Three oils to begin with — and why these three
18 August 2026 · 2 min read · Monika Mazurek
Instead of a large starter kit: lavender, lemon and peppermint. Three scents that cover a surprising amount of everyday life.
The commonest mistake with a first order is buying too many oils at once. Ten bottles look impressive on a shelf, but a month later two of them are in use and the rest are standing still. It is far better to begin with three whose uses do not overlap, and only then to add whatever turned out to be missing.
Lavender — the scent of the end of the day
Lavender is the most versatile oil to start with, mainly because it is mild and forgiving. It works in the diffuser in the evening, blends well with a carrier oil for massage, and its scent is neutral enough that it rarely bothers anyone else in the house.
A practical idea to begin with: two or three drops in the diffuser an hour before bed, or a drop diluted in a carrier oil and worked into the wrists as part of an evening ritual.
Lemon — freshness and cleaning
Lemon sits on an entirely different shelf of the scent world: sharp, clean, waking. It also has a practical advantage over the others — beyond the diffuser it is excellent for cleaning at home. A few drops in water with vinegar makes a surface cleaner with a scent that has nothing chemical about it.
One caveat is worth knowing from the first day: citrus oils applied to the skin can increase its sensitivity to sunlight. We write about that separately.
Peppermint — the scent that gets you going
Peppermint is the opposite of lavender, and that is exactly why it complements it. Intense, cool, distinctly refreshing — it suits the morning diffuser, or work at a desk when a room feels stale.
Peppermint is considerably stronger than the other two. One or two drops are enough in the diffuser, and on the skin it is always diluted and kept away from the eyes.
Where to go next
After a few weeks it usually becomes obvious which way to go. If lavender is what you reach for most, calming compositions tend to be the next step. If it is lemon — the rest of the citruses and the blends for the home. If it is peppermint — woody and herbaceous oils for work and focus.
That is a far more sensible order than the reverse: the large kit first, and the search for a use for it afterwards.
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