Essential oils are concentrated plant substances, usually extracted from the roots, leaves, blossoms, and fruits of a plant. Think of essential oils as the lifeblood of a plant, or its healing essence.
Wisely harnessing these essential oils – whether it’s for beauty, health, or mood – is what the practice of aromatherapy is all about. Today, we know of over 300 essential oils that can help heal burns, improve moods, and boost brainpower – among many other things!
How are essential oils used?
You can use essential oils in many ways, from inhaling them, applying them topically to the body, or mixing them with other ingredients to make natural household cleaners and pest deterrants.
If you’ve got just an essential oil and nothing else, one great way to unleash its aroma and its healing powers is to use it with a diffuser, which spreads its essence throughout a room.
If you’d like to use essential oils for topical beauty treatments, you can dilute them in a variety of carrier oils and common household ingredients to create massage lotions, moisturizers and creams, body scrubs, bath salts, and even perfumes. We cover this in more detail in our Aromatherapy for Beauty section.
As you start out with aromatherapy, have fun discovering the powers of each individual oil. You’ll find that even a single essential oil has a multitude of uses. If you’re curious about where to begin, we invite you to explore our Top Essential Oils for Everyday Use and our Aromatherapy First Aid Kit sections. There, we suggest some great essential oils you can get started with right away. Each of these oils were chosen for their versatility and usefulness when it comes to smoothing out everyday problems and small-scale medical issues.