What are essential oils
Essential oils are concentrated plant extracts that contain the natural aromatic compounds of the plant. These compounds can have therapeutic effects when inhaled or applied to the skin.
There are many different kinds of essential oils, each with its own unique benefits. Some common essential oils include lavender, peppermint, and eucalyptus.
Each oil has different properties that can be beneficial for the skin, hair, and body.
For example, lavender oil is known for its calming and relaxing effects, while peppermint oil can help to soothe muscles and joints. Eucalyptus oil is also known for its ability to clear congestion and ease respiratory symptoms.
Are essential oils safe to use while showering?
Essential oils have been proven to destroy several types of harmful bacteria, viral or fungal pathogens. Thus, essential oils can help to protect your skin from some of these microbial dangers.
Some of the most effective oils include lemon, lavender, tea tree, peppermint, lemongrass, clove and oregano.
That being said, you should never apply essential oils on your skin undiluted because essential oils can cause severe irritation and other health issues.
This is especially true if you have skin conditions such as eczema, acne or psoriasis.
To see how your skin reacts to essential oils, do a patch test on your skin and wait 48 hours to see how it reacts.
If you experience any irritation or redness, discontinue use immediately.
When diluting essential oils, try to stay within a 1% dilution, which translates to around 3-5 drops of oils to 100ml/3.3 ounces of water, carrier oil or shower gels.
You could try to increase this to around 2% dilution if you notice absolutely zero redness or skin irritation with 1% dilution.
When using essential oils in the shower, be careful not to slip and fall, and make sure the oils do not get into your eyes.
Learning if your body is compatible with essential oils is super helpful, since you can then also learn if you can use scented sachets or shower steamers.
10 ways to use essential oils in the shower
1. Put essential oils on a washcloth or loofah
First wet the wash cloth without rinsing it, then apply a 2-3 drops of essential oils and proceed to wash yourself.
Depending on preference and whether you experience skin irritation, either increase or decrease how much essential oils you apply to the washcloth.
The benefit of this method is that the hot steam from your shower will help open up your pores, which allows the essential oils to penetrate more deeply into the skin.
Finally, this washcloth method ensures the essential oils are applied more evenly throughout across your entire skin.
2. Put essential oils in a diffuser necklace
A diffuser necklace is a locket that can hold one or more mixtures of essential oils, which evaporate around you releasing aromatic scents.
Showering with a diffuser necklace will release these scents faster, since essential oils evaporate quicker because of the heat and steam in the shower.
In particular, adding eucalyptus oils to the diffuser necklace can help to temporarily decongest and unblock your sinuses.
3. Place essential oils in the bathtub
Place a drop or two of an essential oil on each corner of the shower stall or tub before turning on the water. The steam will help carry the fragrance of the oils throughout the bathroom.
4. Add essential oils to your body lotion or shower gel
Essential oils can improve the scent, fragrance, lather, moisturize the skin, improve overall quality of your shower gel, and even provide therapeutic benefits.
The best way to add essential oils to shower gel is to add a few drops to the bottle of shower gel and shake well.
You may want to experiment with different essential oils to find the perfect scent for your shower gel.
However, it is important to note that essential oils should be used sparingly in shower gels as they can be irritating to the skin if used in too high of a concentration.
Thus, you should only add a few drops of essential oil per ounce of shower gel.
5. Put essential oils in an aromatherapy diffuser
An aromatherapy diffuser is a device that holds essential oils, and then automatically sprays them at certain time intervals.
An aromatherapy diffuser is very useful if you don’t want to spread essential oils in the shower or bath floor, or if you don’t want to risk slipping on the essential oils (seriously, it’s an actual risk!).
The downsides is you don’t have as much control over how you can apply the essential oils, can’t use them to directly wash yourself but also you have to protect the electronics in the diffuser from excess moisture or steam.
6. Mix essential oils with a carrier oil to make a massage lotion
Carrier oils are used to dilute essential oils and “carry” them to your skin. The most common carrier oils are olive oil, coconut oil and jojoba oil.
If your skin is sensitive to essential oils, then try mixing a few drops of essential oils with carrier oils to reduce their potency.
You can even use this mixture to make a massage lotion you can use in the shower!
7. Add essential oils to your hair mask, shampoo or conditioner
Depending on how your hair reacts, you might be able to mix essential oils with your shampoo, conditioner or even hair mask.
Keeping in mind the 1% dilution rule, add 3-5 drops of essential oils to 100 ml / ounces of hair product, and then test the mixture on a small strand of hair.
Observe how your hair reacts, both immediately after the shower, but more importantly 24-48 hours later.
Finally, try to keep a mental note of the exact steps you took when washing your hair with essential oils. This is because using the same mixture, but in a different washing sequence, might result in different results.
8. Put essential oils in a spray bottle
Add just a few drops of your favorite oil to a spray bottle filled with water, shake extensively and then spritz the mixture in the bathroom as aromatherapy.
You can even spray the mixture on yourself, but be careful not to overdo it and make sure it is evenly distributed across your entire body, and not just concentrated in one spot.
9. Apply essential oils to the inside of your shower curtain
If you’re primarily interested in essential oils for aromatherapy, then apply a few drops of oil to the inside of your shower curtain.
The heat and steam in the shower will then evaporate them and spread a nice, calming scent throughout the bathroom.
10. Mix baking soda and essential oils to absorb bathroom odors
Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, can be mixed with essential oils to create a substance that can clean, but also absorb foul odors while spreading pleasant ones at the same time.
Simply add 10-15 drops of essential oil to 1/2 cup baking soda, and properly mix the substance.
You can then use the mixture to clean toilets, bathroom sinks as well as removing any lime scale or stains from your shower or bath tub.
You can even just put the mixture in an open container and leave it overnight in the bathroom. This will help freshen up the bathroom and absorb foul scents (as long as the cause was removed too).
