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If you’ve been struggling to keep on top of your routines lately during these crazy times, you’re not alone. Stress is hitting an all time high in Australian households, and the dry heat is not helping matters in the slightest.
Now is the perfect opportunity to try something a little bit outside the box, and experiment with some of your favourite scents and diffusing essential oils. Some people swear by them, claiming therapeutic benefits for all sorts of mild symptoms, but there’s no denying that they smell great and can really change a tense energy into a calming atmosphere in your home.
Essential oil diffusers are a great way to treat yourself, to encourage relaxation and unwind in the evenings. The benefits of essential oils are many, and one of them is decreased anxiety, while the mild humidifying effects of misting diffusers can moisten the air particles in your bedroom, improving sleep quality.
One absolute life hack is to use aroma diffusers to boost your productivity by engaging your brain with the simple psychology of using certain scents as associations with certain activities.
If you diffuse sweet orange and peppermint when you need to concentrate, repeated association can make your brain go into focused mode every time you use it. Use a different scent for sleep time, or relaxing, or your wake up rituals, and you may find it becomes easier and more natural for you and your family to transition through the rhythms of the day.
If you’re already representing reed diffusers or crazy for candles, aromatherapists say that essential oils are a better way to go! They are longer lasting, higher potency, and remove the fire hazard of a scented candle. Best of all, mosquitoes hate the smell, and will leave you alone while you unwind in comfort.
On the other hand, the market is quite saturated with aroma diffusers and it is hard to know what to buy without the benefit of testing them yourself. With so many brands competing to sell the same product with cheaper materials, it can be hard to know who to trust.
We have gone through the options and found the best essential oil diffusers in Australia and narrowed it down to a short list of 12, from the most elegant and potent nebulisers, to the more affordable diffusers that are still built to last.
Best For Baby
1. Asakuki Premium Essential Oil Diffuser
A very popular diffuser and humidifier with a generous 20 hours continuous run time
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Our top choice for best diffuser of the year in Australia is the Asakuki Premium Essential Oil Diffuser. Winner of the Amazon’s Choice badge for diffusers, this model is a beautiful way to keep a bedroom calm by dispersing oils efficiently and humidifying air. Meanwhile, the gently cycling rainbow lights bring a soothing atmosphere to any bedroom for up to an extraordinary 20 hours.
While this is a great large capacity (700ml) and high efficiency aromatherapy diffuser for essential oil for any room, there are some clever settings and safety features that make the Asakuki the best diffuser for baby bedrooms particularly.
Firstly, the chamber is very easy to clean and is made from the same eco friendly PP materials that baby bottles are made from. In terms of safety, the cool mist is harmless to touch without risk of scalding, and an automatic safety feature shuts off the machine if it senses there is no more water in the chamber.
For babies and toddlers, this little diffuser could make all the difference for parents struggling with nap time. Adding any particular scent (we recommend some calming lavender!) to your daily nap time routine is a powerful cue for your baby’s brain to associate the smell with nap time and begin producing that drowsy melatonin in preparation.
Then, press the dedicated night light button just once to begin cycling through a rainbow of colours for your little one to stare at as they drift away. Or, press the button again while on a warm orange light to pause the rotation and set it to “dim”. This setting turns the baby humidifier into a comforting night light, to banish scary shadow monsters in the middle of the night.
Best For Home Office
2. Arovec AroDeluxe-120
A small and powerful diffuser with a sophisticated modern look, perfect for your desk
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A great choice for a home office is the Arovec AroDeluxe-120, this sleek and shiny little figure looks more like a smart home device than an aromatherapy diffuser. Beautiful without being distracting, this ultrasonic oil diffuser is a classy little addition to your desk if you’re looking to set up a soothing and focused daily work space.
In terms of desk space, this unobtrusive diffuser is tiny, with a diameter of only 14cm it will take up no more space than a large coffee mug. Despite the size, the 120mL capacity can run continuously for 8 hours due to efficient ultrasonic technology, silently dispersing without distracting you from work.
This consideration has also been put into the lighting modes. Rather than shining a light from the centre, the soft glow cycles through the rainbow and casts it against the bowl of the diffuser, for a soothing ambient glow that is vividly coloured without being bright or distracting.
For those who work on computers for a living, we recommend some sweet orange and tea tree oils to bring that peppy alert feeling to your workspace. If you consistently diffuse the same scent during those laser focused work sessions, that scent will help you get into that productive mindset faster, with less time wasted on warming up.
Best For Large Rooms
3. doTerra Petal Essential Collection
A simple and user-friendly diffuser for larger spaces and longer run times
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This simple diffuser is easy to use, produces an even and fine mists dispersing up to 30m², making the doTerra Petal Essential Collection the best diffuser for large rooms, and a perfect option for those looking to create beautiful aromatic atmospheres all day long.
The controls are extremely simple: one button for mist, one for the night light, and options for the timer and intermittent dispersion. The time settings range from continuous dispersion from 2 to 6 hours, or intermittent dispersion that runs the diffuser in 5 minute intervals of 5 minutes run time, for up to 12 hours.
This mode will guarantee a fairly strong aromatic impact throughout the day without needing refills, so this is a great one to bring from home when the office environment is starting to get tense!
The night light is optional and radiates a warm ambient white glow, acting as more of a softly glowing globe than a night time lamp.
4. Organic Aromas Radiance Nebulizing Diffuser
A beautiful nebulising glass sculpture that refracts rainbows as it diffuses
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The Organic Aromas Radiance is a unique aromatherapy diffuser and is as intriguing a sculpture as it is an effective oil diffuser. Without flames to burn the scent or water to dilute your essential oils, this glass nebuliser uses a micro air pump to uptake the oils silently. Then, a network of microtubing produces pressurised air flow to the glass reservoir, where scents decant before being distributed evenly into the air.
This diffuser comes with elegant LED mood lighting that revolves as it disperses in perfect silence, refracting through the glass in a carousel movement that is hypnotically beautiful to watch.
The usage cycle disperses for 2 minutes at a time followed by a break of 1 minute, shutting off after 2 hours. This is perhaps not the longest run time, but that is because without any dilution, you will find your essential oils produce a strong and clean scent, which would be overpowering if left for longer than 2 hours.
5. Urpower 500ml
A large capacity aromatherapy diffuser, humidifier and night light with remote
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The Urpower aromatherapy essential oil diffuser and humidifier combo is at first glance very similar to the Asakuki model, but with a couple of key differences that may make it worth the extra cost.
One great inclusion with this product is the simple remote, meaning you can leave the diffuser up high where it won’t be knocked, to disperse those heavier oil micro particles and let them sink gently over the room.
The features you can find are misting, timer settings, rainbow lighting settings, and an auto-off safety switch if the machine senses there is no more water in the chamber.
The timer can be set to 60 minutes, 120 minutes, 180 minutes, or continuous, and a tiny indicator across the facade will show the current selection. The light switch can be pressed once to cycle through the rainbow, pressed again to pause indefinitely on the current colour, or held to turn the light off altogether.
But some fancy features bring a little extra: this large capacity aromatherapy diffuser uses advanced ultrasonic cool mist diffusing to break essential oils into millions of tiny micro particles without heat, ensuring the full effect of your oils over a continuous run time of a whopping 16 hours.
For a delicate humidifying mist, a dedicated misting button will beep once for high mist or twice for low mist. While not the effect of a true humidifier, this diffuser can certainly make night time air sweeter and a little easier to breathe.
It may not be worth the extra cost for everybody, but some will find the included remote indispensable, and more than worth the upgrade.
6. GX Smart Wi-Fi Diffuser
A smart aromatherapy diffuser that can be used with Alexa or Google Home
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“Alexa, turn on the humidifier.” The GX model is a voice controlled diffuser that works with your home smart speaker. It may seem like an unnecessarily futuristic invention, but as is the case with most voice controlled products, you quickly become extremely grateful for the convenience when you have your hands full, or simply cannot get up from the couch.
300mL capacity is a modest tank with a luxuriously long run time of 10 hours on the highest setting. 30mLs per hour is a decent dispersion rate that will give good coverage to medium sized areas of about 16m².
Home assistant connection also gives you the advantage of setting the diffuser to turn on half an hour before you arrive home, treating you to a heavenly welcome on your arrival. Many users also love the convenience of controlling the diffuser in their yoga and meditation spaces, to avoid interrupting the focus of the session.
Even in bed, home assistant controls will be a luxury to adjust the night light options, which include 14 fully adjustable colourful lights that can cycle, remain static, or turn themselves off to your preference. We think the LED lighting strip around the circumference of this diffuser looks great in blue, which sits perfectly together next to an Alexa device!
7. Vitruvi Stone Diffuser
The best aromatherapy diffuser, a premium luxury model to disperse all day long
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The Vitruvi Stone is a sleek and minimal diffuser that will disappear into any setting, offering a variety of modes to diffuse aromatherapy scents to suit your preferences.
A heavy and solid porcelain exterior is what gives this diffuser its “stone”-like quality, and the weight and texture definitely give a luxurious feel that does not draw too much attention. That high luxury feel does come with a price tag that may put some people off, but there is no denying the zen quality that this piece brings to a room.
The stand out feature of this diffuser is “amber” mode, where the diffuser will disperse your oils from its 100mL capacity every 30 seconds for up to 7.5 hours, rather than “green” mode which will disperse continuously for a standard 3 hours of run time.
The dispersion is some of the gentlest, most even, and most potent we’ve seen, and reviewers agree. This is the best premium diffuser available in Australia, and if cost is no issue, there is no denying this is a beautiful and effective luxury diffuser.
There is a night light that can be turned on or off with a dedicated button. The night light is a minimalistic white line, just enough to avoid pitch black darkness but nothing that will keep you awake at night.
8. Organic Aromas Raindrop Nebulising Diffuser
A silent and elegant glass diffuser with touch sensor
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Among the best essential oil diffusers, this gorgeous nebulising diffuser uses a beautiful glass reservoir to refract rainbow LED carousel lighting around your room at your lightest touch.
The Raindrop Nebulising Diffuser produces a decently strong scent from your essential oils without using heat or water, which means your scents will never be diluted or affected by that “cooked” smell that can come with some overzealous oil burners.
The Raindrop is a nebulising diffuser, which works a little differently from other diffusers, using an air pump from inside the glass to naturally atomise pure undiluted essential oils into millions of tiny particles that are quickly absorbed by the air, leaving your body feeling refreshed and your mind calmed by the relaxing smell. Nebulisers are less messy and more potent, but do tend to be a little more costly.
The pump is only moving fractions of a millilitre of essential oils at any one time, so you would be unlikely to hear the hum. But just in case you like to sleep with the diffuser on your bedside table for maximum essential oil absorption, Organic Aromas have cushioned the pump with silencing foam for truly silent operation.
9. K Kbaybo Wood Grain 550mL
A very high misting, large capacity, glowing wooden tulip with remote control
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The glowing wooden aesthetic design of this diffuser’s tulip shape is gorgeous and feels very calming just to look at, but is deceptively large with a huge 550mL capacity and able to create large clouds of mist. For those that want the best misting from their essential oil diffuser, the K Kbaybo is the one for you.
The large round chamber is easy to clean and easy to use. The top lifts off without even touching the base unit. Refilling is intuitive, with clearly marked maximum water capacity level and drainage outlet for overflow.
This home fragrance diffuser has no intermittent mode, however, it has such a large chamber that misting continues for 8 hours. Again, this is the product to pick for continuous aromatic mist that will fill the room all day. If 8 hours is too long, a timer allows automatic shut down after 1, 3, or 6 hours, and will also kick in if the diffuser senses there is no more water in the base unit.
The remote control is unfortunately not the easiest to use at first. The same symbols are used multiple times and the labels are not very clear. For instance, the “big / small” labelled button is referring to high and low misting modes, which doesn’t seem very intuitive. Apart from that, the remote does at least work well at an impressive range, and at varying angles.
The rainbow lights can be cycled, static, or off, but this light is merely a thin line around the circumference and buttons of the diffuser, as well as the glow from inside the tulips. You won’t be using this as a night light, but a static glow to match the colour scheme of the room makes it an attractive addition to your décor.
10. Equsupro Handmade Glass Oil Diffuser
Sculptural entry level diffuser that’s easy to use and beautiful to look at
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A work of art in its own right and doubling as a beautiful piece of decor, the Equsupro Handmade Glass Oil Diffuser is a lovely option for those looking for an attractive, budget friendly yet effective diffuser.
With easy to use and simple functions, it’s perfect for newbies to the world of diffusers and aromatherapy in general, diffusing your favourite essential oils gently and evenly without being too overpowering.
It also makes a lovely lamp or night light, giving off a soft glow with beautifully unique light effects, or just the natural colours and contours of the glass if you’re after something a bit more subdued. There are seven LED colours to choose and cycle through, with both dim and bright modes depending on your mood and time of day.
Extremely quiet with virtually no noise given off, it won’t disturb you even in the quietest of environments. It also features a continuous mist mode and timer for half an hour, an hour or two hours.
With a small 120mL capacity only really good enough for three to five hours, it won’t last for extended periods of time, but is fine for quick bursts of fragrance as well as gently humidifying the air to help remove dust and allergens from the household. For peace of mind and to prevent any damage to the diffuser, the unit will handily switch itself off automatically once it detects the water has run out.
Easy to maintain, the glass top gently lifts off from the base so the interior water tank hole can be cleaned with cotton buds. You should make sure this is done every few uses as it does have the tendency to spurt a little bit if the hole becomes clogged.
All in all, this is a great entry level diffuser that’s simple to use and care for, with some unique aesthetic features as a bonus.
11. Muson Mini Essential Oil Diffuser
Stylish little portable option offering generous run times
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Ideal for use both at home and in the car, the Muson Mini Essential Oil Diffuser is a great portable option for aromatherapy enthusiasts on the go. Comparable in size to a medium takeaway coffee cup, this diffuser’s compact size will fit snugly in your car’s cup holder for your most relaxing drive to work. USB powered, it’s ultra lightweight and portable and is perfect for travelling as well as in the home.
With 100mL maximum capacity, this mini diffuser will last up to eight continuous hours when set to weak mist, or six hours when set to strong mist. If set to the 10 second interval mode, this little guy will last up to sixteen hours - pretty impressive for such a small unit! And great news for those who suffer from dry throats and allergies, you can also set it to provide up to sixteen hours of continuous humidifying. While there are no timer options, it will detect when the water runs out and turn itself off automatically.
Despite its small size, it diffuses your favourite essential oils beautifully and we were pleasantly surprised by how it evenly covered a larger than expected area without being overpowering.
The stylish natural wood grain-like design will suit any decor and also provides a soothing aesthetic, however we were disappointed to note that the USB cord connects to the diffuser’s base with no groove to ensure it sits flush. Because of this, it’s a little unstable if used on a flat surface, though thankfully the water inside doesn’t seem to spill easily. There are two buttons on the side of the diffuser used to operate it, and it can take a few goes to learn which combination of presses activates which function.
There are seven coloured LED mood lights to choose from, all giving a subtle glow in a thin ring around the top of the diffuser so it’s not too in-your-face or distracting. You can choose to use the light alone, or together with the aroma mist.
12. AstiVita
A brightly coloured basic option on a budget
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This budget aromatherapy option will have you gazing hypnotically at its beautiful changing LED light colours as your favourite essential oils fill the room.
The real draw of this option is the bright light, that provides strong colour ambience with the standard cycle, static, and off settings. Because the light is emitted from the entire diffuser, not just a thin line, the glow of this lantern in a dark room is very atmospheric and pretty, perfect for gaming setups and children’s rooms.
The 500mL capacity is large, but the machine is not the most efficient. Both high and low misting modes seem to only last around 6 to 8 hours, and the dispersion is not perfectly even.
However, the value-to-cost ratio means little is lost if you are not precious about the operation, are looking to try out a diffuser for the first time, or are experimenting with some new scents to chill out to.