Aromatherapy Recipes
May 20
Making your own deodorant can be surprisingly simple, but a good DIY recipe needs to do more than smell pleasant. Underarm skin is sensitive, essential oils can cause irritation when they are too concentrated, baking soda does not agree with everyone, and any recipe containing water raises preservation questions that many homemade deodorant tutorials completely …
May 13
Homemade lip balm is one of the simplest body-care products you can make. A basic formula needs only a wax for structure, plant oils and butters for softness and glide, and—if you want fragrance—a very small amount of an appropriately chosen essential oil. The words very small amount matter. Lip balm is different from a …
May 06
Essential oils and mouthwash have a more complicated relationship than many DIY recipes suggest. On one hand, essential oils are not strangers to oral care. Certain commercially formulated mouthrinses containing carefully controlled amounts of ingredients such as eucalyptol, menthol, thymol, and methyl salicylate have been studied for decades. Evidence suggests that some of these standardized …
Apr 15
Essential oil shower steamers are an easy way to add fragrance to an ordinary shower without using an electric diffuser or filling a bathtub. Drop one near the edge of the shower, let occasional splashes of water activate it, and the little tablet slowly fizzes while releasing its aroma into the warm, humid air. The …
Apr 08
Homemade wax melts are one of the easiest ways to experiment with home fragrance. There are no wicks to center, jars to prepare, or candle burn tests to perform. Melt the wax, add an appropriate aromatic ingredient, pour the mixture into small molds, and allow it to harden. The little heart and round wax melts …
Apr 01
Vanilla is one of the world’s most recognizable aromas. Sweet, creamy, warm, balsamic, and sometimes slightly woody, it appears everywhere from perfume and candles to baked goods and home fragrance. That familiarity can make vanilla seem like one of the simplest aromatherapy ingredients. In reality, it is one of the more confusing ones. Search for …
Feb 25
Sweet orange essential oil is one of the easiest oils to blend. Its juicy, familiar citrus aroma combines naturally with lavender, geranium, cedarwood, sandalwood, patchouli, frankincense, herbs, evergreens, and even carefully chosen spice oils. It can brighten a heavy woody blend, soften patchouli, make lavender feel warmer, and give winter fragrances a cheerful citrus opening. …
Feb 11
Romantic fragrance does not have to smell like a bouquet of red roses. It can be floral and luxurious, but it can also be warm, woody, earthy, citrusy, spicy, or softly sweet. Rose and jasmine create classic perfume-style combinations, while sandalwood adds creamy woodiness, patchouli gives a fragrance depth, bergamot adds brightness, and vanilla can …
Jan 28
Rose is one of the most recognizable fragrances in aromatherapy, but it becomes much more interesting when you start blending it. On its own, genuine rose can smell lush, floral, green, honeyed, spicy, fruity, or even slightly earthy. Pair it with bergamot and the fragrance becomes brighter. Add sandalwood and it feels warmer and creamier. …
