Essential Oils

I have been hearing so much buzz about essential oils and I have so many friends who swears by them. I wanted to try out this miracle healing in a bottle and I wanted to see if they really do what everyone has been swearing they can.

From getting a baby to sleep at night, beating a cold, keeping your hubby from snoring in your ear, to healing all sorts of illnesses, these oils sure do claim a lot. So, I decided to reach out to my sweet friend Robin who is the oil guru to get the skinny and see why she loves them so much.

This is all coming from a mother that believes in these little bottles of natural remedies so much that she has an oil necklace to make sure she never leaves home without them! Here is her testimony on essential oils and how they have helped her and her family!

My journey with essential oils started back in March of this year. I had a seven month old who wasn’t sleeping more than an hour or two at a time, and I was on the verge of a mental breakdown from lack of sleep.

I had been reading some Facebook posts from a friend of mine for a few months about how much she loved her essential oils. Her posts were mostly about using the oils to cure stuffy noses, headaches, and the itchiness of mosquito bites.

I was interested, but all that was on my mind at the time was exhaustion and my need for sleep. One day I happened to come across a post she had made about using the oils to get her three kiddos to sleep through the night. I was so desperate, I immediately sent her a message asking her how I could possibly get ahold of whatever she was using.

When the time came to purchase, I was still so skeptical that it would help my baby sleep, but I was willing to give it a try. I decided to purchase the Premium Starter Kit, so that I would have a diffuser and several oils at my disposal to play with. It gave me more bang for my buck, and I am all about saving money when and however I can.

A short time later my kit arrived and I dumped some Lavender in the diffuser and turned that sucker on. My mother was at my house visiting that evening, and she was attempting to rock the baby to sleep with no success. Several minutes after turning the diffuser on, my mom (who by the way, had JUST told me that she couldn’t believe I wasted my money of something so silly as essential oils), looked at me with a face of shock and said, “She just went from crying to sound asleep in seconds. How did that happen?” Not only did she go to sleep easily, but she slept 12 hours that night!

I had to know it wasn’t a coincidence, so I started diffusing lavender on a nightly basis after that, and would sometimes even add a little Peace & Calming oil that came in my kit on particularly rough nights. That little bottle of lavender is what got me hooked on essential oils.

Since I had a kit of all kinds of oils, I decided to research and see what they could do to help my family too. I found the lavender oil to not only be great for promoting restful sleep, but it also relieved the sting of a nasty sunburn I got this summer. Since it worked on the sunburn, I pulled the bottle out again when I touched my iron one day that I forgot was turned on. Besides keeping my hand submerged in ice water, nothing would take the burn out. I applied several drops of lavender every few minutes for about 20 minutes and before I knew it, I had totally forgotten about by burn (well, until I looked down and saw the redness, but at least the pain was gone!).

I’ve used it for occasional headaches and bug bites as well. I like to refer to lavender as “The Swiss Army Knife of Essential Oils.” Now, let me fill you in on something VERY important. You can now buy lavender oil at just about any drug store or health food store, but NOT all lavender (or essential oils in general for that matter) are created equal. Although your bottle may say “100% pure oil” that may not be the case. Essential oils are regulated like many things are, so if you buy a $10.00 bottle of “pure lavender oil” don’t be surprised if you are disappointed with its results. There is a great chance that it contains some sort of filler oil.

Here are some of my other favorite oils and how we use them:

Thieves– This oil blend is a must have. My whole family rubs this on the bottoms of our feet to try to keep sickness at bay. When diffused, it kills over 99% of airborne bacteria, so it’s great to use at home, in the office, or in the classroom. We also use Thieves for sore throats, and even a drop on top of my toothpaste to whiten my teeth. I have friends who have little ones in daycare who have started applying it to their kiddos feet, and they have seen a drastic change in the number of doctor visits this year.

 

Panaway– This is excellent for sore muscles, inflammation, growing pains, sciatica, arthritis, menstrual cramps and headache. I rub it on my body after a workout and feel so much better (especially if I layer it with peppermint.) I also have it handy during “that time of the month” and it’s great to apply for a headache.

 

Peppermint– This one is also great for headaches. I have seen it work wonders for constipation, nausea, and heartburn as well. I had a friend visit me a few months ago with a terrible stomach ache. She rubbed peppermint on her belly and put a few drops in a glass of water and drank it and was relieved in minutes. For those with chronic constipation or IBS this is a great one to try, but I have been amazed with another oil mixture called Digize as well!

Stress Away– I mean the name says it all. This is a great one to keep in your purse to apply when you need to de-stress and relax. It is also helpful for moments of anxiety and worry.

 

Lemon– This oil is great to diffuse as a mood lifter and to help wake you up and get your day started. It is also great for UTI’s kidney stones, bloating, cleaning, and when mixed with Epsom salts it makes for a great detox bath!

 

Frankincense– Just a few days ago I received a text from a girl who told me that she had been putting Frank and Purification on her face daily for several weeks, and she was so excited to share with me that someone had given her a compliment on her skin. She explained that due to acne scars, she never receives skin compliments, so it just made her day for someone to tell her that. So needless to say, Frank is great for the skin (wrinkles, scars, stretch marks). It has also helped a friend of mine who suffers from depression. It can also be used to help with high blood pressure.

Purification– Oh I love this one! Everyone knows what a bummer it is to walk into the laundry room and open the washer only to discover the load of wet towels that you have completely forgotten about from the day before, and now they smell like mildew. The only solution is to rewash right? Wrong!! Now I can throw the stinky load in the dryer and apply a few drops of purification to a clean rag and toss it in with them and the stinky laundry will come out smelling oh so fresh! That’s not all this handy oil helps with though, it is also great at treating acne scars, sore throats, ear aches, and cuts and scrapes.

 

Joy– My best friend is going through an extremely rough time right now, and the depression she is experiencing is really taking its toll on her. I had this on hand during her last visit and I had her rub it on her chest over her heart. She was a skeptic, but was willing to give anything a try. A little while later she told me that she really did feel better and asked to take the bottle home with her. Now did it totally cure her depression? No, but it did help her face the day without any tears. I’ve also heard this is a great oil to use for post-partum depression, or just to diffuse as a mood lifter on a dreary day.

 

Valor– My husband is a snorer and it almost led me to the point of sleeping in our guest bedroom on a nightly basis. I had read many testimonies that applying this to the big toe helped with snoring. I thought it sounding crazy, but i lathered up his toes one night to see if it would work. It was the best night’s sleep any one of us has had! Now we not only apply it to his toes, but we also add it to the diffuser with lavender at nights. Love this one!

 

Peace and Calming– This is a great oil blend to add to the diffuser to promote restful sleep. It can also be diluted and rubbed on the bottoms of kiddos feet who need to settle down for bed. I have a friend with 3 kids who keeps this on hand for long car rides when all 3 become loud and whiny and just need to take a nap! She said it totally chills them out during meltdowns. That same friend uses this on a nightly basis in her diffuser to sleep soundly.

M-grain– This is for all the migraine sufferers out there. I don’t personally suffer from migraines, but my childhood friend Kristen has had them for years. They last for weeks at a time and are totally debilitating. She has tried medications and shots, but they just make her feel worse. She is probably the biggest skeptic on earth, but she tried this for a recent migraine and called me all excited because it had made it disappear. She has since used it many times, and every time it has made the migraine go away except for one really bad one that didn’t totally go away, but she said it did help the symptoms enough to make the migraine tolerable. She has best results when applying this to the head and neck and then driving it in with peppermint oil.

RC– and it’s the bomb.com when it comes to respiratory congestion. This time of year, so many people wake up with a stuffy nose and can’t breathe. Applying RC loosens everything up and helps open up your nasal passages without having to make a trip to the pharmacy for medications. Whenever I am able to use something pure and natural to help my family get over something, rather than a medication full of chemicals, I always give it a shot!

There are many, many, essential oil companies out there, so it may be confusing on which one to choose. Robin chose Young Living after doing some research due to their “Seed to Seal” guarantee.

After all the success Robin has had with Essential Oils, she has now decided to be an independent distributor. If you are interested in trying the oils contact her at robinraines1@gmail.com and she would love to share her experiences and help get you started with a Starter Pack or whatever fits your needs.

I have tried several of these products and would never endorse something that I didn’t believe in, too. I especially love my Lavender, Peppermint, Digize and Stress Away! Give them a try…I have been so curious for far too long and am so glad I reached out to Robin! You will be too!!!

Do you use oils? What are you’re favorites and how do you use them?