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Essential oils have been around for thousands of years and have been known to help enhance moods and emotions and can fix many ailments you may be dealing with.
Below we have sourced some great essential oils, all with the commonality to help reduce stress, and calm and bring some tranquility, peace, and harmony back into your life. We have included a 100% pure lavender essential oil and ones that are already blended with other known healing oils to create blends that work specifically to help you sleep, relieve anxiety, and promote overall mental well-being.
These oils can also all be used alone in a diffuser or mixed with your favorite carrier oil and applied topically anywhere you feel the need for relief. Rub into your temples and back of the neck, spray your pillows and sheets for sleep assistance and even add a few drops to a relaxing bath as a great way to wind down for the evening.
Detailing the Quality Essential Oil of 2024
Hohm Radiance Essential Oil — Best Overall
Wake up refreshed and smell great with the Hohm Radiance Essential Oil. This citrus essential oil will give you an energetic start to your day right when you roll out of bed. This formula blends sweet orange, lemon, grapefruit, mandarin, vanilla, and more to give off a sweet scent with a little zing! Create contentment and a relaxing environment by adding these essential oils into a diffuser or cracking it open in your car.
The bottle is easy to use and comes with an applicator that you can use to drip into your diffuser or hot bath for a calm and easy experience. Hohm essential oils are put to six tests, including GC/MS, to ensure that the oils are 100% natural and pure, so you’re not accidentally allowing toxic fumes into your home, office, or other enclosed environments. Not to mention the ingredients were ethically sourced from farmers the brand trusts who invest in their communities and leave them better than they found them. That’s why this scent is the best overall on the list.
Pros
- Citrus flavor
- Creates calming experience
- 100% natural and pure
Cons
- Does not cure any illnesses
NOW Essential Oil — Runner Up
If you are in need of some centering, calming, and balancing, then this essential aromatherapy blend is a great option. This blend consists of peppermint, patchouli, orange, lavender, and basil oils that give off a minty, floral herb scent to promote balance, relaxation, and mediation. These essential oils are highly concentrated and free of anything synthetic, and most ingredients are extracted through steam distillation or are cold-pressed.
Pros
- These oils are a safe, natural alternative to toxic, artificial aerosol sprays, or some candles
Cons
- If you are not a fan of mint scents, another option might be better
Lagunamoon Essential Oil — Editor's Pick
Of course, you’re looking for the best product when you need a premium-grade essential oil. And this is why we bring you the Lagunamoon essential oil on the list. Whether you need a bunch of your favorite fragrance essential oils for diffusers or aromatherapy, you can’t go wrong with these options. The pack of 16 includes everything you are looking for. And if you’re into crafts like soap making or candle making, these essential oils are pure gold for you.
The variety is the top feature of this product. You get natural fragrances ranging from black orchids to ginger, peppermint, jasmine, and more. The ingredients are all-natural, making it a fine vegan option. The lasting fragrance is another plus that would keep bringing back to this set of essential oils.
Pros
- The range caters to various needs
- The formula contains natural and vegan ingredients only
- The 2x long-lasting fragrance will stay put
- Comes with spill-proof droppers
Cons
- The candles may give out a weak fragrance
Healing Solutions Essential Oil — Runner Up
This stress relief blend of carnage, geranium, lemongrass and sweet orange oils is ideal for promoting a calming atmosphere and can help reduce anxiety, depression, and stress. This is a 100% pure, therapeutic-grade oil that uses only the best cultivation of ingredients and has a superior distillation and bottling process to keep the product aromatically superior and more effective than many other oils.
Pros
- These oils are bottled in UV-blocking amber essential oil bottles
Cons
- The oils must be diluted before using on the body
Plant Guru Essential Oil — Honorable Mention
Another option to help you get to sleep is to use this 100% pure and natural essential oil blend. Great for calming the mind and body, this oil works to help you get to sleep as it is composed of individual oils with known soothing properties including lavender, ylang-ylang, Spanish marjoram, and sandalwood. The scent is reminiscent of a relaxing spa and can be used in a diffuser to create a calming environment, priming you for a great night’s sleep.
Pros
- These oils are 100% pure and natural with no added ingredients, synthetics, or chemicals
Cons
- Do not use undiluted on the skin
doTERRA Balance Essential Oil — Contender
This balance or grounding blend of essential oils is meant to promote a whole-body sense of relaxation and create a sense of calm and overall well-being. Its warm, woody aroma is created with a blend of spruce, ho wood frankincense, blue tansy, and blue chamomile with a touch of coconut oil for a fragrance that screams relaxation. Each of these ingredients has been used individually for health, spirituality, and even as a balancing effect on emotions, and, when combined, this oil blend can bring the utmost harmony to the mind and body.
Pros
- A great way to start the day is to apply this on the bottom of the feet to promote calmness and tranquility throughout the day
Cons
- If you are not a fan of coconut oil, another option might be better
MAJESTIC PURE Essential Oil — Best for Skin
Soothe your skin and smell fantastic with the MAJESTIC PURE Essential Oil. This 100% pure and natural essential oil is great for many ailments and is safe for all ages and skin types. This is rated as “kids safe” and claims to help kids focus their minds to calm fidgeting and get them to do their homework more efficiently. The aromatherapy blend of cedarwood Himalaya, patchouli, ylang-ylang, and frankincense helps to calm and relax the mind.
To use, simply drop a few drops onto your skin and rub in to feel immediate results. You can also purchase a diffuser and place it into the diffuser for aromatherapy around your whole house! This 1-ounce essential oil bottle makes for a great gift and is small enough to store anywhere.
Pros
- Smells great
- Can be rubbed onto skin
- Can be used in a diffuser
Cons
- Does not solve medical issues
- Scent could be too strong
Buying Guide: Essential Oils
Essential oils have played a massive role in calming the nerves, relaxing your mind, and even healing multiple chronic problems like depression, inflammations, anxieties, sleep problems, and more. You cannot compromise the quality of these products because your health is highly dependent on them. We have provided some other information in this guide to ensure that your investment won't go down the drain.
Which Type of Essential Oil to Choose— Pure or Blend?
Essential oils are available in two forms— puree and blend. There are considerable differences between these two oil forms:
- Pure essential oils are made from a single ingredient like peppermint, lavender, cedarwood, and more, while in the blend, multiple ingredients are mixed in the product.
- Pure essential oils can be used for limited purposes, while the blend products will serve more than one purpose.
- It is hard to mix pure essential oils with others or carrier oil. On the contrary, you can easily mix the blended oil with other substances without any hassle.
What Are the Key Factors to Consider When Choosing Essential Oils?
Bottle volume
Essential oils are packed in bottles of varying volumes or capacities. Therefore, you must check whether the chosen product can meet your needs for how long. Some products have medium capacities, and they cannot last for long. On the contrary, bottles with capacities like 30 ml or more can easily last for about a month or two. You also have to decide the bottle volume based on the frequency of usage. For example, if you use the oil almost every day and do not want to buy the product repeatedly, go for one having a larger bottle capacity and vice versa.
Extraction method
Several processes are implemented when oil is extracted from different raw materials like flowers, leaves, nuts, and more. However, only two methods are implemented for extracting essential oils— steam distillation and cold pressing techniques. The continuous supply of steam is passed over the plant materials in steam distillation. The mixed vapors are then collected in a separate beaker post condensation, where water and oil form distinct layers. After this, the oil is collected and purified. Even though steam is at a high temperature, the heat is maintained within a controlled limit that won't interfere with the essential oil composition. In the cold-pressed technique, pressure is used to extract the oils from different plant parts, but not without applying heat.
Concentration
Some essential oils are diluted, and they can be directly used on your skin or mixed with other carrier oils easily. However, if your chosen product is concentrated, you need to dilute it first and then use it as per your requirements. The concentration does not play a significant role when you usually use the oils indirectly with something else like in a diffuser, salt mix, carrier oil, and more. On the contrary, if you want to use the oils directly on your skin, make sure to choose a diluted product.
Fragrance
As essential oils are made from different ingredients, their fragrances also vary. For example, some products can have an earthy, woody smell, while others might give off minty fragrances. Sometimes, when lavender oil is mixed, you can get the floral fragrance mixed with subtle hints of earth and fresh leaves.
Notes
Essential oils have different scents and fragrances that are broadly classified into three notes— top notes, heart notes, and base notes. When you open an essential oil bottle, the first fragrances that will hit your olfactory senses are the top notes produced, usually by lavender, lemon, mint, and more. It will die down within ten to fifteen minutes maximum, after which you will get a mildew smell. The heart notes come into play and last for two to three hours. Ingredients like jasmine, cinnamon, lemongrass, ylang-ylang, and others give off heart notes. However, the fragrance that you can smell after one hour of applying the oil is due to base notes. These are light but add more depth to the scent. They can linger on your skin for over six hours, like vanilla, musk, patchouli, and sandalwood.
Purity
While choosing essential oils, make sure that the ingredients used are 100% pure and have a natural origin. It shouldn't have any toxic elements, volatile components, and more that will harm your respiratory system and skin. Some additional chemicals can even cause a burning sensation in your nasal passage as you inhale air containing essential oil molecules. Always refrain from getting such products.
What Are the Main Ingredients Used for Making Different Essential Oils?
The primary factor that you have to consider when choosing an essential oil is its ingredients. In the below section, we have listed some of the most common ingredients used in making the oil blends.
- Spruce: Eases breathing and relaxes the airways
- Frankincense: Helps in relaxation, offers a peaceful sleep, and soothes skin
- Blue chamomile: Relieves anxiety, treats skin rashes, reduces inflammations
- Lavender: Treats fungal infections, reduces anxieties and depression, treats insomnia, and relaxes the nerves
- Ylang-ylang: Promotes relaxation, treats microbial infections, improves focus and concentration
- Sandalwood: Helps in calming the nerves, lowers the stress levels, improves sleep, and reduces insomnia
- Geranium: Treats depression and anxieties, promotes good sleep, helps in pain management
- Patchouli: Treats colds and headaches, relieves depression, calms the nerves, and eases stress
- Lemongrass: Used in aromatherapy, lowers blood pressure
- Peppermint: Helps in reducing headaches, mitigates muscle pain and inflammations, improves focus and concentration
How to Use Essential Oils for Healing, Relaxation, and Therapeutic Treatments?
There are many ways to use the essential oils, like in a diffuser for aromatherapy, in a mix of salt, like Epsom salt, in bathing water, with a topical cream, and so on. While using the oil, make sure not to mix too much of the product because essential oils can prove effective even if you add one to two drops.
