I’ve been dabbling in the essential oil world for a few years now.

After trying a few different companies I’m still not completely brand loyal. I have a few companies that I order from regularly. In my initial foray into essential oils I tried out a number of companies right off the bat and wrote a post about the pros and cons of each essential oil company, I plan on writing an updated post soon with some more companies and thoughts added but it’s still a pretty accurate post.

The one thing I have not done is order oils from some of the more expensive companies. I prefer to not have a middle man and have the opportunity to purchase oils at a lower cost.

At the beginning of the new year my mom texted me letting me know about an essential oil subscription box through Simply Earth. I loved the idea from the get go because no only do you get essential oils sent to you each month but also recipes and all the supplies needed to make the recipes.

Today I wanted to share a bit of a review on our experience so far with Simply Earth and a peek inside the January and February subscription boxes.

The boxes are $39/month, which is a great price considering you get four essential oils (their oil size is 15ml which is a bigger standard than most other essential oil companies), so far in my experience there has also been one carrier oil per month, and then extras often in the form of roll-on bottles and whatever else is needed for that month’s recipes, you’ll see more as I show you inside the boxes below! All in all, it’s a great value. If you live in Canada like myself, yes, that is in USD, but, there is free shipping! Which you know is rare and amazing.

You also have the option of skipping a month whenever you would like or canceling your subscription at any time.

If you are interested in ordering your own box, if you purchase your first month through this link and use the code: FREEGIFTCARD you will also receive a $40 gift card! Seriously, can a deal get any better than that?!

After ordering my first subscription box I ordered their wooden oil box and a few oils with my free $40! (And, once again, free shipping, even to Canada!)

Before I get into sharing the January box, I want to say that the customer service team was great to work with, I had a dumb mistake (completely my error) when I ordered my box and they fixed that up right away. Then, after they sent my January box I was tracking it and somehow it got stuck in Canada customs and never made it through. I think someone that works in customs is enjoying a box themselves . . . but Simply Earth sent me a replacement box because they are awesome like that.

So, on to the January box!

For essential oils January included: geranium, bergamot, angelica root (5ml cause it’s a more expensive oil), and their curb hunger blend. There was also camellia oil as a carrier oil.

Also in the box were the oil recipes, stickers, roller bottles, an extra 5ml bottle and a package of bentonite clay. The recipes included were: Mud Mask (that’s what the clay is for), Bye Bye Eye Bags, Wrinkles Away, Oatmeal Milk Bath, Grounding and Energizing Blend and Fit Roll On (one to fight hunger cravings).

Raeca and I made and used the mud mask, we even took selfies but she asked me not to share them. 🙂 I had never made on before, it was a bit messy but mostly fun and my face felt great afterwards!

The roller bottles that came in the box were amber with black lids but I happened to have a “wrinkles” label leftover from a previous project so I used an extra blue roller bottle with gold lid that I already had for this one instead.

I actually skipped my February box because I hadn’t received my January replacement yet but Raeca and I borrowed my mom’s box to make a little video and show you what is inside.

Rae really likes making videos; as I try to listen and pay attention to her interests more this is something that keeps coming up. Video can be a lot of work though so right now I’m going to try to start including her here on the blog more and if she continues to show interest maybe she’ll branch out and do her own thing.

Remember, you can get a free $40 gift card after you purchase your first subscription box, just purchase through here and use the coupon code: FREEGIFTCARD

Like essential oils? Check out the rest of my oil posts here!

I love experimenting with new essential oil blends.

This particular blend I made quite awhile ago and has had a lot of use in our house, can you see how empty the bottle is in the photo? That’s my proof.

I wouldn’t describe myself as a naturally calm person. I’m a highly sensitive person, raising a highly sensitive and emotional child, that doesn’t result in a lot of calm in our house.

I always joke that my daughter and I would make good TV if we were on the Amazing Race, the pressure would completely break us. It wouldn’t be pretty but I’m sure it would make “good TV”.

So, a calming essential oil blend is just what we need.

When using this oil I prefer to roll it onto my wrists and neck.

Here’s the recipe for those who also need some calm in their lives!

CALMING ESSENTIAL OIL ROLLER BOTTLE BLEND

* 2 drops orange
* 2 drops lavender
* 2 drops cedarwood
* 1 drop ylang ylang
* carrier oil

Add the drops to a 10ml roller bottle and then fill the rest of the bottle with your favorite carrier oil.

Add the roller ball, close the lid and shake. Oil is then ready to use.

When needed, roll oil over wrists and neck.

Check out other essential oil recipes here!

Do you have some essential oil blends you love?

Like all my essential oil posts, I’m not getting paid or compensated to talk about certain oils or companies, I’m just as girl who started out a little skeptical about essential oils and thought I’d share my journey for any others out there that may feel the same way. You can read my previous posts about essential oils here.

Two weeks ago I went to a seminar at Saje given by the co-founder of the company, Jean-Pierre. It was a very informative seminar, not because he really told us anything about essential oils that I hadn’t already heard or known but I found it so very interesting to hear his personal story and how when he was at his lowest point (mentally and physically) he heard about and started looking into essential oils and that’s how the company all began.

I love that Saje is that it’s a Canadian oil company (finally!) and they offer free shipping in North America for orders over $75 so my American friends aren’t left out. 🙂 Plus, they have a physical location not to far from me, other than the seminar I’ve never been in there (and it was packed that night so I’m not sure if that counts anyway) but I love that they have testers and you can go in and talk to the staff, I’m definitely going to do that soon – you know, one day when it warms up and I don’t have to lug both of the kids out with me 🙂

After the seminar I purchased the pocket pharmacy because I’d been wanting to mix up some oils in roller balls to have in my purse anyway and this way I got a bunch of oils and a handy case as well. I love that it gives me a chance to try out a couple of different blends and the rollers are all refillable so when they are empty you can either put in your own blends or just purchase bigger bottles of the ones from Saje and refill them.

The pocket pharmacy kit contains 5 oils: peppermint halo, immune, eater’s digest, stress release and pain release. Since I’ve had a few weeks to use the oils I thought I would share my thoughts on each one!

A sidenote for anyone interested in the carrier oil used, Saje uses grapeseed oil in these blends.

peppermint halo (headache remedy): unfortunately this one doesn’t seem to work for me. I get headaches every few days, it always stems from my neck/jaw and this doesn’t work for those headaches for me. That being said, I’ve heard that this blend works really well for some people. I’m definitely going to keep trying it for awhile and if it still doesn’t work for me I might make my own blend to pop in this cute roller ball.

immune (germ & virus fighting): this little oil has been getting a lot of use in our house. I’ve been rolling it on my neck and feet and on the kids’ feet as well. Raeca asks for it and both kids like to roll it on their own feet. Our colds have definitely been reduced this year and I definitely think essential oils in general have made that happen. Having this blend in a handy little roller means I remember to use it more which definitely means it’s more useful.

eater’s digest (digestion easing): to be honest, no one in the house has really needed this oil yet (yay!) so I can’t comment on whether or not it actually works for us but it smells really good!

stress release (reduces anxiety and promotes relaxation): I haven’t used this oil much because I personally don’t like the smell but I have been using it on Raeca a fair amount (down her neck and onto her shoulders), she asks for it a lot. I haven’t noticed a difference with her yet but this one might be one of those oils where the results take awhile to show.

pain release (reduces inflammation and relieves muscle pain): absolutely my favorite oil in the kit. Truthfully, my roller is almost empty. I use it on any sore muscles I have and it works in a matter of minutes. I also have a problem with achy knees, ankles and feet, I think they usually flare up in the cold weather and when I’ve been on my feet a lot, so almost every day lately. This has been happening to me for years and I never found anything that eased the pain until this oil. I just use the roller to put some on my hand and then rub my hand all over my knees and within a few minutes the pain goes away. I actually never even realized that my ankles and feet also hurt because the pain in my knees was so bad, the first time that I tried this after a few minutes my knees felt better but I noticed my ankles hurt so I added some oil there and then after a few minutes they felt better but I noticed my feet hurt . . . and since that time I’ve realized that they all hurt but my knees are just so much more that it was blocking out most of the other pain, so now when they get back I just rub the oil all over my knees, ankles and feet and within a few minutes I’m good to go! This is one that I will definitely be refilling over and over again!

Have you ever purchased from Saje? Any product suggestions?
Do you have any blends (from any company or that you’ve mixed yourself) that you find work really well? If so, please share!

It’s been over a month now since I’ve received the bulk of my essential oils and I thought I’d share a few of my favorite ways I’ve been using them.

Since I got a little overwhelmed at the number of oils I have I decided to just start using a few of them for now and once I know the uses for those ones I’ll look into using some of the other ones.

Essential oils are usually diluted with a carrier oil because they are so potent on their own. For the most part I dilute the oils in coconut oil (I just melt the coconut oil and then add the essential oils in and it hardens again), except when it comes to Raeca, she reacts to coconut oil (gets a bit of a rash) so when I use essential oils on her I dilute them with almond oil.

Another thing I want to note: I’ve read that some essential oils with work for some people and not for others, kind of like how Tylenol works for some (not me) and Advil works for others (me!), so just because an essential oil doesn’t work for you when everyone else claims it’s amazing doesn’t mean that essential oils don’t work, but maybe you need to try a different one to find one that will work for you.

Some of the oils I’m sharing about today are single oils and some are blends, for the blends I’ve also shared which store I’ve purchased the blend from just as an FYI, most brands will have similar blends. For instance, a few companies carry “thieves oil” while other companies have the same oil but call it something different, often a name with the word “immune” in it.

Also, I’m not a doctor or anything, this is just how I use essential oils for myself and my family.

SINGLE OILS

tea tree
* I use this undiluted on my face for acne, I just put one or two drops into my palm and then use my fingertip to put it on any breakouts, it does seem to help, I have a friend who says lemon works the same way for her but I haven’t found it to work for me (thought it does smell a lot better, so I wish it did!)
* this is also one of the oils I use in my diy deodorant

lemon
* any one out there use Goo Gone? lemon essential oil has completely replaced it for me, I add a bit of lemon essential oil to a cloth or paper towel and rub the sticky glue off of my old glass jars so I can reuse them
* lemon is a great oil for cleaning and I use this in my basic cleaning solution (I’ll share that recipe soon!)

peppermint
* I use this one in my diy deodorant as well

orange
* I add a few drops in to my kitchen garbage when I put a fresh bag in, it helps remove any nasty smells and makes it smell citrusy

lavender
* I’m not a huge fan of the smell of lavender but I’ve added one drop to my tube of mascara because I’ve heard it strengthens eyelashes, I don’t wear mascara very often so I can’t say I’ve noticed a difference yet but I figured it couldn’t hurt to try it

oregano
* when I feel a cold coming on I add 2-3 drops into about a quarter cup of water and drink it quickly with a straw (without the straw all your food for the rest of the day will taste Italian). I made sure the oregano oil I use says its for internal use (I have this one that I got from a local store) and it seems to stop a cold in it’s tracks

BLENDS

thieves (Eden’s Garden)
* I love putting this one in the diffuser, when diffused it is supposed to kill airborne germs so I often have this running when we have people over or shortly after they leave. friends, we love you, we just don’t want your germs 🙂
* it is also supposed to be good for building up immunity so I mix this with a carrier oil and put it on the my feet in the mornings (and I do the same for the kids’ feet)
* one of the oils used in my diy deodorant
* and of course there is my favorite thieves oil foaming hand soap

calming the child (Plant Therapy)
* I dilute this one in carrier oil and put it on Raeca’s neck before bed. Since I started doing this she’s had no night terrors, I’m not sure if that’s just a coincidence or not but it does seem to help calm her down in general too

purification (Eden’s Garden)
* this one I run in the diffuser when we’ve made something that doesn’t smell so great, like fish, or after breakfast since Jared usually boils a few eggs and I can’t stand the smell

muscle relief (Eden’s Garden)
* this one seems to work great on sore muscles, just mix it with a carrier oil and rub it on wherever you feel soreness

This is just a start into the oils I’ve been trying, I definitely think there will be a part two to this post in the next few months.

You can view the rest of my posts on essential oils here.

What are your favorite oils and ways to use them?

Welcome to the second installment of skeptical Chantel’s journey with essential oils! (Check out the first post here.)

In order to get the full experience with essential oils I’ve ordered a variety of different oils from a few different suppliers especially since some had better prices for some oils and others for other oils, or some had certain blends that others just didn’t have.

Just to give a little spoiler alert for a future post: I haven’t tried all my oils yet but I’m definitely seeing a difference thanks to a few of them, more of that to come.

So when I was on the search to figure out where to buy oils there were three major things I was looking at, all revolving around price. I wanted to know the size of the bottles (because sometimes you think you find an amazing deal and then you realize it’s only a 5ml bottle), obviously I wanted to know the price of the bottle and potentially the biggest one: I wanted to know the shipping costs to Canada.

I have ordered oils from three different companies so far and wanted to share my initial thoughts on each. I’ve found that there isn’t one company that comes out majorly on top so I’m just going to share them in the order I tried them in.

Well.ca – I originally bought 5 or 6 bottles from Well in the fall (all the NOW brand). The majority of their bottles come in sizes up to 30ml, much bigger than most other companies. Their pricing is also pretty amazing compared to most companies (and as of right now they are having a sale on their essential oils). I also love that they are a Canadian company and shipping on orders over $25 is free! To be honest their oils are so cheap they leave me wondering if they actually work, also you need to watch a little bit because some of the more expensive oils, like Frankincense, is actually only 20% Frankincense and the rest is grapeseed oil, it is clearly stated in the description but if you don’t know what you are looking for you might miss that. If you haven’t ordered from Well before use the code: chantelklassen to get $10 off your first order of $40 or more! (disclosure: if you use the code and get $10 off your purchase I’ll also get $10 off my next one, win-win for both of us!)

Eden’s Garden – I shared a little about this one on Instagram since I got one of their oils for Christmas. They sell mostly 10ml bottles for very good prices. Plus if you are interested in ordering 6 or 14 you can buy the “Create Your Own” set, if you get the 14 it comes out to $3.50 per bottle, way cheaper than most places. I bought 2 sets of 14 as well as 28 5ml bottles so my mom and I could split them. The only real downside to Eden’s Garden is the shipping to Canada, I guess at Christmas it was cheap and after that they increased their shipping prices by a LOT, even more from when I ordered, now the base cost is $16, even if you just order one $5 oil. Fortunately for my American friends, they have free shipping on orders over $50 for you.

Plant Therapy – their oils come in a variety of sizes and and I like that they often have the option of buying them in a roller already pre-diluted. Plant Therapy’s prices are decent, and their shipping to Canada is amazing. I paid $2 for 5 bottles ($50 worth). Plant Therapy also has a list of child safe blends, the Sniffle Stopper will be my next purchase, or maybe Sweet Dreams and see if they help with Raeca’s night terrors (which thankfully seem to be gone for the time being). Oh, and if you sign up for their newsletter you get a $5 off coupon on orders $10 or more (just know that you need to use it within 24 hours).

If you buy oils, where do you get yours from?
And which oils/blends are your favorite?

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?