Insects are not invited!

How many times have you been outside when the creepy crawlies decide to invite themselves to join your activity? For us it's a daily occurrence. I am a giant mosquito bite from usually mid-April to the end of September, and my kids don't fare any better. Last month the product of the month was Terra Shield. I thought it wouldn't hurt to try it. I sent Scientist to the last day of cub scout day camp with a sample vial of the oil and he was bite free. I'm not a fan of using chemicals to repel our winged and crawling neighbors. They have great uses and are essential to our food supply. That doesn't mean I want them in my house or trying to have a Jennifer buffet for dinner though, so I had decided that this year we would stick to all natural and safe bug repellent. I must say I honestly wasn't expecting much, and was kind of skeptical about the results. My fears have been proven unfounded though. I have put it safely on both kids and my self without worrying about what is being absorbed by our skin. We are all bite free so far this summer. That alone was worth trying it for me. The oil is a blend of citronella, lemongrass, eucalyptus and a few others in a carrier oil of fractionated coconut oil. This oil is a keeper and one I highly recommend to anyone who is curious about the effects of going towards a natural lifestyle.

IQ Mega

One of the things that my aunt, a diamond, and my personal guru suggested while we were in the process of getting Thinker diagnosed with his ADHD was to use the health and wellness supplement from doTerra called IQ Mega, and his physician agreed. She's been really open to us using essential oils and homeopathy with him, which I really appreciate.


This supplement is meant for children and is a great way to get Omega 3 fatty acids, which are not that plentiful in the average american diet. The acids are derived from a fish oil source, which if you've taken in the past then you know that this is not the most appetizing in scent or taste. The solution that this offers is Wild Orange essential oil in addition to the fish oil. Thinker actually enjoys taking this supplement daily. The only thing that I wish would be different is that the Omega 3 acids were from a plant based source such as flax seed oil. My aunt told me that doTerra is working on adding vegan options to some of the lineup and I hope this one comes around soon.

I have seen a difference since starting this supplement in Thinker. He is able to articulate better to us the things that he has going on inside his very fast moving brain. This is one that I put on my monthly order and I intend to keep it there. Even if you don't have a specific reason to add Omega 3 fatty acids to your health regimen, I highly recommend it.

After a long hiatus....

It's been a long while. We have had several things happen to and around us that have made it hard to concentrate on blogging about EOs. I studied for and completed the Praxis II exam for Biology education, as well as the test for my state. Thinker went through the evaluation process and was diagnosed with ADHD, that is chronicled on my other blog. The worst, at least for me and my concern about by family was the tornado outbreaks in our area the last two weeks of May. It's taken me quite a while to get back in the mindset of blogging about Essential Oils, but if you bear with me the next couple of days should have several updates.

An old problem with a new treatment.

Back when I was in middle school I was diagnosed with Carpel Tunnel. For those that aren't familiar with it basically a tendon in your hand swells and causes pain and numbness in your thumb, pointer, middle and half of your ring finger. I had a brace and was taking a large dose of ibuprofen three times a day. That seemed to take care of it and once I figured out that it was the way I played my clarinet that made it worse I was able to correct my hand position and it seemed to go away.

Since I have been back in school for the last 18 months, my wrist has been acting up again. This time though I thought I'd see if there was an EO that could help, and found that a combination of lemongrass, melaleuca and deep blue is recommended  Well, knowing that melaleuca was not my friend I tried just the lemongrass and the deep blue. I also used it in conjunction with some emu oil that I found at my local Sprouts. For those that don't know my parents raise emus. Their oil can be very helpful with insect bits, sores on the skin, muscle inflammation and a variety of other ailments. If you want to try it you can find it here.

I first rubbed a drop of emu oil into my wrist followed by application of a drop of lemongrass oil. Once that was completely absorbed into my skin I went over it with my deep blue roller bottle. My wrist felt so much better instantly. The bad thing is that once the EO's wear off you know it. They work so well at making the pain go away that no ibuprofen was needed and that was an amazing thing.

New lip balm variety.

I've posted before about making coconut oil free lip balm with the peppermint and wild orange essential oils. I gave one to each of my sisters, my mom, and my sister-in-law. My sister's boyfriends both wanted to try them, even with the pink girly caps, and all have enjoyed the lip balm. I got a request to make it again so this time I thought in addition to my peppermint/wild orange blend I wanted to try another oil in the lip balm.

Since I have been enjoying the citrus bliss bath bars in my body wash, that was the first oil I turned to. I added about 1/8th tsp to 1 oz each of shea butter, cocoa butter and beeswax. I melted it on the stove like before, the difference this time was the use of actual lip balm tubes. I was able to fill 12 .15oz tubes plus 4 of the pink lidded containers that I used last time.

The feedback I got from Mister has been that the amount of beeswax makes it much harder on the lips than last time so that will probably be adjusted in the future, or this time my tube will be carried in my pocket so that my body heat has a chance to soften the balm before application.

What oil would you want to try in lip balm form? Let me know through your comments.

Citrus Bliss Bars into Body Wash

I love, love, love the scent of the Citrus Bliss bars from doTerra.

I'm not a body bar person though so after finding this recipe to convert body bars into body wash, I thought why not try it. I'm pretty comfortable with most homemade solutions so this didn't scare me at all.

First up was grating the soap. I just use a hand cheese grater and wash it really well when I'm done.

 While I was grating the soap I had 6c water in a pot on the stove heating up. As I grated the soap I dumped it into the water. Once all the soap was grated it was just a matter of stirring occasionally until the soap had completely melted and combined with the water. I then poured it into the bottle that I store my body wash in until it's time to refill the small bottle I use in the shower.

I ended up converting 3 bars and got about 7 cups of finished body wash. I'm currently using it in the shower right now and I'm loving it.

Citrus Bliss is one essential oil that I wish I had when my boys were both newborns. I found out that it can help alleviate the common problem of mastitis and other infections due to all the citrus oils in it. I'm actually making lip balm with the citrus bliss in the next couple of days and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Contest Ended...

Dave and Jana_ you've won the introductory  kit. Email me your address at jenngreenland@gmail.com so I can get that shipped to you on Monday.

Lemongrass

Lemongrass is a plant that I have been fond of for quite a while. I've always loved the scent and it reminds me of spring. In my opinion it is one of the hidden gems in the essential oil lineup. It can be used to help fight infections, inflammation, and my personal favorite as a safe insect repellent.

Usually when I wake up in the morning my hands and feet are on the swollen side, not enough to be worrisome, but enough to make my morning routine just a little bit more difficult. I've been rubbing about 1 drop of oil on each of my feet when I wake up and within minutes the swelling is gone.

I've also found  that it helps fight throat infections. I am so susceptible to strep throat it's not funny, in fact my doctor back in high school labeled me the "Strep Queen." I've had what I thought was an ear infection off and on for over a year. I've been into the doctor and gotten antibiotics but it always seems to come back. As  I was using the lemongrass oil for the swelling, I noticed that the feeling that  I was getting the another infection has gone away. This oil is definitely going to be kept on hand in my house from now on.

New oils and new opportunities for better health.

I ordered some new oils that I have been wanting to try. I've been wanting to do this for a while and finally did it with this months incentive from doTerra. With an order worth 200 pv or more you get a free Deep Blue Rub and a 10ml Roll-on. I've already written about my love for Deep Blue, but lets just say getting about $90 worth of Deep Blue products for free was incentive enough for me.

I've been wanting to get some eucalyptus oil for a while. I ordered two bottles. The first thing I did was make up 3 sample vials in case I have someone who would like to try it. The next was making some vapor disks. This time I did it a bit different. I didn't dry them in the oven since I wasn't in a hurry to use them and I used a combination of three oils. I used 15 drops each of peppermint, rosemary, and eucalyptus. I think I love them even more now than I did before.

We don't have a diffuser,  yet, it'll be in next months order, so I put about 2 drops of the oil I want to use on a cotton ball and leave them in each room. Spring in the southern plains means allergies, snot and sinus drainage, so I've been using peppermint and I've added my eucalyptus to it. I can say I'm liking the results.

I've got so many new oils to play with and I'm pretty excited about it, so you'll be seeing lots of updates and new posts from me over the next few months.

Want to try doTerra? Here is your chance!

I've been posting about ways that I have used the different oils and oil blends from doTerra. I love the many ways I can use the oils and I'd love to share that with everyone.

This is the introductory oil kit from doTerra. It contains 5mL each of Lemon, Peppermint and Lavender oils. It also comes with an audio CD and introductory booklet. The kit normally retails for $26.67.

How would you like to get this kit for free and try EOs for yourself? Here's how:

Go to this link and look over the variety of ways to utilize the intro kit in your home and comment with the one you are most looking forward to using.

Or:

Share this post on Facebook, but don't forget to comment here so that I can get your entry in the drawing.

Doing both will get you  two entries in the drawing. Names will be drawn on Saturday, April 27th at 10 pm.

I'll post an new entry with the winners commenting name so I can get this kit to you.

Happy reading and Good Luck!

Deep Blue bath salt.

I'm playing Bunco this weekend with the ladies from church and I decided to bring Deep Blue bath salts as my contribution to the gift pool. I'll be taking a small one with me that night. The other small ones (there are two more not pictured) will go to my kids teachers as a way to de-stress for the final stretch of the school year.

For making this batch I used 3 c Epsom salt and 3 c ice cream salt mixed with 20 drops of Deep Blue. I happened to have some soap liquid dye on hand so I added some blue dye to distinguish it from the other bath salts I have made.

Face Care or the Green Eyed Monster.

I've been rather jealous of my little sister. She can use all of the doTerra oils and all of the spa products. She's been using the skin care line with great success. She said that she only wished that doTerra made a mud mask. Little wheels got turning in my head.

After scouring pinterest for what seemed to be hours I found a couple of recipes that all required bentonite or green clay. I live in one of the least "hippie" states so finding that around here was proving to be a challenge. My sister told me that she found some at her local Whole Foods. I hunted it down like a bloodhound on the scent.

I found a dry mask from Now Solutions called european clay powder, that you add water to and whatever EO you felt like using. I added one drop of peppermint oil and slathered it on my face. I'll spare you the pictures, it wasn't pretty, I looked like the creature from the black lagoon. The directions said to leave it on for 15 minutes, well being the highly distractable person I am 15 minute turned into 45. My skin wasn't thrilled about it, but I did notice a rather immediate tightening and clearing of my skin.

Will I do it again? YES! When I run out I might order it in bulk though and add some honey as well as the EO.

Success with the "Unfriendlies"

I've been trying to find a way to make up some sample vials of the oils that I call "not Jennifer friendly." These include the single oils of lavender and melaleuca and all the blends that contain them. My little sister sent me a couple of sample vials of lavender and I appreciate it greatly. I just wish she were closer so I could have her do all my oils that aren't friendly.

I thought I'd try taking the oils out on my back porch to do my sample vials with. I was able to pour the oils and get them capped without too much of a headache. I still got a bit of one but not the whammy I suffered before. I call any improvement a success. It's not perfect but it works for me.

This ended up being rather important for me to figure out as I was giving some friends samples of oils that I just can't use. I'm hoping to hear from both of them soon and hear how the oils worked for them.

I'll keep you posted on how it works.

It's been awhile.

My sincerest and deepest apologies for the time lag in posting. I had computer issues and then we had tummy troubles with the boys. To exacerbate the issue I haven't had much opportunity to try new oils or new ways of using them and since this blog is all about how we use essential oils and the other products from doTerra, I didn't think I had much to add.

How about we get back to talking about essential oils and how we use them?

Spring is my favorite season, plants start to get leaves again, flowers bloom and the weather gets warmer. The only thing I don't like about spring is that it doesn't like me. With all the plants in bloom and the wind that this area of the country is famous for my lungs and sinuses take a beating. On top of that we got ambitious enough to rip up the carpet we had in our living room and replace it with laminate. While this will end up being much more hypoallergenic for us and helping with our asthma the process of pulling up the carpet and removing it got all of our lungs worked up.

To deal with this we have all been rubbing enough peppermint oil on our chests to make enough candy canes to supply a small country for a year. I've put it on cotton balls and left them in both bathrooms. I also just recently switched shampoo and conditioner (I promise this relates). I'm more than slightly jealous of my sisters ability to use the shampoo and conditioner that doTerra makes so I wanted to try something made with EO's. I found some made with rosemary and mint. Serendipity put this in my shower at the same time that my lungs rebelled.

My aunt had told me, through my mom, that rosemary would also help with the sinus issues and congestion. I also put peppermint oil in my body wash, so between the two my showers have helped keep the nasty allergy side effects at bay.

I mentioned tummy issues earlier. Mister had been out of town on a business trip when Scientist threw up late at night. I am not good at dealing with cleaning up vomit. Most of the time Mister comes to the rescue and gets it cleaned up for me and I greatly appreciate it. This gave me the opportunity to try DigestZen on Scientist. I didn't dilute it thinking that I had used it on myself when my tamiflu Rx made me nauseous earlier this year with out any reactions. I rubbed a couple of drops on his abdomen and he got a red rash that looked like a sunburn where I had applied it. The oil worked great, but in the future it will be diluted before using on the kiddos. Sometimes experience is the best teacher and this time proved to be an example of that.

I'm going to be ordering rosemary and eucalyptus to try soon! If it works so well in my shampoo and conditioner I want to be able to use it when not in the shower.

Deep Blue, I think I love you.

I've been using doTerra's line of EO for a while now and love it.  I carry several oils on me all the time. I put lemon in my water, keep peppermint on me if I need to be in public (not as many problems with perfume induced migraines) and for minor aches and pains and sinus congestion. This week was the first time I got to try an oil I've had for a while, but I haven't had a reason to try it.

I was getting ready for the day and torqued my back pretty good while in the shower. I could barely get dried off and dressed. Knowing I had some Deep Blue with my other oils I reached for that first, thinking that if it didn't work I could always take the ibuprofen next. I didn't need the ibuprofen at all!  I just rubbed in some of the oil, I think I used about 2-3 drops, and the relief was instantaneous. The relief lasted about 6 hours and then it was time to reapply.

When I did the same thing to myself about 18 months ago I ended up with a prescription for lortab, because the ibuprofen just wasn't cutting it and this time I didn't even need it. I think that alone speaks to the power of the essential oils in the Deep Blue.

What's in it, you ask? It contains a blend of wintergreen, camphor, peppermint, blue tansy, German chamomile,  helichrysum and osmanthus. The smell reminds my a lot of Icy Hot or Ben Gay. I've used Icy Hot in the past but it doesn't hold a candle to what Deep Blue can do. I'm thoroughly impressed with this blend, and would recommend it to anyone with joint or muscle pain.

Provident living or being a hippie?

I got to thinking over the last couple of days, dangerous, I know... What is the difference between living providently, and healthily and being a hippie? I'm certainly not going to draw the line but it's an interesting question.

When I think of provident living I think of things like knowing how to make your own food and cleaning products. I think of buying the necessities when they are the cheapest and stocking up. I think of home remedies for things like colds and allergies.

I certainly fit all those descriptions, especially now that I am using essential oils in the place of some of the others things I used to use. In the last couple of months I've made other changes as well. I've moved to a plant based diet. I don't consume dairy any more and the only meat I eat is emu (once a week or less). I've found fabulous recipes and ways to use my EOs that I never though possible before. I make my own granola bars and learned how to make my own almond milk. 

If that makes me a hippie, I'm happy to be one. Being healthy while still living within your means is very freeing.

So where do you put the line? 

Update on Frankincense or Life Changer!

Back in November I wrote that Monster has been having a hard time with school. At the time of writing that post we had been using the frankincense on his feet for about a week. It has changed my life! I haven't had a report of a bad day from his teacher at school when I put it on him. He sits in his primary class (our church's version of Sunday School for kids aged 3-11), and doesn't act up there. He'll sit and read a story with me now where before he couldn't sit still all the way through Goodnight Moon! He actually asked me to spike his hair this morning, and then stood still so I could put product in his hair and blow dry it.

The best part about it? I don't have to worry about his building a tolerance for the frankincense. Keep in mind he has not been formally diagnosed with anything but the changes that I see in him from using the frankincense is going to keep me buying it for the long term.

Since we've found something that helps Monster to be the sweet loving little boy I know he is more often than not it's time for a nickname change don't you think? Monster is now Thinker. He has the biggest imagination I've ever seen, and I'm sure his imagination will take him on some fabulous journeys!

How has one (or several) essential oils changed your life?

Multivitamins: Are they really worth it?

If you are anything like me you get more than the daily recommended dose of folic acid from all the crackers and cereal you snack on. What about the other nutrients that our bodies need? Even with eating a full and balanced diet I was still lacking B5 or panothenic acid. How do I know this? Canker sores! I used to get them at least once a month. My mom told me that my grandfather used to take panothenic acid to prevent them so I tried it. I used to take a once daily womens multivitamin, potassium glutamate, a B-vitamin complex, and Biotin. Most of these are huge horse pills.

That stopped about 2 months ago. Why? you ask. My first package from my mom with doTerra products included Lifelong Vitality. The pack includes three bottles, one is a replacement for the multivitamin Microplex VMz, one is a blend of EO's, xEO Mega, and Alpha CRS which includes things like Co-Q 10 and carotenoids and other minerals and botanical ingredients that have been shown to prevent inflammation and cellular degeneration.

The instructions say to take one of each with your three big meals and one each at bed time. I don't follow the instructions because I'm awful with remembering to take pills at meals. It's a really good thing I'm not the diabetic in our family. I take these pills at night before bed when I take my allergy pills. Since I started taking the Lifelong Vitality pack I have not once had a canker sore, my joints have ached less and I feel like I can concentrate more, which for me is huge especially since I am in an online degree program. The best thing for me though is the lack of insomnia. I used to have at least one night a week where I would be awake all night long, but now I don't have that problem.

I'm loving the results I'm getting from my EOs and other doTerra products. If you haven't tried them yet what is stopping you?

Essential Oil Basics

So I just realized that many of my readers are familiar with essential oils but that many are not.That means to me that maybe a primer or a post on the basics that I have encountered so far is needed.

Essential Oil (EO) is oil made by plants that contain many of the fat soluble nutrients that our bodies need. 

Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade (CPTG) means that this oil is free of any additives or chemicals that could be absorbed with the EO.

Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS) most of doTerra's line of products are labeled as GRAS. The oils have this label are generally safe for ingestion. This doesn't mean that they will taste good going down though.

Carrier Oil (CO) any oil that you choose to use to dilute the EO. Some use coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) or any other vegetable oil. I've used both of those oils and sunflower oil with great success.

How do yo use the oils?

I follow the recommendations made in my aroma tools book. Most oils can be applied topically neat, topically with dilution, ingested or used in aromatherapy. As I use them and write about it the way I use the oil will generally be included with each post.

When applying an oil I tend to apply it to the bottom of my feet or the bottom of the kids feet. The next location I use is the pulse points on my wrist.

Any basic tips that you have learned? 

If you spill oil on yourself don't use water to clean it up! Use another oil and soap or milk. The fats in the milk and other oil will bind to the EO that you spilled. Water will just carry it further.

Keep your oils in a cabinet away from sunlight and heat. They will last much longer if you do this simple thing.

What one oil would I recommend for some one just starting out?

Peppermint or Lemon. They both have a wide variety of uses and most people have been around those two scents enough to know if they will have a sensitivity. If I had to only keep replacing two oils that would be it. The next one for us would be frankincense. Followed by the other citrus oils and oregano.

Hope this helps anyone who feels like they are drowning in information! As I find more tips and tricks I will add them.