The gritty truth about essential oil
Ok, LONG blog alert lol! But it is worth every single second you take to read it. I have poured all of my seven + years of oil knowledge in this post, as well as how NOT to make the mistakes I did while beginning my journey through the world of oils.
The gritty truth about essential oils:
Essential Oils are used for a wide range of emotional and physical wellness applications. They are pure oils, meaning the oils are extracted from the plant and the only the oil from that plant is in the bottle.
Essential oils can be used a single oil at a time or in a complex blend in one of three methods: aromatic, topical, and internal.
Essential oils CAN be effective if used correctly. Some people (like my husband) call them snake oils and say it is just hocus pocus that is "in" right now. Let me tell you- in my opinion people like that couldn't be more wrong. All that an essential oils is, simply put, is a plant in a bottle. That is it. Who has ever heard of putting aloe on sunburn, tobacco on a bee sting, or using clove for a tooth ache? What about drinking chamomile tea or taking a lavender bath to sooth yourself? Aloe, clove, tobacco, lavender and chamomile are all plants that you use to make yourself feel better. Using essential oils are not that much different than what you are already doing. They are just packaged different, have a longer shelf life, and are easier to use.
Essential Oil 101
Application Methods:
Topical Application
Your skin is basically a big sponge. Anything that you apply to your skin gets absorbed and is carried through the tissue into your bloodstream. The very best way in our opinion to apply the oils is topically. There are two ways to topically apply essential oils BASED ON THE OIL: neat and diluted.
The first way is NEAT, meaning directly onto the skin with out being diluted or "watered down with oil". Hot oils such as oregano, cinnamon, and peppermint can actually burn the skin when applied neat so when in doubt, dilute. There are also warm oils and cool oils. If you are not sure what type of oil you have the best way to use it is described below. For the most part the only oil I ever apply neat is lavender. Lavender is one of the safest, widely used oil out there. It is always the one I start with when teaching others about oils. With that being said, it IS TRULY possible to overdose on essential oils. My friend is a nurse and has treated numerous babies and toddlers who arrived at the ER septic due to being overdosed in essential oil- most commonly lavender to help them sleep. One drop of lavender essential oil is equivalent to about one cup of lavender tea. Your body can process quite a bit of lavender tea on a daily basis, but it can not process a crazy amount like 20, 50, 100+ cups per day. Do not put a crazy amount of drops of lavender (hard to tell when you just pour out of a bottle if you don't have the drop tip) on yourself, your child, or anyone else for that matter and expect your kidneys and other organs to use it. It is kind of like raisins- consuming a handful of raisins adds nutrition with no side effects (unless you are allergic to raisins of coarse), consuming an entire big bakers box of raisins will have you in the bathroom with severe stomach cramps and other fun stuff for the rest of the evening. The raisins were not the dangerous thing, the amount you chose to ingest was. Just be smart about what you put on or in your body.
The second and safest way is DILUTED. This means mixing the essential oil in with a carrier oil such as coconut oil, almond oil, or olive oil. For example, if you wanted to apply lavender before bed you could dilute it by pouring a quarter sized amount of fractioned (liquid) coconut oil into your hand then dropping two or three drops of lavender into the coconut oil. Then rub hands together and rub onto the bottom of your feet. It spreads a lot better when diluted and you are still getting the exact same dosage of oil.
Aromatic Application
Certain essential oils, when diffused, can be very stimulating, while others can be calming and soothing. Diffusing essential oils can also cleanse and purify the air of unwanted odors.
An example of diffusion is when I apply lavender essential oil to my diffuser at night to ease into a restful sleep and during allergy season I diffuse eucalyptus and peppermint to help with my family's congestion.
Don't don't have a diffuser and its not in the budget to get one? No problem! Just designate one pot as a diffuser pot (if not your food cooked in it will have a slight taste of essential oil) and add about five drops of essential oil to two-three cups of water and cook on low so it releases the essential oil filled steam. You can add more essential oil if desired depending on your preference. You can also place cotton balls around the house and drop a few drops of oil onto the cotton balls to release the aromatherapy benefits without having to worry about filling a diffuser or keeping an eye on the stove.
Internal Application
Although many wellness advocates suggest dropping the essential oils into capsules with vegetable oil and taking them as pills or dropping oil into your water and drinking them, we here at Rustique Essentials do not recommend this application process. The oils, in our opinion, are just as effective when applied topically to the bottom of your feet.
We do however recommend using the oils as flavor enhancers! Drop a few drops of peppermint into your chocolate sugar cookie batter to make mint chocolate cookies or a few drops of oregano into your pasta sauce for a flavor boost.
Now, this next knowledge section will separate the pros from the newbies:
How to tell if the oils you are buying are real:
Real essential oil will be golden or clear in color. If you order lavender essential oil and you receive a bottle of purple oil you did NOT receive pure essential oil. Another thing to know- if they are cheap they are more than likely diluted, meaning they started off as pure essential oil but the seller wanted to make a bigger profit so they "water it down" with a carrier oil and sell it as pure oil. There have also been instances where sellers have sold actual USED doTerra or Young Living bottles, filled them up with non doTerra or Young Living essential oils, placed a brand new safety seal twist cap on the already used bottle so they appear to be un-opened, and sell them as the real thing. Due to reasons like those above, in my opinion, it is safest to only buy from a well known oil manufacturer or directly from/through a wellness advocate for that well known company.
Another thing- don't be fooled by infused oils which are carrier oils (coconut oil, almond oil, olive oil, etc.) that herbs have been soaked in. Infused Oils can have healing effects if done correctly, but don't look for equivalent potency per drop while you are making your blends. Many people have been discovered selling infused oils labeled as essential oils and even Pintrest has a few "make your own essential oil" posts which actually give you instructions on how to make infused oils, not essential oils. Not saying that the people who posted them intentionally gave incorrect information, they simply are just not informed very well. It will take a lot more infused oil to get the same effect as a couple drops of essential oil.
Visit https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/rustiqueessentials to purchase doTerra essential oils directly through doTerra. Don't worry, no membership is needed, just check out as a guest! Oh, did I mention if you click "join and save" you can get them at 25% off (wholesale prices) every time!
Now for the fun stuff- RECIPIES!
As I stated above in the application methods, the only way we will actually put an essential oil in our mouths is through food. Oregano essential oil is amazing if you mix it in an olive oil / parsley mixture (mostly olive oil- just a pinch of parsley) and serve it with bread as a fancy dip. For cookies I add a few drops of peppermint to my sugar cookies (store bought dough works great) with added chocolate chips to make decedent mint chocolate chip sugar cookies. Essential oil flavor enhancers are awesome in candies, salad dressings, hot cocoa, and more.
Visit https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/rustiqueessentials/recipes for awesome step by step recipes with pictures that all use essential oils!
Here is a list of four products that are really easy to make from home and all of them are all natural and incorporate essential oils.
For carpet powder you will need:
2 quart mason jars
1 big box of baking soda (or 3 small boxes)
ten-fifteen drops essential oil of choice (can add more or less essential oil depending on preference) Just pick an oil you like the smell of- I normally go for orange, lemon, and grapefruit- I like the energizing effects of citrus.
Step 1: pour baking soda and oils into a bowl
Step 2: mix and pour into jar and put a lid on it
Step 3: when ready to use sprinkle the powder on carpet (or in the litter box for an odor eliminator, in shoes-use tea tree/melaleauca-as an odor eater, on dog beds as a refresher, on the sofa, etc). Then I walk all over mine to make sure the baking soda gets into the carpet...but you don't have to...wait about five minutes or so to let the carpet strands soak up the essential oil and vacuum it up.
For produce wash you will need:
vinegar (cleanser)
distilled water (to dilute vinegar)
lemon essential oil (antibacterial)
spray bottle
Step 1: fill your spray bottle 1/2 with vinegar and 1/2 with distilled water.
Step 2: add about 10 drops of lemon essential oil per 16 oz of vinegar/water mixture.
Step 3: spray on produce- the vinegar will help cut through the wax the grocery stores put on produce to extend shelf life and the lemon essential oil will help kill the bacteria from other people who previously touched the produce, like the people who unload them at the grocery then loading them into the grocery shelves, or kids at the grocery who like to pick up everything- no matter how snotty their nose was at the time, or people from all different professions (from people who clean kennels, those who change dirty diapers all day, those working on teeth...or other places on the body we won't go to..., teachers who are exposed to lots of sick kids, and every profession in between- they may wash their hands but their work follows them home on their clothing- which just accidentally touched that apple while reaching for that lemon) just making sure they are getting the one that they want. Pretty much anything at the grocery store is completely covered in bacteria due to over exposure to too many people. Trust me- you want to make this spray.
This is not my exact recipe that I use in the leather polish I sell, but it is a great beginner recipe that will give a similar outcome
Jar
1 cup coconut oil- the hard kind
5 drops lemon essential oil
Step 1: melt coconut oil
Step 2: add essential oil and put in a jar
Step 3: when ready for use, with an old rag, wipe a small amount on the leather and then with another rag polish any excess off.
Candy Cane Scrub
Jar, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup oil, 8-10 drops peppermint essential oil
Instructions: mix all ingredients. apply to wet skin in circular motions and rinse.