Working with essential oils doesn’t have to be complicated.  I was reminded of this the other day when checking out at a grocery store.  The clerk stopped scanning my items and inhaled, her eyes closed.  “Mmm….” she murmured.  “Someone smells so good…like patchouli.”  I turned behind me, to see if the woman next in line was wearing perfume.  Then I remembered the patchouli lotion I’d used before leaving the house.  “Oh!”  I laughed.  “That’s me–it’s just some lotion.”

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“You smell amazing,” she said as she began scanning items again.  Then she stopped.  “Do you mind if I ask you where you got it?”

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“I made it.”

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Her eyes widened.  “You made it?  How?”

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I didn’t tell her that I’d messed up an order, and made patchouli lotion instead of patchouli massage oil (one of the perks of working with essential oils–you get to enjoy your mistakes).  Instead, I explained how easy it is to make your own aromatherapy lotion, and how basically, with some unscented bases and essential oils, anyone can create their own personalized bath and body products.   She was very excited at this idea, and thanked me profusely for the “recipes”.

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If you want to experiment with making your own scented lotions, you can add around 30 drops of an essential oil or essential oil blend to 8 ounces of unscented lotion.  You may want to add your essential oil to half the lotion, shake vigorously, add the rest of the lotion, and again shake well.  That way you won’t end up with lotion that isn’t evenly mixed.

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Some nice essential oils to use singly are Lavender, Rose, Jasmine, Neroli, Patchouli and Ylang Ylang.   It’s also fun to experiment, and create your own blends.  It’s best to stay away from citrus essential oils in lotion, though.  Even though they smell wonderful, they can increase  your sensitivity to sunlight, so aren’t the best choice for skin care oils.

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By Kathryn Brightbill

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I seem to favor oils that are very lush and grassy with floral notes, as evident in my first favorite, Geranium. While Geranium is pretty subtle, sometimes the extra lush scents are strong and take awhile to get used to.  My second favorite essential oil is Clary Sage with its nice floral, green scent.  It has a strong aroma, but you don’t need to use much to benefit from its relaxing properties. It turns out that Clary Sage is a great oil for women to use to ease menstrual pain and irregular periods (but shouldn’t be used during pregnancy).  It can also be used as an astringent in a diluted form.  Be careful though, as Clary Sage is said to have narcotic effects if used too often or in large quantities and should be avoided if drinking alcohol.  Just a drop in a candle diffuser smells good and helps me unwind and relax.

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Another oil that I didn’t like at first but have come to use quite a bit is Roman Chamomile.  Initially, the earthy scent was too strong and the floral notes were not strong enough. An incident  helped me change my opinion on Roman Chamomile, though, and actually made me an aromatherapy convert.  One afternoon in the shop, back when I was still pretty new, one of us (not me of course!) spilled a fairly large quantity of Roman Chamomile on the counter. Its strong scent filled the whole shop. Even after we cleaned up, it was very pungent and overwhelming. After awhile, we realized that we were all feeling pretty drowsy and decided it was best if we left for the day and let the shop air out. I went home and slept for a couple of hours, which was very unusual for me as I’m not a napper and never sleep during the day. This incident, more than any other experience so far, convinced me of the power of essential oils and aromatherapy. I now use Roman Chamomile to help me fall asleep when I have insomnia and it works every time. Just one or two drops on a bandana under my pillow does the trick. It is an amazing oil.

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Roman Chamomile and Clary Sage essential oils are my favorites for relaxing and for bedtime sleep aides. They are healthy, natural, non-addictive ways to unwind and get a restful night’s sleep.

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There are so many fantastic books out there on essential oils and aromatherapy.  We often get asked which books we recommend, so in the next few posts, we’ll be describing some of our favorites.  Here are two we recommend for everyone interested in aromatherapy:

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The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood

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If I had to pick one book to recommend for the public, this would be the one.  Besides being fun to read, this book includes over 600 recipes, practical chapters on creating your own aromatherapy kits (basic kit, travel kit etc), and chapters dedicated to the specific needs/concerns of women, men, children,  and the elderly.   She also has information on using aromatherapy for celebrations, to beautify and clean your home, and in the garden.  The end of the book includes charts on which essential oils are most useful in different circumstances, which is handy.  The best part of the book are the recipes:  she has everything here, from athletes foot, coughs, toothache, headaches to anti-wrinkle creams,  face masks, air fresheners and furniture polish.

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Another favorite is Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit by Gabriel Mojay.  This is a beautiful book, which addresses the use of essential oils in the realm of emotional and spiritual matters.  Gorgeous illustrations, clear writing and new insights make this useful to anyone who is new to or already working with essential oils.  Mojay combines the wisdom of Chinese medicine with the use of aromatherapy,  and describes the energetic nature of 35 different oils. For example, in his discussion of Juniper, he writes:

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“Juniper works, therefore, to break through psychological stagnation and consolidate will-power.  It is suited to the individual who, feeling burdened and aloof, is deeply absorbed in their own thoughts – thoughts which revolve around worries, pressures and unpleasant memories.”

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The first part of the book is devoted to describing individual oils, uses, cautions, indications, etc, and the last part describes remedies and blends which may be useful for emotional issues, such as depression, anxiety, anger, indecisiveness, and much more.    With each emotional state, he delves deeper.  For example, he breaks depression down into five categories, based on the Five Elements of Chinese medicine, and recommends blends based on the particular element.

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In the foreword, Robert Tisserand describes this book as “…dense with insight, and yet concise and easy to reference.  Every page draws the reader inexorably into an intricate web of holistic truth.”

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That’s it in a nutshell.  We highly recommend this wonderful book!

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Kathryn Brightbill is one of the wonderful employees at Dreaming Earth who’s agreed to do a regular blog post for us. Once a month or so, she’ll be sharing her reflections on her favorite essential oils and essential oil blends. We’re so happy to have her expertise and passion to share with you! Here’s her first post:

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Even though I’ve worked at Dreaming Earth Botanicals for going on five years, I still think of myself as an aromatherapy novice.  Sure, I’ve learned quite a bit about the aromatherapy field, but I still discover something every time I come into work that I didn’t know before.

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Dreaming Earth is my part-time gig. I work in the library at a small college full-time, I home-school my teenager, and I’m active at church, so I’m pretty busy.   People marvel. They say “I don’t know how you do it!”   Sometimes I don’t know either.   I do know that it helps to have one job that is like an afternoon walk in a flower garden in full bloom.  That is what it’s like working at Dreaming Earth. And I learn something every time I come in.   Like I said, lucky me!

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I thought I might start by blogging about my favorite oils, as I discovered them while working here.  My first “discover” was geranium. While mixing some Skatter one day, I was thinking how nice it smelled for bug repellent. I thought it was probably the Lavender, which has always been one of my favorite scents, but found that it was geranium.   Geranium essential oil is very green and lush… earthy and a little spicy.  It’s so fresh and summery that I started using it to clean with at home.  I add a few drops to some castile soap in hot water and I love the way it leaves the house smelling.  I use it in my candle diffuser, too.  It has anti-depressant properties and helps with skin aliments, as well as being a natural insect repellent.  Geranium is a great essential oil that is often over-looked.  It now stands next to lavender as one of my go-to all purpose oils.

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Since we get so many questions about essential oil quality, we thought we’d start off with some general information about the oils, and as we go along, dig a little deeper into what makes an oil ‘therapeutic’, why the quality of an oil is so important, and how to know what you’re buying.

So, first things first. What are essential oils, exactly?

In a nutshell, essential oils are mixtures of naturally occurring compounds that exist in plants which have fragrant flowers, leaves, wood, bark, roots, or seeds. From an organic chemist’s point of view, the active constituents of essential oils are composed of hydrocarbons and oxygenated hydrocarbons which can be grouped according to their molecular structure. For those of you interested in the chemistry behind what makes an oil valuable for this or that, we’ll be blogging about that soon (hopefully without getting too technical or tedious).

Essential oils may be extracted from plants using a variety of methods but for aromatherapy purposes, the only acceptable methods are those that are non-toxic. This includes distillation, cold pressing, and, in a few cases, non-toxic solvent extraction. A good therapeutic grade essential oil is produced using non-toxic procedures that preserve the life-giving vital essence of the plant.

Don’t confuse essential oils with vegetable oils, which are also sometimes called “carrier” or “base” oils. Essential Oils are volatile, which means that they evaporate when exposed to air; they are very fragrant; they do not feel slick or oily, and do not leave an oily residue. Vegetable oils, such as almond oil, apricot oil, olive oil, or avocado oil are not really fragrant; they do not evaporate readily; they do feel oily and leave an oily residue. Vegetable oils are used in aromatherapy for the purpose of diluting essential oils so that they can be safely applied to the skin.


What’s the difference between an essential oil and a fragrance oil?

Fragrance oils are synthetically manufactured chemical mixtures that mimic natural plant aromas. They may smell just like the “real thing” but are not appropriate for aromatherapy. Read product labels carefully and avoid those labeled as “fragrance oils”, “essential fragrance oils”, or “nature identical”.

Know what you’re purchasing.

Some products sold as “essential oils” are diluted in cheaper carrier oils or are adulterated in some other way. Again, read product labels carefully but be aware that labels may not disclose full information. Become familiar with the botanical names of the oils you want to use and never purchase an essential oil that is not labeled with the botanical name, as well as the common name.

Finally, is Organic always better?

Not necessarily . . . to learn more about how we choose our oils, why organic doesn’t necessarily mean better therapeutically speaking, read Dr Power’s article on organic oils at our website.