Bathing with Essential Oils

In my view, nothing beats a relaxing bath and, along with bath salts, one thing that can make them a lot better is essential oils. The challenge is, how to add them...

As almost everyone knows, oils and water don't mix. The most mundane examples I can think of that many people will be familiar with are foods. For example, vinaigrette - it always needs a shake before pouring onto a salad because the olive oil and vinegar cannot mix. The other food that can cause confusion is milk. Milk contains fat and, if it hasn't been homogenised, the cream will rise to the top, although, again, the bottle can be shaken to recombine the cream and milk. Unless you have an extremely unusual set-up in your home, you likely cannot shake your bath to mix essential oils into it.  So, what's the solution?

If you drop them into your bath without first diluting them in a carrier oil you risk damaging your skin. They can float on the top of the water which will create a wonderful scent, but will also mean they cling to your body when you get out of the bath and can cause skin irritation. If you add them to a carrier oil, you will make your bath greasy when you let the water out so have still created a bit of a cleaning challenge!

There are a range of solutions you can add essential oils to which will ensure they disperse in bath water, however, they are all synthetic. I have a deep distrust of synthetic substances and many chemists are like this. I remember discussing GMO farming with a colleague who was a chemist almost 30 years ago. He was a bit older than me and was shocked that this was being done and said "what if, in 15 years time, we find out they cause kidney lesions?" I think he'd seen things like this happen many times before. Or, as a friend with a PhD in chemistry and over 20 years' work experience as a professional chemist put it when we were discussing disparaging and witty comments on this article about The Billionaire Plot to Block Out the Sun "I think any scientific work should include a session where they are all encouraged to recite the poem about the old lady who swallowed a spider". My point is that there are plenty of people whose work depends on them creating synthetic substances using their skills as a chemist who think it's important to be extremely cautious. It's not just middle aged women like me (who studied chemistry and was so appalled by the potential uses of my degree that I stayed away from it for almost 30 years before coming back to essential oils!). It's almost anyone who has thought things through and cares about their health and/or nature.

Nature is plentiful and complex. Tempting as it can be to play around with it and "better" it, in my experience this is unwise. I have found I achieve the best health results from treating my body with reverence and respect and only using synthetic chemicals when it's extremely serious and there is no other option. So, not scenting my bath.

The easiest option is using a battery operated diffuser (available inexpensively on Temu). If that is out of your price range or you want it RIGHT NOW I'd recommend putting 15-25 drops on top of a bowl of recently boiled water. That way the aromas can permeate your bathroom while you bathe without you damaging your skin or creating a lot of cleaning. Another way, which is potentially complementary to the diffuser, is to use them in a soap. A soap containing essential oils will mean your skin will be exposed to the oils in a low enough concentration to ensure they don't damage it. Also, using it on your skin while you soak in a warm bath will mean you will be able absorb the low levels of essential oil into your system. I believe , if you are drawn to a scent, like craving food, this is your body's way of letting you know you need that substance in your system. So, for me, using an essential oil soap while diffusing the same or another blend is the best option. I think it's helpful to mix the blends and soaps you use up so that you are always having the blend and soap you are most drawn to. It might take a bit of time to work out what you want to have at your disposal, but, with the right range and a bit of pre-planning, every bath can become a deeply restorative and healing experience.