Official Hippy Status Achieved?
Essential oils. They are all the rage right now. The rage made me interested and skeptical.
I shared the above photo and some of my skepticism on Instagram (and Facebook) the other day and judging from all the comments, I’m not alone!
There were two main reasons I was skeptical:
#1 no other “natural” recipe ever works for me, thinking of using baking soda in my hair, oil pulling for teeth whitening . . . etc.
#2 and probably the biggest one: everyone who is singing the praise of essential oils also just happens to sell them and claims that their brand is the only brand you should use, it honestly just feels too gimmicky to me.
So for a long time I just stayed away from essential oils. Curious but not knowing where to begin and not willing to spend a lot of money to see if they actually work.
But a few months ago I broke down and bought a few oils off of Well.ca, pretty much all I did with the oils I purchased was make a deodorant and then we went to South Africa for a month and a half.
Then comes Christmas and my mom bought me a diffuser and a few oils. Plus she told me about an oil company that sells cheap oils! (cheap because they don’t use a middleman so they don’t have to mark them up like most other companies do.)
The one oil I’d been the most curious about was thieves oil, I’ve heard so many people rave about it over the last year or so and I wanted to know if it was really all it has been made out to be. It was one of the oils I got from Christmas, the one I got is produced by Eden’s Garden and is $8 (USD) for 10ml as opposed to other companies that have it priced at about four times (or more!) the cost.
Since I’m a skeptic to begin with and am not selling the oils (so I’ve got no ulterior motives) I thought it may be beneficial to others if I document some of my experiences and thoughts on essential oils over the next few weeks.
Anyway, back to the thieves oil, the day we celebrated Christmas with my family Jared had a bit of a head cold and I knew I was going to get it. I know I’ve shared a bit here in the past about me being sick but I don’t know if I’ve shared how often it really happens; over the last four years or so I’ve gotten sick every few months with a chest infection and in addition have had pneumonia two or three times in the last few years.
When I get a cold I don’t just get a cold I instantly get a chest infection. So I knew it was coming.
The day I got the diffuser I put in thieves oil right away at my parents house and over the next few days I ran thieves a few times. On Monday Jared was hit by the worst part of his cold/flu and I started to feel like I was getting it. I started putting thieves oil and oregano oil with coconut oil on my feet in the morning and evening and on Tuesday I drank a couple of drops of oregano oil* and let me tell you what happened: I got a runny nose and that’s it.
It didn’t even feel like a head cold, no chills, no achy body. just. a runny. nose. This is huge for me people. I do not know the last time I had such a minor little cold.
Maybe it’s just a coincidence, I feel like it’s too early to sing the praises of essential oils but seriously, it’s been years since I’ve had such a little cold, I can’t help but think the oils had something to do with it.
So that’s the beginning to my journey into essential oils. I have some more ordered that are on there way so I know there will definitely be more posts about oils in the future. I feel like now that I have one foot on the essential oil band wagon I have possibly achieved official hippy status, to go along with the vinegar I use for conditioner and how much I enjoy reusing and recycling.
*For essential oils, I know there are some you are not supposed to ingest, for my oregano oil I have this one that Jared got for free a long time ago when he made a purchase at a local health food store and I hadn’t used it until this year. This one says right on the bottle to take 2-4 drops daily in juice or water.
If you do ingest oregano oil let me warn you: it’s potent stuff. If you don’t do it right you will be tasting Italian food/pizza all day (or so Jared tells me). The best way to do it is put a bit of water in a glass, add your drops of oregano oil and drink it using a straw you put as far back in your mouth as you can. And make sure you have some juice handy that you can drink after to help remove the taste.
Do you use essential oils or are you a skeptic?
If you use them, which are your favorites?
If you don’t, are there any particular questions you have?
Dude. Oregano oil is killer! Literally. Ha. Every person in our family go bad colds/sinus infections and that with the immune oil I use, I only had a sore throat one day. The big one for me was when my hubs got the stomach bug and I ALWAYS get it if anyone around me has it. As soon as I heard him sick, I went and got oregano oil and started rubbing it on my stomach, and diffusing it and immune strength. I NEVER GOT IT!!! Insane!!!
Haha, yay for the killer oregano oil! It’s crazy stuff but it really seems to work! 🙂
since seeing your post about this company on instagram i ordered the little 6 set, the wall diffuser, and some carrier oil! i’ve been using lavender and peppermint oil for a while (and some lemon) but i have wanted to try thieves for SO LONG – but the price always hit me between the eyes….until you introduced this one! YAY.
i can’t wait to try it – especially since i’m fighting the beginning stages of a cold right now!
That’s so cool Amy! I ordered two sets of 14 that I’m splitting with my mom (we also bought a bunch of 5ml bottles so we can split them all). I can’t wait to hear what you think of them! Don’t you love the price of their thieves oil?? And I’m really believing it works!
I havent been using essential oils but I would love to start. So you have any other blog posts you would recommend for a beginner? I loved hearing your true story rather than someone who is so excited to sell the oils. I have birthday money coming soon so this would be a great time to start.
Yes, my friend Meg has a great post for beginners with oils: http://www.mewiththethree.com/2014/10/essential-oils-how-we-use-them.html
Another company that looks pretty good is Plant Therapy, I haven’t tried any of their oils yet and they are a little pricer than Eden’s Garden BUT their shipping to Canada is insanely cheap (I ordered $50 worth of oils and paid less than $2 shipping). Oh and when you sign up for an account/the newsletter you get a $5 off code that is good for 24 hours.
I’ll keep posting my journey with oils as well 🙂
thats a pretty good beginning though. you poor thing getting sick so often. i get the same – if someone is sick, i’m highly likely to get it -but not that bad. i so hope this works for you!!!
Thanks Finley! Only time will tell but we’ve been back home for 2 weeks and colds are going around us like CRAZY and I haven’t caught anything yet which is pretty much a miracle in itself. Hopefully it continues 🙂
totally agree! oregano oil is vile! my mother swears by it and she takes it all the time (just two drops straight into the mouth), but I won’t do it. lol
completely agree, the whole essential oil thing looks pretty scammy sometimes, thanks for sharing your story!
Haha, vile – perfect word for it! But I think it does work, so it’s better than getting sick in my mind 🙂
essential oils have weirded me out from the start because of the brand competitiveness. I’m happy to start seeing brands like this that are cheaper and still trustworthy. I’ve been using tea tree oil on my face for acne, and I have seen a difference! I use a calming blend, too, and I think I believe it works. excited to try more as time goes on.
Haha, that’s so me Natalie. Another company I’ve just heard about (but haven’t tried yet) is Plant Therapy: http://www.planttherapy.com/ just another option if you are interested in checking out different companies 🙂
Oh, and I’m so glad to hear about the tea tree oil, do you dilute it in another oil? I’d love to find something that works on my acne.
Funny timing with this post! My husband got really sick over the holidays (sinus issue and a cough), and I convinced him to let me put eucalyptus oil on his feet at bedtime one night. I had spent the previous two nights not sleeping because of his coughing and bad snoring due to the stuffed up nose. First night using eucalyptus oil on his feet? No snoring. No coughing. I just mixed a few drops with some olive oil and rubbed it on and put on socks. That’s it. I’ll definitely be looking into other remedies now too. Thanks for sharing!!
Whoop! Yay for no snoring!!
Thanks so much for this. I felt a lot like you in regards to essential oils but I may have to try them out!
I’ve heard of Plant Therapy, too, but haven’t bought any of theirs! I just put tea tree undiluted straight on my face, and I haven’t had any bad effects. Not sure if that’s the right way to do it or not… 🙂
I’ve been trying it the last few days and it seems to be working for me, thanks! 🙂
i’ve felt the same way you have about oils & then all of the people who sell the oils & say those are the only ones that work, etc.
i’ve gotten Lavender and Peppermint from a store nearby and been using those. i’ve been trying to find a thieves i can afford so i’m going to check out Edens Garden! thanks so much!!
I am glad you mentioned your skepticism as that is the boat I find myself in. It sounds intriguing and I have heard many success stories, but the price and idea that most people sell them too does seem a little bit tacky. Thank you for addressing the conversation though, I will have to look into it more.