These Are the Best Essential Oils to Use If You Have Trouble Sleeping
These Are the Best Essential Oils to Use If You Have Trouble Sleeping
In a culture where it almost feels required to be "on" all the time, it can help to have gentle olfactory cues to power us down into sleep mode when it's time to tuck in for the night. Using essential oils for sleep is an easy way to make a nighttime routine feel a little more elevated and intentional, and just putting a few drops in an ultrasonic diffuser (or rolled in a diluted blend onto your wrists) is all that's really needed.
Currently, there's limited scientific research into the effects of aromatherapy and essential oils on sleep, though lavender oil in particular has been shown to be quite effective in promoting deep sleep, leading to more restful mornings. As long as you use essential oils responsibly, they can be a pleasantly soothing addition to the atmosphere.
The scents that calm you down can be a very personal preference, so it can help to sniff out a bunch of blends to find ingredients that resonate with you. These essential-oil roll-ons and droppers are some of our favorites to help bring on those sleepy-time vibes.
Healing Solutions Lavender Essential Oil
amazon.com
$15.99
If you're building up a stash of essential oils for sleep, lavender is one of the best (and most effective) oils you can get. The scent is floral, herbaceous, and cozy, and it blends beautifully with other fragrances, as well.
Though it smells like a dream to humans, just keep in mind that lavender is one of many essential-oil varieties that is not safe to diffuse around pets.
Plant Therapy Cedarwood Atlas Essential Oil
amazon.com
$9.95
If you feel as though lavender is a little too perfume-y, take a whiff of cedarwood oil. Its spicy, dried-wood scent has been shown to provide sedative effects, like lowering heart rate and blood pressure, making it a good pick to add to a diffuser before an evening meditation practice.
HELIAS Clary Sage Essential Oil
urbanoutfitters.com
$25.00
For the mystics out there, burning a bundle of sage leaves is a well-known way to cleanse a room's energy, while in the scientific realm, inhaling diffused clary sage oil has also shown to have calming effects on the body. Its scent is sweet, warm, earthy, and even a bit tobacco-like.
VITRUVI Sleep Aromatherapy Roll-On Oil
nordstrom.com
$38.00
As far as roll-on blends go, you can't go wrong with any pick from the essential-oil experts at VITRUVI. We've actually traveled abroad with their Sleep Roll-On blend, which we found greatly helped to lull us to sleep and also assuage jet lag.
The blend contains a dreamy combination of lavender, sandalwood, frankincense, ylang ylang, and Roman chamomile essential oils that smells so good, you'll want to wear it as your everyday scent!
Aura Cacia Roman Chamomile Essential Oil
amazon.com
$9.39
The great thing about essential oils for sleep is that you can mix and match them to suit your personal scent preferences! Roman chamomile plays incredibly well with other oils, providing a subtly earthy and floral base note.
While sipping chamomile tea is an age-old bedtime ritual, inhaling diffused Roman-chamomile oil vapor has been shown to relieve anxiety and even help in reducing common cold symptoms!
Sagely Tranquility CBD Roll-On
sagelynaturals.com
$29.99
If you're interested in tapping into the numerous benefits of CBD, this topical roll-on allows you to enjoy a little hit of calm anytime. We named Sagely's Tranquility Roll-On as one of our favorite CBD oils for its incredible scent, clean ingredient list, and exceptionally soothing effect. It contains lavender, bergamot, and chamomile oil, as well as full-spectrum, hemp-derived CBD.
LATHER Quiet Night Relaxing Balm
lather.com
$9.00
If an oil dropper feels too risky to pack in an overnight bag, this sweet-smelling balm from LATHER makes for the perfect travel companion. One of the most floral-forward scents on our list, it's comprised of lavender, ylang ylang, and calendula oils, along with skin-hydrating rosehip oil.
Way of Will Sweet Marjoram Essential Oil
wayofwill.com
$18.15
A lesser-known, but no less effective essential oil for sleep, sweet marjoram smells a bit like a milder and more citrusy oregano. It's been shown to help relax muscles and promote a general feeling of calm, especially when used as a massage oil before bed. If you've been burning the midnight oil lately, this scent might be a good one to reach for.
Diffuser on, lights off. ??