Fashion
The Best Essential Oils for Every Need and How to Use Them
Everything you need to know about the best essential oils—and how, when, and where to use them, according to aromatherapist Hope Gillerman….
During a time when our stress levels are running at an all-time high, even wellness skeptics may be willing to anoint their pulse points with a head-clearing essential oil. After all, the herbal healing treatment, which dates back thousands of years and has recently been lauded by everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow and Miranda Kerr to NBA All-Stars, can, in fact, have serious mind-body benefits: “The olfactory senses connect very early in brain wiring to emotional centers, so the distance from when a scent hits the nose to when it hits an emotion is very short,” explained Leslie B. Vosshall, Ph.D., a molecular neurobiologist at the Rockefeller University, in Vogue’s June 2019 issue.
“Breathing in the essential-oil vapor instantly changes our brain patterns and can help us feel calmer and more grounded,” agrees Hope Gillerman, an aromatherapist and author of Essential Oils Every Day: Rituals and Remedies for Healing, Happiness, and Beauty. “They are not a cure” and cannot replace medication, she notes; however, they are one valuable “pathway into taking good care of ourselves.” And don’t we all need to do more of that?
Below, everything you need to know about the best essential oils—and how, when, and where to use them.
What Are Essential Oils Good For?
“Essential oils are a natural, holistic way to address so many of the wellness issues that stem from the stress in our lives,” Gillerman says, adding that their benefits range from improving sleep and easing tension to providing a boost of energy during a midday slump. “Distinct from medications, they are not a cure but a pathway into taking good care of ourselves.”
How to Use Essential Oils
“Smelling essential oils by mindfully inhaling is the quickest way to change your state of mind and stress level,” says Gillerman, who recommends setting an intention before placing a drop of essential oil into the center of both palms. Next, rub your hands together and lift them up to your face, slowly inhaling through your nose. Other options, she notes, include applying an essential oil topically “to cocoon yourself in the aroma” (for example, peppermint dotted on the temple can help alleviate a headache); placing a few drops of a relaxing blend in a bath; or scenting an entire space with the help of an essential oil diffuser.
What to Know Before Buying Essential Oils
In such a crowded market, it can be difficult to know which essential oils to invest in—which is why Gillerman stresses the importance of purchasing essential oils that come directly from an aromatherapist or are certified organic. “Don’t look for a bargain, look for quality,” she says, noting that many essential oils are “adulterated, diluted or overly processed,” which can “degrade the efficacy and irritate the skin and breathing passages.” She also advises against amassing an overflowing collection. Instead, start with the essentials: a cleansing citrus; a mood-enhancing flower, such as lavender; a relaxing resin or root (think frankincense, cedarwood, or vetiver); and a stimulating scent, like basil, or rosemary.
Blends May Be Best
“Blends of two to five essential oils are more powerful than a single oil,” she says, explaining that the oils work in tandem to better target specific health and wellness issues. And what can be an overpowering scent on its own can be balanced when mixed with other oils. To wit, “ylang ylang by itself has a heavy, almost medicinal sweetness that many say they don’t like. But when combined with other essential oils, the sweetness softens into a warm, slightly fruity aroma that makes this oil a joyous component of any ‘happiness blend.’”
The Best Essential Oils for Every Issue
For anxiety: vetiver, neroli, clary sage, and geranium
For sleep and relaxation: lavender, chamomile, and rose
For mental focus: peppermint and rosemary
For energy: eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary, cypress, and cardamom
For a mood boost: bergamot, ylang ylang, jasmine, lime, and lemon
For sore muscles: vetiver, peppermint, helichrysum, and pine
Entertainment
A$AP Rocky Turned An Entire Manchester City Kit Into His Album Rollout
A$AP Rocky doesn’t do album rollouts quietly, and this one recruited an entire Premier League club to help. Manchester City, PUMA, and Rocky teamed up on a limited apparel run tied to “Don’t Be Dumb,” his 2026 album, timed around his September 5th show at Co-op Live.
The centerpiece is a long-sleeve PUMA King jersey in black and archive gold, with “DON’T BE DUMB” running down the sleeve and AWGE branding worked in throughout. A bold “MANCHESTER” graphic covers the back. Fans could also add limited “A$AP 11” name-and-number printing onto the club’s actual Home, Away, or Third kits, while supplies lasted at retail.
There’s a players-only version too, and it never went up for sale. That one sticks closer to City’s usual sky-blue identity, with its own sleeve detailing and back graphic — the kind of piece that exists purely because a handful of people got lucky.
The whole rollout kicked off with a one-night pop-up on September 4th, when PUMA turned a spot in Manchester’s Northern Quarter into a pop-up cafe for the night, mixing football, music, and street style into one room before the wider release hit the stadium store the next morning. Some of those jerseys even came with golden tickets to the concert or that Saturday’s match.
Rocky has called the project true to his own design language, and it’s not even his only club collaboration this cycle — a similar drop with AC Milan landed around the same time. At this point, the line between fashion week and matchday has basically disappeared.
Entertainment
Quavo And Lids Are Going All In On Atlanta With Their New Cap Pack
Quavo has never been shy about his hat obsession, and Lids just gave him another outlet for it. Their new “Atlanta” pack drops September 12th, marking another round in a partnership that’s been running strong since 2019.
The collection is a love letter to the city, spread across three very different caps. One mashes up pinstripes, script lettering, and Braves branding into a single design, working navy, red, white, and light blue into the mix. Another goes the opposite direction entirely — fully iced out in crystal detailing, done up in black and red, with both the Falcons and the Braves showing up in the design. The third strips things back to an old-school “ATL” trucker cap in red, white, and gold, the kind of understated piece that lets the city’s name do the talking.
None of this is new territory for Quavo. He’s talked before about waiting on hat releases as a kid, and that same excitement seems to be what’s kept this partnership going years past most celebrity collabs. His earlier Lids run leaned on one moment — the Braves’ 1995 World Series win — but this pack pulls from the city’s whole sports history instead of just one highlight.
Lids has called Quavo one of the rare voices who can blend music, fashion, and sports without it feeling forced, and this drop backs that up. Given how fast his past releases have moved, Atlanta might want to set an alarm for September 12th.
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