Harmony: Cedarwood Essential Oil
Barb Anderson

Defined Tag: Cedarwood Essential Oil.

Cedarwood essential oil has a mild scent, compared to other oils, but because of that it makes an excellent base for blending other oils. The light, clean scent that it does have is excellent for taming tension and easing stress, and for this reason, cedarwood is often associated with harmony in holistic healing.

Cedarwood essential oil can be a skin irritant for some people, so it's best used in dispensers or other non-contact methods. Cedarwood essential oil is best blended with other evergreens or with citrus oils, but it has the remarkable talent of bringing together such seemingly diverse scents as lavendar and lemon oil, or spruce and gardenia; hence its reputation for harmony, no doubt.

Different people use cedarwood essential oil in different ways, of course, but in general, it's best used as a base. For example, one good recipe is to mix 15-20 drops of cedarwood with 5-7 drops of lavendar oil for relaxation and 8-10 drops of grapefruit for invigoration after a hard day's work. Place the mixture into a disperser and enjoy.

Alternately, soak a cottonball in your cedarwood essential oil and place in it a bowl or on a saucer in your closet. Cedarwood is known for its ability to repel moths and other destructive insects, and we think you'll find its aroma rather more pleasant than mothballs. Like all essential oils, it should never touch finished furniture, upholstery, or other fabric, including the clothes in your closet, as it may stain them irreparably.

There is one exception to that. If you have a cedar chest, or cedar panelling of any kind, that has begun to lose its scent, you may apply cedarwood oil directly to the wood itself, just as you might apply lemon oil to any other piece of unfinished furniture. However, you must allow the chest to stand open for two or three days, to make sure the oil has plenty of chance to soak into the wood, so that, again, it doesn't stain any garments you choose to put into it. For added peace of mind, you may also line it with butcher's paper, for just a little more protection.

We think you'll agree that cedarwood's mild, pleasant scent adds balance and harmony to any mix of herbs

Barb Anderson has edited or written numerous articles for family-oriented ezines and sites on the worldwide web. Barb is Editor of the Power Learning Tips and Tricks newsletter, which is available at:   http://MastermindLearningSystem.com.