Your Ultimate Guide To Essential Oils: Uses, Benefits, Extraction & How To Use Them, Explained

Essential oils are gaining popularity in droves, though their herbal counterparts and natural solutions have been harnessed for centuries mainly in Eastern medicine. As Western holistic care and naturopathic remedies continue to provide alternative solutions for people desiring to take charge of their own health care, it is important to have a firm understanding of essential oils. A popular alternative for those desiring more natural remedies to anxiety, sleep, allergies, and more, essential oils can be properly used only once you have taken the time to learn about and understand their volatile and complex compositions as well as the guidelines for safe usage. Essential oils can be an amazing health care solutions for many people, but you have to know what you’re doing before you start using them. Let’s start with the basics and work our way into the details so that you will be ready to take charge and help support your body's healing process with powerful and potent high-quality essential oils.

Breaking it down into basics, essential oils (sometimes referred to as EOs) are volatile aromatic compounds extracted from the bark, flowers, leaves, roots, seeds, stems, and other parts of plants. They give a plant its distinct aroma and play a crucial role in the survival of the plant as a whole, as well as its participation in the chain of life. Using the word "volatile" in reference to essential oils indicates the incredible ability of their tiny organic molecules to change state from liquid to gas very quickly when at room temperature. Each essential oil has a unique composition based on the variety of its chemical constituents that vary from plant to plant and even species to species. Each essential oil consists of both primary and trace constituents. Scientists are always learning about and discovering new constituents and the synergistic play they have in each essential oil as well as how they react when combined into blends.

What plays an even more interesting role in the development and extraction of essential oils is the treatment of the plants1, especially the outside influences that can directly affect their internal constituents. Something as simple as the fertilizer used during the growing season, when the plant was harvested, and the part of it that was picked can dramatically affect the potency and efficacy of the resulting essential oils. Add to that the climate, weather patterns, and geographical region where the plants were grown, and you have a small glimpse into the complexity of essential oil production. Even something as small as the way in which the plant was pollinated can dramatically affect the quality and aroma of the resulting essential oils due to alterations in the chemical constituents. When you take a look at the method of extraction and all of the intricacies that go along with those procedures, you can begin to see why it is important to consider the behind-the-scenes information of your essential oil of choice.

All of these considerations can affect the potency of the essential oil. The rule of thumb to remember is that one drop of peppermint oil is the equivalent of 28 glasses of peppermint tea! This can an amazing quality but also one that requires caution when using essential oils. Though we most often think that more is better, that is definitely not the case when it comes to essential oils. It is better to start small and then add more if needed. Using them in your cooking can provide a punch of flavor with a tiny drop, where you might normally have to use tablespoons of herbs, and can give you a longer shelf life for cooking staples. Using one drop of lavender essential oil can help to relax the body from a tension headache instead of taking several pills of an over-the-counter alternative that expires within a few years.

All of this information leads us to consider the importance of selecting your essential oils from a trustworthy and reputable company who not only understands the nuances associated with growing, harvesting, and extraction but also one who tests for the highest quality in each of their products. It isn’t enough to simply grow them the right way or to extract them with a quality method. Every step of the way, every detail must be taken into careful consideration to ensure you are getting only the best and most natural high-quality essential oil for your family and yourself. Companies are very quick to add other chemicals to offset the cost of their essential oils or cut corners in the production that will alter the constituents. This results in lesser-quality oils that could actually be harmful.

In our 21st-century world, more people are seeking out natural alternatives, especially with antibiotics proving to be more ineffective due to overprescription and bodily resistance to them. While essential oils harness amazing power to support the body in healing processes2, it becomes more important to educate the public about proper usage, methods, and techniques. It seems that essential oils are appearing everywhere these days, but there is little regulation over them, and "essential oil" can mean anything under the wide umbrella of this terminology. It takes a discerning consumer to select essential oils for their own unique wants and needs.

With the vast majority of essential oils on the market today being used in the food and perfume industry, quality standards for therapeutic essential oils have fallen by the wayside. Food flavoring oils or those used for perfumes and cosmetics are highly adulterated and often contain a variety of additives and solvents in order to standardize the scent or flavor. While high-quality therapeutic essential oils can naturally vary in scent and flavor due to the nuances in their production mentioned earlier (pollination, harvesting technique, extraction, etc.), those used in the food and perfume industry rely on having the same scent or taste every time. If you were to buy your favorite perfume and it smelled differently every time, or if your favorite soft drink tasted different every time, you probably wouldn’t purchase it reliably because it wouldn’t serve your expected purpose. As a result, the food and perfume industry rely on synthetic, chemically engineered oils to ensure the same scent and/or taste.

Food-grade oils have regulations based on consumption, so those labeled as GRAS, or Generally Recognized As Safe3, have passed the standard for human consumption and must be stamped with an expiration date. Now, there are high-quality essential oils that pass these standards and are stamped with dates as well—those that have been approved as dietary supplements and are safe to consume internally. These oils, like citrus fruits or herbs found in your medicine cabinet, can be used in cooking, but only with the advice of a trusted health care professional. Food-grade oils, however, have already infiltrated our diet on a regular basis, so you have almost certainly already ingested some form of essential oil at some point.

Even scarier is the prospect that an essential oil can be simultaneously pure and low-quality. All of the factors that I mentioned earlier concerning growing, harvesting, extraction, and distilling variations make a huge difference in the quality of the essential oil. It may be 100 percent pure, but the quality can be significantly lower. This is why it is so important to ask the following questions of an essential oil company.

And don’t second-guess your gut instincts. If the oil smells intense or off instead of crystal clean and balanced, or if it feels oily or leaves a residue, you are probably dealing with a lesser-quality oil. Sniff testing a lower-priced bottle of essential oil versus one of the more reputable companies’ bottles can often be an eye-opening (or nose-offending) experience as well. You will always have to use more of a lesser-quality oil to achieve the same results, though you might find that you have adverse effects first.

Judging oils by their labels can give you a first line of defense against bringing adulterated essential oils into your home. On every EO label, you should clearly see both the common and scientific name of the individual oil (or oils if buying a blend) along with any carrier oils if it is diluted. The word "therapeutic" or some trademark including it should appear if you want the essential oils to support your health and wellness. The bottle should be 5 to 15 mL in dark glass (amber or cobalt) and fitted with both an orifice reducer and a tightly fitting cap; dropper tops, if present, should come on the side. Expiration dates, while not required, indicate the FDA approval for the oil on the GRAS list or an indication of shelf life. Directions for usage, at the bare minimum, should indicate aromatic, topical, and/or Internal usage (ATI). The company manufacturing the essential oil should also appear on the label, preferably one that you recognize and trust based on your research. Finally, the price should vary from bottle to bottle due to the unique process of extraction and the quantity of plant material required; in other words, similar prices for each oil should be a huge red flag for you!

The four C's are a way to remember how to store essential oils in a way that preserves them. Just as there is a delicate growing and extraction process, there is also a careful way that you should store your high-quality essential oils to ensure they continue to be as potent and powerful as possible. The four C’s are an easy way to remember these guidelines:

Because my roots ground me in biochemistry—my degree is in biochemistry, and I've worked as a biochemist for four years—I always like to share a bit about the chemical properties of essential oils for the science nerds like me. As the backbone of life, chemistry gives us a glimpse into the foundation of our world, and essential oils provide such a gift from nature. A complex combination of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, with some constituents containing nitrogen and sulfur, essential oils are further divided into two specific groups based on chemical constituents: hydrocarbons and oxygenated compounds.

Sesquiterpenes cleanse our bodies by supporting circulation and digestion while also giving emotional balance allowing for mental clarity and a sense of well-being. The most common sesquiterpenes in essential oils are cedrene, zingiberene, himachalene, and caryophyllene found in cedarwood, ginger, helichrysum, and Melissa.

Oxygenated compounds consist of several subgroups, including alcohols, phenols, aldehydes, esters, ketones, and oxides.

Knowing the proper techniques for safe and effective use of essential oils to support your health and well-being is, well, essential! I cannot tell you how many times I have seen people with amazing essential oil collections that they simply don’t use because they haven’t learned the basics. Let’s start with the categories of essential oil based on their effects: calming and soothing, uplifting and energizing, and grounding and balancing. Whenever I mention essential oils, I will always note their category as a basic indication of the effect they can have on your body. Just as important are the three main ways to use essential oils: aromatically, topically, or internally. Understanding both the basics and the intricacies of these techniques can make the difference in finding success in your essential oil journey. If you are just getting started with essential oils, it’s always a good idea to have a checklist on hand as an easy-to-use reference.

Inhaling the oils can be done in a variety of ways. Direct inhalation should always be your first use of an oil to see how it affects you, which means sniffing the aroma from an open bottle of oil. Use caution in how close the bottle is to your nose, since the microparticles of the oil travel into the brain’s olfactory system triggering the limbic system, which affects a variety of functions like emotions, memory, and sleep. Into your respiratory system they move, being absorbed into lung tissue and jumping into your bloodstream to travel through the body and supporting the areas of need. Eventually they will be evacuated through the kidneys, lungs, and pores but only after having affected your body in a dramatic way, especially hormonally by their effect on the endocrine system.

This method refers to placing the essential oil on a vessel, such as a cotton ball, felt pad, reed, or cloth, which then releases it into the air. It is a great way to easily scent small areas or to keep your mood elevated. Pop a peppermint pad in your gym bag to nix odors and amp up your workout, tape a lemon cotton ball to a ceiling fan to cleanse the air, or spray lavender on your bedclothes to support restful sleep. Even hospitals have gotten in on the act, utilizing essential oils in their ventilation systems.

This method utilizes a machine to create a fine mist of essential oils usually paired with water for easy dispersion throughout the air. I recommend diffusing for only 15 to 30 minutes at a time with an hour break in between to allow your body to recover when first using essential oils. You also want to ensure that the oil being diffused is safe for anyone in the immediate area. They can be especially helpful for those with respiratory issues, though be sure to discuss this with a trusted health care provider ahead of time. My favorite is an ultrasonic cool-air diffuser, which oxygenates the molecules of the air with a fine water–essential oil mixture, but be sure that what you purchase is specifically recommended for high-quality essential oils, as a lower-quality product could break down and release impurities into the air. This is a great way to get the healing qualities of essential oils to your entire family at the same time. A simpler method of diffusion can be done with steam or water vapor as well, by heating a mug of water and dropping the EO into the water, then deeply breathing in the steam, or simply using a drop on a cotton ball while you shower to work into the steam.

Two terms are associated with topical application: neat and diluted. Neat application means applying the EOs directly to your skin, which can only be done safely with certain essential oils (such as frankincense or lavender) and for certain people. It is always recommended to generously dilute first and then increase concentration to achieve your desired effect. Diluted refers to adding the essential oil to a carrier oil to allow for more efficient absorption into your skin as it prevents the volatile oils from evaporating. Essential oils are extremely potent, however, and you should only ever use one drop at a time, if that, with a carrier oil, especially when using with children or on sensitive skin.

Certain oils always require dilution due to their potential to irritate skin. Hot oils can create a warming or burning sensation, such as with cassia, cinnamon, cinnamon bark, clove, hyssop, and oregano. Cooling oils create a cooling or tingling sensation such as with camphor, eucalyptus, lemongrass, ocotea, peppermint, spearmint, thyme, and wintergreen. Phototoxic or photosensitive oils are those that cause a reaction when exposed to direct sunlight for at least 12 and up to 72 hours post-application and can cause anything from a mild hyperpigmentation to a severe third-degree burn. Always dilute citrus oils and these other phototoxic oils: angelica, anise, bergamot, bitter orange, celery, coriander, cumin, dill, fig leaf absolute, ginger, grapefruit, lemon, lemon verbena, lime, Mandarin orange, orange, tagetes, tangerine, wild orange, and yuzu.

Generally, you always want to apply directly to or close to the area of need. For headaches, apply to the temples or wherever your head hurts; for muscle aches, apply directly on the muscles, etc., but, for an earache, apply around the ear, never in the ear. There are also certain spots that are more effective than others, such as at your pulse points (wrists, neck, over your heart, and ankles); FEW spots (Feet-Ears-Wrists), where pores are bigger; and the bottoms of your feet, following reflexology. You can also layer the oils systematically but only if you fully understand the effect of each oil and how to layer or blend them together. Since water and oil repel each other, use a warm-water compress on top of oils applied to the skin for deep penetration.

While it is possible to take essential oils internally as a dietary supplement, I recommend doing so only under the care of a trusted health care professional.

Which oils should you try first? Here are some to try.