Essential Oil 101: The Best Ways to Use Lavender

Essential Oil 101: The Best Ways to Use Lavender

Ever since I was little, scents have always made me calm and more comfortable in every situation. So I guess it’s only fitting that I love essential oils so much!

I started buying essential oils when I had read that those plugin air fresheners were full of chemicals. I still wanted my house to smell nice, but I didn’t want to be living in a chemical hazmat zone.

So the first essential oils I got were lavender and peppermint. I knew nothing about dilution and I basically blew through the 2 bottles within a month or so. Yikes!

Since then I’ve learned a lot about how incredible essential oils are, and I use them almost daily.

The proper dilution is 2 or 3 drops for each tsp. carrier oil (coconut, jojoba, olive, almond, or avocado oil) for adults, and 1 drop per 4 tsp. for children under 6.

Uses for lavender:

• Better sleep – I mix 5 drops of lavender oil into a spray bottle with water and I spray it onto my pillow before I sleep. It’s just strong enough to be relaxing, but it’s not overwhelming.
• Soothing on cuts, bruises, scrapes – I bruise like a peach and I have sensitive skin. So I keep a little baby food jar of coconut oil and 5 drops of lavender to rub on everything from the bruise I got from tripping up the stairs, to the patch of dry skin on my arm.
• One drop on bug bites – This one is a biggie for me! I’m a scratcher. So to have something that helps get rid of the itching before it gets to be a problem, is huge! I mix a drop with a little bit of with hazel on a cotton ball.
• Calming – I diffuse lavender all the time. I’m basically obsessed with it. When I had my last 2 sons, I had lavender scented candles lit the whole time I was in labor. I like to think it really helped with my overall positive disposition when I was, you know, in agonizing pain.
• For my kids at bedtime – I have a little roller ball that I use on my sons inner wrists, temples and the back of their necks if they’re having trouble going to bed. I use some on their feet too and then I put socks on them. If they’re really having trouble, I use my spray bottle and use my “night time spray” to help them sleep. Always seems to help!
• Diaper rash – I use a little jar of coconut oil and add 5 drops lavender and 3 drops tea tree oil and mix it together. Use a tiny little bit and just rub it in to the rash.
• Bath soak – Use 1/2 c. epsom salt and 3 drops lavender oil. Nothing better after a long day!

Check out my pin board for more information of proper dilution and other great uses for lavender oil!

Follow Cow Country Housewife’s board Essential Oil Love on Pinterest.

How do you use lavender essential oil?