amazon search

So I love to shop at amazon.com.  I mean you can look at a gazillion things and with prime have it to your house in just 2 days at no extra charge.  So here is my search box in case you want to search and amazon will reward me with a small commission, which I will then use to purchase more oily DIY things :)

The CHEMISTRY reason I became interested in essential oils

A couple of years ago, I made my first attempt at lye soap.  It was fun.  It put me in touch with that pioneer woman side of me.  I got to combine it with a chemistry background, seeing how different oils will cause differences in the texture and even the size of bubbles.  The first time I got to play with this was at a workshop based on this book.  

Then I started making other things, such as lip balms.  Now most of those recipes will call for essential oils.  I thought essential oils were just there add a nice smell or maybe some flavorings.  I thought any fragrance oil could do the same thing.  I was wrong.

In another lab, I have the students make an ester by combining an alcohol and a carboxylic acid.  Depending on which alcohol and which carboxylic acid, a different ester is produced with it's own unique smell.  But the thing was, it never smelled exactly like it was supposed to.  I mean, it might kind of smell like the banana it was supposed to, but not really.  Turns out a banana is composed of a ton of different chemicals (this is a cool chemistry list for you of the ingredients of an all natural banana https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/ingredients-of-an-all-natural-banana/).  So the smell of a banana is not due to a single chemical, but a combination of different things.  

Turns out gasoline is similar.  It is not just one chemical compound, but a variety of different hydrocarbons with a similar boiling point (ok, there is more to it, but this is the simplistic view).

So I started thinking about how an essential oil is derived from a plant.  It is not a single compound, but a mixture of a ton of different things.  Each of those things can affect your body.  Maybe your body doesn't need the most concentrated compound, it needs one of the more obscure compounds, or maybe it needs two or more.  It started to make sense to me.  I started to use that reasoning for other areas of my life.  Prescription drugs are one compound.  That is often why your body has a hard time detoxing as many times it is overloaded with a compound.  At least, in my mind that is what is happening.

So for now, I am going to try to use essential oils to help support my body.  I know that in some cases there will be things I will use prescriptions for, but I am going to try to keep my body balanced so I don't have to use as many.  

The BABY reason I joined Young Living

So why did I become interested in essential oils?  It has been a slow process for me.  Over the years I have started trying to live a more natural life--cook food from ingredients rather than boxes, replacing store bought cleansers with home made ones, you get the idea.  When I was pregnant with my youngest, I started looking at more natural products for babies.  I cloth diapered and kept reading about using essential oils for when babies aren't feeling good and in products, especially diaper creams (since you can't use traditional ones with cloth diapers).  At first I just thought they were there for the smell, but after using some teething medicine made of EOs, it really dawned on me that there was more to it.  Here is an affiliate link in case you were curious what it looks like Punkin Butt Teething Oil 2 oz.  That stuff is amazing and it works so well!!!  And it lasts forever!  I am still on my first bottle and the little one is almost 2!  Then I also got this which smells divine!!!  
Earth Mama Angel Baby Angel Baby Bottom Balm, 2-Ounce Jar
           
All this stuff is awesome, but it is not the cheapest and there was so many more things I wanted to try!  So, I decided I wanted some essential oils.  Then it became which ones do I try.  If you know me, you will know that sometimes I go a bit overboard while contemplating which choice to make.  After looking at several companies I actually ordered 2 starter kits--Young Living and another company.  The first difference came even before my kit arrived (as it was delayed due to high demand for a few days).  My sponsor, Sherri Griffin, actually called to check on me to make sure everything was as expected.  It is great to actually get to talk to someone who is passionate about something that you are wanting to learn about and extremely knowledgeable!  I asked a ton of questions which she answered or went and found the answer to.  The other company, nothing (even to this day).  Then I compared the oils, in smell from the bottle, in the diffuser, in DIY products, and finally how they well they seemed to help relieve the itch of bug bites.  Let's just say Young Living won hands down.  And the amount of support and education I have gotten from my sponsor is amazing!

I love Young Living's Seed to Seal promise and the fact that they have been in business over 20 years!  True they may not be the cheapest, but they are very similar in price to the brands that I felt more comfortable in using.  So if you decide you would like to try Young Living, I'd be honored if you would let me be your sponsor.  Go here to get started