Is it any surprise I wasn’t sleeping? Sure, it could have something to do with my 50 year old hormones…or the stress… or both. I found myself using more and more of my trusty retail essential oils. So much more that I was having some respiratory problems when I used them. Ugh! So, I googled. And I learned about the different grades of oils. I learned that not all oils labeled pure were actually…you know…pure. With any essential oil labeled “pure” or even “therapeutic grade” the FDA only requires that essntial oil to have just 5% of the actual plant essential oil. The rest can be filler like chemical solvents commonly used to extract the oil, or a cheaper carrier oil to dilute the oil. Or even worse yet, a fragrance oil to help boost the scent of that essential oil. It was those kinds of fillers that I was having a reaction to.

How do you know what is in your oil? How do you know who is using a filler oil?

Years ago someone had given me small bit of Thieves oil to help support my respiratory system. It was amazing. It smelled amazing, and I saw quick results. When I went to find it, I saw Thieves was part of an MLM company, Young Living, and thought “NO WAY”. I had had a bad experience with another MLM company in the past where I was stuck with a lot of expensive product that gave me a rash and was not going to buy from a high pressure direct salesperson ever again. After searching and searching, I had found some other versions of Thieves oils, even some handcrafted by an herbalist. But none of them worked tthe way that Thieves oil form Young Living worked.

So there I was, bone weary, stressed, not sleeping, about to embark into the unknown with my business, and leave a fading art community that had become a part of my creative identity. Oh and selling the house on top of that. As I googled for essential oils that were the real deal, like that bottle of Thieves, I found a few companies that fit the bill and of course they were MLMs…ugh. But I noticed they claimed there were no obligations to do the business. Weary, but desparate I thought I could test a few oils to replace the ones I had been using.

In my research, I had noticed some of my business master mind group were working the MLM. But get this, unlike the MLM I had been in before, the start up cost was a really cool kit of oils and a diffuser I would probably buy anyway(at a great price) and these women were all using the very same marketing techniques I was already using for the yarn business. WOW. I could get the oils and kit I wanted, AND free business coaching I could easily translate to my art business as well. Heck yeah I am in.

I would be solving TWO of my issues with ONE magical little kit of oils and a diffuser. 

How I Oil

Of course, my diffuser is my favorite way to use oils. I will often diffuse an oil that matches my mood in the same way I select music to set the mood of a room.   I have a diffuser in nearly every room of my house. I even have one in my car. I love wearing essential oils on my clay diffuser necklases when I am on the go.

I also love making my my own beauty stuff. It is like an outlet for creativity to combine single oils making my own blends for bath salts, balms, and creams. I also like to build signiture oil perfumes with my essential oils. I find it interesting that the oils I select for my perfume blends are often close to what I need on an emotional level.

You can also ingest some essential oils, although this method is historically contriversial. Young Living has a line of oils  generally recognised as safe (GRAS) for ingestion and FDA-compliantly labeled as such. This is particularly good if I am using oils to support digestion or my immune system. But the ingestable Vitality line is also good for cooking.

In a pinch I also like to apply the oils neat. I carry a case of no less that 12 essential oils with me. What I carry, depends on what I anticipate or currently need for the week. I will also use my oils as I make art, matching an oil with the overall feeling I want to convey visually. I would have to say 75% of the time I am just diffusing essential oils because I just love the way they smell. 

There really is such an endless number of ways to use essential oils. Remember how hesitant I was to get my oils from an MLM? That same MLM has provided so much information for using essential oils through private resources, classes, workshops, FB groups, webinars, and even a big convention. I have not even scratched the surface of the retreats (hello…animal care seminar on a gorgeous farm in Utah? or how about beauty school on a cruise). Buying my essential oil from the health food store never provided me with any more than a single reference book at the display.

So yeah… you might say I have joined the essential oil cult. I am ok with that. I smell awesome, have easily handled what ever stress has come my way in the last 2 years, have grown my art abilities in ways I never dreamed I had in me, and I have a new network of oil enthusiasts that help me learn exactly what I need or want to know. I said yes to an essential oil culture.