Guide to Essential Oils: Clary Sage

Clary Sage is an essential oil that everyone should have in their cupboard. A beautifully sweet yet nutty scent, the oil has a myriad of health and beauty benefits which are truly enhancing to our every day life. Native to Southern Europe, the oil is extracted from the flowers and leaves of the Clary Sage plant, and was known in the Middle Ages as The Eye of Christ. 

Clary Sage is perhaps best known for it’s ability to rebalance hormones during the menstrual cycle, easing cramps and helping with PMT. Clary Sage is the only essential oil to contain sclareol, and it’s thought that this chemical is what makes it such a balancing and calming oil. Sclareol works by inducing the release of imbalanced hormones, particularly when there is a deficiency. It's health benefits go even further, and researchers have found that compounds in Clary Sage essential oil inhibit the growth of breast cancer tissue in vitro. 

By working directly with our hormone levels, Clary Sage is a particularly powerful oil for inducing states of calmness and relaxation, often with a sense of gentle euphoria. If you’re going through a difficult time, or have just had a difficult day then a few drops of this in a bath or released in an oil burner should bring you a much needed peace of mind. The properties of Clary Sage make it a potent beautifying oil too. Used on the face, it helps even skin tone and reduce wrinkles. Add a few drops to jojoba oil for a beautifully fragrant, skin refining tonic. 

As with most essential oils, Clary Sage is a great anti oxidant and anti viral, helping to beat these winter bugs that don’t seem to be going away! It’s personally one of my favourites for relaxing at the end of a hectic day, and if I feel a little unbalanced I know a few drops of this oil will come to my rescue. 

Have you used Clary Sage before? How do you like to use it? 

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