Essential Oils 101 by Heather!

Tonight, I hosted my very first Essential Oils 101 class.

ALL BY MYSELF!

I should preface this with a smidge of background - I have attended 3 classes over the last 2 months or so. All the classes have been taught by the same person from my upline, but each time, she has done the class differently. It was really interesting for me, as I felt like I learned something each time! I did a lot of preparation for hosting this class. I stalked Facebook and Pinterest like it was my second job. I bothered my upline with 20 questions a day (luckily I get to see her daily at work!). I made cute little folders, stapled on business cards, and had samples ready. What more did I need?

I will say first that this was my "test class", and my friends knew that. I invited one girl who just started using Young Living at the third class I attended. I invited two more of our friends to come. I had a blast talking about each of the oils in the Premium Starter Kit. I used the little reference guide that came with the kit as a reference, but really found it easy to talk about the oils! We sampled Lemon and Lime in water, which is always a hit I think. I ran the diffuser with my favorite mix, Eucalyptus and Lime! It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot about leading a class. I am doing a class for my mom's coworkers this week. They all seem really excited about the oils, and all because she runs her diffuser in her office! I can't wait to share with more people, I just love these oils!

Ravintsara

For spending too much money this month, I received a 5ml bottle of Ravintsara. I didn't know a lot about this one before it arrived. 

The Higley's Quick Reference Guide for Using Essential Oils says that Ravintsara is good for the immune system and respiratory system. It is only in two blends that Young Living sells - ImmuPower and Raven. I have been fighting a cold ALL WEEK and tried this today on my chest and respiratory Vitaflex Points on my feet. I reapplied several times throughout a sick day on the couch, and it seemed to help break up the congestion in my chest. As I find more uses for this, I'll be sure to update!

Deep Relief Roll-On

I know I say this about many of the Young Living products I have written about so far, but guys... this stuff is AWESOME! And I got it for free this month... even better!

Deep Relief is a blend of oils formulated for soothing muscle soreness and body tension. This is an amazing blend of 8 essential oils, with coconut oil as a carrier oil.

I immediately threw this in my purse when I got it last month. I used it several times when I felt a headache coming on. It soothed my symptoms every time. I even got my boyfriend to try it when we were on a road trip and the emergency ibuprofen was hidden in the back of the car. It stopped his headache in his tracks! This is not a cure for a headache; I had to reapply it a couple times over the course of 2-3 hours for two particularly bad headaches (bought on by work stress), but I did feel relief each time. The cooling and tingling feeling is delightful, and the oil smells amazing too!!

DIY - Facial Cleansing Wipes

I LOVE a good DIY project!! Some nights, I feel pretty lazy. Washing my face before bed is that thing I always slack off on. I usually purchase drugstore facial cleansing wipes. I have been stalking Pinterest to find ways to make my own facial cleansing wipes, but I never found the perfect recipe for me. So I made my own!

Items needed -

50 squares of Bounty Paper Towels - I've seen recipes with napkins or cloth scraps. This is what I had, and I knew they held up when wet, I tested!! I had the Select-A-Size style, which I then cut in half

8 oz filtered water

2 T Organic Raw Coconut Oil

1 t rubbing alcohol (you could use witch hazel or grain alcohol in place of the rubbing alcohol if you desire, but this is what I had for an emulsifier)

About 30 drops of the Young Living Essential Oils of your choosing (see bottom for my choices and other blends!)

Storage container - I used a small Pyrex storage container with a lid.

- Cut your paper towels to the size that you prefer. Stack them up and put them in your storage container.

- Heat the water so it's plenty warm, but no need to boil. 

- While the water is heating, I added my essential oils to a small glass bowl. I added the rubbing alcohol and coconut oil to the bowl, and mixed them all together. 

- I added the oil mixture to the warm water and got to whisking. The alcohol emulsifies the oils so they blend better with water.

- Once it's well mixed, pour the mixture evenly over the top of the paper towels. I ended up needing to flip the whole stack of paper towels to make sure they were fully coated. This amount of liquid ended up being a little much for me, but that's better than not enough!!

- For my first batch, I used equal amounts (10 drops) of Lavender, Melaleuca Alternifolia, and Eucalyptus Globulus. Lavender for moisturizing and soothing my skin, Melaleuca for healing/preventing acne, and Eucalyptus for an immune boost!

-Other options to try - Peppermint for itchy skin (just don't use this when cleaning near your eyes, it will burn!), Sandalwood for regenerating, Roman or German Chamomile or Geranium for inflamed or sensitive skin, Bergamot for greasy skin, Jasmine for dull skin, or Patchouli for improving tone. The only one of these I've tried was Peppermint, the rest of the options come from testimonials from friends or from the Higley's Quick Reference Guide for Using Essential Oils, my go-to place to look when I don't know which YLEO to try!

Eucalyptus Globulus

This is one of my new oils from my April Essential rewards order... Eucalyptus globulus!

Living in the southwest for the last three years has brought me allergies that I have NEVER had before. I am allergic to many native plants and trees out here, and as such, am constantly stuffy! I was previously using OTC allergy meds daily, as well as a prescription nasal spray as needed. One of the main reasons I started using Young Living products was these allergies. I have been using Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint as daily allergy prevention for a couple days now, but Eucalyptus globulus is amazing when a run of sniffing and sneezing has me wanting to crawl back into bed. I simply rub a drop under my eyes and on my forehead, hitting my entire sinus system. It is great for opening me up and making breathing as simple as it's supposed to be. I have also tried it on my sinus Vitaflex points with some success as well!

I used Eucalyptus globulus in my Morning Blast whipped lotion to increase my immune system and support my respiratory system. It can also be used in a homemade vapor rub! I've also read that it is good for sore muscles, reducing a fever, and to help a headache. Sounds awesome to me!

Thieves Household Cleaner

This stuff is seriously amazing guys. 

This was honestly one of the things I was most excited to receive in this month's Essential Rewards order. I immediately mixed up a 1:15 ratio bottle (yay for a 16 oz bottle making my life so easy!). I cleaned the kitchen counters first. They weren't too bad, just a few days of built up crumbs and sticky spots. This cleaner got it all up and smelled up the whole kitchen with the delicious scent of Thieves!

My next item to clean was the stove top. When I use the oven, it tends to heat up the whole stovetop, making those little spills from last nights dinner extra fun to try to remove. Today, I sprayed the whole top with the diluted Thieves Household Cleaner and let it sit for about 2-3 minutes. I used clean paper towels to wipe it down. Holy cow. This cleaner got off every.single.sticky.spot! Even the extra sticky one from Tuesday night's Orange Chicken!! (That was the night I got my YL ER order... I'm not normally that lazy!)

This weekend, I'm planning to use this for the bathroom counters. I'm still in "use it up" mode at my house; trying to run out of the other stuff and replace with more natural/less chemically products. I hate to just throw stuff away, so its a slow process. 

Can't wait to see how awesome this stuff is in other parts of the house!!

New Distributor Care Package

I just started with Young Living at the beginning of March and I already have a few people who have joined underneath me. My mom and one of my favorite former coworkers went to an Essential Oils 101 class with me just 2 weeks after I started using the oils, and joined as distributors. I am so excited to learn about using YLEO's in every part of our lives, as well as having a built in group of people to share my personal successes with. 

Just this week, my awesome little sister decided to join. My mom and I have been having great success with soothing stress and anxiety, which we shared with her immediately. When she heard about how much we were enjoying have YLEO's in our lives, she immediately wanted to start using YLEO's in her life. Unfortunately for me, she lives in the frozen tundra (aka the Midwest) and I am not nearby to help get her started. Coupled with the fact that she lives in a small town, I decided to send her a care package to welcome her to Young Living. 

I included the following items. These were some of the first things I bought to supplement my Premium Starter Kit, and she should have them too!!

- organic virgin coconut oil from Trader Joe's

- A 2 ounce glass spray bottle from Abundant Health 4 U- (P.S. These are great for making room sprays. I love to spray a mix of Peace & Calming and Lavender, diluted with filtered water, on my pillow before bed. You could also make room sprays for those quick moments when you don't have time to diffuse.) 

- A copy of Quick Reference Guide for Using Essential Oils (also purchased online from Abundant Health 4 U)

- A small sample of my Morning Blast lotion. 

It's headed your way, Sister! Hope you enjoy!

April Essential Rewards

Forgive me for the lack of photos this time around. I was SO excited to receive my first Essential Rewards Autoship from Young Living today that I completely forgot to take pics!! (I may or may not have squealed when I saw the box in my mailbox!) I have had so much fun using my oils this past month and couldn't wait to get some new stuff in to try out. 

For April, here are some of the highlights of what I ordered - 

RutaVaLa - 5ml EO
Eucalyptus globulus - 15ml EO
Lime - 15ml EO
Melaleuca alternifolia - 15ml EO
Thieves Household Cleaner
Essential Oil Bottle Labels - These make my bottles look nice and make it much easier to find the one in the container I store them in! 
AromaGlide Roller Fitments - LOVE THESE! I have always had the one I got in my Premium Starter Kit on my Stress Away, but now I can add them to more of my most applied oils!

I ordered enough stuff (typical me) to receive this month's promo items - Ravintsara 5ml EO and Deep Relief Roll-On! I will update this page with links to posts once I learn how to use these new oils!

DIY - Whipped Lotion

I have seen recipes for homemade "lotions" all over Pinterest. When I started using YLEO's, I mixed with coconut oil and used that after showering as a body lotion. I loved how my skin felt afterwards, and I had the benefit of oils seeping in all over! I tried a variety of oils, some by themselves and others paired up. Today, I'm sharing with you what I am calling "Morning Blast"! It is so refreshing to start my day, and does more than just moisturize my skin!

 

Ingredients:

- 4 ounces coconut oil - I use Trader Joe's Organic Virgin Coconut Oil

- 4 ounces raw shea butter - I got this brand at Sprouts

- 2 tablespoons sweet almond oil - also purchased at Sprouts

- 10 drops YL Peppermint

- 10 drops YL Lemon

- 15 drops YL Eucalyptus globulus

First, liquify at least one of your oils. My coconut oil was pretty soft at room temp, so I put the shea butter in a small mason jar and heated in with water on the stovetop. This only took about 8 minutes, so watch carefully!

I added the coconut oil and sweet almond oil to to a glass bowl. I put the liquid shea butter on top and used a small whisk to mix the oils together. I put it in the fridge to cool for about 10 minutes. It was still liquid but had cooled enough that I felt I could add the essential oils. I added them, whisked some more, and put the bowl in the freeze for 10 minutes (what can I say, patience is not one of my strong suits!)

With just a little stirring, this is what I was left with. I combined it into a clumpy paste, and busted out my hand mixer!!

After just a couple minutes of mixing and scraping and mixing some more, I had this GORGEOUS silky lotion!

I put the mixture into two 4 ounce mason jars. I tested it and loved the feel and blend of oils. It still becomes liquidy when it warms in my hand, but feels amazing on my skin! This particular blend of oils is good to start my day. Peppermint soothes itchy/dry skin (thanks, hard water), lemon energizes and prevents oily skin, and eucalyptus globulus boosts immune systems and is good for respiratory issues (I have pretty major environmental allergies and can use all the help I can get!) This same mix of oils can also be used as an all natural "vapor rub" when it is diluted less. I just love how energized it makes me feel in the morning!