Waking Up With Essential Oils

Four months into my exploration of essential oils, and I am still learning new things every day. My favorite mail day of each month by far is when my doTERRA order arrives—adding oils to my arsenal and into the routine of our lives is always exciting.

Speaking of my arsenal… I have been struggling for weeks to find a storage/organization strategy for my growing essential oils “toolbox,” and I finally made great strides in that department within the last few weeks. First, I finally ordered the little bottle cap stickers this month (only $0.50, can’t beat that!). The sheets come with stickers for all of the oils doTERRA offers, with multiples for each. I’ve even been putting them on sample vials; they’re so useful!

The stickers are such a simple thing, but they go such a long way in keeping things in order and easily accessible. I used to have to remove several bottles of oil from my bag in order to find the one I was looking for, and now I can find it in a split second. It’s the little things in life, people. :)

And after searching high and low for a box of some sort that would neatly store my oils and supplies, AND look cute lying around my house, I finally found an answer with a semi-DIY option. After wandering around Joann Fabrics and Target for longer than I care to admit, exploring all areas of the store—wooden boxes, plastic boxes, drawer dividers, styrofoam, hardware, jewelry storage, etc.—I finally ended up back at Joann’s. I purchased a simple decorative storage box and a variety of scrapbook papers. Back at home, I gathered up a variety of food boxes from the kitchen and then made my own little dividers using this tutorial I had seen on Pinterest. My finished result?

I’m so happy with it, at least for now. I can keep everything here—my little sample vials, roller bottles, droppers, a few spray bottles, all of my oils (of course!) and my FCO (fractionated coconut oil, used for dilution). Love it!

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Onto the oils themselves… one of my favorite recent essential oils discoveries actually involves two oils I’ve had since the beginning—wild orange and peppermint.

If I’m feeling particularly tired, sluggish or worn down, wild orange and peppermint help put a little pep in my step. I don’t drink coffee, and very rarely drink soda, so I almost never have caffeine. It’s awesome not to be addicted to it or NEED it to wake up, but on the days when I’m tired, it’s tough not to have something to help me out. Now, I have a solution. When we were traveling a few weeks ago to the beach, we had to get up really early (after being up late!) and I was definitely utilizing this blend. I’ve come to use it often enough that it was worth mixing up a roller bottle of it. Apply a dab to each of my temples and I am good to go! And the combination smells good, too.

Brand new in my order this month was Cypress. It’s a really versatile oil that can help with many things. It’s beneficial for increasing circulation, so one thing I’ve been testing out is its ability to help reduce the appearance of spider veins. I have a few patches of spider veins on the inside corners of my upper calves near my knees, so I’ve been applying a “Veins” mix—6 drops Cypress, 3 drops Lavender, 2 drops Lemon in a 10mL roller bottle, then filled to the top with FCO—morning and night. This isn’t something that will magically happen overnight, but I figure what the heck, I’ll give it a whirl and see if it helps over time.

In the meantime, Cypress is also helpful for respiratory issues, helping to open up the airways and breathe easier. It can also help relieve muscle spasms, and has wonderful antiseptic properties so it can be used to help clean cuts, scrapes, and other minor injuries. So it’s a great “first aid” oil to have in my kit.

Also new to me this month is Clove, which I ordered specifically to help with oral troubles—teething and canker sores! Vivienne’s not currently cutting any teeth, but when some new ones are on their way, I’m prepared! Clove is fantastic at numbing, so it can be applied to the gums of teething little ones, AND help adults with canker sores (I get some really painful ones sometimes!). It is a “hot” oil, so it’s not something I would use without dilution, particularly for babies and children. When I use with Vivienne, I plan to dilute it heavily with FCO, and then test it on myself to make sure it’s not too strong before I put it on her gums. I’m really hoping it helps, because it sure beats using Orajel or constantly dosing her up with ibuprofen (which I will still give her if/when necessary, for what it’s worth).

Other uses for Clove? Repelling silverfish, apparently! Have you ever had silverfish in your house? Those effers are NASTY. I’ve seen one or two in our house in the three years we’ve lived here, so it’s not a huge problem for us (knock on wood!) but we had them a lot in the house I grew up in, as well as my house in college. Silverfish can vary in size from pretty little to GINORMOUS OHMYGOD. They have a million legs that help them move as fast as lightning, and they are just generally disgusting. *heebie jeebies, heebie jeebies!* ANYWAY, apparently these unwanted inhabitants of your home don’t like the smell of clove. Go figure. You can put a few drops on a couple of cotton balls and put them wherever you have problems—under your kitchen cabinets, in your basement, wherever. You have to refresh the cotton balls every once in a while so the scent doesn’t wear off too much to continue being effective. Any time you can potentially use essential oils to get rid of insects, that’s a bonus in my book.

On a completely unrelated note, I can’t wait to use Clove in our diffuser in the fall and near the holidays! I love the smell of clove, so I’m looking forward to making our house smell like I’m always baking something. Because although I love to bake, actually doing so on a super regular basis would not be good for my waistline. :)

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I’m getting ready to place my August order, so if anyone wants to get in on that, let me know. As always, if you want to try essential oils, I am more than willing to help you out by giving you the benefits of my wholesale discount and then mailing them your way.

And if you want to just talk essential oils? Questions? Email me at heatherdriveblog at yahoo dot com, because I love chatting about them.

Lastly, I told you in July about a promotion doTERRA was running for new wellness advocates (a.k.a. wholesale account members). By enrolling with the purchase of a starter kit (like the Family Physician Kit I started with), you receive a bonus $50 in free essential oils of your choice. It’s an amazing promo, and it’s rare for doTERRA to offer a bonus as great as this. The great news is that doTERRA has extended this offer until August 15, so if you thought you missed out, or if you’re interested now, you should check it out. Let me know if you’re interested or have questions about it. Believe me, *I* would take advantage of it if I could! :)

Here’s the link to my doTERRA store, but again, I’d prefer you email me to start because I can get you better deals. More than anything, I just want to help empower you to make changes that can help you live a more natural life and kick some of the synthetic products in your house to the curb.

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Check out all of my previous posts about essential oils here.

Have a fabulous weekend! The weather here is supposed to be perfect; I hope the same for you.