14 Essential Oils and What Makes Them Great

Essential oils are widely available and far more popular now than ever, but just what do we know about these brilliant little bottles oil and what makes them so fabulous? We'll get to that but first it's important to remember that these nifty plant extracts are potent. They almost always require the use of a carrier oil, even if you use them in your bath, apart from avoiding the risk of a skin irritation, it actually makes them work better and decreases evaporation time, allowing them to sit on skin longer. 
The rules are of course different if you use them with an essential oil diffuser such as this one from The Nature Of Things to fragrance your home. Always refer to the manufacturer's instructions.

What can essential oils be used for?

From fragrance for your home to aromatherapy, treating skin conditions and soothing muscle inflammation the benefits of essential oils are vast. Essential oils can be used in personal care, home cleaning products and for general well-being. 

Here we give you the lowdown on all things essential oil and how they can help you. 

Eucalyptus Essential Oil

With its distinctive, strong scent, Eucalyptus is one of the most recognisable essential oils and one that is used more often. It's cleansing and invigorating and has a variety of uses; both around the home and personal care.

Top uses:

• Insect repellent
• Decongestant
• Household cleaning

Rosemary Essential Oil

One surprising benefit of rosemary essential oil is that it can help with the retention of short term memory. It's also helpful to massage oils, particularly in arthritic conditions. It has a delicious fresh, sweet and herby scent.
Top uses:

• Pain management 
• Dry skin including dandruff
• Aiding circulation 

Patchouli Essential Oil

Calming and grounding, the deep, earthy and woody scent of Patchouli Oil makes it great for blending with other oils when using as a fragrance. This rich oil is perfect for skin care, being especially good to regulate oily skin. 

Top uses:

• Eases athlete's foot
• Helps dry or cracked skin
• Great insect repellent

Lavender essential oil

One of the popular essential oils thanks to its delightful scent and relaxing properties. It's a versatile oil too, being commonly used in fragrance products as well as being particularly popular in bath and beauty products.

Top uses:

• Aids Sleep 
• Home fragrance
• Natural bath and beauty products

Lemon essential oil

This invigorating oil, made from the peel of lemons, has a fresh scent and is commonly used in cleaning products thanks to its cleansing properties and ability to kill viruses and bacteria. It also lifts the mood and calms anxiety.

Top uses:

• Natural cleaning products
• Fights infection
• Aromatherapy to combat exhaustion 

Atlas Cedar Essential Oil

Atlas cedar oil has a rich, sweet and woody scent making it perfect to fragrance your home or massage oil, as an alternative to more floral scents. It has many amazing health and beauty benefits, especially skincare. 

Top uses:

• Helps cure dandruff
• Aids relaxation
• Soothes and calms acne

Orange Essential Oil

The uplifting and odour eliminating properties of orange oil make it popular with cleaning and home fragrance products. It's well known for its antiseptic and antibacterial properties making it a popular oil for homemade cleaning sprays. 

Top uses:

• Cleaning around the home
• Skincare including dull skin
• Odour eliminating fragrance. 

Bergamot Essential Oil

 Apart from being used to give Earl Grey tea its distinctive flavour, bergamot oil is a wonderful oil to fragrance your surrounding especially in times of sadness, depression and grief. This citrus oil also has amazing benefits when used on the skin to treat oily skin or acne. 

Top uses:

• Home fragrance and aromatherapy 
• Treats oily, spot prone skin
• Calms anxiety

 Peppermint Essential Oil

The stimulating, intense minty scent is reminiscent of sweets and dental products but when used in its essential oil form it helpful enhance alertness and increase stamina. 

Top uses:

• Aids breathing in times of minor difficulty. 
• Helps digestion
• Can lessen vertigo or nausea symptoms 

Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

Ylang Ylang has an intoxicating, exotic smell and is a mix between floral, sweet yet fruity. This essential oil is known for its calming properties, especially in times of anger or stress. It's also considered an aphrodisiac! 

Top Uses:

• Helps calm anger or anxiety
• Beautiful for home fragrance
• Balancing for massage oils

 

Clove Bud Essential Oil

You may have heard of clove oil being used in dental application to aid pain relief but it also provides pain relief when used on other areas of the body. It's slightly woody, warm and spicy in scent, making it great when used with a diffuser. 
Top uses:

• Provides Pain relief
• Fights infection
• Can cure warts and verrucas 

Rose Essential Oil

Considered the perfect oil for helping with grief, rose oil helps to ease stress and anxiety and can increase concentration. It's also well known for its effectiveness on mature skin. 

Top uses:

• Helps lift the mood
• Balances and hydrates mature skin
• Aids eczema 

Tea Tree Essential oil

An absolute household must have oil, tea tree has a wide range of benefits and uses. Herbaceous, fresh, woody and earthy in scent, this wonder oil can be used to treat a range of common ailments and used in first aid. 

Top uses:

• Soothes itching skin including insect bites
• Treats athlete's foot
• Deters nits when used on the hair

Geranium Essential Oil

Calming and balancing, Geranium oil has a strong yet fresh floral scent. Its benefits are vast especially with hormonal health. It's also useful in balancing the skin and as an astringent can aid issues such as varicose veins. 

Top uses:

• Helps relieve symptoms of female reproductive problems
• Reduces symptoms of circulatory disorders
• Soothes wounds including burns

When using essential oils, it's important to remember that they are extremely potent, always check dilution instructions before use. There's a fantastic source of information for all things essential oils here.

What's your favourite essential oil? Let us know in the comments.