How We Use Essential Oils

Let's get started, how can you use oils in your home...for those who are wondering, what exactly are essential oils?  Good question!  

Essential oils are the lifeblood of a plant, which can be found in a plant's flower, stem, leaves, bark, or fruit.  When applied topically, they can reach every cell in your body in 20 minutes! (20 minutes!)  Essential oils an transport nutrients, help support cell regeneration, and support digestive, nervous, and immune system health.

The possibilities are endless, but start with a few, trial and error, find what scents you like and dislike, and then begin to establish routines that work for you and your family.  

Why did you start using essential oils?

There are minimal regulations in the United States which dictate which ingredients can be allowed in personal care products.  After doing some research on my own and learning that many of the so-called "clean" products we used as a family were actually hard hitting offenders, I started to make some changes in our home, including adding essential oils.  Since we can't control everything in our environment, trying to take back what control I can to contribute to our quality of life by limiting our exposure to toxins and chemicals.  

I was especially freaked out after the recent memo by the EPA confirming the connection between formaldehyde and leukemia.  Until the FDA regulations increase and improve to eliminate harmful chemicals, we'll keep diligently reading labels, doing our own research, and work to understand what ingredients are really in the products we use.  Companies that are transparent about disclosing their ingredients earn our trust, such as Beautycounter, Young Living, and Seventh Generation.

How does one use oils?

Most people begin with the starter kit which contains 11 commonly used oils (digize, thieves, lemon, peppermint, copaiba, raven, citrus fresh, frankincense, lavender, panaway, and stress away).  Note: you definitely don't have to buy the starter kit, but it's usually a popular choice as you get the most bang for your buck.

Let's get started, how can you use oils in your home...

 We add a few drops of lavender and purification to wool dryer balls to freshen up loads of laundry. Dryer balls help dry faster without any of the toxins of dryer sheets with the bonus of adding a pleasant fragrance to your laundry.

One of my favorite uses for oils is to replace candles.  Some of my favorite blends include peppermint + lemon + lavender, stress away + valor, and orange + northern lights black spruce.  The fragrance and comforting aromas of candles without excess toxins in the air.  A lot of people swear by the 

Also use peppermint for headaches, I dab a drop on my temples and massage.  I don't know if it's the strong minty scent or what, but it usually helps even the worst headaches subside.

I also use purification to absorb stinky odors, for example, our in-house compost bin fills up quickly with two little kids and plenty of sandwich crusts and banana peels. After emptying the bin, it kind of stinks!  I add a rinse of dish soap, a few drops of purification, swirl it around, wipe it clean, and bam, we're back in business!

And my most favorite use for essential oils - sleep!  After my gallbladder surgery I had a really hard time sleeping, something I had never dealt with previously.  I started diffusing a few drops of northern lights black spruce + cedarwood every night and those zzzz's started coming.  Other favorite sleep oils include lavender + cedarwood, lavender + sleepyize, and stress away + lavender.  Sweet dreams!

Speaking of sleep, I also made a sleep spray from cedarwood + lavender + orange, topped off with witch hazel in a spray bottle.  I spritz on our pillows about 5-10 minutes before we're heading to bed for an extra boost of sleep inducing, calming scents.

While I've given you a few ideas as to how we use oils in our home, this is just scratching the surface with the possibilities for essential oils. 
What are your favorite oils?

Dryer Balls

Dryer sheets are designed to make your clothes feel soft.  But what you may not know is those chemical, whose sole function is to soften your clothes - those are called "asthmagens."  Ever heard of that word?  Yeah, I hadn't either.  Well, an asthmagen = a chemical that can cause asthma in otherwise healthy people... Let that sink in.  Asthma from dryer sheets.  Worth it?  Um...no.

Many of the chemicals in products like dryer sheets also have antibacterial properties (translation: not good) and many popular brands contain synthetic fragrances and/or cleaning agents called quats (quaternary ammonium compounds) - which have been linked to impacted fertility in mice (think longer time getting pregnant, fewer pups, and more miscarriages).  Super overwhelming and scary, right?  

Well - here's a relatively inexpensive solution - dryer balls!  Dryer balls are eco-friendly, typically crafted from felt or wool and improve tumble drying.  They help soften your clothes, reduce drying time, static, and wrinkling.  All without the harsh, questionable chemicals. I use these wool ones, they come in a pack of 6, and aside from getting temporarily lost in a fitted sheet, they've held up since I ordered them back in December 2016. Also, if you're replacing dryer sheets but missing that extra boost of fragrance in your clean laundry, try adding a drop or two of an essential oil right on the dryer balls (would recommend lavender or purification) for a clean, fresh scent. 

The more you know...

image/fluffypenguinco

Lavender Oil

Lavender oil is one of my favorites of all the oils. I have a hard time crowning one oil above the rest but I can confidently say it’s in the top 5. 

Lavender is soothing and anti inflammatory so it works for everything from sleep to bee stings, not to mention how great it smells! Add a few drops with epsom salts to a hot bath to transform your tub into a spa. Blends well with other oils when diffused (especially lemon, peppermint, and cedarwood). Roll on your feet before sleep for a peaceful slumber. It’s floral, fresh, clean, and calm. 💜 Want to try lavender for yourself? Click here for more info.

Are You Green Enough?

Lately, I've been stepping up my clean living game.  Ditching the OxyClean, Chlorox wipes, Rinse Aid, and other chemical laden products which populate my home.  It's been a progression, definitely not overnight.  A few months ago I ditched scented candles, tossing everything but my unscented in-case-of-a-power-outage stash, and replacing household scents with essential oils. As you may recall in early May, I made the switch to Beautycounter, so now I'm confident my skincare and makeup are clean, but still...that's barely scratching the surface!

I recently finished the book Green Enough by Leah Segedie of Mamavation, which reads like a guided map to all the toxins lurking in your home.  Turns out, my home is filled with things I wouldn't ever thought to consider as harmful.  More than anything, by reading this book I've educated myself.  

Leah Segedie is frank, she straightforward and she doesn't sugar coat. There's even a little swearing thrown in which I found amusing. She is blunt about buying organic vs. not, where to save your money, and where to splurge. She examines products and packaging many Americans use and likely have in your home, and sheds light on which ones pose the biggest threats to you and your family's longterm health.  

My favorite part was walking room by room through an average American household, naming names, calling out the worst offenders and highlighting products that are legitimately clean through the categorizes "bad," "better," or "best."

Not gonna lie, reading this book was a little overwhelming, as I can't financially justify ditching all the bad stuff in one fell swoop, but I did find it useful, and gave me some helpful tips and suggestions of what to buy and avoid going forward.

So...how green are you these days?

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Zzzzzzzz

Last year, Mother’s Day weekend, I had my gallbladder removed. It wasn’t an easy decision, but after several hours-long gallstone attacks when I was home alone with my kids, I decided I needed to do something.  After months of weighing my options, I ultimately made the difficult decision to have my gallbladder removed. Naively, I thought that my surgery would “fix” everything. 

Not the case. In the weeks following my recovery, I could not sleep. At all. I was exhausted. Riddled with anxieties about even going to sleep. If I did fall asleep, it was only for 1-3 hours, and upon waking was up for the remainder of the night. It was a very difficult season. 

After trying every method under the sun, I found oils. Upon the recommendations from a trusted friend, I discovered Cedarwood and Northern Lights Black Spruce. It was with these two heavenly oils that I was able to calm my mind and sleep deeply. And what a relief that was. Cedarwood with its warm, woodsy aroma paired with Northern Lights Black Spruce’s rich, meditative piney scent created my sleep oasis.  These oils brought me back. 4 drops Cedarwood, 4 drops NLBS in my bedside diffuser. Zen. 

Prior to this sleep hiatus, I was a bit skeptical of the whole essential oils thing, but boy, oh boy, do I stand corrected now!  Interested in trying oils out for yourself?  Click here and I'd be happy to help you get started on this essential oils journey.  

Questions? Sure!  Email me at lovelylittlethingsblog@gmail.com

And sleep tight! 😴