drops directly to the running water. Close the door to the bathroom whilst the bath is filling so that when you enter the room is filled with essential oil steam as you soak. Be sure to read the safety data for the essential oils you choose to use.
Other Uses
Essential oils can be used in making homemade lotions, facial toners, shampoos, perfumes, soaps, shower gels, and other natural products. Additionally, essential oils are often blended for their therapeutic synergistic abilities. Factories provide some blends to help you get started but the fun of Aromatherapy is creating your own blends.
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