I had never heard of essential oils until several years ago but I'm so glad I learned more about them and I started using them every day! Essential oils are organic compounds extracted from plants with immense healing properties. Many different cultures have been using them for over 5,000 years to cure a variety of health conditions. Essential oils are extracted directly from the bark, flower, fruit, leaf, seed or root of a plant or tree. Even just one drop can have strong health benefits.

You can use essential oils for relaxing, skin care, cleaning and as natural medicine. There are a lot of different oils and they all have certian uses but these are some benefits of some of them. They can fight cold and flu symptoms, relax your body and sore muscles, ease pain, heal skin conditions, balance hormones, improve digestion, reduce cellulite and wrinkles and they can be used to clean your home.

Some of my favorites are Frankincense, Lavender, Peppermint, Lemon, Clove, Bergamot, Roman Chamomile and Eucalyptus! Some of the most popular essential oils and their health benefits are,

Clove: antibacterial, anti parastic and antioxidant

Cypress: improves circulation, reduces varicose veins, lifts confidence and can help heal broken bones

Eucalyptus: improves respiratory issues and purifies the body

Frankincense: builds immunity, reduces inflammation, heals age spots, supports brain and can help fight cancer

Ginger: reduces inflammation, supports joints, improves digestion and relieves nausea

Grapefruit: supports metabolism and cellulite depletion

Lavender: helps with relaxtion, improves mood and helps heals burns and cuts

Lemon: works great with homemade cleaning products and acts as a antibacterial aid

Myrrh: natural antiseptic and can help prevent or reduce infections and inflammation of skin cells

Oregano: powerful antimicrobial properties, can kill fungus and help you get rid of a cold

Peppermint: supports digestion, helps with energy, fever reducer, helps with headaches and muscle pain

Rose: amazing for reducing skin inflammation and helps with having glowing skin

Rosemary: can help thicken hair and improves brain function and memory

Tea Tree: natural antibacterial, antifungal, reduces odors and helps stimulate your immune system

Sandalwood: natural aphrodisiac

I love essential oils so much and there are so many more than the ones I listed. I mentioned some of the health benefits but there is more, you can diffuse them, ingest them, put them on your skin or in your shampoo bottles or lotion. I would ask your doctor before ingesting them to make sure it's safe for you because every person is different and your doctor knows what medicine you take. I have some empty capsules and I put organic avocado oil in them before dropping in the oils. There are some oils you can not ingest so make sure you do some research before trying them. If you are putting them on your skin I would take some coconut oil and mix it together and try a small amount.

You can always use more so it's best to start out with less! I use three diferent brands which is Ancient Nutrition, Dr. Mercola and Young Living. They are all great oils, quality is really important because there are a lot of brands that are not pure oil. Young Living is not certified organic but they are reallly good oils. They have a large variety of oils and blends, like Theives essential oil which is great for cleaning and it works well for sicknesses or sinus issues. They also make a Thieves cleaner and that's what I use to clean the kitchen counters and more!

Recently I have been diffusing Lavender, Bergamot, Roman Chamomile, Ylang Ylang and more! Some oils are toxic to animals so make sure you do some reasearch and be very careful when using oils around them.

Some of my favorite ways to use eesential oils is adding some Lemon and Tea Tree to the washer, especially when washing towels or sheets. Adding Lemon to the dishwasher works really well and using Theives to clean the counter, table or really anywhere is amazing!

I also love to take oils in capsules with avocado oil for allergies, digestive support and lots of other things. There are certain oils you can't take, like Wintergreen for example so make sure you be careful and ask your doctor if you need to. Wintergreen smells so good and it's great for diffusing but be careful around your animals.

I could talk about all the different essential oils all day because I love them and they're amazing for you! I know it can be stressful at first if you don't know anything about it. I would suggest you start with using Lavender, Frankincense or if you have a specific health issue you could use an oil for that. If you have issues with your mouth, try Clove oil and see how you do! You don't have to try all these oils right now, just pick one or two and go from there!

I hope you enjoyed this blog post and I'll see you next time!