How To Use Essential Oils For Beginners: An Essential Oils Guide

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Essential oils can be a surprisingly helpful addition to your daily life.

At first glance, they might just seem like overpriced oils that just smell good. At least that’s what I thought in the beginning.

Then little by little, as I discovered more about them, I learned that they can be good for a lot of things, including your skin, clearing the smells in your home, aromatherapy and lots of health benefits (which we’ll get into later on).

Because of the many benefits of essential oils, they’re definitely a must try. Especially if you like experiencing different aromas.

Table of Contents

The Definition Of Essential Oils

Essential oils are a very concentrated extraction from plants and herbs that have lots of aromatherapy, beauty and health benefits.

Related: DIY Lip Scrubs With Essential Oils You Can Make At Home

Why Are Essential Oils Good For You?

Essential oils have been used for health reasons for hundreds of years around the world. They are often used as alternatives to other hybrid and processed solutions because they’re natural, meaning you don’t have to worry about dire side effects and can be used to treat many different things.

So in essence, they’re amazing natural remedies!

Uses For Essential Oils

Ok so now that we know what essential oils are and what they’re good for, how exactly do you use them? How do you figure out what essential oils are good for what?

Hopefully my essential oils guide sheds some light on that. There are lots and lots of ways to use your oils. But here are the most basic ones in detail to help get you started incorporating essential oils and all their benefits to your own life.

For starters, some unique ways to use essential oils you might not have thought about:

  • Foot soak
  • Body massage
  • Essential oil candles
  • Bubble baths
  • Added to natural lotions and perfumes
  • Sensory stimulation

In this guide we will look at the uses for essential oil in three main categories, including their beauty benefits, health benefits, and how you can use them to improve your home.

How To Use Essential Oils On Skin

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Essential oils have been used for thousands of years as beauty remedies, lots of them, like frankincense and lavender, are great for getting super soft skin and helping you get rid of unwanted spots and uneven skin.

I’ve gone as far as creating my own essential oil night spray that I use almost every night and often during the day if my skin needs a little pick me up. It’s a great DIY face toner that you can create for yourself, according to your skin’s needs.

Sometimes, when I’m home and know I’m not going out anywhere, I’ll use it as a natural deodorant and skip the chemical filled stuff we buy from the store.

Can essential oils be applied directly to the skin?

You never want to apply undiluted essential oils directly on the skin. This is because essential oils are potent oils that come in very concentrated doses. You never want to apply essential oils directly from the bottle to the skin, especially if you are not familiar with that specific type of oil yet.

I learned this the hard way by once applying PURE tea tree oil on a breakout on my cheek and ending up with an irritated burn from that. It took a while for it to heal.

You want to ALWAYS make sure you dilute your essential oils with some purified water or carrier oil (I like using Dr. Thayer’s alcohol free natural witch hazel) and trying some out on a small area of your skin to see if its too strong for your skin.

What is carrier oil?

Carrier oil is oil used to dilute essential oils. It’s generally recommended that you use one drop of essential oil per three drops of carrier oil.

A carrier oil can be an almond oil or even a vegetable oil. I like using almond oil because of it’s smell and because it is SO good for your skin by itself. Adding your favorite essential oils only enhances that.

Carrier oils perfect for diluting your essential oils

Almond Oil

Plant Therapy has a great 16 oz carrier oil bottle perfect for getting you started with essential oils and making sure you’re diluting them properly!

Plant Therapy Sweet Almond Oil For Skin Hair Body + Face

Since everyone is different, if you want to use essential oils for the beauty benefits of the skin, you have to try out what works for you and your skin.

Rosehip Oil

Uses and benefits: Anti-aging, fine lines and wrinkles

Rosehip Oil contains Vitamins A and C and encourages cell production which makes it a perfect candidate to create a toner for maturing skin. It is not necessarily considered an essential oil, but the benefits of using it are similar. Its safe enough to not have to blend it with a carrier oil for use.

Hemp Seed Oil

Uses and benefits: highly moisturizing, used as a carrier oil

Hemp Seed Oil is famous for being super packed with a long list of powerful nutrients that can help nourish the body from the inside out. It helps maintain the immune system and promote brain health as well as being helpful for dry itching skin.

How do you apply essential oils?

Essential oils can be applied lots of ways. You can apply them in a diluted mix from a spray bottle, dabble some on a cotton bud, or use your bare fingers to rub it on.

Just remember, you always have to dilute them first. That’s the most important part. Once you do this you can experiment and try different blends on different areas of your body.

How to use a compressor

Sometimes we want our essential oils to absorb faster, and a great way to do that is to create your own essential oil compress.

All you have to do is dip a clean washcloth in warm water and apply gentle pressure to the area where you applied your essential oil.

This will help it absorb faster in whatever area you’re using it in. Now, how about aromatherapy?

What is aromatherapy and its benefits?

Aromatherapy is using essential oils through the senses, either smell or skin contact, to get the maximum benefit of these oils.

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Aromatherapy has been used for a long time and thought to reduce anxiety, help you sleep better, and help with depression.

You can use aromatherapy through the use of essential oils in your bath, using a diffuser in your bedroom, or simply applying your favorite essential oils as body oil. One great way to create a more relaxed space that helps with the relief of anxiety and depression is to use an essential oils diffuser.

Related: How To Make Your Home Smell GOOD With These 17 Tips

What is an essential oil diffuser?

Aromatherapy diffusers help spread the aroma of whatever essential oils you put into it around your home.

There are a TON of diffusers out there that work in several different ways. There are simple candle diffusers, electric diffusers, atomizing diffusers, and even lamp ring diffusers.

You can always go in depth to see which one you like the most.

I personally like using aromatherapy candles to diffuse a more potent smell around my home! But when I don’t use a candle, I use an electric diffuser that gets the job done too. Here’s a personal favorite. I love the blue light it gives off, and it isn’t too expensive!

Ultrasonic Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser

Essential Oils For Sleep

You might have heard that there are essential oils that help you sleep better if used correctly. And its true!

There are lots of different oils you can try to see if it’ll help you regulate your sleep cycle and help you fall asleep faster for a more restful anf fulfilling nighttime.

What are the best essential oils for sleep?

There are some essential oils that can be better to help you fall asleep than others. They usually have calming effects once you take a few drops and inhale them as you prepare for bed.

Or you can use them during bath time to unwind and help you relax to fall asleep faster. Another great way to use essential oils for sleep is to set off your diffuser around this time. Use an essential oil that is known for it’s calming and stimulating agents to fill your room with a pleasant and nurturing smell.

If you prefer a blend created for you, Plant Therapy has a sleep aid that can help you relax and make sleep come easier for you, especially if you’re prone to insomnia.

Plant Therapy Calming & Sleep Essential Oils Blend

Lavender, for example, is one of the most popular sleep aids when it comes to using essential oils for sleep problems. The smell has calming effects on the limbic system, which is the part of our brain that regulates our mood.

Other great sleep aid essential oils are:

Bergamot

Ylang Ylang

Clearing smells in your home with essential oils

essential oils guide with the best essential oils and how to use essential oils

While smells in your home can be helped by using diffusers. There are other ways to use essential oils to soften the smell of your home, or get rid of bad smells.

It’s good to remember that bad smells usually aren’t fixed unless you deep clean that specific area of your home. And an essential oil blend can be used to enhance the clean smell of your home overall.

An AMAZING essential oil to eliminate odors is lemon oil.

You can also boil some water on the stove top with some lemons, mint, and a few drops of lemon oil for a naturally deodorizing vapor.

Spray mixes are another option for diffusing your best smelling essential oils around your house.

Other essential oils that are great for odor problems are:

Lavender Oil

Tea Tree Oil

Orange Oil

Lemon Oil

Sage Oil

Eucalyptus Oil

Vanilla Oil

List of essential oils

Now, what are all the essential oils that exist? And how do you go about choosing which ones can work for you?

The answer is to simply start somewhere.

You can’t find out what types of essential oils you’ll like using without first trying and seeing what you enjoy and don’t enjoy as much.

A huge list of most of the known essential oils is great if you really want to go in depth with it.

Some essential oil smells are an acquired taste for sure. Here is a list of some of the most popular essential oils and what they’re each helpful for to get you started:

Patchouli Essential Oil

Uses and benefits: dry skin issues, aging skin, reducing scars, as a base for perfumes and diffuser blends

Patchouli Oils have been used in oriental medicines for hundreds of years. It’s great for treating skin and hair problems such as eczema and dandruff. It also has helpful scar reducing properties. It is also known to have calming effects that may help with depression and anxiety.

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Rose Essential Oil

Uses and benefits: Dry skin, acne prone skin, lessening the look of scars and aging, great for aromatherapy

Rose oil is especially great for dry skin because of its moisturizing properties. It is often used to treat various dry skin conditions and as an anti-inflammatory agent. Like lots of other essential oils, it can be a great aromatherapy agent, whether you’re using it as body oil or in your baths.

Frankincense Essential Oil

Uses and benefits: For help with stress and anxiety, Acne and dry skin, and colds

Frankincense is a great essential oil for almost all skin types and helps with a variety of skin conditions including dry skin, blemishes, fine lines, and wrinkles. It’s a nice, well rounded essential oil for all your skin needs.

It can be a great essential oil to dilute and use with a compressor for treating colds.

Helichrysum Italicum Essential Oil

Uses and benefits: skin rejuvenation, anti-inflammatory, anti allergy

This essential oil is often found in lots of anti-aging products because of its powerful properties that fight signs of aging. It has antimicrobial, anti allergenic, and antioxidant properties that may help with allergic flare ups.

essential oils guide with the best essential oils and how to use essential oils, grapefruit oil

Grapefruit Oil

Uses and benefits: Stress reduction, antibacterial, mood booster, and odor eliminator

Grapefruit essential oil has also been known to help with weight loss. It’s a great stress reducer and mood booster when used in aromatherapy. It can be a great essential oil to use with your diffuser if you like the tangy citrusy smell of grapefruit oil.

Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

Uses and benefits: Acne-prone skin, acne scars, blemishes, aromatherapy

Ylang Ylang is often used as the to go for reducing stress and promoting relaxation because of the stimulating effects of its aroma. It’s also known as a great oil for scalp and hair health.

Tea Tree Essential Oil

Uses and benefits: fight acne blemishes,

Tea Tree oil is anti-inflammatory and antibacterial which makes it a great oil for treating many different conditions including acne, dermatitis, and even athlete’s foot. It’s also a great for aromatherapy and relaxation. It’s a very concentrated and potent essential oil, so you want to make sure you use it sparingly, especially when using it to treat skin conditions.

It can also help treat cough and inflammation when used with a compressor or a diffuser.

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Lavender Essential Oil

Uses and benefits: Dry skin, acne, scar reduction, odor eliminator, hair repair, anti-microbial

Lavender oil has a lot of uses as well that can include aromatherapy (because of its rich smell), pain relieving, and can even help with blood circulation. Lavender is an all around great oil that can be used for many things around your house, including acne prone skin, and even burns.

Lavender oil also has a calming effect, which is one of the reasons why it is so popular.

Jojoba Oil

Uses and benefits: relieving greasy skin, acne, sores and psoriasis

Like many of the other oils on this list, Jojoba oil has tons of benefits and uses for the skin and body. It contains Vitamin B, Vitamin E complex and helps fight fungi and infections. It’s also mild enough to serve as a great makeup remover.

It’s great for the hair and nails, and even chapped skin.

essential oils guide with the best essential oils and how to use essential oils, lemon oil

Lemon Oil

Uses and benefits: Great for eliminating odors in the house, in cleaning solutions, antiseptic

Lemon oil is basically your home’s best friend. It’s perfect for getting rid of odors and using it in your own homemade cleaning solutions (especially for cleaning surfaces and in the kitchen).

It has also been known to have a powerful effect on your mood, and can be a great essential oil to use with your diffuser and help relieve stress.

Clary Sage Oil

Uses and benefits: All around awesome for the skin, antimicrobial properties, potent aromatherapy oil

There is a certain softness to Clary Sage that makes it worth every penny whether you’re using it for your home with your diffuser, of on your skin for it’s many skin benefits. It has also been known to be used in massages to alleviate stress and tension. It may also help with hormone regulation when used with a diffuser for aromatherapy.

Peppermint Oil

Uses and benefits: antimicrobial, antifungal, analgesic

Peppermint oil is in lots of stuff you probably already use. It’s known for making great chapsticks, is in toothpastes, and can also make a great oil for diffusing. It’s antifungal properties are also great for fighting skin infections.

Myrrh Oil

Uses and benefits: anti inflammatory, promote healing, reduce fine lines and wrinkles

Myrrh is used in lots of beauty products you might already use. It has great healing properties that make it a useful essential oil to own. It’s even used as a flavoring additive in many foods. Hows that for a versatile essential oil?

essential oils guide with the best essential oils and how to use essential oils, cinnamon oil

Cinnamon Oil

Uses and benefits: anti inflammatory, antioxidant, helps with heart health, acne problems

Cinnamon oil a one of my favorite essential oils because besides smelling wonderful and being great at deodorising your home, it also has many health properties that make it ultra useful and a must have in your essential oil kit.

Tangerine Oil

Uses and benefits: helps with skin impurities, acne fighting properties, skin softener

Tangerine essential oil is an oil that is all around great for the skin, whether you suffer from a skin condition or not. It helps with conditions like dry scalp, scaly dry skin, and dry hair.

Tangerine essential oil can be a great addition to your beauty routine.

Best smelling essential oils

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Clary Sage

Clary Sage has an earthy sweet and flowery smell to it that makes it great for perfuming your home or for a warm bath aromatherapy session.

Sandalwood

Sandalwood smells, well, woody, and it’s a great essential oil smell if you like the outdoors or mix it with other oils as a base.

Lavender

As you can guess, lavender smells wonderful just like the plant it derives from. No wonder they put it in detergents and soaps so much. If you learn to mix and match it with other essential oils you can create some pretty interesting and unique smelling blends.

Mint

I’ve yet to meet someone who doesn’t like the smell of mint. And its included in lots of things we already use. Try it out for your next aromatherapy session and see!

Eucalyptus

This one is closely related to mint in terms of how it smells. It’s included in lots of medicinal over the counter things we use daily, like vapor rubs. While the smell can be too much for some, for others it can have a pleasant calming effect.

Rosemary

Rosemary has a very strong wood smell with hints of zesty lemon. In its natural form its used in cooking but in oil form you can definitely use the smell to perfume your home or use it in an aromatherapy session.

Best essential oil brands

There are too many essential oil brands out there to pick out the absolute best one out of all of them.

You also have to consider that some may have certain things we’re looking for while others may not.

One of the best essential oil brands out there that I’ve come to know, use, and like very much is the Plant Therapy essential oils brand.

They’re 100% pure, free from additives, and are affordable, especially for someone who is barely starting their journey into the essential oils world.

They sell awesome starter kits for essential oil beginners, and carry a line of certified organic only essential oils.

Blending essential oils

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There isn’t one correct way to blend your oils (just always make sure you’re diluting them).

It’s really all about finding a blend that works well for you and your senses.

I personally like blending equal parts Mint, Ylang Ylang, Lavender, and Sandalwood together to create a sweet smell.

Try experimenting with some blends to see which ones you like best!

Get started with an essential oils starter kit

Honestly, one of the best ways to get started with essential oils is to get your first starter kit. Depending on how serious you are about trying essential oils, you can get a small 6 bottle starter kit or you can take it a step further and try out a 14 bottle wooden set.

There’s no telling how essential oils can improve your life. So the first thing to do is to start and go through a bit of trial and error to see which oils go best with your tastes and needs.

I love using essential oils every time I get the chance and wish I would have found out about them earlier.

Are there any essential oils you like better than others? Join the essential oil conversation and leave a comment!

If you enjoyed this essential oils guide, you’ll love these life improvement and DIY beauty posts too!

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DIY Lip Scrub: 27+ Easy Homemade Lip Scrub Recipes

DIY Toner With Essential Oils— Thayers Witch Hazel Face Toner

DIY Face Scrub: 11 Scrubs for Glowing Skin— Best Exfoliating Scrubs

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How To Improve Your Life: 17 Life Changing Habits You Need To Try

3 thoughts on “How To Use Essential Oils For Beginners: An Essential Oils Guide”

  1. I’m so glad you found it helpful Amanda! After being introduced to them not too long ago they’ve become part of my skin care routine 🙂

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