Essential Oils 101 With Aura Cacia’s Aromatherapist — Plus the Best Blends for Busy Days

Scents, especially those found in nature, can be powerful. They might add an instant boost of energy to your day or encourage you to take a deep breath and find a moment of calm. That’s aromatherapy at work: the practice of using essential oils to enhance well-being. 

For more than four decades, Aura Cacia has partnered with growers and suppliers worldwide to source pure, rigorously tested essential oils with real aromatherapy benefits. The brand sources directly from each plant’s native region across the globe so that they know the highest-quality plant constituents are present — and everyone who opens an Aura Cacia bottle is able to soak up the plant’s truest aromatherapy benefits. 

Made by distilling oils from botanicals, essential oils can bring aromatherapy to a long day, your next bath, and even your skin. To find out more about how to work plant power into your routine, we spoke with Elena Mercurio, Certified Aromatherapist and Aura Cacia’s in-house Aromatherapy Educator.

FAQs About Essential Oils  

When you’re ready to work essential oils into your routine, Mercurio shares what to look for — and the common red flags to watch out for in untrustworthy oils. 

If someone hasn’t used essential oils before, where should they start? 

Mercurio recommends trying Aura Cacia’s Essential Oil Discovery Kit, which contains four of the most popular essential oils: lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, and tea tree. “These oils are great for newbies because you can use them in many practical ways,” she says. Her tips: Diffuse the lavender at bedtime for relaxation, waft the peppermint under your nose for morning motivation, add eucalyptus to a hot shower for a clearing steam, or make your own surface cleaner with the tea tree oil, vinegar, and water. If you want to use these essential oils for skin, she suggests adding a skincare oil like sweet almond into the mix for safe dilution, as essential oils on their own are highly concentrated. 

What should you look for in an essential oil?

First, Mercurio says to research how long the company has been around so that you know they have enough experience in the industry. Aura Cacia prides itself on its long-standing relationships with growers and suppliers worldwide to ensure that they’re always sourcing the highest-quality oils. They work with growers to source as sustainably as possible, from ethical practices for workers, to the farming and harvesting of the plants themselves, to the distillation process — like heating distillation tanks using wood from trees knocked down by storms, rather than cutting down new trees. 

Once you trust your source, check the product label. Start with the botanical name to make sure you’re getting exactly what you want. As Mercurio explains, “There are over 30 different species of lavender alone, [and] you want to make sure you are getting the true calming lavender, which would be Lavandula angustifolia. If you see something like Lavandula officinalis, or no botanical name at all and just Lavender oil, that doesn’t tell you which species you are buying and most likely is a less quality lavender, synthetic, or adulterated.” Another checkpoint on the label is the oil’s sourcing location, and if the product has been tested to ensure purity. For peace of mind on their products, Aura Cacia publishes the gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) test results for their oils on their website. 

What should you avoid in an essential oil?

Mercurio has two major red flags when it comes to untrustworthy essential oils: companies that make claims that their oils can cure diseases, or when she sees a term like “therapeutic grade of pharmaceutical grade,” made-up claims that have no basis behind them. Without a true grading system in the U.S. for essential oils, Mercurio looks to the testing, “where quality really shows. This is where you can truly see that an essential oil is 100% pure with no adulteration, synthetics, or mislabeling.” 

How should you use essential oils in a diffuser? 

A diffuser is one of the easiest and most effective ways to reap the benefits of essential oils. Every diffuser is different, so you should always follow the instructions that come with yours, but the general range is 5-15 drops of an oil or blend, along with water. Mercurio recommends diffusing for 30-60 minutes at a time, taking an hour break, then refreshing the oils as you like. 

Best Essential Oils for the Busy Season 

To ease the transition into the new routines and packed weekends of fall, essential oils can help remind you to take a moment to yourself. Mercurio calls them “the perfect thing to reach for during a busy time, as they instantly help you take a breath, become more present, and feel refreshed all at once.” Try her picks for busy school days or stressful moments this season. 

Aura Cacia Discover Relaxation Kit

With sweet orange, lavender, and patchouli oils plus a chill pill blend, this is the perfect kit to gift to yourself or a friend who needs an easy way to find calm at the end of a busy day. 

Aura Cacia Kids Bedtime Fizzy Bath

Kids’ nighttime routine feeling a little hectic? Help them wind down with this fizzy, foaming bath that dissolves right into running water. It’s formulated with lavender, citrus, frankincense, and blue tansy, and without synthetic colors or fragrances. 

Aura Cacia Relaxing Lavender Mist

To bring essential oils to your sleep routine, try misting this lavender — one of the best-smelling essential oils — on your pillows and sheets before you get into bed each night. You can also store it in your car or travel bag for a calming moment on the go. 

Aura Cacia Relaxing Lavender Essential Oil Blend, Roll On

Mercurio suggests reaching for this roll-on and applying it to pulse points behind the ears, neck, and wrists for a moment of calming aroma if you’re feeling overwhelmed. 

If she’s feeling tense after a long meeting, Mercurio adds in a little peppermint to rub onto her temples, too. Not only does it provide a much-needed release, but the story behind Aura Cacia’s peppermint adds another feel-good moment;  the brand sources their peppermint from an Indian supplier that built the Blue Birds International School in Amroha, India, a high-need region of the country where many children lack access to education. By partnering with this supplier, they help support the co-educational school that serves 2,000 students from more than 30 nearby villages and towns. 

Closer to home, Aura Cacia finds a way to give back as part of every purchase. Through their Positive Change Project, they donate a portion of every sale toward grants for organizations in the U.S. and Canada that support women facing difficult life situations. Since the program’s founding in 2016, the brand has donated more than $1.4 million to help women and girls make improvements in their lives.