“Where do I start?!” With the vast amount of essential oils to choose from, you might be asking yourself that question. Use these tips to build a custom starter kit to bring essential oils into your home and watch them change your life.

How Will You Use Your Oils

It’s best to start with the oils that are most useful to your personal needs. For example, if you are preparing to overhaul your kitchen and attic, or want to do some spring cleaning naturally, you might decide that an essential oil in the antiseptic family like lemon, pine or tea tree are more appropriate.

On the other hand, if you are seeking to use an essential oil for relaxing, meditating or personal hygiene, then you might want to try something like lavender, frankincense, patchouli, or ylang ylang. Other oils like eucalyptus and rosemary are great for the medicine cabinet and can help when your muscles are sore from strains, sprains or over working.

Include Carrier Oils

Other additions to your starter kit should be carrier oils like jojoba oil, organic virgin coconut oil or aloe vera. Aloe vera, which encourages skin rejuvenation, healing of wounds and treatment of sunburn, is also used to help in relieving arthritis pain, improving blood circulation, reducing scarring, and has anti-inflammatory properties. It is a very important carrier oil because it is naturally hypoallergenic with about the same pH balance of the skin.

Start Small

When you start using essential oils it’s important to start small with maybe three oils. Below is a list of five for simple enjoyment and personal care.

READ: Aromatherapy Essentials

Lavender: The sweet aroma, relaxant and antimicrobial properties make it the most versatile of the essential oils. It has antibiotic, sedative and antidepressant properties. It is known to stimulate the immune system. A calming oil, which treats insomnia and headaches, lavender is also renowned for its ability to hasten the healing of wounds. Serene and bucolic in style, lavender can be used throughout the day to relieve stress.

Eucalyptus: Some of its many properties include analgesic, antiseptic, deodorant and expectorant. Its anti-infectious and wound healing properties make it a must-have household item. With metropolitan air quality declining, this environmental air purifier should be in widespread use. Keep the air clean with eucalyptus oil…start diffusing it today!

Tea Tree: A powerful antiseptic for its great value to help with concentration. It can be used to combat bacteria and it is excellent for skin conditions, such as acne. Tea Tree is the most used first-aid oil in the practice of alternative medicine. It seeks to cure infections like sunlight removing shadows. Every medicine cabinet should have a bottle.

Lemon: Lemon is recognized universally as antiseptic and antibacterial. Lemon is known to stimulate the lymphatic and digestive system. Writing in her 1931 book on herbal medicine, Maude Grieve says, “The lemon is the most valuable of all fruit for preserving health.”

Peppermint: From childhood, we’re all familiar with the uplifting and refreshing scent of peppermint. Reports are abundant on its properties to improve digestion, to reduce minor headaches and it also acts as a stimulant when fatigue sets in.

Dried herbs, spring water and a great diffuser should be included in this kit as well.

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Patricia Brooks is the editor-in-chief of Aromatherapy Thymes Magazine, the premier publication dedicated to sharing the most current information about the aromatherapy industry and the practical use of essential oils. Visit Aromatherapy Thymes for more information.

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