I would guess I followed women on social media who swore by essential oils for 2-3 years before finally buying my own starter package in June. It’s now November and I’m finally, 100%, sold on essential oils. I felt sold back in July but I really wanted to give it some time and try various oils before I just started boasting about these products. But now that I’ve been on this oil ride for a while, I want to talk about it. Because we talk about things we care about and believe in, right? Right.
So here goes: my essential oil story.
Two years ago in 2018 when I got back from Africa I was suffering from bad headaches and finally got my first ever migraine. The headache was so bad I couldn’t function. I tried Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Excedrin, wet washcloth, laying in the dark, etc. None of that helped it. And then I remembered one of the girls I followed online talked about peppermint oil for headaches. I grabbed some peppermint oil and wow, myheadache that I’d had for 5 days got better in a matter of 5 minutes after applying that peppermint oil to my temples and inhaling it directly from the bottle.
Fast forward to 2020. Covid. Using cleaning products on everything. Constantly using alcohol based hand sanitizer. Washing my hands. Dousing the house with Lysol, Clorox & other chemicals. Being in the hospital where they were using more chemicals than ever. I felt drained by chemicals. I felt drained period. The 8 day move to Alaska. And then my job in Alaska was so stressful that I felt depleted and mentally exhausted. On social media (Instagram), I had been following a girl in Alaska who lived sort of off the grid with her husband and young son. They lived a simple life in a small remote village with no road access (you have to FLY in/out), they used essential oils, they ate healthy, ditched chemicals in their home, lived simply and I thought — she’s seemingly doing it right. I like this girl. And these oils she talks about? They sound legit. So I’m going to try them. After years of watching others talk about their success stories with using oils I paid the $165 for a Premium Starter Kit with Young Living and jumped in. All in! I chose Young Living easily. I never had any interest in any other company because time and time again, I see women selling Young Living who don’t just boast about the products or try to sell them — but instead, they share their story of how they have incorporated oils into their lives to make their lives better. Whether its taking the oil supplements to boost their own personal health or their skin appearance or to help their child with a stomach ache- the oils seemingly worked. The oil process YL uses is second to none— pure. I needed to try them for myself.
My Young Living premium starter kit came with 12 oils, a diffuser, a small thieves household cleanser bottle, a hand sanitizer and two Ningxia Red supplements. I added on a big bottle of Thieves cleanser because I was more than ready to ditch the toxins I was surrounded by on the daily (ie. Household cleaners).
The oils:
The rest:
What I was using prior to purchasing my oils? Peppermint. That’s it! Now what I use on the daily now that I’ve been a YL member since June are below. I’ve ditched using candles in our home (they are full of toxins that interrupt hormones!) And we ditched our household cleaners that are full of synthetic, chemical, crap. Copper peed on the carpet rug a few days ago and I grabbed an old bottle of pet cleaner out of habit and within 5 minutes of having that stuff in the air I was nauseous and had a bad headache. When you ditch chemicals and then you’re exposed to them– you feel it. BADLY. Two weeks ago Ben sprayed Lysol in the sink and I almost puked. I had to go stand outside. Chemicals are bad. So, we’re trying our best not to use them.
Here is what I do use:
Lavender Oil I rub it on the bottom of my feet before bed & we diffuse at bedtime for all of us including the dogs as this can relax them anytime
CBD Calm Wrists before bed for both me and ben + all over wrists/chest before I fly & totally used during Election Day nonsense. I am about to purchase the CBD Muscle Rub as I’ve finally hit that part of pregnancy where my back hurts every day and the pregnant oil gals I follow SWEAR by it! Young Living has a CBD starter kit package that may be a great choice if you have lots of aches/pains.
Peppermint anytime I get a headache- which is all the time in pregnancy lol) or just smell it if I’m feeling nauseas r/t pregnancy
Valor It just smells so dang good. Use it for any reason at all but it’s known for helping boost confidence, mood stability, for working women to rub on wrists for meetings etc. I used to use Valor at work for my long hospital shifts when I was faced with challenging situations.
Lemon 2 drops with each dishwasher load + I diffuse it because it’s refreshing & cleanses the air, plus use drops just around the kitchen because it smells good and cleans + to flavor water.
Stress Away Anytime work SUCKS- I used this like 3x a day during my 12 hour shifts & anytime I just want perfume without actually using perfume because it smells sooooo good. One roll on behind each ear.
Peace & Calming When I just need to chill or for any stress at all. At bedtime.
Frankincense Ben had a boil on his hand. Ran it under hot water. Put some of this directly on it before bed. Next day, boil was ready to pop/clear out. I know that is disgusting. But, it’s reality. We all get weird skin issues. Why turn to synthetic chemicals? Just check your oil stash. I’m constantly checking my stash and doing research. What oil can I use to replace something synthetic (fake, man-made).
Thieves We use the thieves household cleaner + laundry detergent & I’m just now deciding to diffuse this to help with immunity and air purification because Covid is out of control right now in CO! Thieves is essentially an oil mix that is good for cleaning and immunity. It smells so wonderful! You can even use it to spray on your plants! It is completely pet friendly. They have a household cleaner mix called Thieves Household Cleaner and you just mix a little capful of the thieves blend cleaner in a bottle and add water and there ya go – new pet friendly replacement for any of the crap like Lysol, Clorox, etc. I have two different bottles – one with 1 capful of thieves cleaner for cleaning just basic stuff off counters and then one with two capfuls + water that I use for the more serious stuff like raw foods etc. I bought glass 16oz bottles off amazon and mixed them myself.
Ningxia Red This is what sold me on Young Living to begin with aside from the actual individual oils — it’s just a little supplement and I swear it gives me energy. I drink one every day by itself. Some people mix it with a sparkling water or something else but I just drink it straight.
There are several more that I used prior to pregnancy but I can talk about those in a later post. In addition, we purchased EndoFlex Oil for Ben (for thyroid support) & I will report back on that once he starts rubbing it onto his neck.
Essential oils I have added recently to support pregnancy: Geranium, Ginger, Gentle Baby. I’ve also purchased Seedlings baby wipes & we’re starting to stock up on those awesome baby wipes with Lavender for baby Monarch 🙂
So, there’s my story. I used an oil once, it worked better than anything else, and a while later I decided to jump all in and try them all. And they’re amazing! I believe in their power to boost immunity, their power to help with daily life stress/anxiety, their power to naturally clean, their power to purify the air. This isn’t medical advice, just my personal experience. I chose YL because they have their own farms that they’ve owned for many, many years. The dirt and water are tested for additives and toxins. Oils are used for pest control, naturally! Each oil batch is tested multiple times by both in house and third party testing. This testing occurs from the raw product to the oils that are bottled. Young Living is the world leader in oils, and they’ve been doing this for over 30 years. I have tried their products. I trust their products.
As a dog mom, it’s super important for me to add that when used incorrectly or in large doses, oils CAN negatively impact dogs! It’s super important to do thorough research on what oils to avoid around dogs. As a rule of thumb, I only use 1-2 drops of oils in my diffuser (with the rest being water) because whatever smell I can smell, the dogs can smell it WAY stronger. And we have yet to try any oils on the dogs, though I recently purchased an oil to help calm Copper that can be applied directly to his body. If you have a specific question on oils and cats or dogs, let me know, and I can provide you with some of the resources I use to make my own personal decisions.
I’m always here if you want to ask oil questions. I love talking oils. And if I don’t know the answer, I’ll do more research and get back to you! I’m kind of a research nerd.
And if you want to jump in and purchase an oil or Kit or just learn more, visit my page to learn more: https://www.myyl.com/jennmonarch
| jenn at home | 