Ylang Ylang is a versatile essential oil with a wide range of benefits and uses. Inhaling the sweet floral aroma of this oil calms and soothes worries away, encouraging full-body relaxation. It also relieves pain and promotes self-confidence. It makes a great addition to skin and hair care preparations.
Ylang Ylang essential oil is extracted by steam distilling the flowers of the ylang-ylang tree. It has a warm, sweet floral scent that is reminiscent of the warm, fragrant South Pacific breeze.
Benefits of Ylang Ylang Essential Oil
Soothes Worries Away & Creates a Calming Environment
Sometimes it feels like stressors keep coming at us all day long, leaving us feeling constantly stressed and exhausted. Inhaling the aroma of Ylang Ylang can help combat these frazzled feelings, instilling a sense of calm and serenity.
Ylang ylang is rich in caryophyllene and gemacrene, which are part of the sesquiterpenes group. These chemical components are what give the oil its calming properties.
The benefits of ylang ylang on mental health and mood have been demonstrated through several studies. One such study examined the effect of the oil on the volunteers’ mood, calmness, attentiveness, alertness, and energy. The study showed that the oil had a harmonizing effect on volunteers. Researchers determined that inhaling the aroma of ylang ylang can be very beneficial for anyone struggling with anxiety, intrusive thoughts or simply staying focused.
Enhances Mood & Acts as a Natural Aphrodisiac
The harmonizing actions of ylang ylang essential oil are also what makes it a natural aphrodisiac. It works to ramp up the mood in the bedroom by helping you calm down while at the same time evoking feelings of elation and joy. Diffusing the oil early in the evening can work its magic subtly in the background, helping you feel more relaxed and in a happy frame of mind.
Other aphrodisiac essential oils
Improves Quality of Sleep
Ylang ylang is right up there with lavender as one of the best essential oils for sleep. It’s just a matter of which aroma you prefer. Or maybe try a blend of both – add 3 drops of lavender + 2 drops of ylang ylang for the best sleep ever.
Blending the two oils gives you the sleep benefits of both. Each of these oils works in slightly different ways to improve sleep. Lavender triggers a relaxing, sedative effect while ylang ylang helps to ‘power down’ your brain and slow your racing thoughts, which is so essential for good sleep. Ylang ylang is particularly effective if you are dealing with pain that is hampering your sleep.
Participants in a study reported improved sleep quality when they diffused ylang ylang at night.
More essential oils that are good for sleep
Reduces Acne & Supports Healthy Skin
Ylang ylang contains a combination of chemicals that work well to moisturize and nourish the skin. One study found that it works well to eliminate acne-causing bacteria.
One way to get the benefits of ylang ylang essential oil for the skin is by adding a few drops to a steam facial. Steam facials are great for cleansing the skin. The heat from the steam opens up the pores and releases dirt and bacteria lodged in the pores. When you add a few drops of ylang ylang to your steam facial your skin will benefit from the chemical components of the oil.
Keeps Hair Looking Healthy Too
Exposure to the sun can leave your hair looking dry and damaged. Ylang ylang essential oil is rich in organic components that protect your hair from the summer heat. Deep conditioning using ylang ylang essential oil nourishes and moisturizes your hair.
To make your own scalp deep-conditioning oil, mix 1-3 drops of ylang ylang with Fractionated Coconut Oil to 0.8% and massage into the hair roots. This acts as a deep conditioning hair treatment that will leave your hair looking soft and healthy while also smelling sweet and floral. Alternately, you can add 2 drops ylang ylang and 2 drops rosemary essential oil to condition hair.
How to Use Ylang Ylang Essential Oil
There are several different ways you can use ylang ylang essential oil to enjoy the benefits. Choose the method that best resonates with the benefits you are looking for.
Diffuse the oil – This is of course the easiest way to enjoy the synergistic benefits of ylang ylang. Remember you don’t need to add too much. Ylang ylang has a strong aroma and a little bit will emit a subtle scent without being too overpowering. Diffusing ylang ylang will calm a frazzled mind, reduce stress, and help you fall off to sleep faster. These top-rated essential oil diffusers cost less than $25.
Create a sensual massage oil – Planning on giving your partner a sensual massage? Add a few drops of ylang ylang to the massage oil to ramp up the mood in the bedroom. Use this recipe to make your own sensual massage oil – 1 drop Ylang Ylang Complete, 2 drops Bergamot, and 2 drops Sandalwood in 10 ml carrier oil. The best carrier oils to use for this purpose are fractionated coconut oil or grapeseed oil.
Create a stress-relief massage oil – A gentle massage with a mix of fractionated coconut oil and ylang ylang is great for relieving stress and inducing relaxation and sleep.
Blend & apply to skin – Ylang ylang essential oil is good for your skin but should always be diluted in a carrier oil before applying to your skin. Essentials oils should never be applied directly to the skin in their concentrated form. Adding a few drops of ylang ylang to a teaspoon of a carrier oil will give you the benefits of both. Gently apply the blend to your skin and let the oils seep in and do their magic.
Use in your bath – Soaking in a tub of warm water to which you’ve added a few drops of ylang ylang can reduce stress, boost mood, and promote relaxation and sleep. For the ultimate relaxing experience, add ylang ylang to an Epsom salt bath. Soak and inhale slowly and deeply for at least twenty minutes. Read more about the right way to use essential oils in the bath.
Add to a necklace or bracelet diffuser – This will allow you to get the stress-relieving, mood-boosting benefits of ylang ylang everywhere you go.
Use by itself or in blends as a perfume – Ylang-ylang oil can be blended with other essential oils with earthy or floral notes to create a pleasant scent. Mix this blend with a non-scented carrier oil and apply as a perfume on pulse points, neck, and wrists.
Ylang Ylang Essential Oil Blends
Mood Boosting Diffusing Blend
3 drops Ylang Ylang Complete
3 drops Orange
2 drops Lavender
The sweet-citrusy orange complements the two floral aromas while also adding a refreshing note to the otherwise heavily floral scent.
Add to your diffuser. Enjoy!
