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.