You should go and love yourself

The month of February often feels like it may never end. Despite being the shortest month of the calendar year, the grey skies and the dreary weather can start to take their toll on even the most chipper among us. You’re in the home stretch of the transition from winter to spring, yet you’re nearing the end of your tolerance for shortened daylight hours and lack of sunshine. Cue: Valentine’s Day. That magical day mid-month where chocolate is acceptable for breakfast, a beautiful bouquet of fancy flowers is bound to land on your desk at work and almost every restaurant in the city is at capacity for dinner reservations. February’s most clever distraction, and just enough of the mushy-gushy to get you through the latter half of the month.

While we’re busy celebrating love, we sometimes forget to put our most essential relationship at the top of the queue: the relationship we have with ourselves. In 2017, wellness was a $4.2 trillion global industry with this number steadily on the rise. We know that taking time for ourselves is important, and we don’t know where to start. Just in time for the big day, we’re featuring four essential oils we love for self love! We’re focusing on oils derived from plants known not only for their beauty and intoxicating aroma, but for the delicious ways in which they support self-reflection, harmony and the intimate knowing of yourself.

Why we love to love it: rose essential oil

Rose is commonly referred to as the “Queen of all flowers” and with good reason; this precious floral produces some of the worlds’ most rich and intoxicating essential oils, and she takes her time getting there. It takes approximately 60 full size roses to produce one singular drop of essential oil; the fresh, subtle-sweetness of rose is worth the wait. The diversity of rose essential oil is that it is a popular choice in everything from skincare to personal fragrance and body products. Spiritually, rose essential oil is said to nurture the ‘inner child’ and is used to encourage the expression of unconditional love.¹

Some of our favorite products formulated with rose:

Goddess diffuser blend - a euphoric blend that also includes uplifting orange, soothing palmarosa and powerful jasmine to honor your inner divinity.

Rejuvenating Elixir - a nourishing, moisture-replenishing blend that also includes evening primrose, a superfood for skin, and restorative sandalwood for facial skin pampering.

Why we love to love it: jasmine essential oil

If rose is the Queen, jasmine is sometimes called “The Queen of the Night”, a nod to the plants’ unique growing pattern, in that certain species of the plant close their flowers during the day, and only bloom at night. Jasmine is another of the most precious and delicate essential oils; these trailing plants’ flowers are distilled using a special process called extraction as they are too fine in structure for traditional steam distillation. Jasmine has an exotic and sensuous aroma, a rich and powerful oil known spiritually to boost and restore sexual vitality, and to aid in the expression of intimate feelings.²

Some of our favorite products formulated with jasmine:

Sleep Well body butter - a nourishing and deeply hydrating formula that also includes replenishing shea butter and dreamy valerian for a treat-yourself pre-sleep experience.

Escape diffuser blend - an exhilarating blend of fresh grapefruit and sweet vanilla to take your senses on a journey.

Why we love to love it: neroli essential oil

Neroli, sometimes called Orange Blossom, is distilled from the flowers of the orange tree. It’s one of 3 different essential oils that come to us from this tree, the others being sweet orange from the fruit peel and petitgrain from the leaves. Neroli is a gentle and nurturing essential oil, which is why you’ll often see it used in personal care products like massage oils or skin care. Spiritually, neroli oil can be used to help lessen the emotional hold of deep insecurities, and is said to enable you to feel a complete sense of peace and harmony.³

Some of our favorite products formulated with neroli:

Tantra diffuser blend - a warm and spicy blend of sweet cinnamon leaf and grounding patchouli blended to encourage exploration and openness of self.

Yoga roll-on - a balancing blend to evoke feelings of mindfulness, centering cedarwood meets mood boosting orange for a moment of zen.

Why we love to love it: ylang ylang essential oil

Ylang ylang in Tagalog, a Phillipine language, translates as “flower of flowers”. Though the star-shaped flowers produced from the tropical tree grow as yellow, pink and purple, it’s the thick, yellow flowers that are said to yield the best quality essential oils. The essential oil produced can be described as very sweet and musky, and is known to be very long-lasting. Ylang ylang is used in aromatherapy to comfort both the body and the mind. In supporting the spirit, ylang ylang helps to heighten the senses, and develop the ‘inner feminine’; with this comes a sense of creativity.⁴

Some of our favorite products formulated with ylang ylang:

Goddess Mist - a personal mist to hydrate and awaken the senses, blended with zesty lime and citrus-fresh tangerine to boost your mood, naturally.

Tranquility diffuser blend - a fan favorite formula of clearing marjoram and comforting lavender to help your body drift into deep rest.

No matter how you choose to celebrate the 14th of February, we love to help you love yourself just a little bit more through self-care and thoughtful exploration about what wellness means to you.

— Louise Hay

Reference List

1. Harding, J. (2013). The Essential Guide to Oils: all the healing oils you will ever need for well-being and vitality. London: Watkins Publishing, rose otto.
2. Harding, J. (2013). The Essential Guide to Oils: all the healing oils you will ever need for well-being and vitality. London: Watkins Publishing, jasmine absolute.
3. Harding, J. (2013). The Essential Guide to Oils: all the healing oils you will ever need for well-being and vitality. London: Watkins Publishing, neroli.
4. Harding, J. (2013). The Essential Guide to Oils: all the healing oils you will ever need for well-being and vitality. London: Watkins Publishing, ylang ylang.