Summer Essential Oils

Summer changes what you want a room to smell like. Heavy and warm stops working, and sharp, cold and citrus takes over. This collection holds the eleven products for that: eight single essential oils and three hydrosols, from $9.99.

Eleven summer products from $9.99. The cooling group is eucalyptus, peppermint and spearmint. The citrus group is lime, lemon, grapefruit, sweet orange and lemongrass. Three hydrosols, peppermint, eucalyptus and lemongrass, are the only products here you can mist straight onto skin without diluting.

Why Choose Summer Essential Oils

Two things change in summer. You want cooler, sharper aromas than you did in winter, and you want something light enough to use on skin in heat without layering on oil. That is why this collection carries both formats. The eight essential oils are for diffusing and blending, and the three hydrosols are ready to mist as they are.

The oils are 10ml and the hydrosols 100ml. Five of the oils start at $9.99.

The Oils And Hydrosols In This Collection

Eucalyptus is the sharpest thing here. Clean, green and camphoraceous, more like crushed leaves than anything sweet. It is the one that makes a warm room feel cooler than it is. If you want the full picture, our eucalyptus uses and benefits guide goes deeper than a collection page can.

Peppermint and spearmint are not the same mint. Peppermint is cold and penetrating, high in menthol, and the most intense oil in the collection drop for drop. Spearmint is softer and sweeter, closer to the mint in a garden than the mint in toothpaste. If peppermint is too much for you, spearmint usually is not.

The citrus five carry the brightness. Lime is the sharpest and most zesty, and the one people most associate with summer. Lemon is cleaner and less sweet. Grapefruit has a slight bitterness that keeps it from turning sugary. Sweet orange is the roundest and easiest to like. Lemongrass is the odd one out: despite the name it is a grass rather than a citrus, so it reads green and herbal alongside the lemon note.

Three of those same botanicals also come as hydrosols. Peppermint, eucalyptus and lemongrass, in 100ml bottles, which is a different proposition in heat. More on that below. For the wider range, including rosemary, rose and orange blossom, see all hydrosols.

Why Hydrosols Work Better In Heat

The case for a hydrosol is strongest in summer, and it has nothing to do with aroma.

An essential oil has to be carried in something before it touches skin, which in practice means oil. In thirty degree heat, most people do not want to add a layer of oil to their skin. A hydrosol has already solved that: it is water, so it goes on and dries, and it needs no carrier at all.

The three here are the cooling botanicals rather than the florals: peppermint, eucalyptus and lemongrass. All 100ml, all mist straight from the bottle. A hydrosol also keeps well in the fridge, which is worth knowing in August. Use the oils to scent a room and the hydrosols on yourself.

Three Summer Diffuser Blends To Start With

Every oil in these is in this collection, so you can buy a blend in one click rather than hunting for ingredients.

Cold Front. 3 drops eucalyptus, 2 drops peppermint, 1 drop lime. The coldest of the three, and the one for a room that has been in the sun all afternoon.

Long Evening. 3 drops lime, 2 drops sweet orange, 1 drop spearmint. Zesty and light, more refreshing than cooling.

Porch Air. 3 drops lemongrass, 2 drops lemon, 1 drop peppermint. Green and citrus, the closest thing here to an outdoor smell.

How To Use Summer Essential Oils Daily

In a diffuser, add the number of drops your diffuser's instructions specify, typically a few drops per 100ml of water, and run it in a ventilated room rather than continuously.

On skin, the three hydrosols can be misted directly. Every essential oil here has to be diluted in a carrier oil first, with a patch test before wider use. For a cooling foot massage, peppermint, spearmint or eucalyptus diluted in a carrier oil is the usual choice, and which one comes down to scent rather than effect.

In a sauna, follow the sauna manufacturer's instructions and never pour undiluted essential oil onto heated surfaces or stones.

Spearmint also comes up in facial hair routines. Essential oils are not applied neat to the face, and our spearmint and facial hair guide sets out what is and is not supported. Essential oils are not to be swallowed.

Trusted Quality Standards for Summer Essential Oils

Every bottle in this collection is a single botanical rather than a fragrance mix, and each product page names the plant it comes from. The three hydrosols are the by product of that same distillation, not scented water. For the wider single oil range see essential oil singles.

Safe Use

The eight essential oils here are concentrated and undiluted, so they need a carrier oil before skin contact. Three cautions are specific to this collection. Lime, lemon and grapefruit are cold pressed citrus oils, which can make skin more sensitive to sunlight when applied topically, and summer is when that matters most. Eucalyptus and peppermint are both widely advised against around infants and young children. Eucalyptus can also be harmful to dogs, so speak to a vet before using it in a home with animals. The three hydrosols carry none of these issues.