Essential Oil: What are Essential Oils? 11 Facts to Know

Essential oils are natural compounds found in plants that have been used for thousands of years to promote physical and emotional wellbeing. While there is much debate over the efficacy and safety of essential oils, many people swear by their healing properties and believe that essential oils can provide relief from a wide range of ailments.

In this blog, we will explore what essential oils are, the various ways to use them, and a list of essential oils for common health issues.

essential oil dropper 1

What Are Essential Oils?

Essential oils are the aromatic, usable compounds found in hundreds of plant varieties. These compounds are extracted from the plant material through a process of distillation and are highly concentrated. A single drop of essential oil may contain hundreds of compounds, each of which can provide therapeutic benefits. Essential oils are typically used in aromatherapy, massage, and other holistic healing practices.

The use of essential oils dates back thousands of years. Ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans used essential oils for medicinal and spiritual purposes. Today, essential oils are used in a variety of ways, including inhalation, topical application, and ingestion.

Essential oils are typically considered safe, although some people may experience skin irritation or other side effects with certain oils. It is important to research the oils you are using, follow usage instructions, and always dilute essential oils with a carrier oil before applying them to the skin.

Essential Oils for Allergies

If you suffer from seasonal allergies, essential oils may provide some relief. Lavender, peppermint, and tea tree oil can help to reduce inflammation and congestion. To use these oils, you can add a few drops to a diffuser and inhale the vapors. You can also add a few drops of the oil to a carrier oil, such as almond or jojoba oil, and apply it to your chest and neck.

Eucalyptus oil is also an effective essential oil for allergies. This oil is known for its anti-inflammatory and decongestant properties, and can help to reduce congestion and soothe irritated airways. To use eucalyptus oil, you can add a few drops to a diffuser and inhale the vapors. You can also mix a few drops with a carrier oil and apply it directly to the skin.

Essential Oils for Nausea

If you are feeling nauseous, essential oils may be able to help. Peppermint oil is known for its ability to help soothe an upset stomach and reduce nausea. To use peppermint oil for nausea, you can add a few drops to a diffuser and inhale the vapors. You can also mix a few drops of the oil with a carrier oil and apply it directly to your skin.

Ginger oil is another essential oil that can help to relieve nausea. This oil has anti-inflammatory and anti-nausea properties and can help to reduce the feeling of nausea. You can use ginger oil by adding a few drops to a diffuser and inhaling the vapors. You can also mix a few drops of the oil with a carrier oil and apply it directly to the skin.

essential oil bottle 2

How to Use Essential Oils

There are many ways to use essential oils. The most popular ways to use essential oils are through inhalation and topical application.

When using essential oils for inhalation, you can add a few drops to a diffuser or oil burner. The diffuser will disperse the essential oils into the air, allowing you to inhale the vapors and benefit from the therapeutic properties of the oil.

For topical application, you should always dilute the essential oils with a carrier oil, such as almond or jojoba oil. This will help to reduce the risk of skin irritation or reactions. You can mix a few drops of the essential oil with the carrier oil and then apply it directly to your skin.

Essential Oils for Cough

If you are suffering from a cough, essential oils may be able to help. Eucalyptus oil is known for its expectorant properties, which can help to reduce congestion and loosen mucus. To use eucalyptus oil for a cough, you can add a few drops to a diffuser and inhale the vapors. You can also mix a few drops of the oil with a carrier oil and apply it directly to your chest and neck.

Peppermint oil is another essential oil that can help with a cough. This oil is known for its anti-inflammatory and decongestant properties, which can help to reduce congestion and soothe irritated airways. To use peppermint oil, you can add a few drops to a diffuser and inhale the vapors. You can also mix a few drops of the oil with a carrier oil and apply it directly to the skin.

Essential Oils for Migraines

If you suffer from migraines, essential oils may be able to help. Lavender oil is known to help reduce pain and inflammation and can help to reduce the intensity of migraines. To use lavender oil, you can add a few drops to a diffuser and inhale the vapors. You can also mix a few drops of the oil with a carrier oil and apply it directly to the skin.

Peppermint oil is another essential oil that can help with migraines. This oil is known for its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, which can help to reduce pain and inflammation. To use peppermint oil for migraines, you can add a few drops to a diffuser and inhale the vapors. You can also mix a few drops of the oil with a carrier oil and apply it directly to the skin.

Lists of Essential Oils

There are many different essential oils available on the market. Here is a list of some of the most popular essential oils:

List of Essential Oils Alphabetically

  • Allspice essential oil
  • Ambrette seed oil
  • Amyris essential oil
  • Angelica root essential oil
  • Anthopogon essential oil
  • Atlas cedarwood essential oil
  • Balsam essential oil
  • Basil essential oil
  • Bay essential oil
  • Bay laurel essential oil
  • Beeswax essential oil
  • Benzoin essential oil
  • Bergamot essential oil
  • Bergamot mint essential oil
  • Black pepper essential oil
  • Black spruce essential oil
  • Blood orange essential oil
  • Blue cypress essential oil
  • Blue tansy essential oil
  • Bois de rose essential oil
  • Boronia essential oil
  • Bursera graveolens essential oil
  • Cade essential oil
  • Cajeput essential oil
  • Camphor essential oil
  • Cananga essential oil
  • Cannabis essential oil
  • Caraway seed essential oil
  • Cardamom essential oil
  • Carrot seed essential oil
  • Cassia essential oil
  • Catnip essential oil
  • Cedarwood essential oil
  • Chamomile essential oil
  • Chocolate peppermint essential oil
  • Cilantro essential oil
  • Cinnamon essential oil
  • Cistus essential oil
  • Citronella essential oil
  • Clary sage essential oil
  • Clove bud essential oil
  • Coffee essential oil
  • Common sage essential oil
  • Copaiba balsam essential oil
  • Coriander essential oil
  • Cornmint essential oil
  • Cubeb essential oil
  • Cumin essential oil
  • Cypress essential oil
  • Davana essential oil
  • Dill essential oil
  • Dalmatian sage essential oil
  • Douglas fir essential oil
  • Elemi essential oil
  • Eucalyptus essential oil
  • Fennel essential oil
  • Fir essential oil
  • Fragonia essential oil
  • Frankincense essential oil
  • Galbanum essential oil
  • Geranium essential oil
  • German chamomile essential oil
  • Greenland moss essential oil
  • Ginger essential oil
  • Goldenrod essential oil
  • Grapefruit essential oil
  • Gurjum balsam essential oil
  • Helichrysum gymnocephalum essential oil
  • Helichrysum italicum essential oil
  • Hemlock spruce essential oil
  • Hemp essential oil
  • Hinoki essential oil
  • Ho leaf essential oil
  • Ho wood essential oil
  • Holy basil essential oil
  • Hong kuai essential oil
  • Hops essential oil
  • Hyssop essential oil
  • Ishpingo essential oil
  • Immortelle essential oil
  • Japanese cypress essential oil
  • Jasmine essential oil
  • Jatamansi essential oil
  • Java pepper essential oil
  • Juniper berry essential oil
  • Kanuka essential oil
  • Kunzea essential oil
  • Labdanum essential oil
  • Ledum essential oil
  • Laurel leaf essential oil
  • Lavandin essential oil
  • Lavender essential oil
  • Lemon essential oil
  • Lime essential oil
  • Linden essential oil
  • Mandarin essential oil
  • Manuka essential oil
  • Marjoram essential oil
  • May chang essential oil
  • Melissa essential oil
  • Myrrh essential oil
  • Myrtle essential oil
  • Nard essential oil
  • Neroli essential oil
  • Niaouli essential oil
  • Nutmeg essential oil
  • Oakmoss essential oil
  • Ocotea essential oil
  • Olibanum essential oil
  • Opoponax essential oil
  • Orange essential oil
  • Oregano essential oil
  • Palmarosa essential oil
  • Palo santo essential oil
  • Parsley essential oil
  • Patchouli essential oil
  • Pepper essential oil
  • Peppermint essential oil
  • Peru balsam essential oil
  • Petitgrain essential oil
  • Pimento berry/leaf essential oil
  • Pine, pinyon essential oil
  • Pink pepper essential oil
  • Plai essential oil
  • Rambiazina essential oil
  • Ravensara essential oil
  • Ravintsara essential oil
  • Rock rose essential oil
  • Rhododendron essential oil
  • Roman chamomile essential oil
  • Rose essential oil
  • Rosemary essential oil
  • Rosewood essential oil
  • Sage essential oil
  • Sandalwood essential oil
  • Saro essential oil
  • Scotch pine essential oil
  • Siberian fir essential oil
  • Silver fir essential oil
  • Spearmint essential oil
  • Spike lavender essential oil
  • Spikenard essential oil
  • Spruce essential oil
  • Star anise essential oil
  • Sweet myrrh essential oil
  • Sweet orange essential oil
  • Tagetes essential oil
  • Tangerine essential oil
  • Taiwan cypress essential oil
  • Tea tree essential oil
  • Thyme essential oil
  • Tobacco essential oil
  • Tuberose essential oil
  • Tulsi essential oil
  • Valerian essential oil
  • Vanilla essential oil
  • Verbena, lemon essential oil
  • Vetiver essential oil
  • Violet leaf essential oil
  • Virginian cedarwood essential oil
  • White camphor essential oil
  • White fir essential oil
  • White sage essential oil
  • Wintergreen essential oil
  • Xanthoxylum essential oil
  • Yarrow essential oil
  • Ylang ylang essential oil
  • Yuzu essential oil

List of Essential Oils by Use

Looking for a list of oils based on their ideal use? Check it out below: 

Decreasing Anxiety, Feeling Calmer

  • Cinnamon oil
  • Orange oil

Promoting Mental Focus, Higher Mental Clarity

  • Sandalwood oil
  • Clary sage oil
  • Grapefruit oil
  • Lemon oil

Treating Wounds, Insect Bites, and Cuts

  • Lavender
  • Vetiver
  • Tea tree

List of Essential Oils by Plant Family

If you’re using essential oils in tinctures, bitters, or otherwise need to know which plant family they belong to, we have you covered. Here’s a list of oils categorized by their plant family: 

  • Apiaceae (umbellifer family)
      • Angelica oil
      • Anise oil
      • Blue Tansy oil
      • Caraway seed oil
      • Carrot seed oil
      • Chamomile oil
      • Coriander oil
      • Cumin oil
      • Davana oil
      • Dill seed oil
      • Fennel oil
      • Parsley seed oil
      • Helichrysum Gymnocephalum oil
      • Helichrysum Italicum oil
      • Tagetes oil
      • Yarrow oil
  • Asteraceae (daisy family)
      • Goldenrod Essential Oil 
  • Burseraceae (torchwoods family)
      • Elemi oil
      • Frankincense oil
      • Myrrh oil
      • Opoponax (bisabol) oil
      • Palo Santo (Bursera graveolens) oil
  • Canellaceae (evergreen and aromatic flowering plants)
      • Saro oil
      • Hemp oil
      • Hops oil
  • Cistaceae (rock-roses family)
      • Cistus (Cistus ladaniferus) oil
  • Cupressaceae (conifer plants)
      • Blue Cypress oil
      • Cade oil
      • Cedarwood oil
      • Cypress oil
      • Hinoki oil
      • Juniper oil
      • Taiwan oil
  • Dipterocarpaceae (tropical lowland rainforest trees)
      • Gurjum Balsam oil
  • Ericaceae (heaths family)
      • Ledum oil
      • Rhododendron oil
      • Wintergreen oil
  • Fabaceae (legumes family) 
      • Copaiba balsam oil
      • Peru balsam oil
  • Geraniaceae (geranium; flowering plants) 
      • Geranium oil
  • Illiciaceae (trees and shrubs; flowering plants)
      • Star anise oil
  • Lamiaceae (mints)
      • Basil oil
      • Bergamot mint oil
      • Catnip oil
      • Clary sage oil
      • Cornmint oil
      • Holy basil oil
      • Hyssop oil
      • Lavandin oil
      • Lavender oil
      • Marjoram oil
      • Melissa oil
      • Oregano oil
      • Patchouli oil
      • Peppermint oil
      • Rosemary oil
      • Sage oil
      • Spearmint oil
      • Thyme oil
  • Lauraceae (laurels) 
      • Camphor oil
      • Cassia oil
      • Cinnamon oil
      • Ho Wood oil
      • May Chang oil
      • Ocotea oil
      • Ravanesara oil
      • Ravintsara oil
      • Rosewood oil
  • Malvaceae (mallows)
      • Ambrette seed oil
  • Myristicaceae (flowering plants)
      • Nutmeg oil
  • Myrtaceae (myrtle)
      • Allspice oil
      • Bay oil
      • Cajeput oil
      • Clove Bud oil
      • Eucalyptus oil
      • Fragonia oil
      • Kanuka oil
      • Kunzea oil
      • Manuka oil
      • Myrtle oil
      • Myrtle oil
      • Niaouli oil
      • Rosalina oil
      • Tea Tree oil
  • Oleaceae (olive family)
      • Jasmine oil
  • Orchidaceae (orchid family)
      • Vanilla oil
  • Parmeliaceae (Lecanoromycetes family)
      • Oakmoss oil
  • Pinaceae (pine family)
      • Cedarwood oil
      • Fir oil
      • Pine oil
      • Spruce oil
  • Piperaceae (pepper family)
      • Cubeb oil
      • Pepper oil
  • Poaceae (grass family)
      • Citronella oil
      • Lemongrass oil
      • Palmarosa oil
      • Vetiver oil
  • Rosaceae (rose family)
      • Rose Otto oil
  • Rubiaceae (madder family)
      • Coffee oil
  • Rutaceae (rue/citrus family)
      • Amyris oil
      • Bergamot oil
      • Boronia oil
      • Grapefruit oil
      • Lemon oil
      • Lime oil
      • Mandarin oil
      • Neroli oil
      • Orange oil
      • Petitgrain oil
      • Tangerine oil
      • Xanthoxylum oil
      • Yuzu oil
  • Santalaceae (sandalwood family)
      • Sandalwood oil
  • Solanaceae (nightshade family)
      • Tobacco oil
  • Styracaceae (flowering plants)
      • Benzoin oil
      • Tiliaceae oil
      • Linden Blossom oil
  • Valerianaceae (valerian family)
      • Spikenard oil
      • Valerian oil
  • Verbenaceae (verbena family)
      • Lemon Verbena oil
  • Violaceae (violet family)
      • Violet Leaf oil
  • Zingiberaceae (ginger family)
    • Cardamom oil
    • Ginger oil
    • Plai oil

Essential Oils for Cold Sores

If you suffer from cold sores, essential oils may be able to help. Tea tree oil is known for its antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties, which can help to reduce the severity of cold sores. To use tea tree oil, you can add a few drops to a diffuser and inhale the vapors. You can also mix a few drops of the oil with a carrier oil and apply it directly to the affected area.

Lavender oil is another essential oil that can help with cold sores. This oil is known for its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, which can help to reduce pain and inflammation. To use lavender oil, you can add a few drops to a diffuser and inhale the vapors. You can also mix a few drops of the oil with a carrier oil and apply it directly to the affected area.

Essential Oils for Eczema

If you suffer from eczema, essential oils may be able to help. Chamomile oil is known for its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, which can help to reduce inflammation and soothe irritated skin. To use chamomile oil, you can add a few drops to a diffuser and inhale the vapors. You can also mix a few drops of the oil with a carrier oil and apply it directly to the affected area.

Lavender oil is another essential oil that can help with eczema. This oil is known for its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, which can help to reduce pain and inflammation. To use lavender oil, you can add a few drops to a diffuser and inhale the vapors. You can also mix a few drops of the oil with a carrier oil and apply it directly to the affected area.

Essential Oils for Sinus Infection

If you suffer from a sinus infection, essential oils may be able to help. Eucalyptus oil is known for its decongestant and anti-inflammatory properties, which can help to reduce inflammation and loosen mucus. To use eucalyptus oil, you can add a few drops to a diffuser and inhale the vapors. You can also mix a few drops of the oil with a carrier oil and apply it directly to your chest and neck.

Peppermint oil is another essential oil that can help with a sinus infection. This oil is known for its anti-inflammatory and decongestant properties, which can help to reduce inflammation and soothe irritated airways. To use peppermint oil, you can add a few drops to a diffuser and inhale the vapors. You can also mix a few drops of the oil with a carrier oil and apply it directly to the skin.

Wrapping Up

In this blog, we explored what essential oils are, the various ways to use them, and a list of essential oils for common health issues. Essential oils are natural compounds found in plants that have been used for thousands of years to promote physical and emotional wellbeing. While there is much debate over the efficacy and safety of essential oils, many people swear by their healing properties and believe that essential oils can provide relief from a wide range of ailments.

When using essential oils, it is important to research the oils you are using, follow usage instructions, and always dilute essential oils with a carrier oil before applying them to the skin. If you are considering using essential oils for any health issue, it is best to consult with a doctor or health care professional for advice. Try adding essential oils to your wellness routine today and experience the many benefits they have to offer!

Using essential oils is a great way to reduce your reliance on both manmade and harsh, chemical-based products. If you want to take your eco-conscious lifestyle even further, consider buying an organic mattress. 

All of our mattresses are certified organic by the most stringent standards in the industry. Want to experience non-toxic, healthy sleep starting today? Shop mattresses and accessories now.