Have you ever smelled something and immediately felt as if you are being transferred to some pleasant past event? Our olfactory system is nothing short of miraculous. It can mentally take us places, remind us of past events and loved people, it can affect our emotions, our mood. This is why we particularly love some smells and hate others so much.

Among other things, aromatherapy utilizes the power of smell to help us improve our wellbeing, both physical and mental. For that very reason, having a few roller bottles for essential oils, with a scent that you enjoy, can help boost your mood and help you sleep better.

How Do We Perceive Smells?

The part of our brain responsible for detecting and processing smells works by perceiving many odour molecules that come out of something, processing them, and putting together the gathered information. When someone is cooking, for instance, our sense of smell detects all the different odour molecules, it processes the information and we can hint what’s cooking.

In fact, thanks to the huge number of smell receptors in our noses, our brain can detect more than one trillion different smells. Our sense of smell allows us to enjoy the smell of beautiful things, and it protects us by warning us when something can make us sick.

Our sense of smell is the oldest and most primitive out of all five senses. It’s also different because it is the only one that has a direct connection to our brains, so it processes smells really fast. Unlike sight, sound and taste, when we smell something, we first have an emotional reaction, and after that, we identify the scent. This is why we can smell winter, we can feel places we’ve been to and we feel a certain way when we smell particular fragrances.

How Can We Use Scents for Our Wellbeing?

Though not completely proven yet, according to certain studies, aromatherapy has a plethora of health benefits. Essential oils are one of the main instruments used in aromatherapy. The idea is to utilize pleasant smells from different plants as a way to help ourselves with physical and mental health problems.

What Are Essential Oils and How Can You Use Them?

Essential oils contain many healthy ingredients that may have an impact on different processes in our bodies. They can help with our mental health, or even repel bugs. If you use an essential oil rollerball to apply essential oil on your skin, for example, your skin will hastily absorb it.

Lavender, chamomile, peppermint, eucalyptus, lemon, grapefruit, sweet orange, tea tree, rosemary, patchouli, ylang-ylang, oregano, clove, ginger, or any combination of these can be found in the form of drops or roller bottles for essential oils. Essential oils used in aromatherapy are usually extracted from different parts of a range of plants, which are afterwards distilled. They can be used directly – by applying them to your skin with an essential oil roller bottle or as drops, by inhalation, or by adding them to lotions, bath salts etc.

Inhalation

The simplest way to use essential oils is to open the bottle and simply smell your preferred scent, as you would with a perfume. You can add 2-3 drops of your essential oil to steam inhalation, often used to help against sinus congestion.

Diffusers and Vaporisers

It may seem that the primary function of an aromatherapy diffuser or vaporiser is to simply spread a pleasant smell across the room. However, there are many indications that this method of dispersing small particles of essential oil through the air, can be beneficial for yours and your families’ health as well.

Topical Use

Using essential oils in skincare is nothing new. You can apply them in various ways. By rubbing the oil on your skin, by adding some drops into your cosmetic products, such as serums or toners, or into your bath cosmetics, like your shampoo or body wash, etc. However, some essential oils can be too strong for your skin. This is why you should always dilute them with a carrier oil before using them in any way. Or, you could buy essential oils or blends of essential oils that are made to be safely applied to the skin. To get the most out of your aromatherapy efforts, you could have a couple of essential oil roller bottles with you at all times, to be able to rub them on your wrists, your temple, etc. as needed.

What Can Essential Oils Do?

Essential oils are believed to have a plethora of positive effects on many aspects of our lives. They can help people who have troubles falling asleep, people dealing with stress, anxiety and depression. In aromatherapy, essential oils are used to relieve headaches, colds, sinus congestion, infections, nausea, skin conditions, they are even believed to promote better libido, focus, and digestion. They are believed to calm nerves, boost energy, improve mental health, mood, and quality of life for people with chronic pains, etc.