Essential Oils In Your Everyday Life

Essential Oils In Your Everyday Life. Hello everyone, I hope you are well. In today’s post, I will be sharing a guest post from Kim Brookes. Kim Brookes is the founder of Perfino, an innovative natural scent jewellery brand. She will be sharing five ways to use essential oils in your everyday life.

As society trends away from the unnatural and mass-produced. There has been considerable interest in using essential oils to promote health and wellbeing. How can we incorporate them into our modern everyday lives so they contribute to our physical and mental enjoyment of life?

Essential Oils In Your Everyday Life

Essential oils have been extracted from various plant materials and enjoyed since time immemorial. The Egyptians used them for embalming bodies where the antibacterial and fragrant properties must undoubtedly have helped; religious practitioners have deployed them for centuries for their aesthetic and mystical appeal; and of course, the wealthy and powerful have always sought out the most precious oils for personal pleasure and enticement.

The study of essential oils began in the 1830’s Grasse, a part of France now synonymous with the best raw materials (and noses) in the world. So, no surprise that the evolution of the $29 billion perfume industry finds its roots here.

The therapeutic use of essential oils is, however, a relatively new phenomenon. In 1910 Rene-Maurice Gattefosse, a chemical engineer from Lyon treated his burns with lavender oil after an explosion in his laboratory. He was so impressed by the results that he found the French Society of Aromatic Products coins the term “aromatherapy”.

In recent years, essential oils have come into their own. People have begun to appreciate the difference they can make to their physical and mental enjoyment of life.

Five Ways To Use Essential Oils In Your Everyday Life

Here are a few ways to use essential oils in your daily life to make a positive difference.

Inhale Them

The scent of pure essential oils is one of life’s greatest pleasures and one that is now available in abundance with a wide variety of room diffusers, humidifiers, and oil-infused candles.

Of course, everyone has personal likes, dislikes, and associations. I’m not a huge fan of Jasmine as it is rather sentimental. Overly sweet to my nose, but there are plenty who love it. On the other hand, I adore the scent of Rose, one of the most precious and expensive of oils as you need so very many petals, hand-picked at the break of dawn, to produce a perfect rose absolute.

There are excellent suppliers and distributors of essential oils, and I would only ever buy from these. Not just because I want to be sure I am getting a top-quality, pure oil, but also because I need to be sure that it is sustainably sourced.

Many raw materials derived from oils, such as Sandalwood and Rosewood, are now grown under protected conditions. And require CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) certification. Although not covered by CITES, some are still vulnerable to overexploitation, as with Frankincense. Reputable sellers will provide all necessary certificates alongside a wealth of information on purity, source, animal testing, vegan credentials, technical documentation, and a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). My advice is to buy wisely.

Blended Essential Oils

Blended essential oils elevate the scent of individual oils to another level entirely, just as with cooking and most artistic endeavours. It takes many hours and years to grasp how oils blend to produce the most compelling fragrance. If you get it wrong, it can cost you dearly, with the most precious oils retailing at over £60 for 10ml, making a single drop worth around 30p. Over time you will learn that some fats are very gentle, some are bullies. Some work well together and bring out the best in a blend. At the same time, others can turn a lovely smell into an atrocious odour. So, either enjoy the journey if you have the time and inclination or defer to the experts.

So far, so good. You love a smell, find a reputable supplier, or experiment yourself in a controlled fashion. And then sit back and enjoy the scent as it diffuses into the room. But be warned of what is in the blended mix if you, like me. I only want to be experiencing the scent of natural products, as so many “flavours” are now available which are not extracted from nature. It is not possible, for example, to remove crude essential oil from Lily of the Valley, or Lilac, or indeed Apple. If these ingredients are in the mix, they will have been produced synthetically, in a laboratory, by the experts in fragrance chemistry.

My favourite suppliers, which can be relied on for top quality pure and natural essential oils, are Oshadhi and Makers Ingredients.

Beauty and Wellbeing

Beauty and wellbeing applications abound when essential oils are diluted with a carrier oil such as Almond and Jojoba—enabling them to be applied to the skin as massage oils, cleansers, exfoliators, rubs and so on. These products are heavily regulated for a good reason. Pure essential oils can be powerful and may harm you if put directly onto the skin. This is particularly the case with certain citrus oils, which are highly active. Astringent properties and photosensitivity that activates under direct sunlight and can cause chemical burns.

This is where experts have an essential role in providing a variety of naturally derived products that have gone through a very detailed Cosmetic Compliance and Safety Assessment process. It is achieved with reference to The IFRA (International Fragrance Association) standards for the safe use of fragrance ingredients, such as essential oils.

As a side note, it must be said, however, that it is practically impossible to determine the effects of multiple ingredients as they mix on the very personal chemistry of your skin. Many people are intolerant of or allergic to skin applications, so my advice is to proceed with caution and again trust the source. My favourite here is Aesop, a brand with true eco credentials and a BCorp to boot.

Off Skin Applications

Suppose you want the enjoyment of the fragrance of essential oils without putting anything on your skin. Try Perfino natural scent jewellery. Explicitly created so you can wear it and enjoy some expertly blended pure essential oils without having to put any chemicals on your skin at all. This is uniquely achieved by a single drop of oil on a porous lava stone inside the jewellery. You are giving your aromatic pleasure all day long with none of the possible pitfalls.

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy, or the therapeutic use of oils, has grown its audience in the last decade as increasing scientific evidence supports the use of oils, often in ways that have been used and studied empirically for centuries.

Neals Yard started in business 40 years ago and continues to sell from its shop in the Covent Garden area of London. Has provided treatments using its oils supported by excellent credentials and a wealth of expertise for years. Here you can enjoy essential oils for their scent and therapeutic benefits in the context of facials, massage, reflexology, and so much more, with purported benefits of increasing focus, relaxing muscles, or easing headaches.

Niche expertise and know-how have developed over the last few decades, catering to aromatherapy and essential oils for particular purposes. Anatomy produces signature sleep blends and a range of oils to support immunity, heart health, and mental wellbeing. And they all smell great.

CBD oil has also filtered into this specialist arena in recent years. Again, charlatans and false claims abound, so make sure you do your research before you believe the headlines. I have found a lot of helpful information from LabAroma with expert direction, thanks to the very well-informed Colleen Quinn.

In The Home

Cleaning and even disinfecting with less expensive oils, particularly citrus oils and lemon, can be effective. A small drop of lemon oil in the dishwasher makes for a clean machine and a wonderful smell in the kitchen, and then there is the loo…

Fabric refreshment can be achieved with the tiniest drop of Lavender or your favourite essential oil. This is far more natural and minimal in terms of packaging than some of the products on the market, which are 100% synthetic and come in large plastic containers.

And finally, spiders! There are certain insects, particularly spiders, that don’t like peppermint. So, if you want to control who comes into your home and like the smell of peppermint, you can put this around your windowsills and conduct your little experiment. This is also great for ladybirds who like to come into the house instead of eating the aphids on the roses.

So, there you have it. Essential oils are fascinating and powerful biomaterials, each with their properties and uses, and they certainly warrant bringing into your daily life for various purposes. Even if just for sheer pleasure and to celebrate the wonders of nature.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Talk Soon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kim Brookes is the founder of Perfino, an innovative natural scent jewellery brand. Perfino combines expertly blended, 100% natural, pure essential oils with exquisite jewellery so you can wear scent all day long without any chemicals touching your skin. The solid recycled silver and 18ct gold vermeil, the artisan-designed pendant comes with six lava stones and 10ml of carefully blended natural essential oils – all sourced from sustainable growers. One drop of oil on the stone in the pendant will give you a delicate fragrance that can last for days.

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