How I Prepare For Sleep Using Plant Botanicals & Essential Oils 🌛
Implementing a consistent nighttime routine that allows me to relax and wind down to rest has been crucial in helping me fall sweetly asleep and easing any anxiety or stress. I’ve found that through practicing these simple self-care steps using plant botanicals & essential oils, this routine calms my nervous system, whilst nourishing my skin at the same time.
My forever favourite skin care, essential oil, dental care, hair care, beauty, perfume brand… you name it, is Living Libations. I absolutely adore their products and use them several times daily, but use specific products for nighttime. All Living Libations products are:
synthetic free
raw
organic wildcrafted
GMO-free
microbiome friendly
gluten-free
food grade
beyond fair trade
plant-based & animal friendly
reef safe
leaping bunny
So, as you can see, Living Libations uses only the highest quality & CLEAN ingredients, so I am thrilled to be implementing their elixirs & oils into my self-care.
Along with using Living Libations products in my nighttime routine, I also love to prepare for sleep with deep breathing, aromatherapy, facial massage with LL skincare & a gua sha tool, dry brushing, reading my bible, and prayer. All these things along with Living Libations plant botanicals & oils tremendously help me relax and calm me down from a stressful day or any anxiety that can sometimes arise for me before bed.
Here are some beautiful bible verses that bring me peace before sleep:
I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me. Psalm 3:5
In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8
When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Proverbs 3:24
The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Psalm 23:1-3
Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:29
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9
If you have trouble falling asleep, here are some recommendations that I personally love to do:
1. Turn off screens an hour before bedtime
Whether it is the TV, your laptop, or your phone, those screens emit blue light that tricks your body into thinking it’s light enough that it should be staying awake. There is a nighttime setting on newer iPhones that takes some of that blue light from your screen’s glow which helps, but if you really want to fall asleep quickly, shut off the screens an hour before bedtime.
2. Count your blessings before you sleep
When your head hits your pillow at night, it’s easy for your mind to still be running at 100mph, even when your body is completely still. And those thoughts can easily get carried away with “what ifs”, doubts, and regrets that can stress you out and keep you awake. Instead of letting worries whisk you away, choose to dwell on the things in your life you are thankful for.
3. Dim the lights
It’s no wonder we struggle to fall asleep when we spend all evening in brightly lit rooms with bright screens in our faces and then expect to be out the second we turn off the light! It’s a process, settling down for the night. Just like the sun slowly goes down outside, your lights should gradually dim inside. Use warm, soft lighting inside after the sun goes down. Try to use lamps instead of harsh overhead lights in the evenings. I love to use a salt rock lamp which gives off a warm orange glow and a sunset lamp.
4. Have a lighter dinner
Big, heavy meals rev up your metabolism and make it harder to fall asleep. Having a large dense dinner close to bedtime can make you uncomfortable, leaving you tossing and turning at night. Try not to eat large meals within 2 or 3 hours of bedtime. Stay away from caffeine in the evenings (unfortunately, that includes chocolate). If I have cacao in the evenings, I personally struggle to fall asleep due to the caffeine content.
5. Use relaxing plant botanicals in your skincare & aromatherapy
Read on to learn more about the Living Libations products I’ve been loving to use in the evening and how I implement them into my nighttime routine to help me destress and sleep :)
I am a major fan of the Living Libations Seabuckthorn Best Skin Ever, they have a large range of BSE’s but I hadn’t tried any others until this Sandalwood one! First of all, I am IN LOVE with this. The key ingredient in this concoction is Sandalwood Nut Oil. Like many of their beautiful botanicals, sandalwood nut oil contains beneficial fatty acids and ximenynic acid. This is a key ingredient in achieving an even skin tone and reducing redness. Ximenynic acid has also been found to have a significant impact on the skin aging process as it increases microcirculation, reduces enlarged pores and distension and discoloration of the skin and firms the skin. The pure, organic oil contained in sandalwood nuts has been used for thousands of years to treat cellulite, varicose veins, dry skin, overly oily skin, wounds, cuts, bruises, lesions, and to protect the skin from harsh environmental elements and pollutants.
My face does tend to get a little more sensitive in the autumn and winter months, and can easily become red or irritated if I’m not gentle with my skin, so this Sandalwood Best Skin Ever has been a game-changer for me. I oil cleanse with this product and it leaves my face and neck feeling clean, but also deeply hydrated, which you want before going to sleep! If my skin is feeling more on the dry side, I’ll add another pump of this and massage it into my face before using the next few products.
How to oil cleanse:
“Washing the face with pure pressed plant oils is an ancient Ayurvedic practice. It is also a gracious method to cleanse and gently exfoliate the skin. These oils, water, and a cloth are the simple essentials to cleanse, exfoliate, hydrate, and bedew.”
1. Wet a small portion of a cloth with water.
2. Apply one to two squirts of any of the Sandalwood Best Skin Ever to the dampened portion of the face cloth.
3. Gently massage the face, neck and back of the neck with the moistened cloth. Wash gently or wash vigorously for a deeper exfoliating effect. Rinsing the face is optional.
The ingredients in the Sandalwood BSE are; jojoba, sandalwood nut, sandalwood essential oil, frankincense, cape chamomile, palmarosa, sweet thyme, yarrow, chamomile, lemon, and blood orange.
Also, can we take a moment to appreciate its stunning emerald colour?!
Night Nectar is truly as luxurious as it sounds. This is a unique blend of rare, antiageing botanical oils that moisturise the skin. I take a few drops of Night Nectar and massage it into my face after cleansing with the Sandalwood BSE, and I’ve found that this is one of the best EVER serums I’ve used, along with Living Libations Royal Rose Frankincense Firming Fluid, which is also a top favourite of mine.
I’ve found that Night Nectar is great to use during all seasons throughout the year and stages my skin is in, I’d grab this whether my skin was dry, oily, irritated, red, sunburnt, congested, or perfectly healthy! Something that intrigued me about Night Nectar when I first read the ingredients, was broccoli seed oil. I’d never seen this in beauty products before.
“Broccoli Seed oil is opulent in unique essential fatty acids and plant phyto-nutrients. It covers the skin with a light, non-greasy protective layer that boosts and maintains proper skin hydration. This invisible coating melds moisture into skin. Broccoli seed contains high levels of arachidonic acid, a naturally occurring fatty acid that is also found in the epidermal layer of the skin. Broccoli seed oil restores red skin to its natural calm color.”
How cool?! I always knew broccoli was good for you, but I never knew topically the oil from its seed would benefit my skin!
Night Nectar also has the following ingredients; seabuckthorn (a longtime favourite of mine), cape chamomile, immortelle, frankincense, carrot seed, sweet thyme, ginger, marjoram, and lavender.
The final step of my nighttime skin routine is treating any blemishes if I have any. I only do this at night time, just before my head hits the pillow to heal and restore any broken or congested skin overnight as I’m resting and my body is detoxifying & regenerating.
Zippity DewDab is the most effective spot treatment elixer my skin has ever known. If I have an active breakout on my skin I will apply a tiny drop of this (a little goes such a long way!) and dab it on my skin as the last step in my evening skincare. I had previously tried Living Libations original DewDab, which is truly incredible, although I reach for this more as it’s created specifically for targeting blemishes.
Zippity DewDab is an essential, must-have skin product in my nighttime routine, it’s helped me majorly! With other spot treatments I’ve tried in the past, my skin has resulted in being dry, flakey, or even burnt and damaged. Using Zippity Dew Dab has never done this, and in fact, makes my skin soft and noticeably clearer in problematic areas the next morning.
Zippity DewDab’s pore purifying & healing ingredients are niaouli (cleanses skin that is acne-prone & is toning without being too drying), carrot seed, immortelle, rosemary, blue tansy, and sweet thyme.
The ingredient that gives Zippity DewDab its beautiful blue colour, is blue tansy.
“Beautiful Blue Tansy is incredibly soothing and calming to the skin and the spirit. The high azulene content of this oil cogent compounds to the long list of ingredients in this product that makes this oil sing. Blue Tansy has a deliciously sweet herbaceous aroma and enhances relaxation while soothing dry, red skin or skin that has been exposed to environmental elements. It also brings peaceful feelings to your beauty routine. Blue Tansy is known for its fruity-like aroma.”
Since my Sweet Sleep Pillow Perfume arrived, I’ve never missed a night without spritzing it over my pillow and above my head. This scent is truly beautiful and is made of only pure botanical ingredients. It has a deep, relaxing scent with a hint of sweetness and vanilla. Every evening when I melt into this scent, my body recognises the smell and knows it’s time to unwind and sleep. I believe this is to do with olfactory memory, where scent, emotion, and memory are intertwined due to our brain’s anatomy.
I really appreciate how clean and pure all the Living Libations products are, but especially their perfumes, as it is so difficult to find natural mists or perfumes that:
have a pleasant, unique scent
are not full of chemicals that apparently ‘count’ as natural ingredients
I can confidently say that the Sweet Sleep Pillow Perfume not only smells incredible, unlike anything I’ve ever smelt before, but is also created with the highest quality, botanical, pure ingredients:
Organic biodynamic alcohol (triple-filtered for purity from certified organic grapes & meets the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) standards for pure, organic, pharmaceutical-grade alcohol), lavender, marjoram, sweet thyme, hemp, spikenard, and vanilla.
This essential oil elixir is a beautiful blend of jasmine sambac, bergamot, blood orange, & ylang. Jasmine is actually my favourite flower, so I adore this blend. There’s a big jasmine tree growing along my neighbour’s front fence, and every time I pass by, I feel like I've entered a hypnotic floral cloud. Now I can experience this every evening!
I will take a drop or two of the Jasmine Julep Floral Fantasia Elixir and rub it into my wrists, behind my ears, my neck, chest and into the arches of my feet. It relaxes me immediately. I also love to add a few drops into aromatherapy diffuser and let my room fill up with this scent as I fall sweetly asleep.
Jasmine oil is derived from the white/yellow jasmine flower, and therefore has a pleasant, flowery scent. It has been used for centuries in Asia as a natural remedy for depression, anxiety, emotional distress, and insomnia.
“Jasmine’s scent directly impacts a brain/central nervous system chemical known as GABA, which results in the calming of the nerves, a soothing of anxiety/mild depression, and the facilitating of rest. This GABA effect was bolstered by more than five times when exposed to jasmine fragrance, to be more precise, overshadowing the same effect caused by other scents. Jasmine was also shown to be more effective than anti-anxiety meds and sleeping pills in promoting quality sleep. One study indicated that the disbursement of jasmine fragrance into a roomful of sleeping test subjects noticeably led to less tossing and turning and heightened sleep efficiency, even without additional sleep time.”
— Solara Mental Health
I have been using lavender essential oil for YEARS as part of my nighttime routine to help me fall asleep & to soothe any stress. No lavender oils I’ve used before even compares to this Living Libations French Lavender oil. Unlike others I’ve used, this one is sweet, light & floral. The sweetness of this lavender truly sets it apart and makes it so distinctive. I love to diffuse this oil in my aromatherapy diffuser, apply a small amount to my body, or, my absolute favorite way to use French Fine Lavender Essential Oil, is to put a few drops in a steamy hot bath. The whole room will smell beautiful as you melt into a tub of lavender bliss. This is also a great way for your body to better absorb the lavender.
I tend to only use this oil in the evening, as lavender has always been a staple in my nighttime routine. All day, I look forward to opening up the bottle before bed.
I’ve always adored deep, earthy & woody scents. Using this french cedarwood essential oil in conjunction with the sandalwood BSE is a dream! I will diffuse this oil in my essential oil diffuser on my bedside table and fall asleep with it on, (it turns off automatically). I would describe it as elegant, complex, and woody with a warm sweetness. I find the scent of this oil emotionally grounding and evokes feelings of safety, which is so important in helping me reach a state of peacefulness before I sleep!
When diffusing and using these essential oils, I like to mix it up between using the Jasmine Julep Floral Fantasia Elixir, French Fine Lavender, and French Cedar Essential. Although some nights I’ll incorporate all three!