32 Beauty Uses for Essential Oils

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you bought your beauty products in a store, I can almost guarantee they are toxic.

Don’t believe me? Just take a look at your beauty products’ ingredient labels.

The vast majority of conventional beauty products are chock full of harmful chemicals and hydrogenated oils. While these products may still work quite well on the surface, using them regularly will slowly but surely lead to a build-up of toxicity in your body.

Don’t give up hope quite yet, though! Thankfully, there are healthy, chemical-free alternatives available: essential oils.

Essential oils are made from natural extracts containing the most powerful healing properties plants and trees have to offer. They have been used for thousands of years for a variety of medicinal, household, beauty, and even ritual purposes.

With just a basic selection of essential oils and a few carriers such as honey, shea butter, coconut oil, and almond oil, you can create your own shampoos, perfumes, lotions, scrubs, and more— enough to easily replace your entire collection of conventional beauty products!

And the best part? These homemade beauty products will be just as effective as the store-bought alternatives (if not more!) with zero chemicals and zero negative side-effects.

Here are 32 ways you can get started on your own collection of essential oil-enhanced beauty products today:

32 Beauty Uses for Essential Oils

1. Treatment for eczema and psoriasis: Lavender and shea butter make a wonderful healing treatment for both skin conditions. Gently apply a mixture of the two to any affected areas for immediate relief.
2. Reduces acne: For an exquisitely scented, powerful DIY acne face wash, combine tea tree oil, geranium, and raw honey. Tea tree oil’s anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties will clear acne-causing bacteria right off your skin. Rub affected areas with the mixture and rinse immediately afterward with water.
3. DIY facial scrub: Add five drops each of lavender, grapefruit, and patchouli oils to a mixture of one-fourth cup yogurt and one-fourth cup cornmeal for a soothing, cleansing facial scrub. Gently massage onto your face and wash off with water.
4. Salty/sugary scrub: Combine a few drops of almond oil with your favorite essential oil and add rock salt or sugar for your own body scrub. Salt is especially useful, as it will prolong the essential oil’s evaporation for longer-lasting aromatic benefits.

   

5. Reduces stretch marks: Tired of stretch marks? Then combine coconut oil with five drops each of grapefruit, frankincense, and myrrh oils and apply to affected areas.
6. Reduces wrinkles: Add 3-5 drops each of lavender, frankincense, geranium and sandalwood oils to an unscented lotion and apply to your face. Avoid getting the mixture into your eyes! If some does get in your eyes, dilute immediately with a carrier oil like olive or almond, not water.
7. Reduces varicose veins: Cypress can help reduce varicose veins thanks to its circulation-boosting properties.
8. Reduces cellulite: To smooth out those pesky dimpled areas, massage them with a mixture of five drops of grapefruit oil and two teaspoons of coconut oil. Grapefruit contains d-limonene, which boosts metabolism and helps with fat loss and cellulite reduction.

   

9. Reduces age spots: Apply frankincense oil directly to the skin three times a day to treat sun and age spots. To treat a greater surface area of skin, mix with a carrier oil like coconut oil.
10. Naturally tones skin: Add two drops each of lavender, frankincense, and geranium to eight ounces of water, then apply to skin. Lavender and frankincense are impressive healers of the skin, and when combined, they will reduce inflammation, age spots, wrinkles, sun spots, stretch marks, and scars and will treat any wounds, burns, bites, or stings.
11. Creates glowing skin: Add a few drops of rose oil to your facial moisturizer to reduce skin inflammation and make your skin practically glow. However, be warned: rose essential oil sells for up to $1000 per 15ml!

    

12. Heals dry, cracked feet: Add three drops of lavender oil to coconut oil and apply to the feet at night for a natural moisturizer. After applying, put some socks on to lock in the moisture.
13. Calms irritated skin: The founder of aromatherapy, French chemist René-Maurice Gattefossé, used lavender to heal the burns and wounds of WWI soldiers. Mix lavender oil with Roman chamomile and apply topically to calm irritated skin.
14. Body lotion: For a moisturizing body lotion, combine shea butter, coconut oil, magnesium oil, and other essential oils of your choice. Because magnesium oil is transdermal, it will pass easily through your skin and into your body.
15. Homemade lip balm: Chapped lips? Combine beeswax, coconut oil, and lavender oil for an all-natural DIY lip balm.
16. Breath freshener: A single drop of peppermint oil will work wonders on your breath. Remember that essential oils are potent, so don’t go overboard here! One or two drops will be plenty.
17. DIY deodorant: Mix your favorite essential oils with coconut oil and beeswax for a natural deodorant. Cedarwood and clove work well for men, and lavender and tea tree oil are great for women (though, of course, feel free to mix and match!).
18. Aromatic body spray: For a cooling, fragrant spray, mix 5-10 drops of an essential oil of your choice with four ounces of water. Bring this along to outdoor events like sports games and concerts and everyone will be asking for a spray!
19. Homemade perfume: Both men and women can use essential oils as a natural fragrance. For women, try combining lavender and vanilla. Men can combine cypress and clove for an all-natural cologne.
20. Whitens teeth: Believe it or not, coconut oil, fresh strawberries, and lemon oil mix into a potent teeth-whitener! Rub this mixture onto your teeth, leave it on for two   m i n utes, then rinse with water.
21. DIY toothpaste: Ditch the chemical-laden store brands and mix a few drops of peppermint oil with coconut oil, sea salt, baking soda, and xylitol for a remineralizing, all-natural toothpaste. Brush your teeth as normal.
22. Nail strengthener: Combine 10 drops each of lemon, frankincense, and myrrh oils with two tablespoons of vitamin E oil. Rub this mixture onto your cuticles.
23. Treats itchy scalp: To soothe an itchy scalp, add lavender, basil, and cedarwood oils to your shampoo. Use the shampoo as normal, rinsing out with water.
24. Treats dandruff: Combine five drops each of lavender and rosemary oils with three tablespoons of an unscented carrier oil such as almond or coconut oil, then rub this mixture into your scalp. Massage out after 10 minutes.
25. Supports hair growth: Gently massage five drops of lavender oil and clary sage onto your scalp, put a hot towel around your head, and let sit for 20 minutes. This mixture will stimulate hair follicles and balance estrogen levels, leading to increased hair growth. Wash out with homemade shampoo.

    

26. Reduces hair loss: Rosemary oil reduces hair loss by inhibiting DHT (dihydroxy-testosterone). Follow the same procedure as with the lavender and clary sage oils above for best results.
27. Hair thickener: Rosemary oil not only reduces hair loss, it also thickens the hair that’s already there! Add to homemade shampoo for a hair volume boost.
28. DIY shampoo: For a cleansing, natural shampoo your body will love, mix rosemary oil, lavender oil, aloe vera gel, and coconut milk and use as normal. This mixture will last two to four weeks.
29. Deep hair conditioner: Add 15 drops of rosewood oil, five drops of lavender oil, and five drops of sandalwood oil to an unscented carrier oil and heat the mixture by putting it into a small plastic bag and dunking it in warm water. Once warm, apply to hair and leave in for 20 minutes before rinsing out.

    

30. Oily hair treatment: Add 10 drops each of rosemary, lime, and ylang ylang oils to two ounces of an unscented carrier oil. Massage this into your scalp two or three times a week, washing out as normal, to treat overly oily hair.
31. Supports weight loss: Combine cinnamon, grapefruit, and ginger oil for a chemical-free weight loss supplement. Take it three times a day to boost your metabolic enzyme levels, reduce internal inflammation, and balance your blood sugar levels.
32. Relieves nausea: Peppermint, ginger, and lavender oils can all help relieve nausea. For direct relief, apply a couple drops into your palms and inhale the scent through your nose, avoiding the eyes. You can also apply a few drops to your neck and upper chest for prolonged effects.

If you’re reading this article, I’m willing to bet you’re the type of person who would rather not have toxic chemicals building up in your body!

If I’m right, then it’s time to ditch the conventional beauty products and start concocting your own. Any of the above recipes is a great place to start.

A final word of caution: While over-exposure to essential oils is not necessarily bad for your health, it is certainly an intense and unpleasant experience!

So stick with the recommended drop counts in the above recipes, at least to begin with.