BY JAN AGATON
All-natural, plant-based beauty products are great for your physical health, but many of the ingredients are also extremely beneficial to your mental health, which is just as important.
Here at Make It Classy, we utilize several essential oils, matcha, tulsi, and dried roses in our DIY products, and all of these ingredients have positive effects on your brain as well as your hair and skin.
Essential Oils in various Make It Classy products: Orange, Peppermint, Lavender
Each of these oils has similar qualities and mental health effects. Most essential oils have the ability to act as mild sedatives, therefore making them useful for relieving stress and headaches, improving your mood, reducing anxiety, and lowering symptoms of depression, such as irritability and agitation.
The calming effects are also helpful for those who suffer with insomnia, as it has been proven that inhaling the scents of certain essential oils before bed help people fall asleep faster and stay asleep throughout the night.
In addition to serving as a sedative, peppermint oil also boosts mental alertness and increases energy. When you inhale the peppermint scent, the menthol component activates the hippocampus, the area of the brain that involves mental clarity and memory.
The stimulation then allows you to concentrate more easily and to stay motivated. Peppermint is also known to lower levels of the cortisol hormone, which triggers your “fight-or-flight” response, so it calms you down while simultaneously making you feel more awake.
Matcha - used in Majestic Maya DIY Matcha Body Scrub
Matcha contains a natural compound called L-Theanine, which has been proven to be the main cause of matcha’s stress-inducing and relaxing effects. L-Theanine is also responsible for matcha’s ability to enhance memory and improve general cognitive performance.
The high concentration of antioxidants in matcha helps with memory refinement as well. Furthermore, the bioactive compounds in matcha affect neurons, thus protecting the brain from forming plaques that cause diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Learn more about the health benefits of matcha
Tulsi - used in Herbal Ebony DIY Hair Rinse
Tulsi, also known as holy basil, is an herb originally found in India and is used for medicinal purposes. As tulsi has various anti-stress compounds, its therapeutic soothing effects help relieve headaches and decreasing symptoms of anxiety. It also plays a role in balancing hormones by regulating cortisol levels, which then leads to reducing overall stress.
Roses - used in Romantic Rosie DIY Lavender Rosewater
Rosewater acts as a mild sedative, helping alleviate stress, anxiety, and some symptoms of depression, so whether you get your dose of roses as a hair moisturizer, as a body spray, or in your tea, the positive effects on your mental health are all the same.
Learn more about the health benefits of rosewater
Your mental health should always be as significant of a priority as your physical health, and incorporating these plant-based ingredients in your daily routine will take you a step further into making positive changes for your overall well-being.