5 Reasons Why I Love My Essential Oils

5 Reasons Why I Cannot Live Without My Essential Oils

Like most people, I’ve always thought that Essential Oils are just some nice-smelling fragrances that spas / beauty salons use to make you feel relaxed & wonderful. I never knew that I would come to know the amazing benefits of them and grew to love them that much until recently.

My First Experience With Essential Oils

I first got to know about Essential Oils during puberty when I suffered from really bad breakouts. Mom bought me a bottle of Tea Tree Oil from her beauty salon and told me to apply it on my acne. The Tea Tree Oil smelt pretty bad but I applied it on my breakouts on a daily basis but realised that it did not help with my breakouts at all. So I ditched the idea of using Tea Tree Oil & sought professional help from a dermatologist instead.

My breakouts were under control under my dermatologist’s care & hence I forgot about Essential Oils totally.

Turning Point

As I suffered from sinus since young, I never liked the idea of spraying perfumes on myself as my nose gets agitated by the fragrances and I would sneeze uncontrollably.

So it happens that a colleague seated behind me was applying some essential oils on herself after lunch. The scent from her oils smelt calming and nice so we started a conversation where she introduced us to Essential Oils. It was through attending several workshops that I learnt more about Essential Oils & their benefits for our beauty & wellness.

I have incorporated Essential Oils into my daily lifestyle ever since & am obsessed with them as they work wonders for me!

My Purse Essentials – Lemon & Peppermint Essential Oils

What Are Essential Oils?

If you enjoyed the scents of flowers (i.e. lavender / rose), you’ve experienced the aromatic qualities of Essential Oils. Essential Oils are actually more than just nice scents – they are powerful plant extracts to natural radiance.

Things To Note When Selecting Essential Oils

As a regular shopper, I’ve aways thought that all Essential Oils are the same. So it is natural for me to pick the cheapest one available off the shelf. However, the difference in Essential Oils does not only lie in their price – it is the quality & how they are being produced.

A random double-blind trial of essential oils from 2 different lavender species topically applied on post-cardiotomy patients revealed that the quality of oil is a vital factor in determining the efficacy of its use. 28 patients were selected to receive aromatherapy massage with one of the two essential oils for 2 consecutive days & their emotional & behavioural stress levels were evaluated before & after treatment. The results revealed that the therapeutic effects of the 2 lavender oils were different – one was almost twice as effective as the other.

Essential Oils are graded by their quality into A, B,  C & D – A being the highest.

Grade A: These are pure & therapeutic quality usually made from organically grown plants distilled at the proper temperatures using steam distillation.

Environmental factors (location of the farms, soil type, fertilizer used, & other physical factors (i.e. manufacturing process) also determine whether an Essential Oil is of therapeutic quality.

Grade B: These are food grade essential oils that may contain synthetics,  pesticides, chemical / synthetic extenders or diluted with carrier oils.

Grade C: These are perfume grade oils that may contain some form of adulterating chemicals.

Grade D: These are Floral Water – a byproduct of Grade A distillation. After the oil is extracted, the leftover floral water is then sold to other companies where in turn will fill 5% of the bottle with this floral water, & top the rest off with carriers & label it as “pure”. They smell great but have NO therapeutic benefits at all.

After learning about the various Essential Oil grades, I finally understood why the Tea Tree Oil which Mom gave me earlier did not work for my breakouts. Same for the Body Shop ones which I’ve tried in a bid to save money. They smelt synthetic & is a far cry from the therapeutic grade ones.

Use only Grade A Essential Oils to enjoy the maximum therapeutic benefits for your wellness! Click To Tweet

5 Reasons Why I Cannot Live Without Essential Oils

As I learnt more about Essential Oils, I began investing in some of them & they have served me really well ever since.

So below are 5 compelling reasons why I cannot live without my Essential Oils:

#1: Natural Remedy To My Ailments

I was born with a weak stomach that is prone to indigestion & I suffer from sinus problems too.

Since young, I was taught to rub the Grandma smelling Hoe Hin Bak Fah Yeow onto my tummy or inhale it whenever I suffer from indigestion or blocked nose. Little did I realise that this traditional ointment contains synthetic ingredients that can cause skin irritation. Prolonged exposure to such chemicals can be bad for your wellbeing as well.

Hoe Hin Bak Fah Yeow (White Flower Analgesic Balm)

Hence, I switched to natural alternatives to soothe my discomfort – Essential Oils!

My all-time favourite essential oil has got to be Peppermint due to it’s refreshing sensation after using it. I bring it along with me all the time to alleviate the symptoms of indigestion & blocked nose. It helps me to concentrate better after I rub it on my achy shoulders too! As for Lemon, it smells so uplifting & helps in detox too!

The Di-Gize Essential Oil blend works wonders when I have more serious indigestion issues. It’s a great travel companion to bring about when I’m traveling overseas.

As for PanAway, it smelt like those Chinese Medicated Oil but works wonders on sore muscles. I would dilute it with some carrier oil before getting le’ hubs to massage my back for me.

#2: Convenience

In the past when I wanted to have lemon / mint infused water, I need to buy fresh lemon / mint leaves from the Grocers and infuse them in a jug overnight.

And le’ hubs is unsupportive on this because he hates the taste of lemon & I would have to drink the entire jug of lemon-infused water by myself 🙁

Also, it’s hard to store mint leaves because my family is small (only 2 of us). My mint leaves would decay after a few days if I store them in the fridge. And washing them is a hassle anyway.

Rudy Zip-Up Eyelet Top c/o TOBI

Comfy Cotton Shorts & Shades – Primark, UK

So I found this pretty interesting hack – drilemon/mintops of Lemon / Peppermint Essential Oils into a glass of water & viola, I get my drink in 3 seconds!

Not to mention that I use these 2 oils interchangeably for my cooking too 😉

#3: For Radiant Skin

As I have super sensitive skin that is prone to acne, incorporating Essential Oils into my beauty routine helps to soothe my skin!

For instance, pure Tea Tree Essential Oil (aka Melaleuca Alternifolia) has helped to shrink my acne like magic. I dripped a drop of Lavender Essential Oil into my DIY Facial Mask & it helps to soothe redness.

DIY Facial Mask With Lavender Essential Oil

I added Frankincense to my facial serum to help lighten acne scars as well 😉

My skin wouldn’t have cleared up so fast without the aid of my essential oils.

#4: To Feel Good

Some Essential Oils smell so pleasant that they make me feel relaxed whenever I diffuse them in my diffuser.

Stress Away Essential Oil Blend For Cranky Days

Cecilia Flutter Crop Top c/o TOBI

Floral Chiffon Wide-Legged Pants – Taobao

I enjoy wearing Lavender Essential Oil as perfume on my hair to make myself smell better too (especially on days when I’m too lazy to shampoo it *LOL*).

#5: For Better Immunity

I don’t have the habit of taking supplements on a regular basis. Hence I rely on diffusing some of my favourite essential oil blends for immunity.

Cecilia Flutter Crop Top c/o TOBI

Floral Chiffon Wide-Legged Pants – Taobao

Essential Oil blends such as Thieves has anti-inflammatory properties that support your immune system. The Thieves recipe was initially used by thieves over 600 years ago when the Plague raged across Europe to protect them from airborne plague germs when they robbed plague-infected homes. The recipe was only released to the public after the king of England caught the thieves and coerced them to reveal their secret. I love the spicy cinnamon fragrance from this blend too!

In addition, Singapore’s air is often polluted by haze from our neighbouring country – Indonesia. Hence I would diffuse a mixture of the Purification Essential Oil blend or Lemon Essential Oil to make my house smell great at all times.

Where I Got My Essential Oils

In order to reap the maximum benefits from Essential Oils, it is important that we settle for the premium quality ones instead of those cheap knock-offs.

My Essential Oil Collection

I recently got my hands on the Young Living’s Premium Starter Kit and it came with a FREE diffuser that is worth SGD140+. The oils in the Premium Starter Kit are thoughtfully selected & are very versatile + “noob-friendly” for beginners too!

I get the bang out of my bucks from this Premium Starter Kit as I’ve been experimenting new recipes & diffuser blends using them 😉

What is 1 Thing You Cannot Live Without?

Now I’ve shared with you that I cannot live without my Essential Oils. How about you? Is there anything you cannot live without?

Feel free to share it in the comment box below 😉