They’re also well known for their ability to elevate the mood and their healing benefits to your overall well-being. So, if you have been thinking about whether you should buy a candle with a specific scent, you’ll certainly have no shortage of options to go with.

Why Scented Candles Are Good for You?

There are several reasons why luxury scented candles are worth the hype, besides smelling deliciously good. From stress relief and creating positive feelings to improved brain function and better health. Scented candles have been cherished by millions of people for many decades and they are true magicians, able to improve our lives on every level.  

Mood Enhancement 

Certain fragrances have the power to enhance the mood, induce positive feelings and make you feel happier overall. Lighting up scented candles with Ylang-ylang, apple, vanilla, rosemary, citrus or jasmine notes, stimulates the receptors for smell and sends signals to the limbic part of the brain which regulates our emotions and behaviour. 

So, if you have been feeling down lately, buy a candle with some of these fragrances or a blend of them to boost your mood and make you feel lighter and more content. When you’re feeling happy and uplifted, you’ll be more productive in everyday tasks, have increased self-esteem and a better outlook on life.

Stress Reduction 

Aromatherapy is well known for its ability to relieve feelings of stress and relax the nervous system. Life happens. We constantly deal with stressful situations, be it at our workplace or in our private life. If we don’t find a time and a way to rewind, stress will eventually accumulate and can take a toll on our health. 

Smelling pleasant fragrances such as lavender, bergamot, rose, orange or cinnamon affect your hormones and contribute to relieving stress. Lavender is a known fragrance to reduce stress and anxiety and improve sleep. 

Make sure to introduce scented candles including some of these fragrances and take your time to just breathe and be present with yourself. Especially if you’re into yoga or meditation, scented candles can enhance the feelings of comfort and relaxation. And if you pair them with some relaxing music, you will be blessed with a refreshed and rejuvenated energy that will last you the whole day. 

Boosting Memory and Cognitive Function

Did you know that certain fragrances such as jasmine, cinnamon, almond, peppermint ylang-ylang have the ability to help you feel awakened? These fragrances promote better concentration and memory, stimulate brain functioning and make you feel more energized. 

Introducing scented candles with some of these notes to your office or workspace is an effective way to help you feel more concentrated and thus, perform better. When you feel alert and focused, your productivity improves, making you more efficient in achieving your daily tasks. 

Enhances Home Ambience 

Scented luxury candles can transform any space into a cosy and relaxing area. Rewind from the day in a relaxing ambience is crucial for feeling good. They make your house smell amazing and soothe your senses. 

If you want better sleep, infuse some relaxing fragrances into your bedroom, or take a relaxing bath in your bathroom by lighting up stress-relieving scented candles. Create a romantic atmosphere while having dinner with your romantic partner with a vanilla-scented option or create a cozy and inviting atmosphere in your living room using candles with cinnamon notes. 

Improves Overall Well-being 

Certain aromas can help alleviate the side effects of cancer treatments, relax the body and muscles and alleviate the effects of certain psychological disorders. Fragrances can improve the overall state of your body and mind, relieve psychological difficulties and simply infuse rays of joy and positivity to make you feel like you’re ready to seize the day.  

Why Luxury Scented Candles Are More Expensive Than Regular Scented Candles?

You may wonder what’s the difference between luxury candles and standard scented ones when both deliver a good smell and can easily transform your home into a spa centre. Well, it’s not just about the fragrance. 

There are many details in the craftsmanship of luxury varieties that are there to create a story, create a statement, deliver a unique smelling experience and elevate your home decor. Luxury options are supposed to last longer than regular scented candles due to their longer burn time. They infuse a potent scent that lasts longer even after you put off the candle. They inherently deliver better quality, rich, intense and consistent aromas, and they offer overall better quality. 

So if you wonder whether it is worth investing in luxury candles, the answer is yes. You may pay a bit higher price at the moment than the cheaper counterparts, but the experience you get from luxury models is unmatched. Plus, they are much more cost-effective in the long run as they are highly durable. 

How to Choose Your Candle Scent

Before you buy a candle, consider the following factors to help you choose the right fragrance for your home or workspace. 

Consider the Room Where You Want to Put the Candle 

It’s important to determine whether you want something to help you rewind and relax, improve your sleep or boost your concentration and make you feel energized. Different fragrances help achieve different desired effects and they should be used in the area where you want to achieve the results you’re aiming for. 

For instance, if you want to create a relaxing and inviting atmosphere in your bedroom or living room, use lavender or vanilla-scented candles. If you need more concentration at work, or you are working from home, light up some peppermint, cinnamon or ylang-ylang scented candles. 

Choose the Right Fragrance 

To know which fragrance will best deliver your desired results, it’s a good idea to get to know the fragrance family. They are all broken down into four different, yet similar categories: floral, oriental, woody and fresh and each has distinct characteristics. Floral scents are very distinctive for their sweet, soft, calming, light yet refreshing and powerful notes. Think of rose, sweet orange blossom, jasmine, lavender, hibiscus and chamomile. 

Fresh notes such as lime, sage, basil, lemongrass thyme and rosemary, deliver revitalising and vibrant energy. On the other hand, woody or earthy fragrances have more of a cozy note to them. They are warm, mixed with spicy and sweet notes. Such fragrances are juniper, sandalwood, patchouli, cedar and pine.

Lastly, oriental fragrances. They have sweet and rich notes, infusing warmth and comfort such as vanilla and caramel, enhanced with spicy notes such as cinnamon. 

The post Aromatherapy at Home: How Scented Candles Can Enhance Your Living Space appeared first on Sherlocks.com.au Blog.

If you have a hard time falling asleep, you might have tried things like taking supplements and creating a bedtime routine. In addition to these, another thing that you could try to help your body and mind is using essential oils for sleep. They are easy to implement into your nighttime routine and are an inexpensive alternative compared to medication or supplements.

What Are Essential Oils?

Essential oils are extracts that can come from different parts of a plant – leaves, flowers, seeds, roots, and fruit. They retain the specific fragrance of the plant from which they are extracted. Different processes can be used for extraction, such as distillation, cold pressing, expression, solvent extraction, etc. These oils don’t contain any chemicals as perfumes or fragrances do. They’ve been used in traditional medicine for healing but gained attention not so long ago for their use in aromatherapy.

Essential Oils for Better Sleep

Lavender Oil

Besides its aromatic smell and gorgeous colour, lavender is known for its many uses for our well-being. It’s the number one plant proven to have a calming effect. You can buy pure lavender oil or try an essential oil sleep blend to help you relax and fall asleep faster. The lavender essential oil has a sedative effect, which means it’s calming. It also has many anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antidepressant properties. It’s used for relieving headaches, reducing stress, anxiety, insomnia, and nervousness, all of which can prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep.

Chamomile Oil

We all know how soothing a cup of chamomile tea can be. Chamomile oil contains antioxidants that help relieve depression, insomnia, and aid sleep. By reducing tension in our muscles, it makes us more relaxed and improves our sleep quality.

Geranium Oil

Geranium acts as an antidepressant and mood booster, it calms our nerves and makes us feel more grounded. When used in a form of inhalation, the steam will open up your pores and since it contains properties that are good for your skin, it will give you a glowing, healthy complexion.

Frankincense Oil

Frankincense oil is known for its health benefits. It has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties that are good for our immunity. It’s effective for reducing feelings of anxiety and negative emotions, and it’s helpful for relieving stress and making us more peaceful. It’s one of the most often used essential oils to help you sleep.

Ylang Ylang Oil

The flowers ylang-ylang come from the tropical Cananga tree. They have a sweet, fruity smell. The oil from the flowers is shown to promote relaxation, lower heart rate, control stress levels and emotions, and improve our mood. This guarantees that you’ll get a full night’s sleep.

Valerian Oil

This oil has the effect of a sedative and it has the ability to calm down our nervous system. It interacts with the chemicals in our brain related to regulating stress and producing anxiety, helping us to calm down in stressful situations. Valerian oil can control our mood swings and its compounds stimulate sleepiness, helping our body achieve deep sleep, which is important in order to feel well-rested in the morning.

Other Essential Oils For Sleep

• Bergamot Oil – This essential oil comes from the Bergamot Orange fruit and it has a citrusy, floral smell. Some of its numerous benefits include easing insomnia, anxiety, lowering the heart rate, and increasing the levels of serotonin and dopamine in the body;
• Marjoram Oil – The Marjoram herb is used as a cooking spice, but its oil is known for having a calming effect on our nerves, relaxing tense muscles, and alleviating stomach cramps and migraines;
• Cedarwood Oil – With its woody scent, it helps decrease anxiety feelings, has sedative qualities, and acts as a diuretic and antiseptic.
• Neroli Oil – Produced from a bitter orange tree, this essential oil calms our mind and tones down feelings of agitation.
• Rose Oil – Besides its use as a beauty product, rose oil decreases anxiety levels and insomnia, helps normalise breathing and feeling secure.

How to Use Them

One of the most popular ways to use essential oils is aromatherapy. It’s an alternative form of medicine used for healing and overall well-being.

One way to do it is through inhalation. You can get a diffuser to diffuse your favourite essential oil or essential oil sleep blend in the air so you can inhale them to help you unwind and de-stress. You can also make yourself a steam bath, put several drops on your pillow, or spray them in the air.

You can dilute essential oils and use them topically for massage. Sensitive people should be extra careful, though. To avoid irritations, you should always use carrier oils for dilution, like olive, coconut, almond, jojoba oil, and sunflower seed because essential oils are too strong for the skin to be used on their own. This also applies to using oils in steam baths because oil doesn’t mix with water, and the drops come in contact with your skin.

Through massage, especially when massaging the feet, the oils are better absorbed into the body. Moreover, a few drops of diluted essential oil can be applied directly to the neck, ears, or other affected areas. If you purchase an essential oil blend, there’s no need for dilution.

Safety

Different oils may affect everyone differently. If something is beneficial for you, it doesn’t mean that it will be good for someone else. We all have different needs and sensitivities, so how an essential oil will work on someone is a very individual thing.

Most of the essential oils aren’t made for ingestion. You should avoid that or consult with a doctor or a certified aromatherapist before doing so.

Before applying them on your skin, always do a small patch test to see if there will be any allergic reaction.

Be careful when using them around small children, pregnant women, or pets because not all of them are considered safe. Do your research of all the possible side-effects an essential oil or a blend could have, and definitely consult with someone for better insight.

Always read the ingredients when buying essential oils because not all of them are entirely natural. Some may contain synthetic oils.

The post Discover the Power of Essential Oils for Better Sleep appeared first on Sherlocks.com.au Blog.

These fragrant and soothing oils work even better when in synergy with each other, thus mixing their compounds together and offering numerous therapeutic benefits.

Source: mamanatural.com

In the process of blending essential oils, one oil can balance out the weaker parts of another and create a unique aromatherapy experience.

You can make your own essential oils to replicate some of your favourite blends and customise them to meet your scent preferences or try new scents, depending on how you feel at the given moment.

Essential oil blends can be used for many different purposes, such as supporting and balancing hormones, easing feelings of depression and anxiety, boosting your metabolism and supporting overall health and wellness.

Blending essential oils is a fun and budget saving activity to keep you busy with the kids, or help you spend some time alone, enjoying a rewarding and relaxing experience.

Very often, essential oils can be used as cleaning supplies as they’re highly effective and have powerful cleaning properties. Moreover, they’re safe to use around your family and pets and will reduce the use of chemicals in your home.

You can make your own essential oil blends using your favourite scents.

Source: ascensionkitchen.com

Categorize Your Essential Oils

Before you create your own aromatherapy recipes, make sure to group your essential oils first. In aromatherapy, the number of oils that blend are two to five.

You can find many different kits and blending formulas for making your own natural and toxic free cleaning products, simple skincare products, massage oil blends and more.

Type of Effects

Categorizing essential oils by the type of effects they have can help you classify your oils as calming, energizing, or any other mood or health benefit you’re going after.

The most popular oils with a calming effect are lavender, bergamot, jasmine, sandalwood, geranium, and many others, while to achieve an energizing effect you can use rosemary, lemongrass, eucalyptus, peppermint, tea tree, grapefruit, ginger and more.

Some of these, such as peppermint, grapefruit and rosemary can have a detoxifying effect as well, while lavender, geranium, sandalwood or bergamot can help against anxiety.

Blending essential oils from the same category is usually the best option that works perfectly and allows a great mix with complementing quality properties.

Scent Types

Another way to group your essential oils is by categorizing them by similar smelling scent types. Some oils can fit into more categories, there is no right or wrong when it comes to scents, it mainly depends on what you prefer and then take it as base inspiration for your blending mix.

If you like flowery scents, you can opt for jasmine, lavender, geranium, rose, neroli, palmarosa, ylang ylang, geranium, petitgrain and many more, while for more herbal scents you can choose basil, eucalyptus, chamomile, patchouli, peppermint, rosemary, tea tree, marjoram, sage and many others.

If your favourite scent is citrusy, then you should definitely go for grapefruit, citronella, lemon, lemongrass, lime, sweet orange, mandarin, tangerine, may chang, bergamot and other similar scents.

For a spicier scent pick cinnamon, pepper or ginger, and you can find woody scents in frankincense, cedarwood, sandalwood, cinnamon, ginger, juniper, pine and black pepper.

Woody and flowery scents combine well with most other categories, while spicy scents can easily overpower other aromas and are usually blended with flowery and citrus scents.

Source: cleanmyspace.com

Evaporation Rate

To start blending your essential oils, you’ll need a selection of staple oils, top, middle and base scent notes.

Top notes are lighter in intensity, with a mild and short fragrance and they’re the part of the fragrance you notice first. Usually, they’re considered fresh and uplifting scents.

Middle notes are the predominant oil in the blend, with a soft scent. They provide balance to your blend and are more mellow than the other notes, which allows them to show off their quality.

Base notes are sharper, stronger and long-lasting, and provide a solid scent foundation to build upon. Most commonly, these scents are intense, rich and grounding. To ensure a smelling and consistently active blend for your personal and home use, blend essential oils with the same oil notes.

The most popular top notes are bergamot, citronella, peppermint, spearmint, tangerine, sweet orange, eucalyptus, grapefruit, lemon, lemongrass and lavender.

For middle notes, chamomile, cinnamon, fennel, geranium, neroli, marjoram, jasmine, rosemary, palmarosa, ylang ylang, or tea tree are the most common choice.

And most frequently used base notes are cedarwood, frankincense, patchouli, sandalwood and ginger.

Steps and Tools Needed

Creating essential oils mixes doesn’t necessarily take a lot of time, there’s no rush and you can enjoy the process step by step…

Start with small bottles, 10 to 15 ml, so even if the blend is not perfect, you won’t waste a large amount of oils. Glass bottles work very well for essential oils blending, as glass doesn’t react when oils evaporate.

Fill the bottle almost to the top with your choice of carrier oil. Then select the oils you’ll be using for your blend. For a safe dilution rate between 2.5% and 3%, you’ll need 8 drops of each oil.

Put one drop of each, feel their smell, and keep adding one drop at a time. Every time you make your own custom blend, write it down and save it for the next time.

Essential oils are highly concentrated, so it’s a good idea to use gloves and avoid getting any on your hands, especially if you have sensitive skin. Always read the safety labels and instructions for the product you choose.

Also, you can use droppers, pipettes, or reducer caps. Now, most essential oils come with a reducer cap, but in case there are not any available, you can use some glass droppers or pipettes for controlled blending.

Next, smell and observe how your blend transforms as the oils evaporate and different aroma notes come to the fore in different stages. Everytime you make your own essential oil, most probably you’ll find this as the most enjoyable part of the process over and over again.

Source: eEcomodernessentials.com.au

Store Your Essential Blend Properly

Once your blend is created, you can seal and label the glass bottle, place it in a wooden box and let it evolve and mature for a day or two.

Over this time, a dynamic process takes place, where the components of every oil settle and interact with each other and form the final aroma. Preferably, keep your blends in a cool and dark place to ensure they lasts longer.

The post Find Out How to Make Your Own Essential Oils appeared first on Sherlocks.com.au Blog.