Best Essential Oils to Diffuse in Spring

Choosing essential oils is always a combination of art and science, personal preference and strategy. The art is that it’s subjective to what you love, what you’re feeling, and what you want. You can’t really do that part wrong. The science doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s just a matter of knowing the benefits of the oils you have and what effects you’re wanting.

Medical Perspective:

Basic Oil Chemistry

From a Western medicine perspective, knowing a little simple chemistry helps. Don’t worry, you don’t need to do actual chemistry. Just knowing the categories that oils fall into and what the categories support is plenty.

For Respiratory Support you want essential oils rich in Esthers and 1,8 Cineole like Eucalyptus, Cardamom, and Rosemary. These naturally occurring chemicals from plants open airways and the chest for clearer and easier breathing.

To increase energy and uplift your mood, you want to use oils that are high in the monoterpene, Limonene. Citrus fruits are the highest in this type of plant chemistry. Just the smell of Wild Orange or Lime essential oil feels like breathing in sunshine on a warm day.

If you’re a lover of the florals and their reassuring and comforting effects, then linalyl acetate or citronellol are the chemistry groups you want. These chemistry types, which are Esthers and Alcohols, are great for calming, but they also just smell lovely!

Honestly, I don’t get this complicated when making a blend, but if you want to use chemistry to choose the properties in the oils you’re using, use a simple diagram like the one below to choose the benefit you want and then pick an oil from that category. It really is that simple to get started.

Click the image below for an 80 page guide on essential oil chemistry from Dr. David Hill, including an A-Z guide on all of the oils and their individual properties.

Spring Suggestions

For opening airways, try a blend of Eucalyptus or Cardamom mixed with a citrus oil rubbed onto your chest with a carrier oil or put 2-3 drops each in a diffuser.

For energy, try mixing Peppermint with Wild Orange or Tangerine and rubbing on the back of your neck with a carrier oil or diffusing 3 drops each.

For rest or anxious feelings, blend lavender and a soothing tree oil, like Copaiba or Cedarwood, and rub over your heart and wrists or diffuse 3 drops each.

It’s nice to know that there is a science that backs it all up, but it’s actually very intuitive to know that a floral like Lavender and a citrus like Wild Orange will probably smell really yummy together and might uplift your mood and calm you at the same time.

Personal Preference:

Choosing Oils Based on Smell and Feel

Spring is such a hopeful and exciting time emotionally. For a lot of people with seasonal affective disorder or depression or just the stress of holidays, waiting for these days of longer light and fresh air can make the end of winter a reason to celebrate.

Choosing oils based on smell and their “feel” doesn’t require any knowledge or expertise. You just have to pay attention to how your body responds and be committed to trying new things.

There are specific notes of oils, just like in music. The goal is to create harmony… to create a blend that just feels like it hits right in all of the places. I’ll break all of that down in another article soon. For now let’s just use our senses and intuition.

So, let’s think about spring. We think of sunshine… flowers… warmer days… fresh dirt and grass… and energy.

What oils smell like sunshine? Citrus- Wild Orange, Lime, Bergamot, Grapefruit, Tangerine

What oils smell like flowers? Florals- Clary Sage, Geranium, Lavender, Jasmine, Neroli, Roman Chamomile

What oils smell like earth? Roots and trees- Vetiver, Cedarwood, Frankincense, Arborvitae, Siberian Fir, Sandalwood

What oils smell like grass? Herbs and Grasses- Lemongrass, Rosemary, Cilantro, Basil

What oils smell like energy? Mints (which are actually Herbs and Grasses)- Spearmint, Peppermint

Now for some fun!

Let’s put these together in some blends.

We’ll start each one with a citrus, because they blend well with just about everything! Then we’ll add just one more oil for the ease of noticing the different notes and feel of each oil.

Citrus + Floral (hopeful and comforting; like sunny and warm day in a flower garden)

1) Choose any citrus. Add 3 drops to the diffuser.

2) Now open up your floral oils. Hold the cap under your nose, while smelling what’s already in the diffuser. Which floral “feels” like it hits the notes you want with the citrus you’ve already added? Add 2 drops to the diffuser.

That was easy!!

Citrus + Trees (uplifting and grounding, like reading a book under a big oak tree in the sunshine)

1) Choose any citrus oil. Add 4 drops to the diffuser.

2) Now open the root or tree oils. They are usually a bit heavier than citrus in smell. The heavier the note, the less of the oil you’ll add. Use the cap of the oil to get a faint smell while also smelling what you’ve already added to the diffuser. Add 1-2 drops of the tree or root oil you choose. *Super heavy notes like Vetiver only need one drop. Balancing this heavy note with a bright citrus like Wild Orange will completely balance and transform the smell.

Citrus + Grasses (bright and cleansing, like open windows in a freshly cleaned kitchen)

1) Choose any citrus oil. Add 3 drops to the diffuser.

2) With the same method as above, use the lid of the grass oils to find one that blends well. Notice how the grasses intensify the lightness of the citrus oils. As the lightness hits you, you feel yourself settle and tension melt away. Great for a bright and clear day, but also helpful to balance a heavy dreary day. Add 2-3 drops of the herb or grass oil.

Citrus + Mints (Refreshing and energetic, like taking a walk on a brisk spring morning)

1) Choose the citrus oil you want to start with. Add 3 drops to the diffuser.

2) Play with the mints and see which one adds the right note of pep to your blend. Add 2-3 drops.

*There is no reason you can’t add more than two oils to a diffuser blend, but as you’re just starting out and trying to decide what you like together, it’s much easier to track only two oils at a time.

I’ve put the most affordable oils from each of these categories in a cart for you to make it simple!

Citrus- Wild Orange, Lemon

Floral- Lavender

Tree- Cedarwood

Herbs and Grasses- Lemongrass

Mint- Peppermint

You can edit the cart to take out or add what you want.

*If you’re a new customer, make sure you check out the option to make it a wholesale customer order and save 25%. NO future purchases necessary! You’ll receive a welcome series of emails from me to support you with recipes and ideas for using your oils if you check out as a wholesale customer.

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