Tag: essential oils

The one oil all women should own…

Just a heads up that I’m ran a Facebook event last night on women’s health and essential oils. It will be available until March 5th. Visit and comment on the posts and you could win and lemon or orange essential oil.  > https://www.facebook.com/events/256364551477496/

I’ll also be giving away 3 oils for those who attend the event live!

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So with that out of the way I want to just share what I think the number one oil that all women need to have in their arsenal. Of course, it’s hard for me to pin down just ONE oil but Clary Sage is one of the most important essential oils for hormones, especially in women.

Clary Sage has anticonvulsive, antidepressant, antifungal, anti-infectious, antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent and anti-inflammatory properties and can help with cramps, heavy menstrual cycles, hot flashes and hormonal imbalances.

Here are the top 3 reasons why Clary Sage is a great essential oil for women…

Relieves Menstrual Discomfort.

I used to suffer from horrendous period pain. Until I started using a mixture of vitamin C and Clary Sage. I’ll talk about the vitamin C element on another post but Clary sage is an antispasmodic, meaning it treats spasms and related issues such as muscle cramps, headaches and stomachaches. It does this by relaxing the nerve impulses that we can’t control.

Can help you sleep.

If you have trouble sleeping or suffer from insomnia then Clary Sage is the oil for you. It’s a natural sedative so will give you that calm, peaceful feeling you need to send you off in to the land of nod. As you know, not sleeping can have a massive effect on your life – your energy levels, mood, productivity, stress levels and overall health will suffer.

Helps increase circulation.

Clary Sage opens up the blood vessels and allows for increased circulation. It can also help lower blood pressure by relaxing the brain and arteries. This boosts the performance of the metabolic system by increasing the amount of oxygen that gets into the muscles and supporting organ function.

There are plenty more benefits of clary sage so if you have time tonight do pop along to my class. But I’ll make sure I schedule in another post to praise the great work that Clary Sage does. Don’t forget to join me at 8pm tonight!! xoxox

Essential Oils – How I Use Them


OK so I’ve been posting my essential oils collection for quite a while over on instagram and I’m getting LOADS of questions on how I use them. So I thought that I’d  a general overview of how I use my oils.

First up, I use doTERRA oils at the moment, mostly because I have an account with them (I don’t sell them!) and I like that they are pure and not full of synthetic ingredients. I am on the look out for cheaper alternatives, so if you know of a good essential oils company – let me know!

Anyway, how I use essential oils…

I diffuse them. I am SO obsessed with my diffuser. I bought one thinking that it wouldn’t be to different from burning my oils but it’s a game changer.With the diffuser you just add a couple of drops of your favourite oil (or oils) and it pushes them out in to the air.

You can create your own blends depending on your mood so if you want to relax then lavender, clary sage or geranium. If you’re wanting to get motivated and pumped then my favourite is to add lemon and peppermint. Or if you just want your house to smell fresh and clean – lemon – always lemon!

Amazon have some great diffusers – see here.

I use them as part of my beauty regime. OK so I should admit here, I don’t really have a beauty regime as such but my skin is super sensitive and can get dry so I have to be really picky about what I use on it. Since essential oils are easily absorbed in to the skin and are very powerful, I use a carrier oil such as coconut or almond oil and add a few drops of frankincense to create a great moisturiser (Frankincense is also great for burns too which is handy as I’m forever burning myself on the oven, and it’s a great anti-wrinkle oil – also handy but say no more about that one!!).

After a great tip off from my friend Tanya, I now add a drop of Meluca oil to my conditioner and it adds extra shine and protects against heat damage. Meluca is also great for spots too, just dab a drop on and your breakout will be gone in no time.

I use them for medicinal purposes. Eucalyptus mostly. I suffer from blocked sinuses quite a bit so I pop some eucalyptus to the bottom of my shower and let the steam do its job. I also use it in my diffuser if I’m feeling coldy. Lavender on cuts and burns is also another top tip of mine – helps healing and to reduce scarring.

I clean with them. I find traditional cleaners really harsh on my skin and my chest. So use essential oils to do the job a chemical cleaner would normally do. Lemon mixed with apple cider vinegar, baking soda and water will do the job better than any shop bought bleach mix. I add a few drops of lemon or orange to my mop water when I clean the floors – smells amazing.

Do you use oils? How do you use yours?

Health benefits of the top 10 essential oils

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As you may have noticed via instagram, I’m starting to work with essential oils. I’ll be hosting some workshops on the run up to christmas so be sure to sign up to my newsletter for details.

So what are essential oils? Well, they are organic compounds that are extracted from the plants. They have so many uses, from relaxation to healing and can replace most modern medicine, especially when it comes to things like colds & flu, sore muscles, skin conditions and digestion problems.

But it’s SO important that you buy certified, pure therapeutic grade oils to see the true benefits.  Not all essential oils are created equally. In fact, most of them are pointless and often synthetic.  If you want to order or find out more about the brand I trust and personally use, email oils@rachaelphillips.me.

To get ONE 15ml bottle of lemon essential oils, it actually takes 45 lemons.

Since every essential oil has unique and healing benefits, I thought I’d run though 10 of the most popular essential oils and just some of the ways you can use them…

Ginger will improve your digestion, reduce inflammation and relieve nausea.

Sandalwood which is my absolute favourite, as I tell Tanya of Tanya’s Healthy Living, it just smells so grown up and will improve energy.

Lemon is one of the most popular essential oils, I’m not ashamed to say that I add a drop or two to my G&T’s (again, if you want to ingest essential oils they HAVE to be 100% therapeutic grade). But lemon doesn’t just taste amazing it also improves lymph drainage and cleanses the body. It’s a great oil to diffuse too if you want to get energised. Also, use lemon to replace many of your household cleaners – better for the environment and better for your health.  Continue reading “Health benefits of the top 10 essential oils”

Why I include oils in my beauty regime

I’m going to be blogging a bit more about essential oils in the next few weeks/months (including running some online workshops on how to use essential oils, if you’re interested, sign up to my newsletter for details)

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I love vintage beauty ads! Like this one from Palmolive in 1957

But I just wanted to do a quick post on why I use oils when it comes to looking after my skin.

First of all, oil is a simple, clean ingredient and much like what we eat, the less processed our beauty products are, the better they are for us. My top tip is that if you see the word “fragranced” or “perfumed” then it’s been tinkered with. Stick to organic, cold pressed oils for the best results. 

Secondly, and this is the most important of all, because so many people think that by using oils they’re going to have greasy skin – just like fat doesn’t make us fat, oil does not make us oily. Fact.

Continue reading “Why I include oils in my beauty regime”