Favorite Essential Oils: Top 5 Must Have Oils
Over my years of using essential oils I have definitely noticed there are a few that I reach for more often than others. That is to say, I have developed some favorite essential oils. The 5 essential oils I think no household should go without are lavender, lemon, peppermint, thieves, and stress away.
I use all 5 of those oils almost daily. Lavender and stress away are always in my bedtime diffuser blend. I diffuse different blends in the main house daily. At some point in the day the diffuser is always running some combination that includes thieves, lemon, and/or peppermint. The immune system supporting roller blend that I apply to my spine and bottoms of my feet daily is made of thieves and lemon. And these are just a few examples of how I use my favorite essential oils.
Lavender
Lavender is probably the most versatile essential oil and has so many uses and great properties. It is probably my #1 favorite essential oil because of its versatility. A few of lavender’s properties include antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, antihistamine, regenerative, and sedative. Lavender has been known to have significant balancing effects on virtually all body systems, so if ever in doubt as to what to use, lavender is always a safe bet.
The body systems most strongly supported by lavender are the cardiovascular system, nervous system, skin, and emotions. Within the cardiovascular system, lavender may help with high blood pressure and heart irregularities. This essential oil may also help improve anxiety, feelings of sadness, nervous tension, mental clarity, general stress, and support an overall balance of emotions. With its regenerative properties, lavender is GREAT for skin support. It can promote wound healing, help with bumps and bruises, and soothe bug bites, rashes, and burns.
I use lavender a lot, like multiple times a day. I always include lavender in my diffuser at bedtime and it is in my DIY facial glow serum that I use every night. Lavender is also one of the oils I use in my homemade essential oil linen and pillow sprays. Several years ago I stopped using dryer sheets and switched over to using wool dryer balls and I always apply several drops of lavender to a dryer ball when doing laundry.
Stress Away
Another of my favorite essential oils is Stress Away. Stress away is actually a Young Living proprietary blend of copaiba, lime, cedarwood, ocotea, lavender and vanilla. All together these oils, combined with vanilla, work synergistically to help alleviate daily stress and improve immune and overall body function.
Stress away has a sweet, citrusy pleasant scent that is a calming, relaxing scent. Additionally, the benefits of the combined oils in the blend produce feelings of overall calmness of the mind and body.
I love the way Stress Away smells. I frequently diffuse it throughout the house, not only at bedtime in our room. It blends really well with lots of other oils. One of my favorite daytime diffuser blends is 4 drops Thieves, 4 drops Lime, and 6 drops of Stress Away. It’s the perfect combination of immune system support with emotional balancing and a slightly tropical/summery vibe. Stress Away is also ALWAYS in my nighttime diffuser. I also like to put it in a roller bottle and apply topically to the back of my neck and wrists for daytime stress support and because it smells so lovely.
Peppermint
I love peppermint and use it all the time for all the things. It’s seriously one I always have to have on hand. Peppermint has some antimicrobial properties as well as being anti-inflammatory and invigorating/stimulating. The oil works by affecting the digestive, nervous, respiratory, and musculoskeletal systems.
Peppermint essential oil really has so many uses. One such use is in soothing digestive upset including nausea, heartburn, and indigestion. When applied topically, peppermint can cool fatigued muscles after exercise, soothe headaches, and soothe aching, sore muscles and joints. Using peppermint aromatically can boost memory, improve respiratory function, and stimulate the senses.
An interesting tidbit to note about peppermint essential oil, is that high quality, pure peppermint oil will have a varying scent throughout the year. If you have purchased more than one bottle of peppermint essential oil, you probably noticed that each bottle has smelled a little different. Sometimes it smells more “pepperminty” or has a stronger menthol scent, and other times it has a more earthy scent. This fluctuation in scent is due to naturally fluctuating levels of menthol of the peppermint plant that occur throughout the year. The menthol constituent of the peppermint is affected by the season, vitamin and mineral content of the soil, amount of sunlight, and amount of rain.
I use peppermint in many ways but most frequently in my diffuser. I love to diffuse 4 drops each of peppermint, grapefruit, and bergamot- it’s such a lovely, uplifting scent. My allergy relief roller blend that absolutely saved me from complete misery this year includes peppermint, lavender, and lemon topped with carrier oil. I also love using peppermint in my linen spray!
Lemon
Lemon is such a beautiful essential oil! It smells so bright and fresh and clean. Lemon essential oil has antimicrobial as well as mood boosting properties. It has immune system supporting benefits and is great to aid in cleaning/purification. When used topically, lemon essential oil can also help diminish the skin’s signs of aging and decrease the appearance of cellulite.
It should however be noted, as a citrus oil, lemon can cause photosensitivity. It can absolutely be used topically, if used appropriately. However, if lemon oil is applied to the skin, you should avoid contact with direct sunlight for at lest 12-24 hours after application.
Lemon essential oil can be added to cleaning products to give your cleaner a natural, safe purifying and cleansing boost. It was also give a fresh clean smell without the harsh smell of chemical cleaners. Lemon essential oil can also help with depression, poor concentration, and stress by creating an invigorating, uplifting environment with used aromatically.
I use lemon whenever I want to give anything a fresh scent. It is one of the ingredients in my linen spray. I also include lemon in my immune support roller blend for it’s immune boosting properties as well as its fresh scent. It’s also the third key ingredient in my allergy relief roller blend.
Thieves
Thieves is probably one of Young Living’s most popular and most well known oil blends and is one of my favorite essential oils for good reason. This blend is an immune system supporting, household cleaning and disinfecting powerhouse. The oils in this blend combine to produce highly antiviral and antiseptic properties. Thieves is a proprietary blend of clove, lemon, cinnamon, rosemary, and eucalyptus radiata.
The blend for Thieves essential oil was inspired by the legend and historical reports of 15th-century French thieves who stole from the graves of plague victims without becoming sick themselves. The thieves reportedly wore special ointments of clove, rosemary, vinegar and other botanicals applied to their bodies and clothing as protection against illness. These reports and legends were further investigated and Young Living developed their Thieves oil blend based on the potent antimicrobial properties of the individual ingredients.
Young Living now has a whole line of household products and personal care products designed around the Thieves essential oil. I am in the process of purging our dangerous cleaning and personal care products. So far I have replaced several household cleaners with the Thieves cleaning concentrate, as well as our dish soap, dishwasher soap, and laundry detergent- all with their Thieves based counterpart.
Brian and I use a roller blend of Thieves and lemon everyday to support our immune systems and stay healthy. We use the roller bottle to apply the blend to our spines and bottoms of our feet every night. I also apply it to the back of my neck before I go out for any reason. Thieves also shows up in at least one diffuser in the house at least one a day!
How to get these 5 must have oils
Good news, my top 5 favorite essential oils come in the popular Young Living Premium Starter kit! This starter kit is without a doubt the best-valued way to get started if you are new to essential oils. It includes 12 great oils that have an array of uses and applications.
The oils you’ll get with the Premium Starter Kit include Lavender, Stress Away, Peppermint, Lemon, Thieves, Valor, Peace & Calming, Frankincense, Citrus Fresh, Raven, PanAway, and DiGize. It also includes a beautiful diffuser, 2 roller bottle filaments, Thieves hand sanitizer, Thieves spray, 2 NingXia Red sample packets, and several essential oil product information guides.
The Premium Starter Kit, costs less than half of the value of the individual products you get. It’s such a great way and great value to get your hands on some of the best oils out there!
Are interested in joining Young Living and having me as your oil mentor and best friend? If so, you can use my link https://yl.pe/jayeyleo to sign yourself up! Or email me at jaye@jeanstjohn.com and I’ll walk through the process with you. If you would like more information about essential oils, check out my Essential Oils 101 and Essential Oil Safety posts.
XOXO, stay well friends
Jaye