Choosing Frankincense Essential Oil For All Your Wellness Needs

Learn more about the history of frankincense essential oil

Frankincense essential oil is without a doubt one of the most beloved and revered oils used in aromatherapy today. Knowing that its benefits and properties have been cherished for centuries is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to exploring its versatility and efficacy, which is why we are so excited to share more about it today.

There are numerous species and varieties of frankincense trees that produce resin that is then steam distilled for use in aromatherapy as essential oil. The main variants used are Boswellia carterii, Boswellia Frereana and Boswellia sacra, each of which produce a slightly different variant of resin. At Saje, we primarily utilize two of these varieties, frereana and carterii, which we will talk about more below.

Frankincense is an aromatic resin whose use in religious and spiritual ceremonies and rituals, as well as for its medicinal properties, has been documented for well over 5000 years. Because it is so fragrant when burnt, it has been used as incense and as part of traditional embalming ceremonies. More recently, frankincense has been prized for its use in skin care preparations, body care products and products that are specifically formulated to support overall health and well-being. Without further ado, let’s jump into discussing some of those products now!

Frankincense essential oil for helping you put your best face forward

Frankincense is a common ingredient in skin care products due to the fact it’s so harmonizing and balancing for the skin. Even tracing all the way back to ancient Egyptian times, it was commonly included in preparations as a cosmetic ingredient and an offering to the gods. Because frankincense can help to improve the appearance of overall skin tone, it’s common to see it included in everything from cleansers to moisturizers and treatments.

Products we love:

Bare Face makeup remover: this product was designed to help you gently and effectively remove your face and eye makeup with a calming and soothing blend of coconut oil, chamomile, lavender and frankincense that treats even the most delicate skin with kindness. To use, simply saturate a cotton pad or soft cloth with the remover and apply to the skin lightly and in a circular motion. If you choose afterwards, rinse well with warm water and pat dry.

Clay Cleanse face mask: when you’re looking to reveal clearer skin, restore a healthy glow and rejuvenate the overall appearance of your face, consider adding a purifying, restorative facial mask treatment like Clay Cleanse. Formulated with soothing and clarifying kaolin clay, gently absorbent charcoal powder and moisture replenishing frankincense, Clay Cleanse is intended for use 1-2 times per week or as needed to leave skin feeling healthy and supple.

Bliss Mist facial toner: every skin care routine needs a harmonizing and balancing facial toner to help replenish your skin post cleansing. This ritzy blend of luxury essential oils like calming rose, deeply nourishing sandalwood and restorative frankincense help skin to feel relaxed, calmed and nourished as part of your daily routine. Shake well and mist the entire face, neck and chest area post cleansing.

Frankincense essential oil for improving your overall well being

When you’re not feeling your best, it can be helpful to use products that provide a sense of comfort and warming to help soothe and encourage you to return to overall good health. Many people find that the warming, herbal and woodsy scent of frankincense essential oil helps them to feel enveloped in nurturance and comfort that helps set them back on track to feeling amazing.

Products we love:

Sweet Comfort: when you’re battling a tough cold and the symptoms that accompany it, reach for the sweet, sweet comfort of soothing essential oils that are reported to help temporarily relieve coughs that can begin as a result of minor throat or bronchial irritation from the common cold. Blended with soothing menthol from peppermint, sweet benzoin and warming frankincense, help ease your body by applying to the throat and chest in a thick layer, encouraging the vapors to reach the nose and mouth.

Chest Comfort balm: a natural version of an age-old remedy for coughs and colds, this soothing, restorative and comforting balm was created to help temporarily relieve and suppress coughs that can result from the common cold as well as from minor throat and bronchial irritations. Beeswax and grapeseed oil form a base that allows the powerful essential oils to be carried to the skin, like cooling menthol from peppermint, clarifying tea tree and warming frankincense. Rub a thick layer on the throat and chest and cover with a warm cloth if desired.

Frankincense essential oil for scenting the air in your home, naturally

One of our favorite ways to use frankincense essential oil is in a diffuser, so that its benefits and properties can be shared in your space and received through inhalation. Frankincense is rejuvenating, meditative and harmonizing, and can really help create a vibe in a space when you are looking to feel relaxed, calm and at peace. It’s also warming, sweet-herbal, slightly woodsy and earthy so if you’re in the mood for a scent profile that matches that description, we encourage you to check out the diffuser blends we’re recommending below.

Products we love:

Goodnight diffuser blend: formulated specifically for nighttime, this is a unique blend of essential oils purported for their use in creating feelings of rest and relaxation in both the body and mind. We’ve blended woodsy and warm sandalwood, known to help ease a restless mind with its grounding qualities with sweet and apple-like roman chamomile, to help create a sense of calm in the body and to prepare your mind for tranquility. Frankincense adds depth and richness to the blend, which in turn allows for a good night’s rest each time you diffuse it.

Present Moment diffuser blend: this calming, warm and centering blend encourages you to take a moment to feel grounded, centered and at ease. Uplifting grapefruit and orange help to heighten your awareness, grounding and relaxing vetiver helps your mind to feel at ease and woodsy and calming frankincense helps to soothe a troubled mind. This diffuser blend is perfect as part of your wellness rituals like during yoga or meditation, or anytime you’re looking to invite feelings of peace and calm into your space.

Frankincense essential oil for its pure, undiluted benefits

We also offer 100% pure, undiluted frankincense as part of our collection of single note essential oils. A slightly spicy and warm essential oil, frankincense is reported in aromatherapy to help comfort the nerves and help ease a worried mind. It’s thought to help bring peace and balance while encouraging you to relax in a meditative state. If you’re looking to expand and clear your mind while digging deeper into a personal spiritual relationship with yourself, frankincense is often recommended as a companion on your journey.

At Saje we use a species of frankincense called Boswellia frereana to make our single note essential oil. This small shrub produces an oleo resin which is collected from small incisions made in the bark, then distilled into a fragrant essential oil. Frankincense is such a special and well-loved essential oil in part because of the labor it takes to arrive at the end result. Frankincense trees prefer lime-rich soil and often grow in awkward places like rocky hillsides and cliffs which means that harvesting the valuable resin from the tree is both rewarding and comes with an element of risk.

Adding frankincense essential oil to your personal wellness routines

Whether you’re new to frankincense or have included it as part of your wellness routine for a long time, this precious essential oil is a great addition to your lifestyle. Here are our best practices for including frankincense in your daily rituals and celebrations:

1. Try dropping 1-3 drops of frankincense on a tissue and breathing deeply during meditation, or place the tissue near you as you practice. There is such strong evidence to support the benefit of scent on the body and mind during mindfulness practice like meditation, including the fact that can scent can trigger memory. Imagine feeling meditative and calm each time you smelled frankincense?
2. Add 1-3 drops of frankincense to other diffuser blends you already love. Because it complements so many other aromas, from tree scents to citruses, try adding a couple of drops to your favorite diffuser blend next time you’re diffusing and see if your nose is enjoying your custom scent!
3. When in doubt, inhale directly from the bottle! When your body and mind are telling you that you need to relax in a hurry, take a few long, slow inhales of the pure essential oil directly from the bottle and get ready to feel better, fast. We know that inhalation is a fast route of entry for the body, and the sweet, woodsy and grounding notes of frankincense may be all you need to start experiencing a state of relaxation.

However you choose to incorporate frankincense essential oil into your life, we hope you enjoy this balsamic and resinous addition to your routine.