A Beginner's Guide To The 10 Most Popular Essential Oils

The Perfect Essential Oils for Beginners

There are a lot of essential oils in the market. And with so many to choose from, figuring out where to begin can be difficult.

If you find yourself asking, “What are the best essential oils?” to kickstart your health and wellness journey, aromatherapy journey, or even your own oils business, then don’t worry!

This article will introduce you to the 10 must-have essential oils for beginners. We’ll cover the benefits of essential oils, their uses in aromatherapy and wellness, and give you some practical tips about using these essential oils and storing them.

Let’s get started!

1. Lavender essential oil

Lavender is popular for being the most used essential oil in the world. It has many therapeutic benefits. When used for medicinal purposes, lavender essential oil does lots of things. It's most popular benefits are:

• Getting rid of sickness-causing bacteria

• Relieving muscle spasms and tension

• Relieving flatulence

• Disinfecting and soothing irritated skin

• Speeding up the healing of scarred skin

For aromatherapy, lavender essential oil acts as a mild sedative. It reduces cortisol levels — the hormone that contributes to stress. When your body produces cortisol, it also lowers your immunity. Lavender essential oil acts accordingly and helps support your immune system by relieving feelings of stress.

2. Peppermint essential oil

Peppermint is in the mint family. It's right up there with water mint, spearmint, and forest mint. Peppermint essential oil is one of the most multi-purpose oils out there, just like lavender essential oil. Aside from its popular therapeutic benefits, some people like to add peppermint essential oil in beauty products or, in a few cases, in cooking.

The most active compounds in peppermint essential oil are menthol and menthone. It also offers many health and wellness benefits:

• Relieves muscle spasms and flatulence

• Relieves muscle aches, headaches, and inflammation.

• A natural way to reduce fever when diluted with a carrier oil and rubbed into the feet.

• Numbs the skin to pain and calms redness.

• Relieves congestion when it's diluted with a carrier oil and applied on the chest.

• Stimulates the scalp and removes dandruff (when used in shampoo).

For aromatherapy, peppermint essential oils are believed to encourage healthy blood circulation, lessen the feelings of nervous tension, and lessen irritability. It's also believed that it can boost energy, balance hormones, enhance mental focus, and reduce the feeling of nausea.

3. Tea tree essential oil

Tea tree essential oils come from the steam distilled leaves of the Melaleuca alternifolia tree. For hundreds of years, tea tree oil was used as a natural way to get rid of bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

The oil has many active chemical compounds that cement its reputation as a powerful support for the immune system. The benefits that tea tree essential oils offer include:

• Soothing topical allergic reactions (e.g., treats burns, dandruff, acne, rashes, head lice, Athlete's Foot, and more).

• Calming inflamed skin and wounds.

• Relief from tension headaches

• Increased blood flow in the brain.

• Suppressing coughs.

• Lowering stress levels.

Tea tree oil is also a popular ingredient that you can find in a lot of household cleaning products. They get rid of mold and harmful bacteria on surfaces.

4. Lemon essential oil

In India, both the lemon fruit and the essential oil have been used for thousands of years to treat lots of health issues. Today, the use of lemon essential oil remains. It's popular for being invigorating, purifying, and cleansing. It also has the most powerful anti-microbial capabilities out of all the pure essential oils.

Thanks to its active chemical compounds, lemon essential oil is great for massages, cosmetics, aromatherapy, and for cleaning your home. The health and wellness benefits commonly associated with lemon essential oil are the following: 

• Boosts circulation, digestive functions, and metabolism.

• Relieves constipation.

• Reduces blood pressure.

• Inhibits or soothes inflammation (e.g., headaches).

• Eases discomfort associated with arthritis.

• Sanitizes wounds.

• Rejuvenates the skin.

• Boosts immunity by stimulating the body's ability to fight harmful bacteria.

 Aromatherapists use lemon essential oil to reduce symptoms of flu and fever. It also clears throat infections and helps with cough. Its clean smell is used for improving concentration and boosting energy.

5. Eucalyptus essential oil

Eucalyptus essential oil comes from the eucalyptus tree. It has lots of varieties, but they all share common characteristics. They all smell fresh, crisp, clean, and sweet. Aside from having a smell that most people would describe as having hints of wood, lemon, and peppermint, eucalyptus trees are also known for the healing properties that its leaves carry.

Eucalyptus essential oil has the following health and wellness benefits:

• Reduces or gets rid of surface and airborne bacteria.

• Soothes irritated skin and disinfects wounds, cuts, burns, bites, stings, and sores.

• Enhances the feeling of relaxation when used during massages.

• Soothes nervous tension and clears the mind.

• Relieves muscle cramps.

• Reduces body odor.

• Nourishes hair and moisturizes an itchy scalp.

• Removes dandruff flakes.

Eucalyptus essential oil carries a refreshing cooling scent, which makes it popular in aromatherapy. It is believed to help clear mental exhaustion by boosting circulation to the brain. Diffusing the scent of eucalyptus essential oil in the room also helps clear clogged up noses.

6. Chamomile essential oil

Chamomile is one of the most ancient medicinal herbs in the world. Its history goes as far back as ancient Egypt. Today, chamomile (and its oils) are still known for its natural soothing benefits.

The herb's active compounds also make it extremely useful for skincare. It offers the following benefits:

• Improves the texture and the tone of the skin.

• Minimizes the appearance of aging.

• Gentle on sensitive skin.

• Gets rid of blemishes and dark circles around the eyes.

• Helps nourish hair and scalp.

Because of its ancient origins, chamomile has a reputation for being a natural cure-all. In aromatherapy, chamomile essential oil has a sweet aroma that relaxes the mind and positively influences your mood

Chamomile essential oil is often mixed with other pure essential oils to achieve the desired benefit. It blends well with citrus scents like grapefruit, bergamot, lemon, and Llme. It also goes well with floral aromas from other oils, such as lavender, jasmine, ylang-ylang, and geranium essential oil.

7. Frankincense essential oil

Frankincense essential oil has often been called "pure incense." It's popular for its powerful fragrance that has often been associated with enhancing spiritual experiences. Frankincense essential oil comes from the dried and distilled resin of the Frankincense tree.

The main chemical compounds found in frankincense essential oil are pinene, limonene, borneol, farnesol, myrcene, and phellandrene. These active compounds play a part in frankincense essential oil's aromatic and wellness benefits:

• Treats dry areas and maintains healthy-looking skin.

• Has antioxidants to protect your cells from getting hurt.

• Soothes the mind.

• Smoothens the appearance of wrinkles and improves skin elasticity.

Frankincense essential oil is a must-have for aromatherapy. It's known for its sweet, woodsy aroma that calms you and enhances your mood.

8. Rosemary essential oil

Rosemary gets its name from the Latin term, "Dew of the Sea." They are native to the cliffs of the Mediterranean region. And back in the days of ancient Greeks, Hebrews, Egyptians, and Romans, rosemary was used for protection, fragrance, and as a reminder of the cycle of life and death.

Today, many use rosemary essential oil in health and wellness and aromatherapy for its stimulating properties. It's also popular for its ability to strengthen the body.

Rosemary essential oil has lots of benefits to offer in health and wellness, beauty, hair care, and even home care. What can rosemary essential oil do?

• Take care of minor discomforts.

• Promotes a sense of well-being and comfort when used in a massage.

• Makes hair appear fuller and more vibrant.

• Moisturizes the scalp, and helps manage a dry and flaky scalp.

• Hydrates the skin and helps maintain a healthy glow.

When used in aromatherapy, rosemary essential oil helps with relaxation. It also improves your mood. It's popular for having an invigorating effect that helps lessen the feeling of being tired.

9. Bergamot essential oil

Bergamot belongs to the Rutaceae family. You might know it by the name Citrus. This tree's fruit is a cross between a lemon and an orange. Bergamot is widely used in Italian folk medicine and traditional Indian medicine.

Aside from being a must-have in aromatherapy, bergamot essential oil is popular for its hair care, skincare, wellness, and health benefits. Some of its most popular benefits are:

• Disinfects the skin by stopping the growth of harmful bacteria.

• Evens out the skin tone.

• Eliminates body odor-causing bacteria.

• Helps with new hair growth.

• Promotes the fast healing of wounds and eczema by preventing new infections from forming.

• Helps with cough and clears up stuffy noses.

• Provides relief from pain, headaches, muscle aches, and sprains.

For aromatherapy, bergamot essential oil is popular for helping reduce anxiety and stress. Inhaling the relaxing and soothing smell of bergamot essential oil also helps people who have a hard time sleeping.

10. Ylang Ylang essential oil

Ylang ylang essential oil comes from the steam distilled from the star-shaped flowers of the Cananga odorata botanical. This flower is quite popular for its many uses. Whether medicinal, for hair care, skincare, or for aromatherapy, ylang ylang essential oil has a lot to offer.

Some of its most popular benefits include:

• Prevents too much dryness and oiliness in the skin.

• Soothes inflammation and irritation on the body and the scalp.

• Strengthens your hair.

• Helps with acne and hair loss by encouraging the growth of new skin and hair.

• Speeds up the healing of wounds, cuts, scrapes, and burns and prevents infection from harmful bacteria.

• The hypotensive qualities of this essential oil is believed to balance blood pressure levels, enhance circulation, and normalize heart rates.

In aromatherapy, ylang ylang essential oil is used for soothing and relieving feelings of sadness, tension, anxiety, stress, and sleeplessness. It has a very pleasant floral scent that also makes it perfect for both men and women's perfume.

Practical Tips for Beginners Using Essential Oils

Before you start testing these essential oils, it's important to make sure that you get the best experience out of it. Take a look at some of our practical tips. These will give you an idea on how to store essential oils, how to use them safely, and what are the basics of diluting essential oils.

The Basics of Essential Oil Safety

Remember that pure essential oils are very potent. That's why they must be handled with extreme care.

• Check the label for directions and warnings.

• Less is more with pure essential oils. Use the smallest recommended drop and add more when needed.

• Do a patch test before using essential oils. Put tiny drops of the oil on your skin and watch for an allergic reaction. If your skin becomes irritated, apply a carrier or fatty oil on the affected area to dilute the essential oil.

• Don't apply oils on certain parts of your body. Avoid putting them in your eyes, nose, ears, or other areas that have sensitive skin.

• Talk to a healthcare professional. If you're pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, talk to your doctor first before trying out essential oils.

A Tip for Blending Essential Oils

Mixing two oils together is a great way to create scents that you love. An essential oil blend also carries benefits that a single oil can't do by itself.

 Aside from asking yourself, "What are the best essential oils?", you also need to think about how potent your pure essential oils are.

Some essential oils are gentle enough for the skin. But there are some that will need to be diluted with carrier oil (like coconut, jojoba, sweet almond, etc.) before you can apply them safely on your skin.

If you blend essential oil with carrier oil, the carrier oil should make up the greater part. Only a small percentage should be made up of essential oils.