by Melissa Chichester
Picture this: It’s a beautiful sunny day, the window is propped open, and a gentle breeze pushes the scent of basil through your home. The scent is so mouth-watering that you decide to pluck a fresh leaf off of the plant and pop it into your mouth to enjoy. Is there anything better than indulging the scent and taste of fresh, potted herbs? Surprisingly, many of our favorite windowsill herbs have uses beyond the kitchen, including in aromatherapy, beauty, and supplementation.
Rosemary is well-known for its culinary uses (especially paired with potatoes), and extracted rosemary oil is an ingredient in many beauty products, including shampoo, deodorant, and even moisturizers. The reason for this is because rosemary has skin soothing properties and adds hydration to skin. Rosemary is also used in herbal flea repellant formulas for pets! In aromatherapy, rosemary oil has an herbaceous, woody scent that blends well with lavender, pine, and cinnamon leaf oils. Rosemary oil can also be used to make a scalp stimulating hair mask to help provide moisture and hydration.
Hydrating Rosemary Oil Overnight Hair Mask
Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Massage into scalp for two minutes. Leave the mixture in overnight, and wash from hair in the morning during your regular cleansing routine.
Most of us probably think about pizza sauce when we think about oregano. While there’s no doubt oregano is a delicious way to spice up pizza sauce, oil of oregano extract has surprising health benefits. It contains a number of valuable constituents, like naturally occurring antioxidant phytochemicals.* If you want to bask in a cleansing, revitalizing aromatherapy scent, diffuse oregano essential oil, which blends well with rosemary and bergamot oil. This purifying oil is also a favorite of pet groomers, as oregano oil is a popular choice that may help to soothe dry skin on pets.
The word “basil” alone has the ability to invoke powerful scent memories, as it’s hard not to love a whiff of fresh basil leaves! If you don’t have fresh basil growing in the kitchen, enjoy the balsamic, spicy scent with basil oil. This relaxing and uplifting scent is perfect to enjoy after a long day. In Ayurveda, holy basil is considered a sacred spiritual plant, an incarnation of the Hindu goddess, Tulsi. Holy basil supplements help with occasional stress*, and it is also popular in tea form.
Peppermint is a surprisingly easy-to-grow, ancient herb that has been used for centuries in folk remedies. Today, peppermint is available as a supplement, an essential oil, and is used to flavor many products, including gum and toothpaste. The cooling properties of peppermint oil make it the perfect choice to use for invigorating muscles when blended with a massage oil. Peppermint essential oil can also be added to your favorite body lotion when you want to feel energized.
Lavender is known for being one of the most useful and versatile of all essential oils, and this crowd-pleasing favorite is also known for its use dried in the savory spice blend Herbes de Provence. Dried lavender is also used for making infused vinegar and oil blends, herbal teas, and dryer sachets. Diffusing lavender oil before bed encourages relaxation, and it is often added to shampoo and conditioner to nourish hair follicles and the scalp.
