This is probably going to be a pretty long post because this is a serious passion of mine ;). I have real, deep, never ending love and gratitude for essential oils. My oil drawer is overflowing and my oil cabinet is almost too full to close. I love them all and I use every. single. one.!! I have an oil or oil blend for stress, anxiety, sleep, headaches, bug bites, wounds, bug repellent, muscle soreness, immune system, sinus congestion, acne, motion sickness, stomach issues. I have something to uplift you or calm you or basically whatever you need whenever you need it! I know a lot of oil skeptics and to them I say… wellllll at least they smell good right? If you aren’t a believer or at least interested in being a believer there is not a whole lot i can do for you, ha! I’m obviously not a scientist or doctor so I won’t go into WHY they work and try to make you a believer but for ME, I know they work. My evidence is….anecdotal. If I feel overwhelmed or super stressed out and I diffuse some lavender I INSTANTLY feel calmed down. If I’m feeling tired or worn down and I diffuse wild orange and lime I INSTANTLY I feel more energetic and happy. Another huge one for me is peppermint oil. I’ve had headaches most of my life and peppermint oil has helped immensely.

My first brush with oils was probably in 2003. I had anotherrrrr super bad cold and someone happened to tell me about oil of oregano and how it was a miracle worker and promised that “you will never be sick again”. (Check out some info on oregano benefits here.) I promptly went to our local health food store and picked up a 1 oz bottle for $30(!!!!!!) and it was true… from then on I was pretty much never sick again. Until 2012 when I had to quit taking it due to pregnancy ( you cannot take it when pregnant or nursing). At the time essential oils or “EO’s” were not something I knew anything about and I didn’t realize this counted as one. So I wasn’t officially introduced to EO’s until 2012 when my mom started using them pretty religiously. She uses the Young Living brand and introduced me to this clove blend called Thieves that smells like autumn and warmth and all things soothing and I fell in LOVEEEEE!! She told me it was great for the immune system and had antimicrobial properties so putting on our lower backs or wrists/feet when we were feeling sick and diffusing became normal for me. She also brought a blend for my new baby boy (Gentle Baby) that smelled like heaven and would soothe him and calm him when he was fussy. She gave me a roller of it and I would rub it on his tiny feet and he seemed to be calmer and sleep better whenever I remembered to use it. Even then though… I still wasn’t quite tapped into the oil world yet and the never ending gifts it would eventually bring to me and my family. Fast forward maybe 4 years later. My sweet boy seemed to have a cold he could not kick so I hooked up with a local friend that is very knowledgeable about oils. She gave me a lot of good advice and helped him get better faster and more importantly STAY better. I loved all the ways oils could help my family and was seeing proof of how beneficial they were in our every day lives.

Maybe my biggest success story with oils (aside from immensely helping me with anxiety) was helping my son kick recurrent strep infections! Both of my kids have always avoided getting sick very often, aside from the yucky cold or ear infection here and there but my boy was hit HARD his first year of all day school…kindergarten. It has been almost two years ago now but I remember it pretty vividly. I was room mom for his class and busy helping to plan the class Halloween party. He came home from school with a headache and really rosy cheeks but no other symptoms really so I diffused some thieves and maybe put some on his back and did the usual things I would do when he wasn’t feeling well. Well that night I took his temp and it was almost 105!!!! I was terrified. Still no complaints of sore throat the next day but took him to doctor anyway because of the high temp. He had strep throat and we gave him the antibiotic and it worked right away but it kept coming back, he had maybe 4 or 5 recurrences in just a few months. I was so stressed out and just wanted it to stop it from coming back. I heard about an local oil specialist that could do some oil samples on your skin and see what oil you responded to the most. I took Bronson and he responded the most to Frankincense! Interesting for a lot of reasons but one thing is it has antiseptic properties. I started diffusing for him and also happened upon a recipe for a ‘flu shot in a bottle” that included Frankincense. I hadn’t made my own oil roller before and I was intimidated but ready to give it a try. You don’t want to use undiluted oils on yourself or your kids so if you make a roller with the oils you need you have the proper amount already diluted and can just roll it on whenever you need. So I started using this roller on my son every morning before school on his lower spine and wrists and he did NOT get strep again! Albeit he also quit using the gross germ spreading water fountain at school thankfully but I give 90% of the credit to the roller :). The ingredients are all powerful immune support and it smells really good. I have posted the recipe for the oil before here so make it up if you would like to give your kids or yourself to give yourself some extra protection. I only use during cold and flu season (hello Covid!) and just on the spine and wrists or maybe behind ears. ALSO, I have made up a big batch and am selling a 10ml oil roller for $10. Let me know if you would like one and I will hand deliver locally if anyone is interested :). As far as which oils go, I mostly only use Doterra or Young Living but have also used Plant Therapy in the past and feel good about that company too.