Protect Yourself With These Oils

I’ve always been obsessed with essential oils, and filling my home with their beautiful, therapeutic scents. I studied aromatherapy because I was so drawn to the fact that these plant and flower oils were powerful enough to be both used medicinally, and affect emotional change. When you are using a good quality essential oil blend, you are able to affect change on so many different levels.

With Winter on us, it’s time to start using specific oils that can help guard against cold and flu germs. Luckily, there are many, many favorites include: Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Bergamot, Pine, and Rosemary. You can sanitize the air in your home, by diffusing these oils in a burner, fan or proper diffuser.

By far the best way of scenting your home, without affecting the quality of the oil, is to use a diffuser – one that either uses a little cool water, or just air. I like all the Floracopeia Diffusers – they are pricey, but trust me – you get what you pay for. A good diffuser is a fantastic investment that will last you years. I use mine everyday to radically change the air quality in my home, and to uplift everyone’s spirits. If my daughter comes back with a runny nose or cough, I immediately add a few drops of eucalyptus and lavender to my diffuser, and let these powerful oils fill our home.

If my daughter needs to concentrate on school work, I use peppermint oil for focus. If everyone feels a bit down, I use geranium, which always makes people smile. If I’m stressed out, I create a blend with geranium and lavender. You can get really creative with your blends!

The key is to purchase pure essential oils. There are a lot of fake or highly diluted oils on the market, and they won’t have any kind of therapeutic effect. Even worse – some synthetic oils are marketed as “essential oils”, which is rubbish!  I highly recommend Mountain Rose Herbs – their quality is great, and their prices are fair. They also have a massive selection. I also like the blends at Floracopeia.

If you are new to using pure essential oils, I suggest you start off with a basic kit containing Lavender (if you like it), peppermint, eucalyptus, and tea tree. All these oils are highly anti-bacterial/anti-viral. If you love flowery scents, make sure you buy geranium, ylang ylang, and neroli. If you like woody, sensuous scents, you’ll need sandalwood, vetiver, and jasmine.  If you get to find a good collection of oils at your local health food store, have a good sniff to see what you are drawn to. A quality, pure oil should smell really strong – if it doesn’t, it may have been diluted.

On a side note, watch out for essential oil pyramid-scheme companies. There are a few out there, some of whom have contacted me with quite aggressive marketing, and overblown claims. I’m not a great one from buying from this kind of a company anyway because I don’t do well with sales pressure. If someone tells me that their product is the ONLY  product that is really pure/therapeutic etc, I smell a rat!

So, sniff around (sorry!) and find the oils that you are drawn to. Invest in a great diffuser, and watch your friend’s reactions when they walk into your home!

Tip: You can get very creative with which oils you choose to scent your home with. If you are a newbie, maybe start with using just one oil in your diffuser, and as you get more confident, you can start blending.  This is an excellent book if you want to learn more about how to create specific blends for specific issues.