How to use the Aromatic Kit

So I've decided it is time to get some of these oils into your hot little hands! There is no comparison to getting to touch, smell and use EOs.

The Aromatic Kit is a great way to build your collection with a very useful variety of oils.

There are 10 versatile oils in this wonderful kit. Following is a brief list of only some of the uses for these oils. Each one is linked back to the Spark Naturals web page so you can read about its properties, and if the oil can be used aromatically, topically, or internally. It will also state if the oil can be applied neat (straight from the bottle) or if it should be applied with a carrier oil. If ever in doubt... it never hurts to apply with a carrier oil such as coconut oil, almond oil, hemp seed oil, grape seed oil or even olive oil! Use what you have.
For the first 3 - 
Lemon, Lavender and Peppermint I'm going to refer you to an awesome list from Jill at One Good Thing by Jillee blog - and another list here too. Why reinvent the wheel? She's done a great job on these lists! She even has them in printable form for you! But as a teaser...


Lemon
* a drop in your water for health and taste
*remove sticky stuff from labels
*remove dried paint from clothes




Lavender
*diffuse to relax
*freshen linens
*Use for allergies
Peppermint
* a drop in a swallow of milk for heartburn
* a sniff in the morning for an alert mind
*a drop with oil for sore muscles


Wild Orange
*I love this citrus oil! It is delicious in sparkling (or normal) water.
*It is wonderful mixed with Zen in the diffuser.
*3 drops make a pan of brownies really special
*Just opening the bottle and sniffing is a mood lifter for me




Shield
*Mix with witch hazel for homemade hand sanitizer
*Diffuse to kill germs
*Use with honey and lemon for a sore throat soothing tea




Respire
*Rub on chest with carrier oil to ease breathing
*Rub on bottoms of feet when you have a cough
*Blend with a salve base for a Vics type rub
*Diffuse to kill germs

Bergamot
*Apply to scars to fade them
*Diffuse for its mood-lifting properties
*Use it on wounds for quicker healing
* Apply it to relax nerves and muscles






Zen
*LOVE to diffuse this with Respire at night for a restful sleep
*Rub on pulse points as a perfume
*Rub on chest to help with anxiety
*This is one of my favorites


White Fir
*Use topically for pain, sore muscles
*Diffuse to kill germs and support the immune system
*Diffuse for alertness

Ylang Ylang
*Add to massage oil or add a few drops to water for a special evening :) (read aphrodisiac)
*Use in body care products to balance skin
*Diffuse to calm mood or anxiety







To buy these oils separately would be $83.75. This kit is normally $62.50 which is a good deal! But it is on sale this month! All of February 2015 you can get the Aromatic kit for $50.62 when you use coupon code BENDERBOYMOM. That is over $12 savings.



To celebrate, I'm going to do a giveaway! From 2/19/15 - 2/26/15 You can enter to win this kit and some included accessories. Details are in the graphic. Tell your friends to enter too - this is too good to pass up! . Winner will be announced 2/27/15. If you don't win you will still have a day to get it at the sale price.

I am also including a set of dropper tops for the oils you choose to use often, and 2 roller bottles so you can combine EOs with a carrier oil for easy application.

Just jump in and give it a try. You'll never look back once you realize how easy it is to get started. If you have questions please comment or message me. I would love to answer them or help you find the answers. I've included several graphics from www.organicfacts.net. They are a great resource too.

~Wendy

Allergies of all kinds

Allergies...

I've had them all my life. At a very young age (4-5?) I can remember crying on my mom's lap because my sinuses hurt. I had chronic ear infections, puffy eyes, and headaches as a child. I have always had seasonal allergies, except I'm so lucky I get to be allergic to something in every season!. I also have food sensitivities, allergic to mold, maple trees, grass, and even my dog.

Allergies are what got me started on essential oils. My whole family has at least seasonal allergies, and a few members got my lucky 'extras'.  I have to admit, I was open to alternative medicine long before learning about essential oils. Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to the allopathic practice of medicine. It saved my life at age 17.   But over the years I have sought more traditional and natural methods time and again. I'm just not happy with the side effects that most medications have on me. I'm one of those people that is in the 2.5%. You know, the "less than 3% of people suffer this side effect" person.

When I ran across essential oils we were spending quite a bit on allergies medicine and other OTC drugs for the symptoms that weren't helped by the prescriptions. However, when I really looked at the big picture, I felt the prescriptions weren't helping at all. We spent $50/mo copay each on nasal sprays for 3 people. We used to pay a $60 (then $30 generic) copay for Claritin for 2 of us but then it became OTC. Our cost tripled for that. I paid $15 for prescription steroid eczema creme that 2 of us shared (shhhhh....). We bought Advil and Tylenol at Costco for the headaches/sinus pain and Sudafed at the drug store. My hubby was taking anywhere from 2-4 Sudafed and Tylenol/Advil doses a day depending on the season. I was doing at least 2. Then there was the frequent cost of antibiotics for when it all didn't work and we got sinus infections. Mine and my husband's liver function numbers were "concerning" to the doctors when we had our annual blood test. I was sure there had to be a better way.

Enter essential oils and Rebecca's blog www.campwander.com. I ran across her blog from Jill at www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com, her sister. I love these girls! They have awesome ideas. Anyway I began to read Camp Wander daily and liked what I read. I had always believed if there was a natural solution to something, it was the better route. I searched her blog for allergies and found a great post! I bought the supplies; a bottle of Lemon, bottle of Lavender, a bottle of  Peppermint (LLP), roller bottle and some fractionated coconut oil) and got started. I made my first allergy roller bottle, immediately used it, and IMMEDIATELY it started working on my congestion! I kid you not, right away my sinuses began to drain! Nothing over the years has ever worked that fast or that well on my allergies. It isn't perfect by any means, and it isn't a cure. I still have allergies. But when it comes to managing the symptoms, nothing beats LLP - hands down! The best part is it is natural, so if any allergies are really still bugging me an hour later I can reapply with no worries, no overdose risk, no negative side effects.

I keep this LLP roller with me at all times. I use it rolled on my sinuses for typical allergy congestion. I also roll it on my temples for allergy headaches, behind and in front of my ears for ear congestion, on my eyebrows when my eyes are itchy or watery (not too close, it will burn), on bug bites, in my navel if I'm having an allergic food reaction, or in my navel if my dog is making me itch all over. My husband and I also take a capsule of 6 drops LLP internally daily for allergies. We up it to 9 drops a capsule if it is a particularly bad time of the season.

It does seems to have had one side effect. It has improved both my husband and my digestion - go figure! I'm sure it is the daily peppermint and lemon.

Lucky for us -

Spark Naturals makes LLP all ready for you in a blend called, wait for it....LLP! 

To celebrate how awesome this blend is, and to get someone out there started on essential oils, I'm giving away a 5ml bottle of LLP and a 10ml  roller bottle. 

To make the roller I use:

Place 30 drops LLP in the roller then fill the remainder of the space with fractionated coconut oil. That easy!

(You can also use 10 drops each of lemon, lavender and peppermint if you use your bottle all up and don't have any super, duper, easy LLP)

You can use fractionated coconut oil, or any carrier oil that works for you, in the roller. Almond seed oil, grape seed, hemp seed oil, your choice. 

I'm learning already...

Ready... Set... Go! Tackle that acne

So, I warned you all you were going on a LEARNING journey with me. I had high aspirations of how many posts a week I was going to do. Then, life happened :). My new goal would be to blog about twice a week. Let's see how that goes! I've also learned how much I don't know about technology - a little overwhelming, but I have a teenage son who promises to help me out. Here's to hoping he can teach this "old" mama some new tricks. I've decided to share first about one of my successes...

Acne wipes! 

I know, not that exciting. But OH SO necessary in a house full of teens and... *Ahem*... a middle aged (read somewhere in menopause) woman. I have 5 boys, 4 of them are still at home ages 13-19. This is, unfortunately, the height of acne prone skin. They all haven't jumped on the clean, whole food, healthy eating kick I have either. This combination of hormones and toxins can make for some breakouts... okay, a lot. Even some cystic acne. 

I have used them as my guinea pigs with several natural acne recipes I had read on different essential oil blogs. Some things worked a little, some not at all. Some were spot treatments, some daily washes. But the biggest problem with all of them was that they weren't EASY. Like, teenage, lazy, finicky about self care, don't want too many steps, don't want to listen to mom, boy, easy. I knew that no amount of spot treatments were going to work if they didn't wash their face morning and night. Hence my lightbulb moment! Ready made wipes! Like baby wipes. You can't get any easier than premoistened, in a tub on the counter, wipes. I remembered that Jill at One Good Thing by Jillee had a recipe for Homemade Nose Wipes so I looked it up. That was my starting point. I wanted them to be easy, but reusable. Remember, 4 teens and me. That is like 10 wipes a day (if they really do what I told them would work). I wanted the wipes to include the ingredients I had been testing for the other acne products. This would mean aloe, witch hazel, melaleuca, vitamin E, etc. This recipe seemed like a good start. I then added several essential oils to fight the acne and heal the skin. Cutting up and hemming receiving blankets seemed like more work than I had time for so I just bought 2 packages of baby wash clothes at Ross - 24 pack for $5.99/ea. The colors weren't exactly boy, but I told them to deal with it. They never complained. I was making this whole face washing thing too easy. 

Recipe

1 Cup very warm (to melt the salt) water
2 teaspoons SN alcohol free witch hazel
1 Tablespoon aloe
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
10 Drops SN Lemon Essential Oil
10 Drops SN Melaleuca Essential Oil
10 Drops SN Lavender Essential Oil
5 Drops SN Frankincense Essential Oil

Mix well and pour over as many washcloths as it will dampen. You don't need them dripping wet. With the baby ones I use this recipe will cover about 22. It will depend on the size and thickness of the clothes you use. 

Hmmm, I wonder if I added a few drops of Jeddy's blend too for a calmer more focused day?

Some things I have learned in doing this over the past 4 months. 

• IT WORKS!!! My boys have all said that when they are consistent they can tell. If they use them twice daily they can notice a difference in a few days. Others have commented to them about the improvement. 
• They will mold if you make too many at a time and don't use them quickly enough. I know the salt and melaleuca are both preventative against this, but I have to remember that we live in a warm climate (AZ) and the wipes are moist and dark in the container. Also, I'm pretty sure that my boys hands are NOT sterile when they reach in the box :). 
• If you make them and put them in the fridge to cool down before you put them in the bathroom, this buys you almost double the time before they will mold. 
• They are quick to make so I just make up enough for 5-6 days at a time (that is all that fits in the box for this large family anyway). 
• I have had to tell my boys to let the used cloth dry over the faucet or edge of the laundry basket before they throw it in the wash. Wet washcloth wadded in a ball at the bottom of a basket is never good. 
• They hardly ask me for the spot treatment since using these daily.
• I folded them all neatly the first time so they would pop out of the container and look pretty... soooo not necessary. 
• I have avoided the dermatologist!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and toxic medications!!!!!!!
• They are not as cheap as soap and water. But I took one kiddo to the dermatologist for cystic acne a few years ago (pre-essential oil mom). It cost me $50 copay/mo for visit. $12 copay/mo for acne medication. $25 copay/mo for blood test (yikes, freaked me out it was necessary). Then the acne came back 6 months after treatment. That was $87/mo to put chemicals in my son, and the side effects were miserable. I could buy a bottle of Frankincense monthly for that!!! Money way better spent. 

If you try these out let me know how they work for you and if you adjusted the recipe at all. Remember each of our body's chemistry is different. Sometimes you will need to make adjustments to what I post to fit you personally. That is all part of the EO journey!. 

** As always you can use coupon code benderboymom for 10% off at checkout when you order supplies from www.sparknaturals.com