Essential Oils for a Calmer Holiday Season 

Learn more about calming essential oils for mind, body and home

Peace. Calm. Quiet. Tranquility. There is no shortage of words used to describe that ever-elusive feeling you get when all is well in your world and your general vibe is one of balance and groundedness. But in reality, a lot of us find it hard to get there. From the morning commute to your racing mind, to the beeps and dings of your phone and laptop, the state of the state for many of us is the opposite of calm; it’s downright chaotic. 

Cue: the holiday season. Google the term “holiday stress relief” and you’ll be served thousands of suggestions for how to slow down and smell the fresh gingerbread cookies. The thing is, it’s not always simple or practical or possible to reduce travel time, social gatherings or differing opinions. What is possible, is carving out small pockets of time that allow you to focus inward, create your own routines and rituals for self-care and feel in harmony with the essence of peacefulness.  

Luckily for all of us, essential oils are little wellness-enhancing miracle workers we can use throughout our days and nights to help support and encourage us to go deeper into a state of rest and relaxation. We know essential oils are powerful, concentrated plant compounds that have many different uses and benefits, and one of their superpowers is creating various states and feelings in the body, mind and home. Read on to learn more about some of our favorite essential oils and products for all things calm.  

Calming essential oils: lavender

Lavender is likely the most well-known essential oil in the world. The distinctly soft, floral and herbaceous notes of lavender are used around the globe in everything from skin and body care products to candles, diffuser blends and even in culinary options like tea and baked goods. In short, it feels like there isn’t much that lavender can’t do.  

When it comes to emotional and spiritual support, lavender is most commonly used to bring feelings of deep relaxation, as well as to calm emotional turmoil, to encourage compassion and to increase gentleness.  

Some of the products here at Saje that we turn to for holiday self-care that include this sweet and supportive herb are as follows: 

1. Lavender Mist: A sweet and soothing blend to bring balance and harmony to both the body and mind. Blended with the floral and comforting notes of lavender essential oil to promote a feeling of mindfulness and overall well-being. 
2. Lavender & Friends relaxing body lotion: treat your skin to nourishment and hydration while your senses get the benefit of lavender essential oil. Our lotions are perfect for after the bath or shower or anytime you’re looking to indulge in a harmonizing body care treatment. 
3. 100% pure Lavender essential oil: we love to use this oil to create a facial steaming experience. Simply add a small number of drops to a bowl of steaming water/facial steamer and inhale slowly and deeply for 5–10 minutes. This type of wellness ritual can help to increase feelings of calmness and support overall feelings of well-being.  

Calming essential oils: chamomile

Another ingredient commonly found in soothing essential oils blends is chamomile. Chamomile essential oil has many potential benefits, one of which is helping to reduce or relieve anxious feelings; to promote relaxation and to support in regulating the mood. Chamomile has a mild, grassy and sometimes apple-like aroma, and is so widely used in part because the gentleness of the oil makes it well suited to most people.  

Below are three of our favorite products containing chamomile that work to encourage feeling soothed and restored: 

1. Tranquility diffuser blend: there’s almost nothing that helps us to feel grounded and balanced as quickly as using our favorite diffuser to scent the air with the peaceful and easing aromas of chamomile, lavender and marjoram as part of the Tranquility blend. Just 10-15 drops, according to your preference, can help turn your space into your personal sanctuary for calm. 
2. Tranquility room spray: when you want to quickly transform how a space feels, a few spritzes of this restful mist can help you get there. With the same sweet and herbaceous formula of the Tranquility diffuser blend, our favorite way to use this air spray is to mist over our pillows, sheets and bedding before tucking in for the night.  
3. Connection roll-on: we created this heart-warming roll-on in support of your mental and emotional wellness, blended with balancing and stabilizing essential oils to inspire a sense of togetherness, openness and curiosity. Chamomile and sage meet grapefruit and spearmint for a truly unique blend that can be used in support of feeling calm, cool and collected.  

Calming essential oils: clary sage

After two very well-known essential oils comes one that is lesser known called clary sage. In aromatherapy, clary sage is what’s referred to as a euphoric, which means it has a powerful effect on the mind. Clary sage is warm, sweet, earthy and lively, and is most commonly used to provide comfort to the body and mind. Stress reduction, feelings of balance and a quiet mind are just some of the highly touted benefits of this flowering herb. 

Here are some products in which you can find clary sage as part of the ingredient list for deep calm, relaxation and mental and emotional support: 

1. Stress Release roll-on: an important ingredient in our #1 product for relieving and easing stress, feelings of tension and mild nervousness, clary sage works alongside lavender and chamomile to create a sense of balance and harmony anytime you’re feeling overwhelmed or out of sorts. 
2. Stress Release bath salts: there’s almost nothing better than the feelings of stress relief that wash over you (no pun intended!) during a warm, comforting bath. Just a few capfuls of our popular Stress Release bath salts, blended with sea and epsom salts can help you feel regulated and peaceful as part of a self-care ritual.  
3. Stress Release body oil: the 3rd product we love from the Stress Release collection is our body oil, which is perfect for self or partnered massage that works to decompress and ease tension, soreness, and stiffness in the body. Grapeseed oil, apricot kernel oil and vitamin E work alongside ultimate soothing essential oils of vetiver, geranium and clary sage for both skin nourishment and aromatic benefits.  

Calming essential oils for after work

While looking to enjoy a more relaxed and peaceful holiday season, many of us are still navigating dinner parties and social gatherings alongside our regular workday. The result? Sometimes we feel overstimulated. Here at Saje, we have a product family called Unwind that was formulated with fiery yet reassuring cinnamon, sweet and lively orange, nurturing and supportive bergamot and calming and stabilizing lavender for the ultimate in promoting slowing down, getting mindful and focusing on our overall well-being. 

Unwind roll-on can be applied to the jaw line, temples and over pulse points like the wrists and elbow creases when you’re looking for a mind and body reset. 

Time to Unwind is a seasonal and holiday-exclusive kit that contains four products for bath and body care, helping to create a grounding evening bath ritual. It contains our Unwind bath salts, Power Down roll-on, a first-ever Unwind body oil and a dry brush made with beechwood and sisal bristles for gentle exfoliation.  

Unwind Mist: formulated to be misted over the hair, face and body whenever you need a mild and gentle mindful moment, the Unwind Mist is the perfect way to self-soothe and encourage feeling present and centered.  

Calming essential oils for bedtime

Of course, holiday self-care and holiday stress relief are largely dependent on us prioritizing one of the most important routines of our day, which is our nighttime sleep routine. Getting that coveted 7-9 hours of good quality rest each night is what sets us up for the next day to feel refreshed and enlivened. The Sleep Well collection of products was created for exactly this purpose; to ease restlessness and promote restfulness.  

Silent Nights: we curated this limited-edition holiday sleep set for those who are seeking sound sleep, deep rest and feelings of peacefulness. It’s a five-piece kit that includes our best-selling Sleep Well roll-on, Power Down roll-0n, Lavender Mist, Tranquility diffuser blend and a brand-new passive diffuser made from Lava Rock, created for a subtle and gentle aromatic experience by your bedside.  

Sleep Well body butter: hydrate and replenish your skin with three different butters from mango seed, cocoa seed and shea that provide luxurious nourishment to your body while centering your mind with essential oils of valerian root, jasmine and neroli. 

Sleep Well roll-on: our most potent and powerful blend in support of deep and renewing rest. Sleep Well as a product line is powered by valerian root, one of the oldest herbal remedies in western medicine for truly fulfilling peace and calm. You can apply this roll-on to areas like the throat, wrists and temples about 30 minutes before bedtime to signal to the body and mind that it’s time to drift off to dreamland. 

Calming essential oils for a self-care routine

During the holiday season we tend to find ourselves out and about, staying up late and potentially skipping important steps in our self-care routines, like prioritizing our skin care regimen. We’ve created a skincare line called Calm-O-Mile, which was created specifically for those who identify as having skin that is sensitive, reactive or prone to irritation. These products are proven gentle and efficacious, blending soft and mild essential oils of chamomile, geranium and ho wood with other functional ingredients designed to cleanse, moisturize and treat delicate skin. 

Calm-O-Mile cleanser: ease the appearance of visible redness due to dryness, gently remove impurities and soothe skin that is delicate or in need of extra TLC with this mild, supportive and nourishing gel cleanser that also includes plant-based squalane, aloe vera and coconut oil. 

Calm-O-Mile moisturizer: nurture, protect and replenish sensitive skin while helping defend against the appearance of redness, due to dryness. This gentle and supportive hydrator helps nourish the skin's moisture barrier for visibly calmed, soothed and healthy-looking skin. 

Calm-O-Mile face oil: lock in moisture, relieve redness due to dryness, and promote calm, soothed skin with this gentle and supportive face oil for sensitive skin, the last step in your daily skincare routine. Blended with evening primrose oil, oat kernel extract and camellia oil.  

Our top tips for holiday stress relief  

While calming essential oils are some of our favorite wellness tools to beat the stresses of the bustling holiday season, there are many ways to prioritize self-care and self-love that promote those same feelings of relaxation and tranquility; here are just a few of them:  

1. Set realistic expectations. Tempting as it may be to overschedule yourself and say ‘yes’ to every invite, sometimes one of the most powerful ways to prioritize a calmer holiday season is to say no. Don’t expect everything to go according to plan, and don’t compare yourself or your holiday celebrations to others. 
2. Stay close to friends and loved ones. Make efforts for your time together to be meaningful, whether it’s creating a new tradition or simply investing in purposeful conversation. Community is one of the most important aspects of wellness, and spending quality time together during the holidays is at the top of our wish list.  
3. Do your best to keep your routine. Make a point to stick close to the healthy habits you cultivate throughout the year that make you feel most like yourself. Nutritious food and drink, regular movement, spending time outdoors and other activities like yoga, meditation or journaling can help you stay grounded during the busy season and can support you in accomplishing your goals and resolutions in the New Year.