I want to start this post by saying, I was that girl who rolled her eyes HARD at essential oils for years. So if you are not all about this stuff, I totally understand. I was never interested in them or anything to do with them, and I thought the whole culture around them was a bunch of bologna. Then I moved to our farm in New England, and something started to shift in me. I wanted to start living and being healthier. Not just eating well and exercising consistently, but cleaning up the kinds of products we were using, the kind of food we were eating. Just making wellness a bigger more intentional part of our life.
It started with our chickens. I know that sounds crazy, but we got chickens and fed them good food, let them free range and we started getting our own beautiful eggs. And guys, they were SO. MUCH. BETTER. than any egg you’ve ever had from the store. Then we went to Paris for the first time, and the food was better, even the Diet Coke tasted different, better. And I learned that Europe has much higher food standards than us. They have higher product and beauty standards too, and my mindset continued to shift. I really wanted to change everything we were using right then, but also the idea of switching out every product felt insanely daunting. And also, expensive. And time consuming. I have 4 kids, a husband, a farm we’re fixing up and 2 businesses I run. When on earth would I find the time to switch to healthy natural products?
So I decided to start a slow ditch and switch process, moving towards better, safer products for me and my family. All the time I was researching and learning more and the thing I kept seeing come up over and again: essential oils.
Then a dear friend of mine and a few of my favorite fellow bloggers started using and talking about Young Living Essential Oils, and I decided to give them a try. And you know what, I love them! Finally, a brand that made it super straightforward for me to switch out the toxic products around my house, and improve my family’s wellness.
Now before I get into why I started using YL Essential Oils, I just want to say that I do not believe these are a cure all. I still believe in medical science, and going to the Doctor, and I Do Not think these will cure cancer or even depression. I do think they improve overall wellness, offer mental health support and provide safer, more natural alternatives to the everyday products that we all use. I also think that God created the Earth for our benefit and there are lots of natural things that come from the earth that can serve us and help us live well.
So let’s talk about why I started using Essential Oils.
First, I wanted cleaner more natural products around my house, specifically cleaning products. I was cleaning my bathroom last year and realized that I was wearing rubber gloves so that the product I was using wouldn’t get on my skin, and yet I was breathing the fumes and washing it down our drains, which would end up in our septic tank, then filtered into our ground, where our well lives. The well that provides water to our farmhouse… There are so many bad known cancer causing chemicals they use in cleaning products, and laundry products and I wanted to get rid of all of that in my home. I mean google some of the chemicals on your dryer sheets. Those go in with your clothes, that you then put on your body, and wear all day every day. That was my #1 reason for starting to use oils. Changing out my household chemicals.
Second, I wanted to improve our overall health and my respiratory health specifically. I’ve shared this here and there before but I got really, really sick when we lived in Arizona years ago. I was allergic to basically every desert plant, and added with the dry climate, I would get severe bronchitis basically every spring. The last year we lived there my bronchitis turned into pneumonia. And my respiratory system has basically been messed up ever since. Every time I get even a tiny cold it turns into a horrible chest cough that lasts for like 6 weeks. (My husband has nicknamed it “the dry cough.” It’s the worst.) I wanted to try using diffusers with oils this winter to see if they improved this. And I am so happy to say that they have made a huge difference! I haven’t had one chest cough since I started using essential oils in my diffusers. Even when I got a cold a couple weeks ago, I never really developed a cough.
Third, I wanted to replace our skin/beauty products with better, safer alternatives. I shared this last summer, but I started using cleaner beauty products and I wanted to keep finding better natural alternatives, and even things I could make myself.
These were the three reasons I wanted to try out oils, but it turns out there’s so much more you can do with oils and a ton of great and fun ways to use oils around your house! Here’s how I’ve been using my oils so far. (Disclaimer: I am still learning, and there’s so much to learn, and so many more ways to use these oils.) This process has been so fun for me. I love to make things and be creative and oils provide such a fun way for me create fun little things around our house that improve our quality of life and also make our home a safer, healthier place to be. Here’s what I’ve used them for so far:
Diffusing. I’ve currently got 3 diffusers in my house, one in the kitchen(that came with my Young Living starter kit), one in the family room, and one in our bedroom. I want to get them for each of the kids’ rooms as well. I love trying different diffuser blends everyday, and I love how the air in our home has felt fresher and cleaner since I started using it, and basically the whole place smells amazing everyday.
Favorite diffuser blends:
Fresh Room Diffuser blend: 4 Drop Grapefruit, 3 drops Peppermint.
Calm and Awake blend: 3 drops Peppermint, 3 drops Stress Away, 3 drops Lemon.
Anthro Volcano Candle blend: 3 Drops Joy, 3 Drops Northern Lights Black Spruce, 2 Drops Orange and 5 Drops Grapefruit: Smells like the Anthro Volcano candle. So good.
Favorite spicey cozy blend: 3-4 drops Thieves and 2 drops Orange. Smells like holiday spices and fresh oranges, so delish, and cozy.
Cleaning: I have one word for you. Thieves. Bless whoever discovered/created this amazing cleaner, because it literally cleans EVERYTHING. And when I say everything, I mean it. Everything from your kitchen counter, to your bathroom mirror, to dusting, to mopping the floors. I use it for everything and it works insanely well. Plus it smells like heaven, and Christmas. Ethan says he loves cleaning with it cause he can just sit there and smell it the whole time. LOL. But it really does smell that good. I just learned that you can make your own Thieves cleaning wipes and you know I’m going to be all over that! Also, lemon essential oil is basically a replacement for Goop off. Have a sticker you can’t get off a mirror? Lemon EO will literally take it right off.
Laundry. I threw out all my dryer sheets months ago when I discovered how horrible they are for you, and switched to wool balls. I put a drop of Lavender or Lemon on them and toss them in the dryer for a few minutes before adding the clothes. When they come out everything smells amazing. And bonus, finding the wool balls at the end of every load is like a little Easter egg hunt! Perfect if you have toddlers helping. I also switched to Young Living’s Thieves laundry detergent, which, no surprise is also amazing.
Skin Care. I’ve started using my own glow serum at night for my skin care/moisturizer, and holy moly it’s amazing. It brightens and tightens the skin, reduces fine lines, and acne, and also helps reduce the appearance of scars. Here’s the recipe.
Glow serum:
4 Tablespoons Jojoba Oil
1-2 tbsp aloe vera gel (you can leave this out if you want)
10 drops Frankincense (brightens skin, fights blemishes & promotes healthy, glowing skin)
5 drops Geranium (promotes cell regeneration & supports smooth, healthy skin)
5 drops Copaiba (Eliminates Scars and anti-inflammatory agent)
Add them all to an amber glass dropper bottle. Apply small amount before bed to clean skin.
Roller Bottles. These I’m just starting to get into, my favorite is my Panaway roller for after I workout. It just soothes those sore muscles. I also used the roller on Ava’s calves last night when she was having “growing pains.”
Panaway roller recipe:
8 drops of Panaway fill the rest with a carrier oil. (I use jojoba)
Lavender water linen spray. I spray this on my sheets and pillow every night a few minutes before climbing into bed. It smells amazing and it really helps me wind down and fall asleep quicker. Lavender is a great thing to add for sleep support. It naturally helps you to relax and fall asleep without any kind of drugged feeling.
recipe for Lavender linen spray:
2 tablespoons witch hazel
10 drops lavender essential oil
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) water
In the jar, combine the witch hazel and the lavender essential. Place the lid on tightly and shake well for 15-20 seconds to combine. Open the lid to the jar and add in the water. Replace the lid and shake again for 15-20 seconds to combine.
Room Sprays. I used these as an alternative to air fresheners and they work even better (in my opinion.) They are a safer option and they smell amazing!
Here’s my favorite room spray recipe: 4 oz spray bottle (You could use 2 oz, just do less oils)
25-30 drops essential oil my favorite is Thieves and Orange! Equal parts.
1 tablespoon witch hazel
Top the rest of the bottle with distilled water
shake everytime before using
In my water. You can add a drop of any Vitality Essential Oil to your water for a boost. It’s also helping me cut back on drinking Mio and get my ounces in everyday. My favorite is Citrus Fresh.
If you are interested in trying Young Living Essential oils I highly recommend signing up as a member and getting the starter kit. This does NOT mean that you have to sell anything, it just means you get 24% off the prices. I ordered the Desert Mist starter kit, it’s like $400 worth of product for $160. And you get the desert mist diffuser with it, and a bunch of information on how to use your oils, plus samples of the Thieves cleaner and a few other helpful things.
To enroll: ORDER HERE and make sure the number 18134032 appears in both the “Enroller” and “Sponsor ID” fields. Sign up as a Member, this does not mean you have to sell oils, it just means you are getting a starter kit & will therefore get 24% off retail prices. Next you can choose to set up your Essential Rewards monthly autoship, I highly recommend this as a way to order the things you wish to have outside the kit like thieves cleaner, laundry detergent, and additional oils you would want to purchase.
When you sign up as a wholesale member, you have the option of joining our private wellness group on facebook, which is where you can learn everything you need to know about using your oils & connect with an amazing, inspiring and super helpful community. If you are interested in selling the oils yourself, there are also monthly business bootcamps & lots of provided mentorship to everyone who joins our tribe!
If you have any questions or are interested in getting started with oils, leave a comment or shoot me an email and I’ll help answer them for you!
Here are some of my favorite products for using with my oils, like the Amber bottles I use for cleaning and rollers:
