Getting Started With Oils

Disclaimer: This is another crazy oil lady post. I get a lot of the same questions about the oils and it's easiest for me to post the answers and send people to my blog. I know not everyone is interested (but you seriously should be!) so you can skip this post and come back another day. I'll try to have a cute B update or something more fun next time. :) 

Be sure to check out my 'intro to oils' and 'that time i replaced my prescription pain meds with oils' posts too. 


Earlier this year, I asked my friend Kelsey if she would host a class to teach me and some friends about oils. I knew pretty much nothing but at this exhausted and highly medicated stage in my life, I was super interested in learning more. We scheduled a class for my friends but I couldn't wait so I went ahead and ordered the premium starter kit (still not knowing much more than I had googled). When the box arrived I was excited but completely lost on where to begin. And to be honest, I didn't feel like there was a whole lot of info in the box to help me out. I went to google again and read a ton of blogger's experiences and thought I would share what worked for me.


I skimmed the product guide for the oils in the kit to see what they were used for. Some that stood out to me: Purification (deodorizes and neutralizes the air), Peppermint (ease pain & tension), Lemon (pick-me-up, energy booster, boosts body's natural defenses), Thieves (kills bacteria, defends & protects), & PanAway (to use on injuries and muscle tension).

I decided to start slow. 

I started by diffusing purification. I made the mistake of turning it on and forgetting about it. Multiple times. It doesn't hurt anything but it wastes your oil so don't do that. :) I learned my lesson and after that I only filled it halfway to the fill line with half the amount of oil. Note: In the oils facebook group, many have said they use only half the recommended number of drops for diffusing. That's another way to stretch your oils. Purification cleans the air and makes everyone think you've spent all day cleaning your house because it smells so good. (The YL diffuser has replaced the scentsy in our house.) By starting with diffusing purification, you're starting with a clean, fresh slate. :) It didn't take long (maybe a week) before I realized I was dragging the diffuser all over the house. I purchased an inexpensive back up one on amazon. It works okay but not as good as the YL one. I keep it for small area's like B's bedroom or the bathrooms.

After that, I diffused Thieves (you can diffuse them at the same time but I was interested in seeing how each smelled/worked on it's own to start with). We had a lot of visitors in and out of our house the previous weekend and I wanted to kill any germs that may have been lingering around. I now diffuse this most days I have clients coming in an effort to not share any bugs that may be forming in our house or theirs.

Once I fell in love with the diffuser, I made a list of ailments/concerns I wanted to tackle. Then, I google searched 'Young Living oils for .......' and filled in the blank. I started slow by only putting the oils on my feet (to start, I used peace & calming to help me sleep). I talk more about what I started with in my intro post.

I realized I could make the oils last longer with a carrier oil (and make them not as strong for my son and husband with sensitive skin) so I purchased several jars of coconut oil to have on hand. (I ended up giving most of those away so I need to make another trip to get more. I've heard you can get a great deal on it at Costco. I've purchased it at Trader Joe's and Target but most health markets will have it.) My friend mixes her coconut oil and essential oils together and stores them in glass baby food jars so she doesn't have to mix each time she's ready to use it.

To help make application easier and in another effort to not waste oil, I purchased a set of the roll-on lids. They come in a small clear pouch which I then put my travel sized bottles in to carry in my purse.  SAVE THE 5ML BOTTLES THAT COME IN YOUR STARTER KIT! You can refill them later on and they are the perfect 'to go' size. These are the ones I put my roll-on lids on.

To build on my collection, I purchased DiGize (it's good to have on hand for stomach bugs and other digestive issues that strike when you don't have time to wait for shipping) and RC (good for respiratory issues- R had been battling a cough). I've heard those are two of the most common ones to start with after the starter kit.

Once I realized I was googling something everyday, I purchased the Reference Guide For Essential Oils. (It's currently super pricey- twice what I paid for mine. I'm not sure why but I know someone that may be able to get it cheaper for you if you're interested.) I started a tab system (green for H, red for R, blue for B) for our most common issues. I found there is a ton of super helpful info on how to use the oils there- where to put them, how to apply them, what to use and when, etc. I loaned it to a friend for two days and was missing it the first night. We use it way more than I realized we did.

I also purchased a life factory glass water bottle so that I could easily add oils to my water (you shouldn't use the oils with plastic- they draw out toxins?). I mostly use lemon but will occasionally do peppermint as well.

So far, that's what has worked for me. I don't have a great storage system for my oils yet (though that's whats currently on my mind).

If you want to get started with the oils, check out this post for my intro to oils. If you're interested in a class to learn more, let me know! I'd love to help you out!



If you want your own 24% discount and the premium starter kit you can sign up to be a wholesale member (and distributor) by:

1. Go to the signup page: https://www.youngliving.com/signup/
2. Select 'wholesale member'
3. In sponsor ID and enroller ID enter: 1618387
4. Under Step 2, choose the Premium Starter Kit ($150).  (There's also an option for Essential Rewards. I chose to skip that because I have no plans of selling YL to make money but if it's something you are interested in, I can try to help you find out more about it.)

That Time Oils Replaced My Prescription Pain Meds

Trying not to go TMI on you, the last couple months have not been fun. And by 'not fun' I mean, super sucky. Because that's the nicest thing I can come up with to say.

Long story short, after I miscarried (two months ago, today), I got sick. I called the OB office with the classic signs of infection and was told it was likely the nasty stomach bug that has been making the rounds. That happened two more times. After one of the craziest years to date, my immune system was shot and it was possible I was just sick. But I suspected it was something more. With my abdominal pain holding steady at a 10, I went to my regular doctor and was sent to Mercy. We later found out I had a post miscarriage infection that had caused PID.

Not fun.


I was given antibiotics, nausea medicine and pain meds. Lots of pain meds. But they weren't helping.

Finally, R asked if I had been using the oils. (Crazy that it took him to remind me, right?) To be honest, I was kind of thinking if prescription pain meds couldn't work, oils probably wouldn't either. But it couldn't hurt and he was offering a foot massage with them so of course I said lets try it! Looking up what to use and where in the handy reference guide, we massaged frankincense onto my abdomen, feet and around my right ankle. Ten minutes later I was in shock when I realized I wasn't in pain for the first time in weeks. I was literally pain free. Everywhere. I did this morning and night for a couple days and was feeling great. I started thinking maybe it was just that the antibiotics had started working and maybe it was just a coincidence on the timing so I took a morning off of the oils. By lunch time I was doubled over in pain again. Ten minutes after the next application, I was fine. I know I said before that I was on board, but after this I'm really convinced!


Hopefully you aren't currently on pain meds for anything but chances are you've had a headache, trouble sleeping, cramps, cuts, scrapes, bruises, stress or one of a million other ailments this month. There's an oil for that!

If you're interested in learning more, check out my intro to oils post (info on how to sign up will be there). I'll also be posting this week about getting started with oils. If you're interested in a crash course, let me know- I'd love to show you more and have you try them out for yourself!

My Intro to Essential Oils

As I'm sitting here drinking my lemon water and loving the smell of thieves in the air around me, I'm feeling unusually calm considering the day I had. It might (very likely) have something to do with the 'stress away' oil I slathered on my neck and wrists before heading downstairs to work.

And then I totally realized I MUST share this with you guys!


Essential Oils. Have you heard of them? By nature, I'm a total skeptic. Take the amber necklace. We (mostly Rusty, but me too) thought it was so hokey but we knew it wouldn't hurt anything so we tried it. It didn't take long to convince us it was money. So you would think when I started having friends tell me over and over again about essential oils that I would pay attention. I'm a slow learner.

Fast forward....  I had a few health issues and a sleeping problem. Taking somewhere around 10 pills a day didn't leave me feeling the greatest about my current approach so I wanted to learn more. I asked my friend to host a workshop to teach me (cause every one I could find anywhere near me didn't work with my schedule). But I got anxious and couldn't wait so I ordered the premium starter kit.

It showed up with a bunch of oils, a home diffuser and some other stuff. I started googling 'essential oils for sleep,' 'essential oils for cramping,' 'essential oils for pain,' 'essential oils for headache,' and well, you get the idea. Amazingly everything I needed was right there in my starter kit. I started diffusing the oils in our home and started rubbing them on my feet and shoulders (then later wrists and neck and temples too). I immediately noticed a difference. As in (other than my daily thyroid medicine) I haven't taken a single pill since the oils came into our home. Not only that, but the oils for pain worked faster (immediately) and better than the pain meds I had been taking. I was already a believer! It didn't take long to convince Rusty to let me try some on him as well and they worked like magic. It took me a little longer to decide to try them on Beckett but the day he was crying in pain saying 'owie' all day, I decided it was time. I rubbed the 'pan away' for growing pains on his legs and he immediately calmed down and I could see the pain leave his face. He kept asking for, 'more, more please.' And I was hooked.

The kit I talked about above is $150 but it's SO worth it. We decided between the pills we were ditching this month alone, we were saving $50. I'd much rather be investing in a natural remedy than pills I'm afraid to overuse. (Also, I've since found out that if just three people sign up under you, you can essentially be paid back... email me and I can get you more details on that too!)

This is kind of starting to sound like an infomercial. I'll stop there but wanted to share some links here with you.

For more information about the oils you can check out Essential Oils Testimonials.

For more information about the Young Living products you can visit their website.

To order any products, my local friends can email me directly and I can order them for you at my 24% discount.

If there's something you are wanting to try, let me know. I have a few sample packs I can share. (I don't have many and don't plan to buy anymore since I'm not selling it to make money but I can definitely share what I have!)

If you want your own 24% discount and the kit I talked about above you can sign up to be a wholesale member (and distributor) by:

1. Go to the signup page: https://www.youngliving.com/signup/
2. Select 'wholesale member'
3. In sponsor ID and enroller ID enter: 1618387
4. Under Step 2, choose the Premium Starter Kit ($150).  (There's also an option for Essential Rewards. I chose to skip that because I have no plans of selling YL to make money but if it's something you are interested in, I can try to help you find out more about it.)


And do let me know if you have any questions! I've started a facebook group for those of you that sign up with my number to be a distributor where we have shared some documents and other great resources that are super helpful. I'll get an email once you're a distributor and I can add you to the group from there.

I'm SO excited to hear how you use and love the oils too!!


Updated:

I've had several questions about how we use the oils. Like I said above, we haven't had them a terribly long time but here are some ways we've used them:

Diffusing: The diffuser is one of my fave, fave things! I've been diffusing a lot of purification (to clean the air/get the stink out) and thieves (which kills germs- we have a lot of people in/out of our house throughout the week so this helps keep all the gunk out). I also may have diffused lemon on cleaning day when I didn't actually get around to cleaning... (at least it smelled clean in here!).

R: He's used the thieves on his chest/back/feet and it worked wonders on his cough. We ran out and a few days later his cough came back. We have thieves and RC on order now and they can't come soon enough! I've rubbed some of the stress away/peace & calming on him at night. I can't tell if he just likes the massage or the oils but he is sleeping much better (as in he's not snoring and not waking me up).

B: As I mentioned above, we used the pan away for growing pains. He loves it and will ask for it if he feels achy. He had tonsillitis (before I was using the oils on him) and I've used some thieves on him for that. He bounced back after getting one night's sleep and some oils. I've used the lavender (on his pillow) before bed and he sleeps so good with it. (Unfortunately for me, since he sleeps so good, he's skipped naps those days.) He's been waking up and asking for oils on his feet so I've been using lemon when he asks (and doesn't have any noticeable 'need' for anything.) I may switch this out for thieves (immune booster) when that comes in.

H: I've been using the peace & calming or lavender to help with sleep. (The peace and calming seems to work better for me.) Pan away on aches and pains. Peppermint for head aches (it's amazing how fast this one works). Stress away on my neck and shoulders when I've been sitting at the computer too long and just generally feel stressed, lavender on a cut (more like a hole) that I've had on my finger for months (again, I'm shocked how fast it works). Lemon in my drinking water (use glass... not plastic). And last night I put valor on my feet before bed to boost my mood. I did wake up happier this am so maybe it's working too?

I'm sure our list is longer but these are the main things that stand out. Basically, our oils have replaced all our pain killers/meds we would normally be taking otherwise. One of the gals that did the workshop here said she took everything out of her medicine cabinet and placed the oils in their place. We haven't done that yet but we are totally getting there!