Are you interested in essential oil but not sure where to start? Learn everything you need to know about essential oils – from its history to how oils are made to how to begin using them in your home.

What Are Essential Oils?

Maybe you’ve already done hours of research before buying or maybe you simply clicked my link and know very little except how much I seem to love these oils. Either way, you’re in the right place to learn!

Essential oils can be a big, happy, amazing-smelling part of your everyday routine – from health to cleaning to emotions to skincare. They have some really incredible health benefits – and always multiple uses, which can save you money! 

I’ll share some of our daily favorites. The ones we reach for when we wake up, when we don’t feel well, when we’re emotional, and when we go to bed. 

I want you to have these tools that have changed the game for so many families so you can experience the hope we have felt, knowing there’s always something right at your fingertips for whatever you need.

Oils are for EVERYONE. Truly! Let’s dive in…

Have you ever smelled fresh lavender and felt relaxed? Or tasted fresh-cut mint on a salad or smoothie and felt refreshed? Well then, you’ve experienced the therapeutic benefits of essential oils.

Essential oils are the highly concentrated, aromatic essences of trees, shrubs, herbs, grasses, resins and flowers. They are the oil of the plant from which they were extracted. They’re basically concentrated herbs. They contain all the goodness that protects and maintains the plant, and we can use them to help support our own bodies’ health and wellness.

While essential oils may seem trendy now, they’ve actually been used for thousands of years by different cultures, including the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. There are hundreds of references of oils used in the Bible, and even Jesus himself was given Frankincense and Myrrh (which were considered more valuable than gold) at the time of his birth as a gift.

How Essential Oils are Made?

Essential oils are extracted by many different methods like solvent extraction, cold pressing, maceration, and enfleurage, but most commonly by steam distillation. This is why it’s important to know how your essential oils are made.

Some low-quality essential oils can be made from plants that were treated with pesticides and extracted with chemical solvents. These are NOT the oils you want to use for you or your family. Instead opt for pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils made from high-quality plants and herbs that don’t contain GMOs, pesticides, harmful chemicals or chemical solvents, such as Young Living essential oils.

Making an essential oil takes a lot of work and in some cases, tons of plant material to make even just a tiny amount of essential oil. For instance:

• To make just 1 oz of Rose essential oil, you would need 60,000 roses
• To make almost 1 gallon of Lavender essential oil, you would need about 220 lbs. of lavender flowers
• For some oils like Sandalwood and Jasmine, you need to have precise timing. Jasmine must be picked as soon as the flowers open, and sandalwood must be 30 years old before harvesting

It’s no wonder high-quality essential oils may seem expensive. Have you ever thought of purchasing 60,000 roses? Another factor that affects pricing is the rarity of the plant needed and each distiller’s quality of standards. But when you consider you can replace DIY and household cleaning products with essential oils, it usually come out to be cheaper and more natural.

Each essential oil comes from specific parts of the plant they come from too.

For example:

• Myrrh and Frankincense come from the tree resin
• Lemon, Lime, Orange, Grapefruit and Bergamot come from the peel of the fruit
• Cinnamon comes from the bark of the tree
• Ginger and Vetiver come from the root
• Rose comes from the petals
• Pine comes from the needles and twigs

Take Lavender for example, you can grow the same exact type of lavender plant in France and one in your garden and they will have similar but different properties. This is because the soil, climate, altitude, and many other factors will be different, therefore producing a very different oil with its own unique properties and constituents.

Be sure to choose essential oils that are sourced from reputable farms without the use of GMOs, pesticides and other harmful chemicals.

How to Use Essential Oils

There are three ways to use essential oils. Keep reading to learn how to do it safely…

1. Aromatically

Scents are powerful and the best and fastest way to reach the mood center is through our nose! In less than a second, essential oils hit the limbic system and have the power to affect our mood.

1. Inhale the oil directly from the bottle: simply smell it! You can rub a drop or two on your hands and cup your nose or just inhale directly from the bottle.
2. Diffuse the oils with a diffuser which disperses the oils in a micro-fine vapor throughout the air. A diffuser does not heat the oils which can damage their therapeutic properties.
3. Breathe in steamy vapors deeply by carefully pouring hot water into a glass bowl, adding in a couple drops of essential oils, and covering the bowl in a tent like fashion with a cloth or towel. This technique is called tenting.

Diffusing is quite possibly one of the easiest health habits that you can start immediately!

Needing some respiratory TLC?

• Give your space spa vibes and open your airways with Raven, Lemon and Lavender.
• Feeling a little stressed? Break out the Peace & Calming or Stress Away.
• Racing thoughts before bed? Frankincense and Lavender transform your room into a zen space.

You just need your diffuser, your favorite YL oils, and water! Add water to the fill line and add 8-20 drops of essential oil to the water. Replace the cover and turn it on!

Occasional cleaning of your diffuser will help keep it running well for years! Empty the reservoir, then use a soft cloth and a bit of rubbing alcohol to gently remove any residue!

A quick note for pet-lovers. YES you can diffuse oils around your pets! Just don’t diffuse in small rooms with closed doors or diffuse directly into their faces. SO many people have pets and diffuse (pure Young Living oils) around them 24/7 without any issues!

Stay Calm & Focus

Stress Away, Peace & Calming, Frankincense, Peppermint

Essential oils can help focus and reset our minds and emotions through diffusing, applying them topically or even breathing directly from the bottle.

Stress Away

Your vacation in a bottle – convenient and ready to go with you wherever you need some chill! Stress Away features Copaiba, Lime, Cedarwood, Vanilla, Ocotea, and Lavender for an exotic aroma and a happy, positive day!

One of YL’s most popular blends, and for good reason! It can signal overtired, overworked body systems that it is safe to release stress. A favorite to support sweet, restful sleep.

Frankincense

The king of oils and our go-to for supporting the immune system, maintaining youthful and vibrant skin, and calming the mind & emotions. Lovely diffused with Valor and Lavender!

Peppermint

For focus on your early morning drive, or when working on a computer just grab your Peppermint! A little dab on the back of the neck has the most wonderful alerting effect. The crisp scent and gentle tingling connects mind and body.

2. Topically

Essential oils are rapidly absorbed by the skin, which is not surprising considering the skin is the largest organ of the body. In fact, one of the best places to apply essential oils is the bottom of the feet – which have over 2,000 pores and some of the largest pores on your body.

You can also bathe in the oils. It is best to mix 15-20 drops with Epsom salt in a separate bowl, then pour the bowl in the bathtub.

We love to apply oils undiluted to the bottom of the feet, to the spine, and other areas depending on our needs and the oils used! Remember that you’re in control, and you have the freedom to choose how to use your oils. Making your own roller blends with a liquid carrier oil is easy and convenient!

You may want to dilute some oils more than others, while some can be used directly from the bottle. Fun fact: each YL oil has a suggested dilution ratio – peel the label back to find it!

1:1 = one drop EO, 1 drop carrier

1:4 = one drop EO, 4 drops carrier

Some oils, like Peppermint or Thieves, are considered ‘hot’ and may leave the skin tingly if used undiluted/neat. Keep them away from eyes & other sensitive areas!

And remember to always dilute when using essential oils for kids.

What Are Carrier Oils?

When using essential oils topically on the skin, consider using them with carrier oils – which are fatty or nutty oils like coconut, almond, sesame, jojoba, avocado, or even olive oil. Look for organic and cold-pressed oils. They help to dilute essential oils to make it easier to use on a larger area of the body (like the back) and help to time release essential oils to make them last longer. Carrier oils are also suggested for use on kids.

Breathe Deeply & Get Relief

Valor, Panaway, Raven, Lavender

Valor

This incredible-smelling, balancing blend was inspired by Roman soldiers who applied certain botanicals before battle to instill feelings of courage + confidence. 

Apply to your shoulders, the bottoms of feet, back of neck, or anywhere that you’re experiencing tension.

PanAway

Long day on your feet? Hard workout? Head/neck tension? For basically anything that hurts, PanAway is your BFF. It’s a healthier option than all of the OTC pain creams and wonderful for the emotion of exhaustion!

Raven

Ditch the store-bought chest rubs and grab your Raven. This blend is amazing diffused (alone or with Lemon) when your nose and chest need some TLC. Combine it with a little coconut oil for a simple, effective chest rub or use it in a bath with epsom salts.

Lavender

Known as the loving grandmother, Lavender is a great beginner oil, incredibly versatile, and a must for every home. It is soothing to both the body + mind and our go-to for skin and seasonal (allergy) issues, racing thoughts + difficulty calming.

3. Dietary

Essential oils can be taken as a dietary supplement, but this is where it really depends on the quality of the essential oil.  Remember look at your product labels. Young Living is the only brand of essential oils I use to take internally.

You can get benefits from ingesting these Young Living essential oils by putting them in an empty vegetable capsule and taking them as a pill. Other ways to ingest oils are to add a drop to your water, or even your cup of tea. You can cook with the oils and add them in your food.

Why Choose Young Living

One of the most important things I’ve learned in my journey to healthy living is that it’s not just what something is – it’s where it comes from, how it’s grown, and how it’s processed. Just like we go to the farmers market to buy our food and want to know who grows our food, I wanted to know where my oils were coming from.

I did many hours of research to find an essential oil company that I felt I could trust with my family’s health. Young Living is that company. They have been around for more than 30 years and the only essential oil company that owns farms all over the world (including France, Oman, Ecuador, and here in the U.S.) and oil distilleries. In fact, Gary Young, the founder of Young Living, built the first essential oil distillery in the U.S.

Their commitment to quality is called Seed to Seal. They have set the highest standards for planting, harvesting, and distilling on the farms they own and co-op. And best of all, you can see it first-hand. Young Living members are encouraged to visit the farms to experience Seed to Seal.

Quality matters! Young Living’s oils are steam distilled (or cold pressed for citrus oils) from the plants directly after harvest. There are ZERO chemicals used, and the plants are fresh, giving you a concentrated, potent version of the plant. They smell incredible and can be used in powerful ways! YL’s Seed to Seal commitment ensures that you get authentic, science-backed products that are kind to both you and Mother Earth, so you never have to second guess their quality.

One of the reasons essential oils can be so helpful to humans is that they are hydrophobic by nature, and they mix well with oils. This is important because the cells of our body are surrounded by a lipid or oil bilayer… which the oils can incorporate into and give us wonderful results!

Why Not Buy Oils on Amazon or the Health Food Store?

The essential oils at the health food store are simply not the same quality as Young Living. Many have been adulterated with synthetic chemicals or contain cheap essential oils produced from crops with pesticides. Check the labels – they typically say not for “internal use” or “do not put directly on the skin”. I even challenge you to smell the difference. Peppermint, for instance, shouldn’t smell sweet or like candy. It should smell like a fresh-cut herb. When you compare Young Living’s Peppermint with another company – there’s simply no comparison.

And Amazon is no better, unfortunately. There are some imposter oils that are labeled Young Living, when actually they are diluted or replaced with fake oils. Young Living does NOT sell oils on Amazon. You can only get them direct from the company itself or through a Brand Partner (like me). By the way, you do NOT have to get one of the starter bundles, but it’s recommended because those are highly discounted for you + you get my tailored-to-your-needs welcome package.

Make sure you contact me once you place your order through social media (see below) or text: (248) 587-7292

Oils & Our Brains

We won’t get too deep here, but basically our brains are hardwired to respond to scents, triggering memories and emotions. (Does the smell of the ocean remind you of your honeymoon? Or vanilla and cinnamon evoke the warm feeling of your grandmother’s house?)

This connection is rooted in the limbic system, or “emotional brain,” which influences a wide range of functions including emotions, memory, libido, hormone function, motivation and our sense of smell (among others). As we inhale oils, their tiny molecules interact with the limbic system, eliciting emotional responses. 

This connection can help us manage our emotions and find calmness amidst anxious thoughts and overwhelm. Plus, many studies have shown the diverse benefits of essential oils, from enhancing alertness and combatting candida to suppressing tumors and eliminating bacteria. 

Overall, essential oils offer a natural and versatile option for supporting our physical, mental, and emotional well-being!

How to Get Started

I recommend getting a starter set of oils. It’s hands-down the best way to get started and the most affordable option too. You’ll get 12 oils, a diffuser, other goodies and bonus gifts from me too. Find out more about how you can get this set for 60% off retail, plus get access to our team exclusives too.

How to Get Started with Essential Oils

Did you like this Essential Oils Beginner’s Guide? Don’t forget to comment below and PIN this post to save it for later. You can also FOLLOW US on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

.

New? Find your Aroma Nest friend who’s sent you here to use their referral link.

Can’t find her/him? Send me a text and I’ll help you: (248) 587-7292 or

email: Viviane@VivianeNiemann.com