Taking care of your hair can be quite a challenge, especially for those who are not blessed with the strongest, shiniest, and most bountiful of manes. Hair is constantly at the mercy of the state of our internal terrain – allergies, heredity, hormonal imbalances, stress, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies – and the external elements, such as humidity, wind, dry weather, and so on. But there may be a way to help: essential oils.

Essential oils provide a clean (and fragrant) solution to many everyday hair woes. The following five essential oils are simple and pure elixirs whose inherent qualities make them great for boosting hair appearance and health.

How to Use Essential Oils for Beautiful Hair

One of the biggest critiques of essential oils for skin health (and by extension, scalp/hair health) is that they can be reactive. That is, when they are exposed to the sun or heat, they may cause an unsavory experience for the user, resulting in a rash or burning sensation. This is particularly true for citrus essential oils. It always helps to dilute the essential oil in a carrier oil like jojoba, almond, or argan, or add it into your regular shampoo.  Let the mixture sit in your hair for five to 10 minutes before rinsing clean.

If you are known to have sensitive skin, test a patch of skin with whatever essential oil you plan to add to your hair care regimen. Wait a few hours to see how your skin reacts.

5 Essential Oils for Beautiful Hair

1. Rosemary Oil

Rosemary oil is best for improving hair thickness and inducing hair growth. In one study, participants were randomly assigned either rosemary oil or 2% minoxidil, the first FDA-approved hair loss treatment that has been proven to work. Subjects applied either treatment twice daily. After six months, both groups experienced a significant increase in hair count, with no difference in growth between the groups; that is, rosemary was just as effective as a clinical treatment. The difference, however, was that those using rosemary oil experienced significantly less itching.

2. Peppermint Oil

Commonly used to stimulate the digestive system and act as the primary aroma in toothpaste, peppermint’s use extends to promoting beautiful hair as well. In fact, peppermint oil’s hair growth effects are nothing less than remarkable. In one study, researchers found peppermint oil to easily penetrate the skin and both induce rapid hair growth as well as very thick hair after just four weeks of topical application. The researchers concluded that peppermint oil is able to conserve the vascularization of hair dermal papilla (where all hair follicles are nourished and supplied with oxygen).

3. Lemongrass Oil

If dandruff is a concern, lemongrass oil is your best bet! Lemongrass oil has shown to significantly reduce dandruff in one to two weeks of topical treatment.

4. Lavender Oil

Speed up hair growth with lavender oil. The essential oil is commonly known and proven to be effective in treating fatigue, reducing stress, the promoting cell growth, reproducing skin, and treated alopecia. In one study, lavender oil demonstrated the ability to promote hair growth. Researchers tested lavender oil on the hair of mice, and they observed a significant growth in hair.

5. Clary Sage Oil

Clary sage oil hastens hair growth and improves hair strength. It contains linalyl acetate, a compound that is also found in lavender oil, giving clary sage much of lavender oil’s hair-growing properties.

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Stressed? Low energy? Can’t sleep? There’s an essential oil for that.

If you aren’t using aromatherapy as part of your healthy lifestyle, there’s no better time to start than right now. And what could be better for the season than floral essential oils?

Essential oils may have been thought of as hippy potions in the past, but we are seeing a definite boom in popularity for these natural ingredients. Before you run to the health food store to stock up or attend an aromatherapy party, there are a few things to know about these potent oils.

Essential oils (or EOs) are volatile compounds extracted from plants. Each oil carries the distinct characteristics of the plant from which it was obtained. EOs have powerful aromatherapeutic benefits, but they are super concentrated and highly potent, and care should be taken when using the oils. In order to avoid issues like irritation, burns, and hormonal disturbance, learn how to properly handle EOs.

Before we go further into the benefits of floral essential oils, you may be wondering … what is aromatherapy and does it really work?

In aromatherapy, essential oils are used to treat physical and psychological symptoms, and bring about a state of balance. Floral EOs offer the bouquet of delicate fragrance from your favorite blooms. But these beauties are certainly no shrinking violets. They come with a host of powerful feel good benefits.

Danièle Ryman, one of the world’s leading aromatherapists, even uses essential oils to alleviate hormonal disruption due to menopause. Ryman says essential oils “can influence a sluggish system and assist during hard times”, including florals like chamomile, geranium, and rose.

13 Floral Essential Oils for Aromatherapy

Always begin with high quality essential oils, like Source Vital or Aura Cacia. You can make your own reed diffuser, use in a home diffuser or car diffuser, or make a sachet. Each essential oil listed below can be used on its own or blended with other EOs to create your own blend.

1. Bergamot: A spicy, citrus floral, this blossoming essential oil improves feelings of depression and anxiety, gives a calming feel to the mind, and is said to boost the immune system and inspire a feeling of confidence. Blends well with cypress, orange, and vetiver.

2. Blue Tansy: This freshly scented essential oil has an almost apple-like fragrance and a rich blue hue. It is calming and soothing, eases tension, settles the nerves, and creates a relaxed feeling. Blends well with bergamot, geranium, and lemon.

3. Chamomile: You know this flower as the super calming tea, but it is also good for soothing the mind, toning down irritability, reducing discomfort, and easing an upset stomach. The sweetly scented oil blends well with lavender, lemon, and ylang ylang.

4. Geranium: With a scent similar to rose, this essential oil is soothing and uplifting. Good for relieving stress and anxiety, it diminishes feelings of hormonal imbalance. Blends well with basil, clary sage, and orange.

5. Helichrysum: Also known as Immortelle, this essential oil has a rich, sweet fragrance. It is used to banish fatigue, soothe stress, and balance emotions. Helichrysum is also a pain reliever and blends well with bergamot, chamomile, and lavender.

6. Jasmine: The warm, intoxicating, and exotic scent is reason enough to use jasmine essential oil, but it is also used as an aphrodisiac, antidepressant, and to instill an optimistic outlook, boost energy, and inspire confidence. Blends well with bergamot, rose, and citrus oils.

7. Lavender: A fresh floral, this well-loved essential oil is commonly used to promote a sense of balance and calm. Good for inducing sleep, relieving tension, easing depression, calming nerves, and diminishing the symptoms of headaches and migraines, lavender is an aromatherapy kit staple. Blends well with cedarwood, geranium, and nutmeg.

8. Lotus: The exotic lotus has a soft, earthy floral scent. This essential oil is soothing, calming, stimulates a poor appetite, alleviates anger, and brings about a sense of clarity and peace. Blends well with spicy scents, like cinnamon and sandalwood.

9. Neroli: A sweet floral, neroli provides a relaxing sensation, and is used to relieve depression and anxiety. May also help to calm an upset stomach associated with nervousness. Blends well with jasmine, lavender, and rosemary.

10. Rhododendron: With a fresh, clean aroma, this essential oil is perfect for those who prefer a lighter scent. It offers an uplifting sensation and blends well with lavender, orange, and geranium.

11. Rose: A potent stress reducer, this familiar scent brings about a feeling of harmony, eases depression, quells anger, and helps in dealing with feelings of grief, fear, and nervousness. May also be used to boost self-esteem. Blends well with geranium and jasmine.

12. Yarrow: Fruity and herbaceous, this essential oil soothes, relaxes, and eases anxiety and restlessness. It helps to improve sleep quality and blends well with cedarwood, clary sage, and black pepper.

13. Ylang Ylang: A sweet, fruity floral, this essential oil is uplifting, anxiety quelling, and used as an aphrodisiac. Blends well with bergamot, citrus oils, and sandalwood.

Related on EcoSalon:
Easy Aromatherapy Guide: 6 Scents to Relieve Stress, Boost Your Mood & More
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The Power of the Flower

The post 13 Floral Essential Oils to Make You Feel So, So Good appeared first on EcoSalon.

These are turbulent times, and when times get tough it’s up to us find a way to allow life to go on and a self-care routine that includes essential oils can help.

How Essential Oils Can Impact Our Emotions

While research lacks when it comes to the use of essential oils, we do know a few things about their benefits. Essential oils can be applied to the skin as well as inhaled. When they’re applied to the skin and absorbed through the body’s largest organ (which is very permeable), they work in much the same way as a nicotine patch. When an essential oil is applied to the skin, massage can increase circulation and therefore improve absorption.

When essential oil are inhaled, odor molecules travel through the nose and impact the brain immediately. And even when essential oils are applied to the skin, they are still inhaled. In both cases, essential oils can have an impact on our emotions.

Essential Oils for Fear and Sadness

A study published in Phytotherapy Research found that bergamot oil
improved anxiety in rats by reducing the release of cortisol in the brain. When the body becomes stressed, we tend to revert back to caveman times by naturally releasing cortisol, our fight or flight response. This hormone release causes a wide range of physiological responses and when too much is constantly flowing, it can cause irritability, depression, and anxiety among a host of others symptoms.

Another study published in Journal of Ethnopharmacology found that lavender essential oils helped with the release of serotonin in the brain when it was inhaled. And another study in the journal of Natural Product Communications found that rose oil used for aromatherapy had some relaxing effects on humans especially those struggling with depression and stress.

Choosing Essential Oils

Whether you want to add bergamot, rose, or lavender (or all three!) to your self-care routine, it’s important to choose high-quality essential oils that are pure, produced sustainably, and don’t contain any unnecessary additives. Plant Therapy ($15) and Mountain Rose ($25) are two high-quality brands to get you started and both can be purchased online.

And once you’ve got your essential oils, you can add them into your routine a number of ways. Inhalation is likely to produce the best results when it comes to calming your emotions, so you may want to consider adding a few drops to a diffuser or to a steamy bath. If you put essential oils on the skin, make sure it’s properly diluted with a carrier oil. Essential oil should have a concentration of no greater than three to five percent. That means in one teaspoon of carrier oil, you would add three drops of pure essential oil. This would make a three percent solution that could be used on a portion of the body. It is not safe to eat essential oils.

Lavender Magnesium Linen Spray

Ingredients
5-6 drops lavender essential oil
¼ tsp. Epsom salts
1/2 cup filtered water
Small spray bottle

Directions
1. Add the salt to your bottle and then add the essential oil.
2. Fill the bottle the rest of the way with water. Shake well before using. Give your pillow a spray or two each and every night for sound sleep.

Sea Salt Exfoliating Scrub with Essential Oils

Ingredients

1/2 cup raw olive oil
1 cup sea salt
5 drops each of Lavender, Frankincense, and Ylang Ylang
glass jar with lid

Directions

1. Measure your salt and pour into a large glass bowl.
2. Add olive oil and mix well with a metal spoon. Add essential oils and continue to stir the mixture. Slowly scoop into a glass pot.
3. Close tightly with a lid and label. Store in a cool, dark place. Scoop out a silver dollar size of scrub and apply to body.
4. Repeat weekly. This is one of the most pampering DIY essential oil recipes.

Do you use essential oils? What are your favorite varieties? And how do you use them? We want to know! Drop us a line via Twitter @EcoSalon.

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