On Guard and Feet!

Growing up my mother had a friend that was very good at Reflexology. It was fun because she would always work on our feet and tell us what was wrong with us. She could make my nose run by just messing with my toes, a.k.a. my sinuses. Due to my experiences with her, I have always believed the feet are connected to the rest of the body (and not just by the ankles...haha).

Picture: FCO and On Guard

A while back I created a roller ball with 12 drops of On Guard and I filled the rest with fractionated coconut oil. Whenever someone in my family starts looking a little under the weather, I put my On Guard roller ball on their feet. I hear the big toe is a good place, so I always make sure to swipe the bottom of it!

Picture: Please don't judge my toe... Mama doesn't have time for a pedicure!

I think I have fought off a few illnesses by using On Guard. If it can fight off MRSA, surely it can fight off anything I pick up! I have tried using On Guard in a variety of ways and every time I fought whatever illness was coming on. One time, I was feeling awful and I thought the fastest way to get this stuff in my body is probably internally! So I read that I could put a drop of On Guard in a spoonful of honey. I love honey and thought I'm sure I won't even taste the On Guard with the honey. Well, my steady hand allowed for TWO drops to come out on my spoonful of honey. Whew! I sure could taste the On Guard and it had quite the kick. I don't think I will be doing any cooking with it, but it sure did kick the cold like symptoms I had by the next day. Due to the intense clove taste, I normally try to treat illnesses by using On Guard topically, however, I will use it internally in a heartbeat if it will give it that extra boost to get over something!

 

Picture: Local Honey and On Guard

Last night my son had a little runny nose, so I put On Guard on the bottom of his feet. This morning he does not have a runny nose! Maybe it is coincidence or maybe it is On Guard! All I can say is I am not willing to test the theory, sick babies are so heartbreaking.

Happy oil using! ~Amy

Less is not always more!

The past week has been a week of ridiculous injuries for me. I have been very thankful for my oils this week. This post will be about my first injury of the week, but I can't truly explain it until you meet our loveable beast.

Picture: Addy

Above is our 85 lbs. Labradoodle that I adore. Addy was rolling on her back the other day just begging for a belly scratch. As I was bending down to pet her... I sneezed and the absurd happened. Can you believe I threw out my back while bending over, petting my dog and sneezing?

I grew up idolizing my dad and thinking he could only be compared to Superman (I still do!). At 50 he could throw plywood onto the roof in one effortless swoop and leave the 20 year old helping him baffled! However, every Superman has his Krypotonite. My dad would often throw out his back doing the most absurd things, like picking up a piece of paper (True story). So I guess unbelieveable back injuries run in the family... thanks Dad! (Side note: Dad has not thrown out his back in years after some acupuncture and chiropractic treatments... I guess unconventional treatments run in the family, too!)

Back to my back injury, I had a pre-made roller ball of diluted Deep Blue. I began rolling that stuff all over my back! I have used this solution on minor aches and pains and it has worked great. However, this time I began questioning my oils because my back had me feeling like I was 80 years old! I then had a moment of brilliance (rare, I know!) and decided to apply the Deep Blue neat! It worked like a charm! Lesson learned, less is not always more and sometimes you need the good stuff! My back feels much better thanks to Deep Blue applied NEAT!  

Happy oil using!- Amy

Air Freshener

I know I am not the only one that has one of these bad boys of stink in her house...

Picture: Can of stink!

This morning I was on a roll and was uber productive. Perhaps it was due to my extra 1 1/2 hours of sleep, thank you son for sleeping until 7:25AM!  I opened the diaper pail at one point in the morning only to be met by the smell of death! I quickly remembered it was trash day and continued with my productive morning by taking the bag of stink to the curb. I actually managed to beat the garbage truck, which is impressive alone. However, my de-stinking was short lived because my son felt the void in the air and christened the fresh bag within minutes!

I then remembered reading the doTERRA blog about air fresheners and  thought "If I can't get rid of it, then I will hide it!". I modified the recipe because I only have 2 oz glass bottles. I love the smell of lavender, therefore I decided to use it as part of my recipe. I also love how lemon has a crisp and clean smell, therefore I used it too! 

Picture: Air Freshener Ingredients

 

I simply filled my 2 oz bottle with distilled water, then added 3 drops of lavender and 3 drops of lemon. I shook it up and began spraying it all over the house. I even sprayed it right in the stink pail. I liked that when I sprayed it everywhere it didn't make me cough like other sprays (I'm sure you've walked through a cloud of air freshener before!). Or that I didn't have to worry if any of the mist got on my son. Yeah for no chemicals!

 

Picture: Air Freshener Spray

 

The smell, which I dubbed "lemonder",  was very light and fresh. It certainly was not overpowering, but it did mask the stink of the diaper pail. I do not like STRONG smells, so if you like strong smells you may want to use different EOs and/or more drops. I am the type of person that gets headaches in everyone's favorite body wash store, so the light smell was perfect. The great thing about EOs is you can use them how you like! 

Happy de-stinking and oil using! -Amy

 

 

Mask to smooth!

**Disclaimer: I do not condone selfies, however, it is the only way I knew to show you this awesome stuff. To make myself feel less awkward, I make awkward faces. I am a very logical person, I know.  Just be glad I avoided any ridiculousness, like duck face:)

These days I do not get a lot of time to pamper myself, but today I decided to use a birthday gift from my fabulous sister! She sent me Moroccan Lava Clay Powder and Rose Water. If you want to send it to someone you know that needs some pampering, you can find it on Amazon (Right here!). I used this stuff to make an awesome face mask, but I am sure you can use what you have at home, too!

                                           Picture: Ingredients for mask and Frankincense

First,  I put the clay powder in a glass bowl and added a drop of Frankincense (well actually 2 drops, I got a little crazy and an extra one slipped out!). I always use glass when I do anything with doTERRA Essential Oils. I could have mixed any EO I wanted with the mask, but I love all the healing properties Frankincense has and it is great for the skin!

                                             Picture: Clay Powder and Frankincense

Next, I added a little Rose Water until it made a paste. I mixed it with my finger and rubbed the mixture on my face. It smelled fantastic!

                                              Picture: Awkward photo with mask applied

The mask began to dry and I really felt things tightening. It also had a slight tingling sensation! Very refreshing! I let it sit for 15 minutes.

                                              Picture: Awkward photo of mask drying

To wash off the mask, I just took a shower. I was well overdue for one! These days I spend my showers with a screaming 8 month old, so the removal process was not so pleasant. He seems to think he needs to be inside the shower! Hopefully your shower is more peaceful, I mean we are pampering here! On the plus side, my face felt amazing after my shower! It was super smooth, soft and refreshed! I really think the Frankincense gave it that extra kick!

                                Picture: Refreshed after face (Forgive the fresh out of the shower doo!)

My first pampering with EOs was a win. I can hardly see the exhausted bags under my eyes from the perpetual lack of sleep (Only for my son, that I love dearly, would I become sleep deprived). I think I will be doing some more face masks in the future... maybe a Lavender one before bed one night. I hope you take some time to pamper, too!

Happy pampering and oil using! -Amy

Got an owie?

I recently took a trip to Broken Bow, OK with the entire family. It is impossible to spend a weekend in the "wilderness" with our crew and NOT get any bumps or bruises. My nephew was the first to fall down on our brilliant hike in the woods off the beaten path (I love to hike, but give this girl a path!)! J-Man was pretty upset after his scrape, which actually turned out to be a splinter. It was amazing how much spraying the owie spray on him calmed him down. He even let me try to get the splinter out with tweezers, which would have never happened prior to the spray!

A few of us also forgot to apply bug spray on prior to the brilliant hike and received 100 chigger bites each as our punishment! Goodnight, I hate chiggers! We applied the owie spray to our chigger bites. It was rather nice having it in a spray bottle because there are certain places I really don't want my roller balls on everyone (you know how chiggers always find a way to the most awkward places)! Instant relief, owie spray became our best friend (every time the itch came back I reapplied)! If you've ever had chigger bites, you know it feels like a spa retreat when you get relief from that itch! I bet you wish I would just tell you how to make this stuff, right?

All you need is 7 drops of melaleuca, 7 drops of lavender and 7 drops of frankincense in a 2 oz spray bottle and then fill the rest up with fractionated coconut oil. All these ingredients have healing properties and I really felt like it sped up the healing process in addition to giving relief.

Just a side note, I always make my bottles starting with the most inexpensive ingredient first. I tend to be a little clumsy and the last thing I want to do is overflow a bottle with EOs in it!

 I hope this helps with your future owies!

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Happy oil using!-Amy

Amazing baby mix

We keep this lovely jar on our changing table and use it for just about everything!

Picture: Mason jar of coconut oil and lavender

It is a jar of lavender and coconut oil I mixed together a while back. Since I made it for my baby, it is a rather mild mix. It has approximately 1 drop of lavender for every tablespoon of coconut oil (I always add a couple of extra drops). If you are going to make a mix for someone older, you can make it stronger. However, I catch my husband in the nursery using the "baby mix" all the time, and it works great even though it is a mild mix!

Recently, I used this "baby mix" on a scratch on my son's face. He gave the scratch to himself with his razor like fingernails. I try to keep his nails short, but trimming an eight month old's nails is about as easy as trimming a wild racoon's nails! Yes, I've heard the trick to do it while they are sleeping, but who wants to risk waking a sleeping baby? I need my sleep, too!

All I did was dab a little bit on the scratch every time I changed his diaper. This is why I keep it on the changing table! Below are the pictures of the progress, however, they are not the best. My son loves to take pictures, but it is quite the challenge to get a side view of him! After 24 hours the scratch was barely there anymore! 

I use my "baby mix" all the time and for about a million things! Little finger nail scratches is just one of the things I treat with it! If you decide to make your own mix, here are a few tips:

1.Coconut oil starts getting liquid around 78 degrees (I know this because I bumped up the thermostat for a weekend trip and returned to a liquid baby mix).

2. Store in a place that is cooler than 78 degrees. :)

3. Do not melt in the microwave, instead place your glass container in a bowl of warm water.

4. Store in a glass or metal container. Oils do not work well with plastic!

5. Be patient, it sometimes take a while for the coconut oil to solidify again(days even!). I'd randomly shake the mix as it sat around liquid... not sure if it helped but it made me feel like it was really mixed up!

Just to prove how much my son loves pictures, here is one I snapped a few weeks ago...

Picture: Cutest baby I know

Happy oil using! -Amy 

Funky Washer

Surely I am not the only one, but my washing machine often turns into a holding tank. Sometimes it holds clothes that need to be washed and sometimes ones that have already been washed. I am notorious for putting clothes in before I go to bed thinking I will put them in the dryer early in the morning, only to discover them 24 hours later a little funky smelling!

                                                     Picture: The holding tank

If you are like me and sometimes your washer has a not so lovely aroma, luckily I have a simple solution for you! Just put a drop of lemon in with your next load of wash!

                                          Picture: Lemon, the funky smell killer.

My husband came into the laundry room recently and said it smelled gross. I had read lemon could fix that, so I whipped out my bottle and gave it a try. After the load was done, there was not a yucky smell anymore. So for all you others who's washer has the job of not only washing but holding... your secret is now safe! Just a drop full of lemon keeps the "funkiness" away!(In my best Mary Poppins singing voice!)



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Happy oil using!-Amy

Diffuse Breathe

A few weeks ago my son was having a difficult time breathing, just really congested!  He was waking himself due to having difficulty breathing a ridiculous amount of times a night.  In his first few weeks of life, like any new mom would, I made a few runs and phone calls to the doctor when I felt my son was a little under the weather. Due to his age, their response was always the same "use a humidifier, saline and prop his crib up". It always made me feel so helpless, I mean didn't they hear the same rattle and congestion I heard?

Well this time I decided to try something new (with the recommended usual), diffuse Breathe while he slept. And the best part of it is the whole family got to breathe it in, too! My son still sleeps in our room in his pack 'n play after he wakes up hungry in his room (Call it lazy, but I'm too tired to walk to his room repeatedly in the night). Shhh... don't tell anyone! Prior to being a mom I always thought I'd be one of those moms who's kid slept through the night at 3 weeks in his own room...pppsshh! What did I know? Now I say do what works best for you and your family. In my case it is using Breathe in my diffuser in our room.

This is the diffuser I use!

 

I love my Wyndmere diffusers because it shuts off on its own and it is easy to use! All I do is fill it to the fill line with distilled water and add 5 drops of this amazing stuff! Breathe is a blend, meaning it has a mixture of several oils.

I then set the settings to how long I want it to diffuse and how hard I want the fan to blow. I like to set it to where it diffuses for a little while and then stops and then diffuse again and so on. I like this setting because it will diffuse the entire night and then some! 

After using Breathe in the diffuser my son's breathing got better and he slept better. I'm not claiming a miracle because he did  not sleep through the night. However, it has made an improvement! Coming from a lady that has not slept an eight straight hours in over eight months... any extra sleep and better breathing is a win!

Happy breathing and oil using! -Amy

Carrier Oils

When I first got started with Essential Oils I felt as if I was thrown into a world of lingo I did not know. The first word that came up was "neat", which I always thought of as a synonym for cool or awesome. I quickly realized that it meant to apply an oil straight or without a carrier oil. Which brings us to another set of words, "carrier oil". What on earth is a "carrier oil"? Carrier oils are simply oils you use with your essential oils. Carrier oils can have many benefits such as lessening EOs evaporation, making oils spread farther (I'm all about this!), and making EOs not as potent. My sister, Missy, once applied oregano (a "hot" oil) neat to her face! Let's just say she was wishing she had used a carrier oil. I use quite a few oils on my 8 month old son and due to his age it is important to use carrier oils. Baby skin is quite sensitive, especially my son's skin! Now you may thinking, "Carrier oils are oils you use with EOs, but what are carrier oils?!?!". Well I've made a little chart to help you out.

I hope this chart helps you understand a little more about carrier oils. In case you were wondering, I love coconut oil! It has so many wonderful benefits of it's own and when you combine it with doTERRA oils the combination is better than either one alone. Reminds me of saying from a show I  watched as a kid "With our powers combined...".

Just remember too much of a good thing is not always a good thing. Make sure you do not over dilute your EOs with your carrier oils. Happy oil using! -Amy