Today’s post is a trip down memory lane when I first encountered aromatherapy i.e diffusers, candles, and essential oils.
To be fair, I have loved aromatherapy especially candles since I can remember. However, I got to know about diffusers from my dad. My dad is a lover of Rituals. At this time, Rituals were not the household name it is today.
As a teenager, whenever I visited Dubai where my family relocated roughly 20 years ago now. I always fell in love with the various fragrances at our home. My dad is a great lover of good scents. So, he stocked the house with various Ritual scents including the kitchen. My dad is extra with things, I know :). Each time I was home, the atmosphere was soothing and calming.
When I returned to the university in the UK, my memories of home were the scents from Rituals. As soon as I finished university and started working, my first paychecks went into purchasing perfumes, body wash and gel, mud masks and bath oils for the pamper days at home, fragrance sticks, candles for the quiet evenings with a glass of wine with the special someone and diffusers. I must say that if I added up all the costs over the years invested into rituals, I should have enough to go on a luxury holiday in the Greek Islands.
Organic candles/diffusers
Over time, as with most things, my taste in aromatherapy began to change. I began looking into more sustainable candles and diffusers with organic products that are not harmful to our planet and to my health. As my quest for a sustainable world grew so did my desire to shop organic and sustainable products including fragrances/ candles/diffusers in my home and this lifestyle changed my buying habits.
I wanted to shop for more local aromatherapy products, ensuring that I spent my money on businesses that shared the same ethos. Being environmentally conscious involved not only take pleasure in the things I got, but also in the precision used in manufacturing those products. And ensuring there was a minimum impact on the world around me. It’s strange to say this, but my body and soul recognized this move to a more conscious living. In that, my skin and hair began to react to products that were not organic. Forcing me to develop more interest in this. To read more on my organic/ natural products journey, read this post.
It was around this time, that a friend knowing my love for sustainable and organic products introduced me to Daylesford.
Daylesford
I particularly enjoy shopping from this farm in Gloucestershire with a number of local shops around the UK. Their candles have incredible scents. One of the downsides of organic products that I found in the past was that they were either too pricey and not well scented. And for someone who loves her scents, it was a struggle. But with Daylesford, you get the best of both worlds. It’s not over-the-top pricey but also the scents are organically great! I particularly love their Fig or Bergam
ot candles. Unlike most candles I’ve used, even the very expensive ones, they do not last at long as claimed but Daylesford candles for example the small Fig will last 14 Hrs burn time. I have had one for over one and half years. It only just finished a few months, they are slow-burning.
I also pick up a few household items from them like washing liquids, hand wash, and cream – they smell fantastic. Have a look at their website for more on what they have. They have farm produce at their local farms but can deliver to you in wonderfully wrapped organic and environmentally conscious packaging.
neom
Like Daylesford, Neom was introduced to me by a friend. With Neom, it’s the little things that change your life. The de-stress candles and fragrance help calm me after a busy day’s work. Using the bath oil while having a relaxing bath helps with my sleep and ensures a balanced wellbeing.
Neom is a 100% natural product helping elevate the mood at home creating a calm soothing ambiance.
ESSENTIAL OILS
I have in recent years developed a love for essential oils. Particularly as I started my natural product’s lifestyle. I began to use more essential oil as diffusers at home than fragrances. More especially, for their health benefits and aromatherapy. Not only does the aroma increase your wellbeing, but it also boosts your mood, more so after a long stressful day, I turn to aromatherapy.
Essential oils that I have used in recent years that have helped with headaches and migraines are peppermint, lemongrass, lavender, mint, eucalyptus, frankincense, tea tree, rosemary – to name just a few. I buy most of my essential oils from amazon but sometimes when I was to splash on myself I buy some from Neals Yard Remedies – another organic and natural shop I purchase products and can vouch for them. They stock a variety of products and their customer service is spectacular.
Health BENEFITS of AROMATHERAPY
- Helps clear airways for easier breathing. As a sinus sufferer, I use my essential oil to assist me with breathing. Particularly in the winter months. That’s when I tend to suffer the most or when I’m overly stressed.
- Promotes calmness and peacefulness after a busy day’s work
- Helps with digestion
- Reduces the appearance of redness
- Improves clarity and focus
- Assists with a restful sleep
- Creates consistency…..
How to use essential oils
There are many ways to use essential oils, I have listed a few here:
- By using essential oils in a diffuser or humidifier. This helps for easy inhalation and transforms the aroma of the room or house.
- It can be inhaled directly from the bottle. However, be careful not to inhale too much at once or let the undiluted oil have direct contact with your skin
- It can also be inhaled through a steam method. Where you add a few drops to warm water and cover your head with a towel and inhale from the bowl. This can be done a few times in a day but not for an extended period of time.
- Dry evaporation can be used for your clothes or pillows if required
- Diluted essential oils can be used for massages focusing on pressure points. This is to ease strain or tension. It can also be used in a bath for relaxation after a hard day/week.
- I use essential oils with my hair products namely, tea tree or peppermint to stimulate the scalp for hair growth and head massage. For instance, I add a few drops when deep conditioning my hair with shea butter, castor and jojoba oil – for more details on this, check out this post
As I have shared, there are many health benefits to candles and essential oils/diffusers.
Before I leave you, I just came across another natural/organic shop and is now on my list to try in the future Weearth London.
I look forward to hearing from you about your journey on essential oils or diffusers/candles. Do you use organic ones? If so, let me know your choices in the comment section.
Hope you enjoyed reading this post.
Take good care of yourself and keep taking the little steps to have a more enriched wellness lifestyle.
Keep shining and loving yourself, first.
Until next time, stay safe.
C x
