Top 6 ways to Use Your Essential Oils
Essential oils are all the rage these days, but what can you do with them and why should they be a part of your daily life?
When buying essential oils, look for:
100% Pure
Sustainably Sourced
Fair Trade
3rd Party Testing
My personal favorites are Arbonne's new line of essential oils, for topical and aromatic use only. These 100% pure essential oils follow strict seed-to-source standards, from growth in the field to harvest. They are then quarantined, inspected and tested by independent labs to ensure the purity meets the highest industry-leading standards.
It's like painting with primary colors with their easily blend-able core botanicals of: Peppermint, Tea Tree, Lemon, Lavender and, of course, their blends:
Harmony blend (orange, lavender, rosemary, eucalyptus, juniper berry, tangerine, grapefruit and ginger), which is seriously divine.
Warrior Blend (smells like the holidays and also “slaying the day”, if that had a smell, haha; it’s clove, cinnamon bark and leaf,
rosemary, frankincense, eucalyptus, juniper berry and orange)
Focus blend (Basil, Rosemary, Peppermint, Frankincense, Bergamot, Lemon)
Learning about essential oils and how to incorporate them into your home, in some pretty awesome ways, is super easy.
Here are our Top 6 ways to use essential oils daily.
1) Laundry:
Skip harsh chemicals from fabric softeners or overly-fragranced dryer sheets, with anti-static, anti-lint, hypoallergenic wool balls that reduce drying time dramatically
Off-white balls, for LIGHT colors and Grey balls for DARKS/VIVID colors
Choose your fragrance/oil and add just a couple drops to (6) wool balls per cycle. My favorite recipe is 2 Peppermint balls and 3-4 Harmony Blend balls :)
Unlike dryer sheets, reusable wool fabric softener balls help you save money, reduce waste and keep your clothes even softer and smelling better than before.
PET PERK: pet owners, these dryer balls will dramatically reduce the amount of hair left on your clothes after drying.
2) We all know how toxic some cleaning supplies are. Cleaning with Essential Oils is not only easy, but great aromatherapy and so much more pure than using unwanted/hazardous chemicals. You'll need these cleaning supplies (recipes for homemade cleaning alternatives):
3) On-the-go Aromatherapy:
Kick your old artificial, car fragrance pine trees to the curb! Use a car diffuser instead; they are awesome!
Aroma Jewelry
4) Support/stimulate your your lymphatic system*. Dilute Lemon Oil with a carrier oil, like coconut oil, and rub on lymph glands under neck and arms. Oils are powerful tools, please refer to UEOS, such a great safety resource for usage limits, carriers, dilution and more.
*This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease.
5) At-home Aromatherapy and to promote a cleaner, fresher scent in the air (Diffusers/Cool Mist Humidifiers)
6) DIY Bug repellents that work!
http://www.usingeossafely.com/essential-oils-hydrosols-for-bug-repellents/
BUGS are never fun when they decide to be uninvited house guests!!! Here's how to use Essential Oils to repel them!
ANTS: Use essential oils such as peppermint, citrus oil and tea tree oil to make an ant-repellent spray (** Do NOT use this oil in the kitchen or on surfaces where you prepare food). Purchase a clean spray bottle and fill it with:
1/4 cup of water
15 drops of tea tree oil
15 drops of peppermint oil
& 7 drops of the citrus oil of your choice.
Shake it well and spray it around areas where ants are common, including baseboards.
For kitchens or on surfaces where you prepare food, use a mix of:
15 drops peppermint oil
& 7 drops lemon oil with water
Spray food-preparation areas.
MOSQUITOS: use oils like, Citronella, peppermint, lemon, eucalyptus, basil, clove, thyme, lemongrass, geranium and lavender
Spray
1 12oz bottle of Witch Hazel (one without alcohol or parabens is your best bet for a completely natural repellent)
15 drops of citronella essential oil1
5 drops of lemongrass oil
10 drops of peppermint essential oil
10 drops of tea tree oil (optional, but works great if you have ticks as well)
1 funnel
1 empty spray container
1 empty mixing jar to mix the ingredients
With these, you'll want to pour the witch hazel into the mixing jar, along with your essential oils. Once they are mixed well, you can use your funnel to pour them into the spray bottle, and go to town! Its best to shake the mixture up a little before each use to ensure it doesn't separate, and you're good to go.
Lotion
8 drops of tea tree essential oil
8 drops of lavender essential oil
8 drops of lemongrass essential oil
6 drops of citronella essential oil
6 drops of eucalyptus essential oil
4 ounces of fractionated coconut oil
For this one, the directions are incredibly easy. You'll want to first mix all of your essential oils, and then mix them thoroughly with the fractionated coconut oil. Once thoroughly mixed, allow the coconut oil to harden. Once that is done, you'll simply scoop some out before you go and spread it onto the skin to keep the pests away!
FLEAS: (NOT for use on your pets) Oils that repel fleas, include: Cedarwood, citronella, eucalyptus, tea tree, lemongrass, lavender, orange and pine
TICKS: (AGAIN, please don't use EOs on your pets) Rose geranium, juniper, rosewood, thyme, grapefruit and oregano