Favourite essential oils: Peppermint

My favourite essential oils? Do you mean the ones I make use of the most... or the ones I lust after? My favourite oil, when I’m asked, is practical Peppermint.

It's been discovered that the sense of smell is the easiest and most powerful way to access the amygdala - the brain center for the emotions and emotional memory. Our preferences for certain essential oils can be directly related to the emotions and memories a given smell triggers - which explains, in part, why they can be so effective in therapy.

Everyone has a favourite aroma! Whether it brings back a favourite food or a fond memory, the essential oils that appeal to you based on their smell are going to be entirely personal.

As I prepare kits of oils to sell at the Spirits of the Earth Festival later this week, I've been pondering my favourite essential oils... and the reasons why I like them so much.

For the most part, I'm a very practical person, so peppermint appeals to me.

On those rare occasions when I'm running out the door without my purse and I want an oil to shove into my back pocket (just in case!), peppermint is the one I take with me. I use it for headaches, stomachaches, sore throat, muscle pain, bruises, fatigue, and almost anything else that might happen to me on my way.

I've been known to take a drop or two of peppermint in my mouth to help with a headache, if I'm losing my voice, or to freshen my breath - the taste is shockingly powerful at first, but it works like nothing else! And if you're using the really high-grade oils (for clarification's sake, these are NOT the kind you can buy at the health food store) then you can't go wrong.

More favourite oils coming up in the next few days...