What are essential oils?

Essential oils are the compounds of plants. The flavour or ‘essence’ of the plant gives it its individual characteristic, which would be the beneficial reason to use that oil for your body or mind.

How can plant power take on my period?

I think the first thing to get your head around is that it’s a month long cycle and not just the bleeding bit, and that it’s all hormonal, not a reflection of your lovely personality. Now we’ve got that sorted, here’s a breakdown of some of those ups and downs and which essential oils could help you out…

Emotion and mood

PMT, mood swings, crying, we’ve all likely been there at some point. So it’s good to know that the fragrance of essential oils can support your mood and feeling of wellbeing. The lush smell essential oils give off can support so many moods like stress, tension, worry and when we feel very hormonal. Oils that really work for this are lavender oil, which is brilliant for calming, rose oil is a really feminine oil and known for reducing stress and and orange oil is great for when you are feeling anxious and needing a little pick me up.

Hormonal skin changes

Our skin can be a real tell-tale sign that we’re due on so essential oils can help as a direct healing action for the skin. Essential oils offer support of healthy skin cells, repairing, fighting infection, cleansing, hydrating and moisturising, all the things that we will likely need over the course of our cycle. The oils that are more commonly used for hormonal changes include tea tree as it has antibacterial properties and is anti-inflammatory. The other skin saviour is clary sage oil; its balancing properties support the production of sebum, which can cause those annoying hormonal breakouts.

Period cramps and headaches

Essential oils have molecules so small they can penetrate the semipermeable layer of skin, meaning they can be transported around your body, busy balancing, helping to eliminate toxins and repair, all to help keep your organs healthy and happy. During our period, physically some of us suffer with stomach and headaches, which can really impact how we function. Or, perhaps if effects how you sleep? Camomile oil can help as it is a natural sedative, it also has strong anti-inflammatory properties that have been known to help reduce premenstrual pains and relax muscles. Peppermint oil is one of the most commonly used essential oils to treat headaches and migraine too. It contains menthol, which can help relax muscles and ease pain.

There are several ways that you can add these oils to you routines to feel the benefits. Adding a few drops to a diffuser, especially for your mood, you might find a combination of oils is good or that you prefer diffident oils throughout your cycle. Include the right oils into your skincare, this not only means you’re looking after your skin, but also your supporting your mood at the same time. Why not combine this, set up your diffuser, pamper your skin, prepare some tea and make it a pampering celebration for your period.

Disclaimer - Essential oils should be mixed in with a carrier product and not used undulated directly on the skin.

Find aromatherapist Simone Stevens @sensesbysim