Beat The Winter Blues With Essential Oil Combinations

The scents you choose for your tealight oil warmer can affect brain chemistry in a way that triggers specific moods. They're especially helpful during the winter, when short days, cold weather, holiday stress and cold and flu season leave many people feeling sluggish, anxious and perhaps even mildly depressed. Use of individual oils can help you overcome the winter blues, but mixing oils can give you even wider-ranging effects while filling your home with delightful custom scents.

Think of your scent pairings as recipes. Pleasing scent recipes work like food recipes in that they mix sensory profiles, such as spice or floral, that enhance each other, or combine opposing but complementary profiles to create balance.

1. Energizing Combinations

Fight fatigue by combining energizing herbal oils such as basil, thyme or marjoram with lemon. Spicy scents such as frankincense and patchouli pair well with jasmine's floral profile. Vanilla's slightly sweet scent also works with spice, but it's also especially pleasing with peppermint.

2. Mood-Brightening Combinations

Herbal mood boosters include rosemary, angelica and clary sage. Mix any of these with an energizing herb and lemon. Florals such as jasmine, lavender and geranium work well with patchouli or cedarwood, and adding frankincense to the mix helps increase spiritual energy as it improves your mood.

3. Calming Combinations

The ancient combination of frankincense and myrrh brightened with a hint of lemon promotes relaxation and focus. Lemon and other bright citrus oils such as orange combine beautifully with cinnamon and clove to soothe and relax. Any combination of chamomile, green tea and lavender with a bit of vanilla can also reduce anxiety.

3. Cold and Flu Soothers

Chamomile pairs well with ginger and eucalyptus to help relieve congestion and headaches. Mix spicy scents such as bay, fennel, juniper, clove and woodsy scents such as cedarwood and cypress with a floral headache reliever such as lavender. Tea tree oil, which is also thought to combat congestion, has a mild scent and a fairly neutral profile that works with just about any other scent.

4. Air Freshening Blend

Mix a small amount of cleansing herb scents such as basil or thyme with larger portion of brightly scented lemon. Lemon oil with a small amount of tea tree oil also leaves your home's air smelling fresh and clean.

Although aromatherapy is safe for most people, it can have an adverse effect on individuals with asthma or severe allergies. Pregnant women and individuals with hormone-sensitive illnesses should consult a physician before using aromatherapy. Many essential oils' aromatherapeutic effects can be enhanced by massaging oils into the skin, but they should never be taken internally.

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