When I find an essential oil that I just love, I eagerly get to work figuring out how it can also benefit my horses and dogs. Vetiver essential oil (Vetiveria Zizanoides) just so happens to be one of my go tos! When I think of Vetiver, 2 things come to mind...calm and skin! Let's chat my best Vetiver essential oil uses....
What is Vetiver essential oil?
According to Young Living™ Essential Oils "Vetiver is a perennial grass native to the tropical regions of Asia and is now also cultivated extensively in Haiti. It has an extensive root system, making it a useful plant for erosion control. Vetiver essential oil is steam distilled from the roots of the plant, resulting in an essential oil with a deeply earthy aroma that can support a creative, calm, and focused environment for children and is a great addition to your bedtime routine. An important ingredient in several Young Living skin care products, Vetiver also helps promote the appearance of an even skin tone when applied topically."
What can you use vetiver essential oil for?
Vetiver is known as the "Oil of Tranquility" in India and is used in aromatherapy for relaxation. Vetiver oil benefits for the brain have also been studied as well as its effect on ticks, bacteria, and as an antioxidant.
Vetiver has a wonderfully dark, smoky, and earthy scent. If your a horse person and love the smell of Stubben Hamanol, I think its aroma is quite similar to this! This aroma makes vetiver essential oil perfect for meditation, calmness, relaxation, and quieting the mind.
Many horses that I offer it to, eagerly want to inhale the aroma and choose it over other essential oils. Another favorite is Cedarwood.
You can get started using it with your horses and dogs by simply wearing it as a perfume. Both horses and dogs have a way better sense of smell than we do! When you wear it as perfume, you become a walking diffuser for them. Plus, this will help you remain calm too, and you're half the equation.
You can simply add a drop to the palm of your hand, rub your hands together, and offer to your horses and dogs to smell. Let them inhale the aroma for as long as they like, then rub the residue on the back of your neck and pulse points.
It's also fun to create a perfume blend using Vetiver that you can then wear at home or when you head to the barn. A perfume blend will stay on the skin longer, and you can add additional essential oils that can also benefit emotions. Grab my free guide to making your own perfumes HERE.
I often make this perfume blend that adds the additional tranquil aromas of Lavender essential oil and Bergamot essential oil. (Bergamot essential oil can increase your sensitivity to sunlight, so use this perfume under your clothing.)
CALM.ALL.DAY.LONG Perfume Blend
Vetiver essential oil blends well with Ylang Ylang essential oil and Lavender essential oil. So, a few other perfume blends that I like to use are equal drops Vetiver with equal drops of either Ylang Ylang or Lavender. You can add a drop of each of the oils to the palm of your hand, add a few drops of a carrier oil, rub your hands together, and apply to the back of your neck and pulse points. You can also make this in a roller bottle for ease of use and to try different combinations.
10 drops Vetiver
10 drops of Lavender
10 drops of Vetiver
10 drops of Ylang Ylang
5 drops Vetiver
10 drops Lavender
5 drops Ylang Ylang
Add the essential oils into a roller bottle and fill up with a carrier oil. These roller bottles also come in handy for skin care. You can use it on your dogs, horses, or yourself, by simply rolling on the area of skin that needs help.
Diffusing in the house for my scaredy chi's can be really helpful too! Roofers, loud noises, fireworks, thunder, you name it-if it's loud- several of my chi's turn into shaking messes..breaks my heart :(....Running an essential oil diffuser can really support them during these times.
You can diffuse Vetiver alone, but I like to add a few other essential oils that seem to make a winning combo for my chi's....I also use these diffuser oil recipes for times when I have trouble going to sleep.
My go to Vetiver essential oil diffuser blends:
2 drops Vetiver
1 Drops Vanilla
1 Drops Myrrh
2 Drops Vetiver
1 drops Bergamot
1 Drops Cedarwood
2 drops Vetiver
2 drops Frankincense
2 drops Vetiver
2 drops Lavender
Vetiver is a thick oil and comes out of the bottle fairly slowly. To combat this and my patience, I took off the orifice reducer and lid and replaced it with an inexpensive glass dropper top. These are available on Amazon and I like to do this with all my thick essential oils such as Myrrh and Sandalwood too.
Making a salve is another easy way to help skin health with vetiver oil. Simply mix 5 drops into 2 TBS of coconut oil. Adding 5 drops of Frankincense essential oil will supercharge your salve. Did you know that a review of research on vegetable oils including coconut oil on PubMed, found that "In many cases, vegetable oils proved to be more effective than synthetic wound-healing compounds used as controls. The fatty-acid components of vegetable oils are assumed to play a major role in the wound-healing process, in particular polyunsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid."
If you're just getting started using essential oils with your dogs and horses, be sure to download my free PDF guides.... everything you need to know like safety and dilution, at your fingertips....click HERE FOR HORSES and HERE FOR DOGS)
The information in this blog is not meant to provide medical advice nor be a substitute for veterinary care.
