How to use essential oils

How to Make a Bath and Massage Oil Blend

~ Laura Hoy ~ 7 Comments

I have come up with a few favourite bath and massage oil blends over the years and I like to make a bottle up so it is ready to use when I’m in the mood.

You can make your own blend up with the following instructions or use the recipes I have shared below:

100ml Bath & Massage Oil Blend Recipe

  • 100ml of your choice of vegetable oil (eg. almond, apricot, or simply olive oil from your kitchen!)
  • 40 drops or 2ml of your choice of essential oil/s
  • ~these can be one or a combination of oils, but keep the totals to 100ml for the vegetable oil and  2ml (40 drops) for the essential oil.

Directions: If the vegetable oil you have is in  a 100ml bottle, then you can simply add the essential oil(s) to this and give it a shake to disperse evenly.  You may need to pour a tiny amount of the vegetable oil out first to allow room for the essential oils.  If you have a larger container of vegetable oil you can either adjust the amount of essential oil you add (eg. double if you have a 200ml container), or measure out the 100ml in a kitchen measuring jug, add the essential oils and stir, and then pour into a 100ml bottle or container.  Ensure the container you use is completely dry, as if the oil blend mixes with any water it will go off.  You can usually buy empty bottles at chemists, department stores, or Muji in London, or you could try antique shops for some elegant glass containers.

Use: Add 1-2 tea-spoons in the bath (add just before you step in for maximum benefits).  See ‘Essential Oils in the Bath’ blog post for more on using your bath blend.

Turkish Delight Bath and Massage oil Blend ~ Nurturing, relaxing and refreshing.

  • 100ml Argan oil
  • Rose essential oil, 10 drops
  • Black Pepper essential oil, 10 drops
  • Cardamom essential oil, 10 drops
  • Sandalwood essential oil, 10

Vanilla Orange Bath and Massage oil Blend ~Soothes and eases tension, and great for the skin.

  • 100ml Almond oil
  • Benzoin oil, 20 drops (this is usually quite a thick oil so you will need to shake well for it to mix evenly)
  • Orange essential oil, 10 drops
  • Neroli 10 drops

Each recipe above gives you a blend strength of 2%, which is appropriate for most skin types.  I would recommend dropping this blend strength to 1% (20 drops/100ml) for children, elderly and those with  sensitive skin.

These blends should last for 12 to 18 months, but keep them in a cool dark place to ensure they stay fresh because the oils are sensitive to heat and light (so a bathroom cupboard would be suitable, but not a sunny windowsill or shelf above a radiator).

They can also be used as a massage oil directly on the skin, or for moisturising  after taking a shower, you should notice it makes it easier to apply the oil to slightly damp skin and you also seem to use less of it.

As I cover more of the properties and effects of different essential oils, you will develop more of an idea on how to mix a blend up for specific purposes, in the mean time, please feel free to ask any questions or advise on making your own blends.

Click here to for making Bath Salts.

Click here to choose Essential Oils for your bath.

How to Use Essential Oils in the Shower in a Burner or Diffusor

~ Laura Hoy ~ Leave a comment

How to use essential oils in a burner & diffusor.

A couple of years ago I moved into a little studio and it only had a shower -no bath!  Since I do love a bath I made sure I had the odd treat at a friends house so I didn’t miss out on this luxury.  Anyway, one evening after work, I decided to take a shower which is unusual as my routine is always to do this in the morning, as it seems more refreshing rather than relaxing.  I went about it in a totally different way though, since I couldn’t incorporate the oils in the same way I would in the bath.  I got out my little ceramic burner:

Handmade Ceramic Oil Burner by ‘Throw to Fire’.

This is a simple device used to scent the atmosphere in a room with essential oils.  You put a tea-light in the bottom part, fill the top bowl area with water, and sprinkle essential oils of your choice into the water.  As the candle heats the water it warms the essential oils too and they release their molecules into the room, including the scent.  It’s useful to choose a burner that has quite a deep bowl for the water, because as it is heated by the tea light, the water evaporates and when there is no water left the essential oils can burn onto the surface making it difficult to clean.  Between 3 and 10 drops of essential oil should be enough in the burner, depending on the desired effect (blend inspirations below).  My bathroom was quite small so a few drops had a good impact on the room, but you can use more if you feel like it.

The tea-light in the burner already gives a little glow to the room, so I switched off the light and lit a few more candles, and it felt very special -I honestly had never taken a shower by candle light nor taken the time to prepare the room in this way.  It was a bit of a revelation to realise the difference it made to how I felt, and often became part of my night time and even morning time ritual.  It actually felt more nurturing than a bath at the time.

Choosing the oils to scent the room is a big part of the ritual, and I like to go with what ever I feel at the time, but here are some ideas to get you started but have a play yourself, as I notice that we all have different styles to blending so you will probably come up with something completely different but perfect for the moment, and if not, it’s all part of getting to know them and what you like.

Blends for your burner:

  • First thing in the morning: 4 drops of Eucalyptus, 2 drops of Peppermint, 4 drops of Lemon.
  • For winding down in the evening: 4 drops of Lavender, 6 drops of Mandarin.
  • Some thing in between: 4 drops of Geranium, 4 drops of Orange, 2 drops of Thyme.

You can just use one oil if you like or as many as you want…

Remember that inhaling the oils is the fastest way their molecules enter your body, so it is still a very effective method of using them.

Another very quick little trick for using the oils in the shower is to  take a bottle of essential oil in to the shower with you, and once the heat is up, and the steam is rising, simply sprinkle 3 or 4 drops onto the floor below, and you will experience a brief surge of oils as the steam releases the molecules upwards.  This trick works well with strong scented oils like eucalyptus or peppermint as they release their scent immediately, something like rose or myrrh would not be appropriate as they are slower to release and will dissappear down the plug hole before your nose knows it!

You could also use fresh eucalyptus leaves for a refreshing scent in the shower, pin a bunch above the shower head so the steam releases the smell and clears your respiratory system along the way.

How to Use Essential Oils in the Bath

~ Laura Hoy ~ 3 Comments

Using essential oils in the bath can be a deeply relaxing and nurturing experience.  One important point to be aware of is that essential oils must be diluted before you add them. This is because they are very potent and can irritate the skin in their undiluted form.  I have heard many stories from clients who have sprinkled drops of essential oil straight into the bath and experienced anything from tingling sensations to nasty skin reactions and even left unable to use that particular oil again, due to developing sensitivity.  Even though you may be adding the drops of essential oil to an entire bath full of water, the drops do not actually mix with water (because they are hydrophobic), and will stay in droplets on the surface of the water, clinging to your skin as you enter, which is just like putting undiluted essential oil onto your skin.

To dilute the oil you must mix it with a carrier oil (a fatty oil pressed from a nut, kernel, seed or fruit, for example almond, apricot, sunflower or olive). A tea spoon of olive oil would work just fine (Click here for more carrier oil options).  To make it easier to prepare I often pour a tea spoon of olive oil into an egg cup add and then add the essential oils to this.  I would suggest adding between 3 and 6 drops of essential oil depending on the oils you use and how strong you want the scent/blend.  To start with, you could use 4 drops of lavender.  You can use more than one essential oil, but keep the total number of drops used between 3 and 6.  So you may like to mix 2 drops of Orange with your 2 drops of Lavender and perhaps a drop of Black Pepper (so 5 in total).  This would make a relaxing, warming bath blend, great for aches and pains at the end of the day. Give the mixture a little stir so the essential oils are evenly blended in the olive oil.

Now that your blend is ready – WAIT! – wait until the bath is run, the temperature is appropriate for you and everything else is prepared, towels warmed, candles lit etc. (how ever you like to set the scene).  Just before you’re ready to step in, pour the oil blend into the bath and give it a little swoosh to help it disperse, then step in, lay back and enjoy.  Adding them at this moment ensures you enjoy all the wonderful benefits of the oil especially the scent.  If you were to add them as you start running the water (as I would with bath bubbles) the heat and steam created would evaporate a lot of the essential oils and by the time you lay in the water there would be little left to appreciate.  After bathing notice how nourished your skin feels, just a tea spoon of oil manages to envelope your whole body leaving it soft and smooth.

CAUTION: Be careful not to slip as you step out of the bath, as the olive oil can make it a little slippery.

Simple Bath Blend Recipe:

  • 1 tea-spoon Olive Oil,
  • 3-6 drops of Essential Oil, eg. 3 drops Lavender, 2 drops Orange, 1 drop Black pepper.
  • Mix together and pour into the bath just before entering.

For more tips on how to make a bath & massage oil blend click here.

To buy essential oils for your bath click here.

Essential Oils and You

~ Laura Hoy ~ 2 Comments

The intention of this blog is to share simple ways to use essential oils in every day life to support, nurture and cherish yourself.

I spend a lot of time at work talking to clients about how to use oils  (I work at a company that sells essential oils), and decided to record some of this advice for a wider audience.  Any feedback or questions are welcome, as I’d like to tailor it to your needs and curiosities and make it as useful as possible.

Essential Oils are a powerful tool that can support various issues from serious illness, to the common cold, to various stressful feelings in daily life to nasty skin conditions.  You don’t need to be able to afford an ‘Aromatherapy’ massage every week to appreciate the benefits of the oils.  If you’ve ever inhaled the essential oil from the Eucalyptus tree, then you will have experienced the very obvious, immediate clearing effect it has on your entire respiratory system, from the moment you sense it at the tip of your nose, right down into the depths of your lungs.  So, do not underestimate the effects a simple scent can have on your well-being, and because of their potency there are some safety issues that do need to be observed which I will cover.

As well as sharing many of the amazing properties of the oils and practical ways to use them I will also be highlighting the importance of You in the equation and the huge difference the way you are can make to the outcome.

For example, there is likely to be a noticeable difference in the way you and your body respond  if you were to (a) slap a bit of oil onto a sore knee each morning, if you remember, before dashing out the door & legging it for a bus or (b) come home, set a comfortable place up on the sofa, support your knee with a cushion and gently massage the oil around your knee for 5 minutes,  perhaps taking a moment to warm the oil before application and maybe even using a blanket to cover yourself so you can rest a while afterwards.

Hopefully you catch my drift, but it’s not necessarily about having lots of time to do these things, as the oils are very versatile, and as with the Eucalyptus effects noted above, they can be very quick to make a difference to the way you feel- just a dot on your chest can help you breath more easily.  I like to keep things simple and clear, and I always like to make sure advice I give to clients is useful to them  in particular.  I find taking a bath a gorgeous way to enjoy the oils, you may not particularly like baths, or you may not have a bath, so then there is another way to find for you to enjoy them…

Remember that the things I share with you in this blog are just tools for you to use to bring a little extra care, fun and nurture to your life and there are many other ways to do this, but the choice to really respect and appreciate how special you are comes from you.  You could bring just as much support and healing to yourself in the way you eat or cook, or the way you exercise or move your body.  Using the oils is just another way of getting to know yourself and what works for you.  For me, it is a really lovely, practical and effective way, to support myself, the scent can make me stop and notice something which helps halt the busy-ness I can get caught in, and choosing the method of using the oil makes me stop and say ‘what do I really want to do?’, instead of just doing the same old thing.  There are so many delicious oils to discover so you get to be creative even if it’s just choosing between lavender or rose in the bath…

Gentle Hermione