Self-Care

Essential oil blends, product recipes and tips to enhance your well-being

Lemon Foot Bath

Refresh and soothe aching feet with this foot bath, which also contains cooling peppermint with its painkilling and anti-inflammatory properties. Honey softens skin, while cider vinegar relaxed muscles and fights foot bacteria.

Ingredients:

Peppermint dried herb 1 tbsp

Water for infusion 500ml

Peppermint essential oil 2 drops

Lemon essential oil 2 drops

Mineral salts 1 tbsp

Honey 1 tbsp

Apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp

How to make:

Make a peppermint infusion by brewing the herbs for 10 minutes in a teapot with 500ml freshly boiled water. Strain the liquid.

Add the essential oils to the mineral salts and combine.

Add the honey and cider vinegar to the strained peppermint infusion and mix until dissolved.

Add the mineral salt and essential oil mixture to 1-2 cups of the infusion and stir until dissolved.

Add the infusion mixture to a warm foot bath and soak your feet. (Do not used on broken or newly shaved skin).

Dry your feet and massage in your favourite foot balm.

Calming Diffusion

Litsea essential oil is a useful stress buster. It’s naturally soothing properties calm the rapid heartbeat that can accompany stress and panic, helping you to think more rationally. Bergamot is grounding and helps to balance the mind. The addition of uplifting orange adds to the calming effect of this blend.

Add 6 drops litsea, 4 drops orange and 4 drops bergamot essential oils to your diffuser, vaporiser or oil burner. Find a quiet spot, put on some calming music, close your eyes and let the therapeutic aroma soothe body and soul..

Neroli Facial Spritz

Keep this in the fridge for a refreshing and hydrating spritz.

Particularly great if, like me, you’re prone to the occasional ‘hot moment’…

Makes 100 ml

75ml mineral water

1 tbsp orange floral water

1 tsp glycerin

5 drops neroli essential oil

2 drops bergamot essential oil

To Make

Mix the internal water and orange floral water together in a bowl.

Add the glycerin and essential oils, and stir thoroughly.

Pour into a sterilised bottle, and attach an atomiser.

Keeps for up to 6 weeks in the fridge.

Warming Upper Body Rub

This is a warming upper body rub for the winter months to help combat colds and congestion.

Frankincense essential oil helps to soothe the mucous membranes, calm breathing and can also ease coughs, sore throats and bronchitis, blended here with other soothing oils.

Makes 30ml

Sunflower oil 2 tbsp

Frankincense essential oil 7 drops

Sandalwood essential oil 5 drops

Lavender essential oil 3 drops

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and pour onto a sterilised dark glass bottle. Seal with a cap or dropper.

Gently massage into the chest, throat and upper back. Allow the oils to absorb before dressing.

Fragrant Body Mist

This body mist is a light alternative to wearing a perfume. It contains hydrating rose floral water, and skin-soothing aloe vera, so conditions the skin as well as offering fragrance. Heavenly scented and exotic, vanilla and ylang ylang are blended with beautiful sandalwood and rose oils. The essential oils in your body mist have therapeutic effect on the emotions as well as the senses.

Makes 100ml

Rose floral water 75ml

Rose tincture 1tbsp

Aloe vera juice 1 tsp

Vanilla extract 10 drops

Ylang ylang essential oil 10 drops

Sandalwood essential oil 6 drops

Rose absolute essential oil 4 drops

Clary sage essential oil 2 drops

Sweet orange essential oil 2 drops

Mix the floral water with the tincture, aloe vera juice and vanilla extract together in a bowl.

Add all the essential oils and mix.

Pour into a sterilised glass bottle with an atomiser.

Apply as required for a refreshing burst of fragrance. The fragrance does not last as long as a traditional perfume, so re-apply as frequently as you like. Shake well before use. Avoid spraying on clothes, fabrics or bed linen.

Store in cool, dry place.

Will keep up to 6 months.

De-stress Blend

If it all gets a bit much, find yourself a quiet spot and inhale this wonderful blend of aromas..

5 drops frankincense essential oil - helps to lift the spirits and is helpful when you feel overwhelmed.

3 drops neroli essential oil - helps to balance emotions and effective for relieving stress.

2 drops mandarin essential oil - soothes frayed nerves, promoting relaxation.

Add the blend to a diffuser or oil burner, pop in the bath with a base oil or full fat milk or simply put a few drops on a tissue and breathe…

Calendula Soothing Balm

Soothe and repair the skin with this combination of calendula, lavender and German chamomile essential oils. Chamomile essential oil has an analgesic and anti-inflammatory action and can treat eczema and dry itchy skin conditions, and is also good for sensitive skin. Antiseptic calendula has traditionally been used to facilitate wound healing, due to its ability to quickly repair skin tissue.

Makes 30g

1 tsp cocoa butter

1 tsp beeswax

1tbsp calendula macerated oil

5 drops lavender essential oil

2 drops German chamomile essential oil

1 tsp calendula tincture

Heat the cocoa butter, beeswax and calendula macerated oil together in a bain-marie until the wax has melted. Remove from the heat.

Add the essential oils and tincture, and mix thoroughly.

Pour into a sterilised jar. Once cool place the lid on

Store in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months.

Gently massage into areas of over-exposed or irritated skin.

Chamomile Tea

One of the oldest herbs recorded and a member of the Asteraceae family, there are two common varieties of chamomile which are used for tea - German (Chamomilla recutita) and Roman (chamaemelum nobile). The plant produces small, daisy-like flowers that are dried and steeped in water to make a tea.

Chamomile tea is well-known for its sleep inducing properties, this may be due to its phytonutrient content, specifically a compound called apigenin, which is believed to have sedative effects.

Research suggests that chamomile may be beneficial for those struggling with mild anxiety and can help to reduce smooth muscle spasms in the gut which may benefit those with inflammatory digestive issues such as diverticulitis and oesophageal reflux.

Chamomile is rich in compounds called flavonoids, these have antioxidant properties and appear to be beneficial for both cholesterol management and blood pressure.

Chamomile tea is generally suitable for everyone unless you have a daisy allergy, which includes plants such as ragweed and chrysanthemums.

There are some good quality chamomile tea bags available to buy but for a fuller flavour, more potent aroma and maximum benefits use the dried flowers if you can.

Simply add 2 teaspoons of dried flowers to a teapot, add hot water just off the boil and leave to infuse for 2-3 minutes, strain to serve. You can also use an infuser that can be put straight in your cup or purchase empty tea bags to put your chamomile flowers into.

A pinch of dried lavender can be added, or a squeeze of lemon and honey can be used to sweeten.

Also, top tip, chamomile makes a wonderful eye mask that can help reduce puffiness, dark circles, and dryness and irritation around the eyes. Chamomile contains flavonoids, so can help to reduce inflammation.

If you are using tea bags, place them warm or cold onto your closed eyes, or with an infusion, soak cotton pads in the liquid and do the same. You can leave them for 10-30 minutes.

Try this alternative recipe for a cosy, feel-good nightcap..

Honey Chamomile Tea Latte

Make your chamomile infusion and while it’s steeping heat some milk of your choice in a saucepan and whisk until warm and frothy, or use a milk frother if you have one.

Fill your mug with half of the chamomile infusion, half of the milk and honey to taste, stir gently, sprinkle with ground cinnamon and enjoy.

Pampering Bath Melts

Containing deeply nourishing cocoa butter and shea nut butter, these bath melts replenish your skin. Combining the exotically scented ylang ylang essential with calming clary sage and rose oils, these little pampering gems are perfect for an indulgent bath time.

Makes 10 small melts

25g cocoa butter

25g shea nut butter

1 tsp almond oil

1 tsp wheatgerm oil

1 tsp jojoba oil

4 drops ylang ylang essential oil

2 drops clary sage essential oil

2 drops rose essential oil

1 drop geranium essential oil

1 drop vanilla extract

1 tsp dried rose petals

Heat the butters together in a bain-marie until they have melted. Remove from the heat.

Add the oils to the melted butters. Pour in all the essential oils, vanilla extract and the rose petals and mix well.

Pour into mini soap moulds or an ice-cube tray and allow to cool and set in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

Remove from the fridge and press the bath melts out of the moulds.

Store in a cool, dark place.

Keeps for up to 3 months.

Add a bath melt to a warm bath and let it soften and moisturise your skin as you relax.

Bedtime Spray

If stress and anxiety keep you awake at night, or you find it difficult to switch off at bedtime and find that you wake in the morning feeling groggy, try this wonderfully relaxing bedtime spray.

Calming chamomile and rose essential oils are joined by the uplifting sweetly scented ylang ylang, which helps to calm breathing, and grounding vetiver, which has a profoundly calming effect when you feel overwhelmed by stress.

Makes 30ml

Mix 6 drops of ylang ylang, 6 drops rose, 2 drops vetiver and 1 drop of chamomile essentials oils with 2 tablespoons of cold water. Pour into a sterilised bottle with an atomiser.

Spritz your room before bedtime.

Shake before use and avoid spraying directly onto fabric.