Essential oils can be a fantastic way to help your family.  They can offer support in wellness and healthy living as well as help you lead a less toxic lifestyle.

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We have been regularly using essential oils for almost three years.  I can honestly say we use them almost every single day and often multiple times each day.  Essential oils are my first go-to in many situations.  We have found them very beneficial in many ways and I just keep learning more and more good things about essential oils.

We started with Young Living brand of oils and that is all we have ever used.  I trust the products from Young Living.  There are a lot of sneaky tricks some companies take in marketing their oils, which makes them ineffective and unsafe.  With Young Living I am confident that I am not exposing my family to risky chemicals.

I have a lot more to share, but we’ll start here, with some basics.  These are my notes, mainly from Young Living University.

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What is an essential oil?

An essential oil is a volatile* substance derived from plants.  An essential oil maintains characteristics and smell from the plant it originated from.

*Volatile may sound like something is about to blow up, but in this case it means that the essential oil quickly rises into the air and creates a smell within the area; essential oils evaporate easily at normal temperatures.    All essential oils are volatile.

 

There are 4 categories essential oils can be placed into.  Each oil has its place and purpose for use.

  1. Standard Therapeutic Grade

    – Young Living falls into this category.

  • PURE essential oils
  • Extracted from sustainably raised plants
  • Contain optimal plant compounds

«  These are the oils that should be used in personal care.

  1. Natural and Organic

  • Pass growing standards
  • May or may not contain optimal plant compounds
  1. Extended or Altered Oils

  • Fragrance grade for aroma only
  1. Synthetic

  • Created in a lab

 

How do you use essential oils?

There are 3 ways you may use essential oils.

Make sure you read the labels on the bottles for the appropriate uses.

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  1. Topical

    – Applying directly to a part of the body

Neat  – Putting the oils directly on the skin

Carrier oil – Mixing  the oils with an additional oil, like coconut oil, olive oil, or Young Living’s V6 which is a mix of six different oils.

«You use a carrier oil for comfort and to help prevent waste from excessive application.

« Do not use vegetable shortening, butter, margarine, or petroleum based products as carrier oils.

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  1. Inhale

    – Breathe in

  • Directly from the bottle
  • Diffuser (a small appliance in which you mix essential oils and water and it makes a “mist” that spreads through the air)

 

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  1. Ingest

    – Swallowing and absorbing

Make sure you read labels.   Not all oils are safe to ingest.!

Young Living  has created “Vitality” labels, to easily identify which essential oils are safe to consume.

  • Place a drop or half drop* directly on your tongue or roof of your mouth.
  • Add a drop of essential oil to your water .
  • Place the oil in a vegetable capsule along with a carrier oil.
  • Add a drop to Ningxia Red for increased benefit.

« Make sure you use a glass or stainless steel container – essential oils will eat away at plastic and Styrofoam.
*half-drop – place your finger or thumb over the top of the essential oil bottle and tip upside down.  The amount that comes out on your finger is considered a half-drop.trr-eo-half-drop-picture

 

We will continue to share more about essential oils.  Please feel free to ask questions.  We are always learning too, but will be glad to help answer your questions.  Jason understands the sciences behind the oils better than I do.  He is good at explaining in a less “scientific-y” way.  Email us at Amanda@theRainbowRadish.com .

If you know you are ready to get started with Young Living essential oils, click here.

 

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