These 4 Essential Oils Will Make You Look & Feel Better Instantly

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Beyond smelling amazing and making us feel super sophisticated, the benefits of essential oils are huge. The right oils can soothe acne, soothe your mind, send you into a deep sleep, energize, and even uplift your mood. Whether in your bath salts, shampoo or skincare products, essential oils are used in a ton of different products, and in their pure form, they offer everything from healing properties to mind and body support. It’s no coincidence they’re called essential oils – if you know what we mean! So to ensure you’re not missing out on one of nature’s greatest offerings, we’re here to help you take advantage of them.

What Are Essential Oils?

Essential oils come from naturally occurring compounds found in seeds, stems, roots, flowers, or the bark of plants. They’re amazing for skincare as they’re rich in antioxidants, antimicrobial, and have anti-inflammatory properties. However, they’re technically not an oil, but rather an intensely concentrated plant extract. Essential oils seem oil-like, but as they don’t contain fatty acids, technically, they’re not an oil. Take this crazy fact, it takes 5000 pounds of rose petals to make just one pound of pure rose ‘oil,’ and one drop of peppermint ‘oil’ is equivalent to 28 cups of peppermint tea. That’s why when using essential oils, you only need a few drops as the formula is so intensely concentrated. You can even use Jasmine Oil for times when you need a pick me up, like for an interview or an important meeting, just sniff it, and it calms nerves and has uplifting properties that will help you to feel more optimistic and calm.

Our Essential Oil Baes:

Tea Tree

This amazing essential oil, derived from the Australian native plant Melaleuca alternifolia, has been used around the world for hundreds of years, and if you’ve ever struggled with acne, you’ve probably already taken advantage of this antimicrobial ingredient. Tea tree is so good you’ll find the active ingredient in thousands of moisturizers, cleansers, and wipes, but it’s even better in its pure form for DIYs at home.

We love it for treating acne, and this DIY instantly targets problem areas: Mix together two teaspoons of organic honey with 4 to 5 drops of pure tea tree essential oil. Rub this mixture onto oily areas or pimples for 1-2 minutes and wash off with warm water. You can use this up to three times a week. But FYI, be careful as tea tree is a powerful cleanser, and it could irritate and create redness from overuse, so be sure always to mix it with a carrier oil.

Eucalyptus

From its incredible anti-inflammatory properties to its ability to act as a potent decongestant, deodorant, and antiseptic, eucalyptus is the ultimate multitasker.

We love it for its capacity to relieve muscle pains and aches of all sorts. If you’re suffering mild twinges in your shoulder, stiff muscles, rheumatism, or nursing any recent injuries, massaging eucalyptus oil on the surface of your skin will relieve stress and pain. Rub 2-3 drops of eucalyptus oil directly onto your problem areas and massage in a circular motion until it is fully absorbed. Try this twice a day until the affected areas of the body improve.

Peppermint

Peppermint is a bit like the superwoman of essential oils; it can be used orally and topically and has powerful antimicrobial properties. Seriously, there are few mind, health or body issues it can’t help with, and it’s often used to combat stomach aches, improve bad breath, clean wounds, release tight muscles, boost energy and mood, and alleviate soreness from respiratory tracts.

In the beauty world, you’ll find peppermint oil in a lot of high-quality hair care products for its ability to cleanse, brighten, nourish and promote healthy hair growth. All you need to do to get the benefits yourself is add 2 to 3 drops of it into your regular morning shampoo and conditioner. Not only will it stimulate your scalp and hair follicles, and thoroughly cleanse your scalp, but it will energize your mind – and who doesn’t love the smell of peppermint?

Lavender

Lavender isn’t just a fragrance, it a powerful regenerative oil that can promote the production of your body’s most powerful antioxidants: glutathione, catalase, and superoxide dismutase. Unlike most oils that are too reactive to use directly on your skin, you can combine 2 or 3 drops of lavender oil with your hand cream to enjoy it’s skin smoothing properties.

And, of course, it’s widely sold as both sprays and oils to alleviate headaches and insomnia; a few drops on your pillow (or dabbed on your temples) is the perfect way to exploit lavender’s potent healing properties and chill out.

When choosing an essential oil, look for an organic, cold-pressed version; the extra quality is worth it when it comes to skincare. Feeling inspired? Check out the one thing you never thought of doing with oil here!