DIY Essential Oil Recipes to Nourish and Heal the Body and Mind
Self-care isn’t only for pampering; it also promotes positive physical, mental, and emotional health outcomes. Essential oils, in particular, contain powerful medicinal properties that heal through absorption and the sense of smell. You can make your own natural products containing concentrated extracts from medicinal plants like lavender, rose, and lemon using the following DIY essential oil recipes.
Exfoliating ScrubExfoliating your body once a week can result in smoother, softer, and healthier skin. In addition, exfoliation removes dead skin cells and unclogs pores, leaving your skin looking fresh. Bicultural Mama shares an excellent natural scrub recipe that combines turbinado sugar, brown sugar, and coconut oil with drops of essential oils. To make a calming-scented scrub, add lavender, ylang-ylang, bergamot, or rose, and for a revitalizing version, add bright spearmint or citrusy lemon.
Body SprayHappy Healthy Mama’s DIY body spray recipe calls for a small spray bottle that you will fill with a mixture of witch hazel, distilled water, and essential oils. For a refreshing body spray, add ten drops of grapefruit oil, four drops of lemon, and four drops of lime oils.
DiffuserAn oil diffuser adds delightful aromas to any living space. For Treehugger’s DIY recipe, you need rubbing alcohol, essential oils, and carrier oil:
- Take a small glass bottle or vase and place bamboo skewers or diffuser reeds inside to lift the aromas into the air gently.
- Mix in alcohol to speed up the evaporation process so that the scent effectively draws through the diffuser reeds.
- Add a lightly scented carrier oil like safflower or almond.
There are endless combinations of essential oils. For example, Treehugger suggests combining geranium, lemon, and chamomile for relaxation. Meanwhile, for a fresh, clean scent, combine lemon, frankincense, thyme, and lavender oils, which all have antibacterial properties, according to a 2019 study from Pathogens.
Bath BombSoaking in a long, hot bath can relax your body and mind while relieving stress. Wellness Mama’s bath bomb recipes are one of the best. To make the bath bomb, combine the main ingredients – citric acid, baking soda, and cornstarch with coconut oil – before slowly mixing in witch hazel. Next, depending on what color you want the bath bombs, you can add food dye before placing the bath bombs into molds. Finally, let them sit overnight, and by the next day, your citrus and flower-scented bath bombs are ready for use whenever you need a relaxing bath.
Bath OilA relaxing bath before bed can do wonders. In addition, bathing has several therapeutic benefits, particularly during the dry and chilly winter. Loving Essential Oils shares an easy-to-make bath oil recipe that will add a luxurious touch to your hot bath.
First, you will need a carrier oil like jojoba, coconut, almond, grapeseed, or rosehip oil. Next, mix that oil with drops of your preferred essential oils. For example, loving Essential Oils recommends mixing two drops of sandalwood, three drops of frankincense, or five drops of lavender for a soothing bath.