Face streams are often overlooked as a way to use essential oils but they are incredibly helpful not only for reducing sinus congestion but also for deep cleansing the skin from a beauty perspective. Face steams draw impurities from deep below the surface, making the skin look clearer, younger, and fresher. So, which ones work best? Excellent question. Today, let’s explore the best essential oils for face steaming.
Before we get into the luxurious beauty stuff, first let’s think about the best essential oils for face steaming if you have sinus congestion. Let’s make your nose run!
Best Essential Oils for Face Steaming for Sinus Congestion
- Eucalyptus essential oil
- Myrrh essential oil
- Pine essential oil
- Fir essential oil
- Hyssop essential oil
We won’t go too much into the specific reasons they are the best. This is clearly broken down in our best essential oils for sinus congestion post. You might want to check out the best essential oils for your humidifier if you are feeling under the weather too.
We’ll have a look at the other essential oils next but you might want to scroll down past those to our instructions on how to use the best essential oils for face steaming.
Best Essential Oils For Face Steaming for Beautiful Skin
- Cypress essential oil
- Carrot seed essential oil
- Geranium essential oil
- Clary sage essential oil
- Grapefruit essential oil
- Juniper essential oil
- Lavender essential oil
- Marjoram essential oil
- Orange essential oil
- Palma Rosa essential oil
1. Cypress Essential Oil
Before we get too deeply into the mechanics of using the best essential oils for face steaming, there are a couple of things you should do. Essentially, face steaming is drying, and it is an intensive process. If you have sore or inflamed skin, then it is not recommended. In the end, we include two ways of doing it. One over a bowl of water which is the most effective way, but also the most aggressive. We also show you how to do a gentler version with face cloths. This is a great way to use the best essential oils for seaming if you are worried about scalding yourself too.
Cypress is top of the list of the best essential oils for steaming because of how well it cleanses the skin, without drying it anymore. It is deeply refreshing and penetrates deep into the pores.
When an essential oil is made, it goes through a very similar process to this facial steaming. Steam is passed through the plant matter, and the smallest oily molecules are lifted by the steam. This separates them from the plant and moves them into a product in its own right.
When we do facial steam, two things happen:
Our skin detects a heat change, so it takes action to cool the system down. It opens the pores so we can sweat. Then, the essential oil takes advantage of this open door to access the lower parts of the skin's structure.
Obviously, though, sweat drives out impurities that are lurking under the skin.
Cypress is very good for oiliness and general grime under the surface. We also like to use cypress in toners to close the skin back down after.
Safety: Cypress is not suitable for use in the first 16 weeks of pregnancy.
2. Carrot Seed Essential Oil
Carrot is one of those essential oils people ignore. It’s certainly not a center-stage player but it is such a great skin cleanser. Despite bursting with powerful anti-microbial and antifungal agents, carrot seed essential oil is incredibly gentle too. This is probably one of the best essential oils for face steaming if you have more mature or dry skin.
As ever, the only safety consideration with carrot seed is not to use it in the first 16 weeks of pregnancy.
3. Geranium Essential Oil
Geranium is near the top of the list because it is so relaxing as well as being very nurturing to the skin. Geranium is great if you have broken capillaries in your skin too. If this is you, again, we would suggest using the face cloth protocol rather than full-on steaming.
Geranium is fabulous though if you have normal or dry skin, and is greatly used as a weekly treatment to ensure your skin always looks radiant.
4. Clary Sage Essential Oil
Clary sage is fantastic if you have oily or greasy skin. In fact, this kind of skin really responds well to facial steams. Interestingly, one of the key associations for acne breakouts is sinus congestion. Often, if you can treat the sinus congestion and the underlying infection, the acne can start to improve.
In these kinds of situations, don’t use the sinus decongestant oils, because they may be too harsh for your already inflamed skin. Use clary sage instead.
However, clary sage has an action where it mimics estrogen so can screw with your hormones a. For that reason, if you are pregnant, we suggest you try using lavender or neroli essential oils instead.
5. Grapefruit Essential Oil
We love grapefruit. It makes its way into the best essential oils for face steaming, because it is spectacular for blackheads. As the pores open, grapefruit penetrates right into tackle these unsightly problems.
If you decide to implement grapefruit into any of your other treatments, there are a couple of things to consider. The first is that it is phototoxic. You will want to use dilutions of less than 0.5% to avoid creating skin sensitivity. Any grapefruit product will affect the consistency of the blood and should not be used with blood-thinning drugs if you have a clotting disorder or have major surgery scheduled in the next 48 hours. It is also not appropriate to use grapefruit in the first 16 weeks of pregnancy.
6. Juniper Essential Oil
Like cypress, juniper is cleansing and refreshing to the skin. It ranks on the list of the best essential oils for face steaming because it is great for puffiness. If your skin seems blotchy, or your eyes are looking tired and baggy, use juniper in your face steam, then also use it in your facial massage treatment too. Not much more to say than that really!
Avoid juniper during pregnancy and if you have a kidney condition.
7. Lavender Essential Oil
So deliciously relaxing, it’s fab if you have sinus congestion with a headache, if you want to be relaxed or if you want to clean the skin. Lavender has a profound action on the sebum glands though. Only use this oil if you have greasy skin. If it is normal or dry, geranium is a better choice.
Usual thing, don’t use it during the first 16 weeks of pregnancy, please.
8. Marjoram Essential Oil
Many aromatherapists choose not to use essential oils for face steaming because they have good herbs growing in the garden that will do the same job. Marjoram, oregano, and hyssop are all good herbs to use, but there is only marjoram that would be gentle enough as an essential oil.
It has a lovely detoxifying action, and it is pungent enough to clear the sinuses too. Marjoram is one of the best essential oils for face steaming if your skin looks under part after you have been ill, or if it is very dirty. Cypress and marjoram oils are the best ones for tackling deeply grained dirt and pollution on the skin.
Again, easy to use as long as you stick to that golden rule of not using it in the first 16 weeks of pregnancy.
9. Orange Essential Oil
Sweet Orange is one of our favorite essential oils for beauty because it makes you feel so good about yourself. It’s impossible not to feel pretty if you have smelt its fragrance. It is astringent. It will cleanse and tighten your pores. Just like orange is if you use it in cleaning products, it is by far the best agent for cutting through grease.
A definite must. It’s not going to do tremendous things on its own, ut blended with something like cypress or geranium it is magnificent,
As with all the citrus oils, it can be phototoxic. If you decide to add it to any of your products to use topically, we suggest only using it in very low amounts or around 0.5%. Citrus oils oxidize very quickly because the monoterpenes decay. This can lead to skin sensitization, so beware of old oils.
Usual pregnancy warnings apply, not in the first 16 weeks, please.
10. Palmarosa Essential Oil
People are always amused when they discover that Palma rosa is a grass related to lemongrass. There is nothing citrusy about it, and just like its name suggests it does smell like roses. However, it carries all the powerful antibiotic might of the lemongrass family so if you have skin that is prone to breakouts this is a superb oil to choose. This one should definitely be in everyone's collection of the best essential oils for face steaming.
Two Ways to Use The Best Essential Oils for Steaming
1. The Tent Method
Add three or four drops of essential oil to a bowl of steaming water. Put your head over it, about six inches away, being close enough to the steam for it to make you sweat, but far enough away so as not to scald yourself.
Use a large bath towel to trap the steam.
Ideally, you will stay under for about five minutes, but it’s not easy. Keep coming out for quick breaths of air. Also, it is good practice to keep wiping the sweat off, because it immediately makes more so the skin works harder.
2. The Face Cloth Method
Face steaming is part of many traditional medicine practices. In Ayurveda, they have a rule that says Oleation follows steam. That is once you have steamed the skin, then you put oil onto it.
This method aims to do both together.
It works best if you have four clothes. One for across the forehead, one across the chin, and then one for each cheek.
Soak your face cloths in very warm water, but not hot enough to scald yourself.
Blend your chosen oils into a massage oil blend. One drop into a teaspoon of carrier will be enough. Apply it to the face then apply the face cloths over. Keep replacing them as they cool.
DIY Recipes For The Best Essential Oils For Face Steaming
Blend of the Best Essential Oils for Face Steaming Normal or Dry skin
- 1 drop Geranium Essential Oil (Pelargonium roseum x asperum)
- 1 drop Cypress Essential Oil (Cupressus sempervirens)
- 1 drop Carrot Seed Essential Oil (Daucus carota)
Blend of the Best Essential Oils for Face Steaming Greasy skin
- 1 drop Grapefruit Essential Oil (Citrus paradisii)
- 1 drop Marjoram Essential Oil (Origanum majorana)
- 1 drop Clary Sage Essential Oil (Salvia sclarea)
Conclusion
Beautiful skin is clean skin. Implementing a weekly treatment with the best essential oils for face steaming can improve the appearance of your skin exponentially.
