Essential Oils Pocket Reference

Essential Oils Pocket Reference

By now you’ve probably heard about all of the new FDA regulations and how they’re impacting the way we talk about essential oils. Not being able to simply tell people the ways that I use essential oils, and all of the reasons why they are so amazing, I now have to very carefully word everything I write in order to keep compliance with the new rules. It makes things difficult, but I refuse to stop talking about my love of oils and fully intend to keep sharing them with anyone who wants to listen. Even if that means I have to skirt around what I really want to say. Because the truth is, if you try them for yourself, you will see. You’ll understand exactly what I’m trying to say.

One thing we as distributors are being encouraged to do is to encourage all of you- our customers, friends, readers, potential future distributors yourselves- to use reference guides. My personal favorite is the Essential Oils Pocket Reference.

I use this book constantly and can’t recommend it highly enough. I have a friend who often texts me to ask what my “magic book” says about something. Someday she’ll break down and get one for herself. ;) Don’t let the name fool you, though. It’s too big for any pocket I can think of. But that just means it’s packed full of so much useful information!

When looking at individual oils, it gives you very detailed information about each oil, including how it’s made, its fragrant influences, historical uses, and which oil blends that oil is found in. For oil blends, it does the same things. For conditions, there are multiple oils listed as well as blends that may contain those oils. It details multiple techniques that can be used to apply oils.

In short, this book is an invaluable reference in my home. And it is organized beautifully, which I love, including a nice little categorized and alphabetized table of contents, making it extremely quick and easy to find what you’re looking for. 

There are several other wonderful references out there, and many people love them more. This one just happens to be my personal favorite, and I highly encourage everyone who wants to use essential oils to purchase a copy. You’ll be so happy that you did!

Lavender and Cedarwood

Lavender and Cedarwood

You’ve heard me talk about lavender and cedarwood before, in my post about my Top 5 Individual Oils. While I love both of these oils on their own for many reasons, I typically use them together. It’s a powerful combination that I use for so many things. Here are few of my favorite uses of lavender and cedarwood together.

Sleep and dreaming

It’s commonly known that the smell of lavender has a calming effect and helps promote sleep. Did you know that cedarwood does the same thing? Put the two together and you will sleep like a baby! I don’t have trouble sleeping very often, but when I do, this is the only thing I need to help me fall asleep and stay asleep all night. I put a drop or two of each in the palm in my hand and then rub it on the bottoms of my feet just before getting into bed.

Not only do these oils promote sleep, but cedarwood is said to sometimes cause very vivid dreams. For me, this isn’t necessarily always the case, but I have noticed that when I do have crazy, vivid dreams, it happens to be on a night when I used cedarwood and lavender.

Longer Eyelashes

Add one drop of lavender and one drop of cedarwood to the bottle whenever you buy new mascara, and gently roll the bottle around in your hands to distribute the oils. Then use the mascara as you normally would, enjoying the pretty smell every time you open it. Before too long, you’ll notice your lashes are longer.  Some people thing this sounds crazy, and I’ll admit I was a little skeptical at first. And as usual, I didn’t take any before pictures because I never anticipated that I would have this urge to share all of my Young Living experiences with the world. But I can absolutely say that my eyelashes are longer than ever!

Hair Growth

There are numerous testimonials regarding lavender and cedarwood for promoting hair growth. I have even seen pictures of people with hair loss who were able to regrow their hair, and a story about someone regrowing her overwaxed eyebrows. There are a lot of different ways to attempt this, and I chose what seemed easiest for me. I have a separate bottle of shampoo for myself, so that my kids don’t use it and waste my precious oils, because they are serious shampoo wasters. I added 5 drops each of lavender and cedarwood to the bottle and shook it up to distribute the oils.

My hair grows fast anyway, and I haven’t been doing this long, so it’s hard to tell if it’s helping me gain length yet or not. Plus I keep having to cut off the fried ends as I recover from the my insane experiment with going blonde last year. However, my hair definitely feels fuller and I’ve noticed new little baby hairs growing along my hairline, so it seems that I'm growing more hair. Hopefully I can quickly replace all of the hair that I killed with bleach. I’ll keep everyone updated on my overall success with this as I go.

Have you tried lavender and cedarwood for any of these purposes? Don't they smell wonderful together? Tell me about your experience!

DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional. Any information I share is a personal testimony of what has worked for me and not intended as medical advice. Please see your doctor before trying essential oils if you have medical concerns.

  

My Top 5 Individual Oils

My Top 5 Individual Oils

There are so many oils that I love. Narrowing it down to my 5 favorites would have been impossible, so I decided to write one post about my favorite individual oils and a second post about my favorite oil blends. It was still difficult to narrow down the list, but this is what I ended up with as well as the reasons I love each one.

1.  Lemon

First of all, lemon smells amazing. It is fresh, clean, and fruity, and there is no mistaking the purity of this oil. It smells exactly like a fresh lemon rind. I love to put it in the diffuser with a variety of other oils. When I have a skin breakout, I’ll dab lemon on the spot. It works great and smells good at the same time. But mostly, I love to drink it in my water. Every day I put lemon and grapefruit oil in my water, to help flush out water weight and impurities. It also adds a crisp, refreshing kick to my water, which is a nice change from the plain water I drink the rest of the day.

2.  Lavender

If you want a multipurpose, good-for-almost-everything oil, that is lavender. It helps clear up bug bites and itchy skin, helps when you have a stuffy or itchy nose, helps you relax, and promotes a lovely peaceful night’s sleep. On top of that, it smells fresh and herbal, which I love.

My absolute favorite use for lavender is skin care. I put a drop or two on my face before my moisturizer every day, and my skin has never looked or felt so amazing. Once, I ran out of lavender and my skin rebelled. I had an ugly breakout and felt dry and itchy for days while I waited for my new bottle. I will never let that happen again! One of my children has eczema and lavender has been wonderful for supporting the wellness of her skin, too. I mix a few drops with some whipped coconut oil and put it in a small mason jar for her to use whenever she wants.

Recently, I started adding lavender and cedarwood to my shampoo to support healthy hair grow. My hair grows fast anyway, so I’m not sure yet if this is helping speed it up, but I have definitely noticed that it feels fuller and I have little baby hairs growing along my hair line. I also put one drop each of lavender and cedarwood in my mascara. After just two weeks, I can absolutely tell that my lashes are longer. Amazing!

3.  Cedarwood

You can probably already tell that I love to use cedarwood in combination with lavender for several things, including hair and eyelash growth. Another amazing use for cedarwood is promoting SLEEP! Alone or in combination with lavender (do we see a trend here?), a drop or two of cedarwood on the bottom of my feet before bed helps me sleep wonderfully. I fall asleep fast, sleep peacefully, and sometimes have very vivid dreams. And I love the smell. Not surprisingly, cedarwood smells like the woods. It’s a nostalgic smell to me, reminding me of camping as a child. Sometimes I just grab the bottle and sniff it. Which my husband finds creepy, but that is for a different post all together.

4.  Orange

I love orange oil because it smells so wonderful! Seriously, it is my favorite smelling individual oil by far. I add it to almost everything in my diffuser and it always smells great. Orange and peppermint together? WOW! To me, it smells like fruit and summer and sunshine. The smell makes me feel calm and content, and I absolutely love it. In fact, right before I sat down to write today, I dabbed a little Envision behind my ears and topped it off with a dab of orange. Because somehow, orange makes every other oil smell a million times better.

Orange oil can also promote oral health and whiten teeth. I rub a drop on my teeth or put it directly on my toothbrush, then brush as usual. I have noticed whiter teeth, although my teeth have always been pretty white so it’s not extremely noticeable to anyone else. And I can definitely say that my teeth feel extra squeaky clean when I do this, plust tastes great, too.

5.  Vetiver

Vetiver is one oil that I really don’t think I could live without. I has a very calming affect on me, and is my go-to oil when I’m feel anxious or extra stressed. I normally use it in combination with Joy and orange. I placed it last on this list only because it smells gross, in my opinion anyway. I think it smells like fertilizer, my husband says it smells like bug spray, and I've even heard other people compare it to stinky feet. But I have a friend that thinks it smells similar to cedarwood, and she likes it. This is a good example of how different people can be. Not everyone loves the same scents, just like not everyone prefers the same oils or uses them for the same reasons. Despite the smell, I still use Vetiver all the time, because for me, the benefits outweigh the stink. And I cover it with orange anyway, and sometimes Joy or lavender, too. 

What are your favorite individual oils? How do you feel about the ones on my list? Comment and let me know, I’m curious!

DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional. Any information I share is a personal testimony of what has worked for me and not intended as medical advice. Please see your doctor before trying essential oils if you have medical concerns.

Why I Chose Young Living

Why I Chose Young Living

My Young Living Essential Oils journey began in January 2015. I had considered the idea of essential oils for years, and I was fairly certain I wanted to give it a try. I purchased a few cheap oils here and there, with unimpressive results, so I really didn’t understand what all the hype was about. And then I started doing real research. It didn’t take long for me to realize that, when it comes to essential oils, you get what you pay for. After more research on specific companies, I knew I wanted to try Young Living. I wanted these miracle oils to work, and that meant I wanted the best.

In late December of 2014, my youngest daughter was diagnosed with a thyroid issue. She was only 11 years old at the time. Thankfully, her condition was mild enough that her doctor didn’t want to prescribe medication yet, taking a “wait and see” approach for the time being. I knew then that it was time to finally take the plunge and work toward promoting my family's overall wellness naturally. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. One of my closest friends signed up for Young Living that month, and I signed up under her a few weeks later.

It’s only been a few months now, but my life will never be the same. Young Living has been such a huge blessing in my life and for my family, and I want to share this blessing with the world! If you’re toying with the idea of taking the plunge, and you’re not sure which company to go with, I hope this helps with your decision.

1.    Their unique “Seed to Seal” promise

The oils you buy from Young Living come directly from them, so unlike most consumer goods (I’m talking in general here, not just oils), you’re not getting outsourced, redistributed products. Young Living grows all of their plants on their own farms. They distill, test, and package all of their own oils. Since I use these for wellness and health support purposes, not only for myself but for my whole family, I love the idea of knowing exactly what I’m buying and where it comes from. There is no middle man and no guessing when I buy an oil from them. In fact, Young Living is so proud of this unique approach that they allow tours of their farms at times. Soon there will be a lavender harvest and members have been invited to participate in the harvest! How cool is that?

For more in depth information on Seed to Seal, visit here http://seedtoseal.com/en

2.    Testimonials

When I first began to seriously research Young Living, one of my first steps was to look for personal testimonies. Rather than simply relying on what the company was saying, I wanted to see how actual people who have used the oils feel about them. And let me tell you, I was blown away! There is such a wealth of information available from people who have had success with Young Living Essential Oils.  Want to see for yourself? Check out http://ylsearch.com/ and search for testimonials on anything you might be considering using essential oils for.

Once I joined, I found even more resources for testimonials. My favorite is our team Facebook page, which everyone in my downline will be invited to join. You can ask a question in there and receive an overwhelming response others telling you their opinions and preferences of oils and other young living products. Not sure which oil you might like, or which shampoo smells the best? Ask the group and people will tell which they like best and why. Once I even asked what Vetiver smells like, and people gave me their honest opinion. (It's stinky!) This is such an invaluable resource.

3.    Value

There is truth in the saying “you get what you pay for.” Some people are hesitant to try Young Living because they think it’s too expensive. But when you sign up as a distributor, you get a 24% discount off the retail price. That is huge! Yes, it is still a bit more pricey than what you would pay for a random, off brand oil, but you are getting the highest quality available on the market. You will use less and get better results, making the overall value far greater. This graphic breaks it down very well:

4.    The Premium Starter Kit

When signing up as a distributor with Young Living, there are multiple starter options. Once you look over all of them, it is clearly obvious that the Premium Starter Kit is an amazing deal. You can’t beat it! You get a diffuser, 5 ml bottles of 11 different oils, several samples, and literature to get you started. Considering the price of several oils if you buy them individually and the price of the diffuser if you were to buy it separately, you’re basically get most of the kit for free. It’s the perfect way to start your journey with Young Living, giving you the chance to try many different oils and get a feel for what you like and what you need. Some of my overall favorite oils come in the premium starter kit. If you’re anything like me, you will instantly fall in love and want to buy ALL THE OILS!

When I signed up, I got the old starter kit. Which I love. Don’t get me wrong. But this month there is a NEW Premium Starter Kit, and it is even better. I’m actually jealous of all you new people starting out with this. Partly because I haven’t even tried some of the oils in the kit, and also because I love that diffuser! I’m sure at some point I’ll break down and buy one of these new kits myself. Check it out:

5.    Faith

I firmly believe that God put me on this path. The friend who is my Young Living sponsor also happens to be the friend I am most spiritually connected to. We talk and encourage each other on spiritual matters almost daily. It’s no coincidence that she signed up for Young Living at the perfect time, right when I was feeling compelled to take a natural approach to my family’s wellness, and helped me start my own journey. Now we’re working together to grow our businesses, with full confidence and faith that these oils are a blessing from God in our lives, in so many ways.

Have I convinced you to give Young Living a try? If so, you can sign up here https://www.youngliving.com/signup/?sponsorid=2404840&enrollerid=2404840

And please LET ME KNOW if you do sign up, because I’m constantly running promotions for new members. You wouldn’t want to miss out on any freebies, would you?

Still not quite convinced? Talk to me! Ask questions, dig deeper, do whatever it takes to be confident in your decision. I’ll do whatever I can to help. That’s what I’m here for!

DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional. Any information I share is a personal testimony of what has worked for me and not intended as medical advice. Please see your doctor before trying essential oils if you have medical concerns.