I think by now you know how much I love essential oils, right? I use them in everything from my bath salts to my favorite DIY foot balm. They have SO many purposes in homemade beauty products! Did you know, though, that essential oils are incredibly useful for more than just whipping up DIY natural beauty products? Even if you never plan to make a salt, balm or bomb in your life, you should still keep these powerful plant-based oils on hand. Why? Well, that’s what we’re going to talk about!

5 Reasons Why You Should Always Keep Essential Oils on Hand

First, let me start by reminding you that I am not a doctor. None of this is medical advice. Please use that common sense that I know you all have when using essential oils. Don’t drink them, don’t go slapping them all willy-nilly on your skin without diluting them, and always talk to your doctor about any medical issues you may have.

Second thing: there are probably hundreds (if not thousands) of reasons that you should keep essential oils on hand. So why did I pick just five? Well, I received this awesome Pocket Farmacy Essential Oils kit from  Saje Natural Wellness. It has five fabulous therapeutic remedy roll-ons, including Peppermint Halo, Stress Release, Pain Release, Immune, and Eater’s Digest. I picked the five reasons that correspond to those blends. Ready to get to check them out? 😀

Reason #1: Dealing with Headaches & Brain Fog

I’ve told you before about how I get killer headaches, right? I had a headache every day of my life from age 18-38. I take meds to keep them under control a bit more now, but about every two weeks, a killer migraine sneaks through and ruins my day. A few years ago, I started inhaling peppermint leaves when I’d feel them coming on, and it helped a bit. I decided to try putting some peppermint oil in an avocado oil base and rubbing it on my temples. Even better! Now, I’m a total peppermint freak.

The Pocket Farmacy comes with a Peppermint Halo roll-on, already diluted enough to use safely on your skin. This stuff is awesome. My favorite roll-on in the bag. I use it daily, not just to combat headaches, but also to help clear my brain fog. I find that inhaling peppermint really helps me to focus and get work done on those days that I’m totally dragging. While the peppermint is the star of the roll-on, it also contains eucalyptus, cajeput, rosemary, lavender, vetiver.

Reason #2: Ease Cold Symptoms

Did you know that during the plague years, apothecaries and perfumers who worked with essential oils were less likely to succumb to the sickness? It was around that time that people first discovered the antibacterial benefits of essential oils. Now, I’m not saying that working with and using essential oils is going to keep the common cold away, I just always found that bit of trivia fascinating.

What you CAN do with essential oils is ease those nasty cold symptoms. The immune therapeutic roll-on contains EO’s like tea tree, pine needle, rosemary, geranium, eucalyptus, peppermint, certified organic cinnamon. When applied topically to your chest, they really help me kick a cough and breathe a little easier.

Reason #3: Soothe an Unsettled Tummy

So here’s one that I was actually a little skeptical about because I had never tried it. Did you know that rubbing the right blend of essential oils into your abdomen can actually help soothe your unsettled tummy? I’m not saying it will cure the worst of stomach aches (and seriously, if you’re in that much agony, go to the doctor), but it did help with my minor stomach issues. I’ve been nauseous just about every day for the last 5 years. No one knows why.

My Pocket Farmacy came with a roll-on called Eater’s Digest. It’s made with fennel, peppermint, black pepper, roman chamomile, and myrrh, all of which are typically excellent herbs for digestive problems. I’ve used most of them in teas before, but never an EO. I gave it a try, rolled it on, waiting about 15 minutes or so for it to really absorb into my skin and actually did feel better!

Reason #4 Zap Minor Aches & Pains

My second-favorite roll-on in the Pocket Farmacy is definitely the Pain Release. It’s made with lavender, marjoram, peppermint, Roman chamomile, rosemary, cajeput & eucalyptus. I have back problems, carpal tunnel and a pinched nerve in my neck. While it doesn’t really work for my back problems (those are pretty severe, so I would have been shocked if it did), it really did work wonders for the tension and aches in my shoulders and neck. I also applied it to my wrists and felt a bit of relief.

Again, it’s not a heavy-duty painkiller. It’s not going to soothe broken bones or, in my case, disastrous disks in my back. But it definitely helps take the bite out of moderate pain and eases the minor aches of life.

Reason #5: Get Your Stress Under Control

I am an incredibly stressed out person. My therapist told me that because of my panic and anxiety disorder, I’m basically always “wound up.” Right now, I’m worrying about ten different things as I write this. Essential oils are a major part of my stress-relief regimen. Inhaling or rolling on the right blend can really help ease my anxiety and focus long enough to get my work done.

My favorite EO’s for stress are lavender and orange. Separately, they both help me feel more blissful, but together along with other relaxing EOs, they pack an even more powerful punch. Pocket Farmacy’s Stress Release put them together with roman chamomile, vetiver, geranium, clary sage & myrtle for an incredibly soothing experience.

Essential oils are incredibly useful for so many reasons. It would take an encyclopedia-sized book to discuss all of them! These five reasons, though, are plenty enough to make me want to make sure I always have them on hand. I really love the Pocket Farmacy because they already did all the blending for me. I keep basic oils in my arsenal, like lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, lemon, orange, and tea tree. I don’t have the money to stock an entire cabinet full of them, so I love finding a high-quality blend that incorporates oils I don’t have.

The Pocket Farmacy retails for $59.95. It sounds a bit costly, but if you think about how much a single high-quality EO blend costs through some of their competitors, it’s actually incredibly reasonable. When you use the roll-on, the oils last a really long time. I use the peppermint a few times a day and I’ve barely put a dent in the bottle yet.

Head over to Saje and check out the Pocket Farmacy. You can also buy blends separately and in different sizes. Check out Saje on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with news. Follow on Instagram for gorgeous product pics and inspiration.

Do you use essential oils in your home and life? Tell me your favorite blends or uses for them!