The Best Essential Oils & Blends For Sleep

by Annie Mascia September 15, 2022

The Best Essential Oils & Blends For Sleep

For those of us who struggle to fall asleep or wake often in the middle of the night, sleep can be a major issue. It is so important to our well-being that here at Edens Garden, we want to help you figure out from an essential oil standpoint, what would best aid you with your shuteye routine.

It is known that sleep is crucial to brain metabolism and helps our bodies recover from long stressful days. Sleep helps us sort each day's activities on a subconscious level to realign our brains mentally. Satisfying deep sleep has the benefit of recharging our immune systems, maintaining a healthy weight as well as lowering the risk for serious health issues such as diabetes and heart disease[1].

If you have issues either falling asleep or staying asleep, this guide will introduce you to the best essential oils and blends for sleep. Essential oils have demonstrated an increase in sleep quality with little to no side effects[2]

You might be wondering "What essential oils can improve sleep?" The answer to this question depends on what aromas you are drawn to as well as the type of aroma preference you have. While you may already be familiar with some sleepy-time favorites like Lavender oil and Chamomile oil, at Edens Garden, we offer multiple essential oil blends that combine popular peaceful sleep aids with other potent, relaxing pure & therapeutic essential oils. 

If you are trying to decide whether an essential oil blend or a single essential oil is best for you, this guide brings you well-researched essential oil information for sleep and explains the difference between Edens Garden's four sleep aid blends. It will also highlight some of the powerhouse oils behind their beneficial effects.

Good Night

Good Night is a balanced sleep blend of floral, herbaceous and rich essential oils. It contains:

  • Lavender
  • Sweet Marjoram 
  • Chamomile
  • Bergamot
  • Ylang Ylang
  • Sandalwood
  • Lime- Key 
  • Lime
  • Vanilla 

Good Night has a light, powdery, clean aroma, with an overall impression of Lavender. Two grounding oils, Ylang Ylang - floral, sweet & relaxing and woody, trusting Sandalwood support the blend to provide complexity and depth. Trailing in the background are refreshing citrus fruits without adding too much sweetness. 

Beyond its pleasing aroma, its integrated oils help support a good night's sleep. For those of you who toss and turn at night or have a head full of worry, this blend can help to ease & relax your mind so that you can drift off into a tranquil slumber. 

Lavender

Since Lavender essential oil is in all four of our restorative sleep blends, it’s worth reviewing this oil’s famous properties. Lavender is a highly versatile oil with the ability to aid the skin, bring relief from inflammation, as well as calm the central nervous system. Used in cultures from Ancient Egypt to Renaissance Italy, there is no doubt that Lavender is the “mother of essential oils.”

Supporting sleep quality is one of Lavender’s most well-known and well-studied attributes. Studies with human trials time and again have found that Lavender brings an increased sleep quality and in turn users wake up refreshed[2,3,4]. These studies indicate that Lavender can help support sleep, especially when combined with other good habits.

Sandalwood

Sweet, woody Sandalwood is another popular essential oil and contains a compound called santalol that may be able to help people who often wake up during sleep. Its grounding abilities help bring forth inner peace and a sense of security.

A research study of santalols effect on sleep caused a “significant decrease in total waking time and an increase in total non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep time”[5]- in other words, deep sleep cycles improve with Sandalwood. On top of this, Sandalwood has been found to help decrease stress as it aids the reduction of blood cortisol levels.[5]

Sleep Ease

Sleep Ease is complex and nearly completely floral. It is powdery, and gentle, and gives you a feeling of walking through a blossoming garden. For those of you who find yourself slow to move and hard to get motivated this may be the blend for you - it's calming and stress relieving while giving you a lighter sense of self. 

It contains:

  • Geranium
  • Linaloe Wood
  • Coriander Seed
  • Lavender
  • Chamomile
  • Palmarosa
  • Lemon
  • Ylang Ylang
  • Jasmine
  • Rose 

Now that you know about Lavender's soothing effects, did you know that a little Rose can help relax you before bed, too?

Rose

Sweet, floral Rose is a frequent addition to perfumes and skincare ingredients. It’s known to nourish the skin as well as the senses. Rose leaves you feeling radiant and calm.

To understand this effect research that has been conducted shows the science behind these outcomes:

  • Rose has measurable stress-combatting properties. Rose aromatherapy has been shown to help combat nerves in women experiencing pregnancy for the first time. [6]
  • A 2016 study on Rose, sleep, and dreaming tracked 26 women’s sleep cycles over a week. Those who received Rose aromatherapy had better dream recall, which may also indicate they experienced better sleep.[7]

If stress is a factor in your sleepless nights, rosy Sleep Ease may help you put your mind to rest to give you the experience of sweet dreams.

Sleepy Head

Sleepy Head is earthier, less floral and more grounding than our other sleep blends. With Cedarwood and Frankincense to help you plant your feet on the ground (or your body firmly on the bed) and Petitgrain to settle your restless thoughts, it’s the perfect choice for anyone not big on floral and sweet aromas. Trailing in the background you will sense notes of Lavender and Chamomile oils in this blend. 

If you find that you are the type of person who has a difficult time sitting still, or if you carry with you nervous or worrying thoughts, you should consider this grounding essential oil blend. Ingredients in Sleepy Head include:

  • Lavender
  • Cedarwood
  • Frankincense
  • Tangerine
  • Petitgrain
  • Ylang Ylang
  • Sweet Marjoram
  • Chamomile

Cedarwood

Cedarwood is known for its grounding, woody aroma. It can help you find your center during stressful moments, and it may help improve your sleep, too. 

  • A 2007 study found that cedrol, found in Cedarwood as well as Pine, affects the Autonomic Nervous System to aid the reduction of stress.[8]
  • A more recent 2020 study found that Cedarwood balm can help reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol (cortisol has the aftereffect of causing inflammation).[9]

Sound Asleep

Part of our, OK For Kids line, Sound Asleep is a blend designed for children two years old and up, after all, it’s not only adults who struggle with restless nights. Regardless, adults, as well as children, will love this rich, sophisticated and sweetly floral essential oil blend. Like Good Night, Sound Asleep is Lavender-forward, but with an elevated twist. 

Are you the kind of person who toils so much that you are so overtired that you find it difficult to fall asleep? This blend contains some unique single oils worth mentioning to help familiarize yourself. The first, Damiana, has a slightly sweeter scent but rounds out the blend by helping to calm the nerves, ease tension headaches and fight exhaustion. Another oil, Sweet Marjoram, is herbaceous, fresh and has the endearing term in Greece “the joy of the mountains”. Another worth mentioning, Cistus aka Rock Rose, which you can read about below. 

The essence of this blend includes:

  • Lavender
  • Sweet Marjoram 
  • Grapefruit 
  • Damiana
  • Cistus
  • Osmanthus

Cistus

Are you struggling to uncover what helps with fatigue at night when trying to sleep? Cistus is a flowering shrub found throughout the Mediterranean. In Morocco, this pure essential oil is prized for a variety of effects, including supporting mood. It also is an exceptional oil to support those dealing with grief. Traditionally it has been used at low doses as an ingredient in sedative tea, coffee, and other infusions to prevent insomnia and anxiety. [10]

Osmanthus

Also called the sweet olive, osthmanthus trees are used medicinally throughout Asia. The floral absolute comes from the flowering osthmanus tree and is a frequent ingredient in some of our most loved essential oil blends. 

Osmanthus pure absolute oil can help:

  • Reduce stress
  • Protect healthy brain function
  • Support healthy sleep

Thanks to this incredible blend of essential oils, Sound Asleep may have a beneficial calming effect on the entire family!

Using Essential Oils For Better Sleep

Which single essential oils for sleep diffuser blends are best for you? If you would like to consider other essential oil singles, take a look at Chamomile- Roman, Patchouli, Juniper Berry, Clary Sage, Eucalyptus or Vetiver oil. 

Every single essential oil and essential oil diffuser blend contains 100% pure, top-quality essential oils for sleep that will keep you on the road to a healthy lifestyle.

For best results, we recommend using the above blends or singles as follows:

  • Diffuse your essential oil before bed. You can even set your Diamond Diffuser to run intermittently! For best results, we recommend using your aromatherapy diffuser and sleep blend 30 minutes prior to bedtime.
  • Opt for pre-diluted Roll-On essential oils and apply to your throat, neck and temples before sleep. This can be a great solution if you’re traveling and are unable to bring your diffuser along with you since they are already pre-diluted with a carrier oil. 
  • Make a linen spray from one of our sleep essential oil blends by combining 18 drops of essential oil, 2 tablespoons of grain alcohol and 3 oz of distilled water in a glass spray bottle.
  • Try spending as much daytime outdoors - sunlight has been found to help reset your circadian rhythm. [12]
  • Achieve better results by practicing good sleep hygiene. That means avoiding alcohol and caffeine before bed, turning off screens an hour before bedtime and going to bed at the same time every night.

If you still need a little extra get-up-and-go in the morning as you start your new bedtime routine, check out our blog for additional tips (i.e. essential oil diffuser recipes for sleep and other aromatherapy recipes).

Over time, using essential oils may help you decrease sleep problems (such as anxiety or insomnia) by helping your body maintain healthier sleep cycles and feel better throughout the day!

See our essential oils for insomnia on this page.

SOURCES:

  1. Get Enough Sleep https://health.gov/myhealthfinder/healthy-living/mental-health-and-relationships/get-enough-sleep#:~:text=Health%20Benefits&text=Get%20sick%20less%20often,stress%20and%20improve%20your%20mood
  2. A Pilot Study on Essential Oil Aroma Stimulation for Enhancing Slow-wave EEG in Sleeping Brain  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-80171-x
  3. Effect of Inhaled Lavender and Sleep Hygiene on Self-Reported Sleep Issues: A Randomized Controlled Trial https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4505755/
  4. A Pilot Study on the Physiological Effects of Three Essential Oils in Humans. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1934578X1601101034
  5. A Pilot Study on the Physiological Effects of Three Essential Oils in Humans https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30549622/
  6. Comparing the Effects of Aromatherapy With Rose Oils and Warm Foot Bath on Anxiety in the First Stage of Labor in Nulliparous Women https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4270653/
  7. Effects of Inhalation Aromatherapy With Rosa damascena (Damask Rose) on the State Anxiety and Sleep Quality of Operating Room Personnel During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Controlled Trial https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8554138/
  8. Autonomic Responses During Inhalation of Natural Fragrance of Cedrol in Humans. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14614968/
  9. Lavender, cedarwood, vetiver balm work as anti-stress treatment by reducing plasma cortisol level. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341609645_Lavender_cedarwood_vetiver_balm_work_as_anti-stress_treatment_by_reducing_plasma_cortisol_level
  10. Cistus ladanifer. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/cistus-ladanifer
  11. Can lavender aid those who struggle with insomnia? https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/aromatherapy-can-lavender-aid-those-who-struggle-with-insomnia/91028/#:~:text=In%20both%20men%20and%20women,sleep%20latency
  12. Effects of Light on Circadian Rhythms https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/emres/longhourstraining/light.html#:~:text=The%20light%2Fdark%20cycle%20of,day%20to%20be%20more%20alert.

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8 comments

Edens Garden

October 3, 2022 at 2:59 pm

Hi Gayla, we are happy to hear you’ve been sleeping better! Yes, any of these sleep blends can be applied to your legs as long as your diluting properly.

Gayla

October 3, 2022 at 2:56 pm

I’ve been successful with nightly applications of lavender mixed with my night lotion and massaged into my feet. It has stopped the pains I was getting in my toes during the night. Also has stopped my restless leg issues! I’ve been sleeping SO much better. I’m wondering if all these sleep blends are ok for applying to the skin in lotion/oil of course! Thank you! Love your EO’s!!

Edens Garden

September 23, 2021 at 8:10 am

Hi Betty! You can try any of the recommendations from this article, but for more in depth assistance, please contact our aromatherapists: aaa@edensgarden.com

BETTY RICHARDSON

September 23, 2021 at 8:06 am

I have neuropathy , (nerve pain) in my feet with a burning hot pins and needle feeling which keeps me awake until 12 midnight and 2 am . which oils will I need to fall asleep and get rid of the horrible foot pain

Edens Garden

September 7, 2021 at 11:14 am

Hi Nancy! We do not offer samples at this time, aside from the oils available in our Signature Blends Sampler Set, available for purchase. We do offer a 30 day return policy if you are ever unsatisfied with an oil as well.

Nancy

September 7, 2021 at 11:05 am

I usually use Good Night, but am wondering about these other options. Do you have those paper samples available to mail?

Edens Garden

September 30, 2020 at 11:46 am

Hi Sioux! Great idea, we will forward this feedback to our development team ✨

Sioux

September 30, 2020 at 11:45 am

I’m curious why do none of your sleep blends include Vetiver or Juniper? Vetiver is the only thing that I’ve found that actually keeps me asleep all night, and Juniper helps with bad dreams. Any thoughts on including these in a future blend?