Essential oils are concentrated plant extracts. These oils are typically obtained by the process of distillation and they contain the essence of the plant. These essential oils have multiple benefits from health, to beauty to home hacks. Let’s look into ten essential oils and ways to use them:
Essential oil beauty hacks:
Tea tree essential oil for acne: Tea tree essential oil can help reduce acne as it has antimicrobial properties that can help fight pimples. Mix a few drops of tea tree oil with aloe vera gel and use it as a spot treatment to treat your back or body acne.
Rose for anti-aging effects: Rose essential oil contains antioxidants and vitamin A and vitamin C. These vitamins can help promote cell turnover. This is a natural process that occurs in the body but can slow down with age. There with better cell turnover, the signs of aging can be reduced and the skin will begin to look younger than expected.
Lavender for sleep: Add few drops of lavender essential oil to your diffuser before going to bed and diffuse it for a beauty sleep. Adding a few drops of lavender essential oil into a running bath (or you can also use any other essential oil of your choice for this hack) and then sit in that water for a little while, can help promote enhanced relaxation and promotes better sleep. Baths are therapeutic and can help those with sore muscles, aches and pains to be relieved of the pain.
Rosemary for hair growth : Rosemary essential oil is known to have ‘carnosic acid’, which is an active ingredient present in plants that is known to help heal damaged nerves and tissues and stimulate the rejuvenation of hair follicles, in turn restoring hair growth. Mix a few drops of rosemary essential oil to a carrier oil of your choice and massage it on your scalp 30 mins before hair wash, once a week.
Peppermint for hair fall : Peppermint contains the compound ‘menthol’ which is known to have a soothing and cooling effect. So, using peppermint oil can promote scalp circulation for healthy scalp and stop hair fall. READ MORE – PEPPERMINT ESSENTIAL OIL USES AND BENEFITS for faster hair growth
Caution: When using essential oils for hair and skin, it is important to do a patch test as different ingredients can react and have different effects on various hair and skin types. If it causes any irritation during the patch test, rinse off immediately and discontinue its usage with immediate effect.
Essential oils for home hacks
Tea tree oil and Lavender to disinfect:
Make an all natural disinfectant spray, to spray bottle add 1 cup of water, 1/4 cup of vinegar along with 20+ drops of tea tree essential oil. Use this to spray around your home, on your bed or your furniture.
Nothing is worse than the stale smell of sweat lingering around the house once you’ve returned from a workout. Well, all you got to do is take a 250 ml spray bottle filled with water and add in 2 drops melaleuca essential oil and 2 drops of lavender essential oil, shake it well and spray this randomly over your workout wear or gym bag. You can also use this hack to ward off bad odor from shoes.
Peppermint for bugs:
To repel mosquito, add few drops of citronella to your diffuser. Spiders detest the smell of peppermint, so all you need to do is take a spray bottle of 250 ml water and add in 10 drops of peppermint essential oil and spray it around the areas usually infected by spiders. READ MORE – NATURAL DIY BUG REPELLENT to repel ants, mosquitos and other bugs
Lemon as a fridge freshening agent:
Honestly sometimes our fridges can smell like a mix of everything and that can become a horrible mix! So next time you clean your fridge, drop in a few drops of lemon essential oil into some water, dip your cloth into it and clean your fridge with it. It can also help remove any stains and sticky substances.
Lemon and Tea-tree oil for all-purpose disinfectant:
Add in a few drops of lemon and tea-tree essential oils into a bowl of warm water and dip your cleaning cloth into it. Squeeze out the water and use the cloth to wipe your countertops. This can help clean it, remove sticky substances, give the area a fresher smell and also act as a disinfectant. You can also add it to a spray bottle and spray it around your home for a natural disinfectant spray.
Lemon essential oil to remove stains:
To a small roller bottle, add hydrogen peroxide, dish soap along with few drops of lemon essential oil. Rub natural stain remover to get rid of any stains from your clothes. Add a few drops of any essential oil of your choice between uses and let it soak in before your next use. This can help give it a better smell while also help get rid of the germs trapped within it. READ MORE – Top 20 stains you can remove easily at home
Here are some other hacks where you could use any essential oil to do the trick:
- Permanent marker stains: Add a few drops of any essential oil into a little water and soak the stained area for a bit until the stain comes off or rub this solution over the stain until it comes off. If it isn’t coming off easily, add in few more drops of the essential oil.
- Bathroom or toilet freshener: Add in one to two drops of any essential oil of your choice on the inside of your toilet roll and let the smell waft around and rid bad odor.
- Fruit and vegetable disinfectant rinse: Add a few drops of essential oil into the water you are rinsing your fruits and vegetables in to help get rid of germs and pesticides.