Wrinkle Reducing Recipe!

I came across this wrinkle reducing recipe that I may just have to give a try once I have all the oils. Just wanted to share it!

5 drops sandalwood
4 drops geranium
3 drops lavender
6 drops frankincense

Remember not to get the oils too close to eyes since it can cause irritation. My ultimate dream would be to get rose oil for skin care. It is a very pricey oil that I will hopefully get my hands on some day!

Until next time ...

Heather

Streeeeetch Marks

Ah, the joys of pregnancy. Your life changes forever. But so does your body. My body changed when I had children. I am trying to raise my girls to be proud of their bodies. I am proud of mine. Flaws and  all. I have things I am okay with doing to help better my look and things I am not okay doing. One thing I am okay doing is using essential oils. I am confident in giving natural beauty treatments a try.

For some of us, stretch marks are a part of pregnancy. As your skin stretches, sometimes the collagen just can't quiet make it so it breaks. That is the network of fibers holding your skin together underneath its upper layer. Once this break occurs you get a stretch mark. In a way I am proud of mine. It reminds me of a time when my girls were safe and untouched by this crazy world.

Here is a picture from this Birth Without Fear post.

So how do we use essential oils for stretch marks? Here is what my Essential Oils Pocket Reference says. It says that you can apply 3-6 drops of oil neat (straight on) or diluted 50/50 two times daily. The singles used are frankincense, elemi, spikenard, geranium, lavender, myrrh. The blends used are Gentle Baby, Sensation, Valor, White Angelica. Other Young Living products you could try are Tender Tush, Rose Ointment, A.R.T. Day Activator, and A.R.T. Night Reconstructor. 

Just one more side note from me ... if you would need to order an oil from the list to try, and you have a baby or plan to have more, then Gentle Baby would be a great investment. There are lots of great uses for it!

Until next time ...

Heather

Why Oils? Really??

So here are some questions that I had when I was thinking about this whole oil thing.
1. How?
2. Why Young Living?
3. Should I really sign up?

Let me try to explain the answers that I came across that helped make my decision. Remember though that each person may not think the same or come to the same conclusion and that's okay! I am just sharing my essential experience :)

1. How?

How do oils work? But do they really work? How will I know which ones to use?

As far as how the oils work, you could take an entire chemistry course on them. They are very complex. Here is a link to some great information on oils. To answer the question of if they really work ... I will start at my beginning. I got some oils having zero expectations. I tried an oil for one thing, and it worked! Then I tried more oils for more things and they worked too! I became convinced not only by the science of it but more by my experiences with it. I also love hearing experiences from others with their success as well.

How do you know which ones to use for what? If you plan to get into oils, I would start with a Essential Oils Desk Reference. They can help guide you in your journey, and most of all help you do it safely! If you are looking for information specific for pregnancy, birth, and babies, this book would be a great resource to have! Also, you can always contact other oil users. They can be a valuable resource as well.

2. Why Young Living brand?

But they are so expensive! Can't I get this from my health food store? What is this Seed to Seal thing?

Young Living brand oils are therapeutic grade. They work very hard to make the best potency and purity. They control the entire process from the Seed to Seal. You should really check those links out because it is so interesting! All of this is what sets Young Living apart from your health food store brands. They are not completely pure and are NOT safe for consumption. It even says so on their labels. The high standards of quality are what make the cost of Young Living a little higher than others. But, you get what you pay for and when it comes to my health care I only want the best!

3. Should I really sign up?

If I sign up do I have to make a "business" of it? I HATE monthly things. Is this a monthly thing? What other fees could there be?

A Young Living membership gets you a lifetime discount of 24%. If you do want to sign up you can contact me (stylezhair@yahoo.com) or just sign yourself up using the "sponsor ID" number 1394271. I really don't like "monthly things". Hehe! This is not an automatic monthly thing. You don't ever have to pay another fee or purchase anything to maintain your discount. So, that takes a lot of risk out of it! You do not have to make this a business if you sign up. You can just use your discount to enjoy a better price on amazing oils and other products. If you have any questions I am happy to help!

Until next time ...

Heather

The Art Of Eyebrows

I have been doing hair for 10 years. It is a fun little interest of mine. Along with that came education on all things beauty, including eyebrows. Oh how I love a set of well groomed eyebrows. But to groom them I personally use wax.

As we all know it can cause some redness. And this really stinks when you have other things to do that day. One tip to avoid redness is to not over heat your wax so you are not burning your skin as well, just FYI. Well this last time I waxed I also had an important meeting that same day. I remembered that Lavender essential oil is helpful with burns and scrapes. And then the light bulb went off! So right after my wax a placed a bit of Lavender oil on the area and poof ... no redness! When I did this I kept in mind how I did not want to get any oil too close to my eyes since it could burn. I had no trouble. You could not even tell I had anything done. So there is my little time saver I learned when I experimented with Lavender. It's great stuff!

Happy Waxing! (if there is such a thing)

Until next time ...

Heather

"Dark Spot Corrector"

I will be doing a few beauty tips this week!

Since I was a young girl I have always had freckles and moles. Luckily mine are not like this little gem.

But, back to what I was talking about. Just normal everyday moles and freckles. Unfortunately looking grossly tan was really in style when I was young. And I spent way too much time in the tanning beds. Hopefully I did not look like this woman.

Ugh. If I could only go back and shake some sense into my young self. But, I can't and now I am left to deal with the consequences. So, this is where my Frankincense oil comes in.

First, I have a disclaimer from the Essential Oils Pocket Reference (5th edition) page 27. It says, "Keep essential oils away from the eye area and never put them directly into ears. Do not handle contact lenses or rub eyes with essential oils on your fingers. Even in minute amounts, many essential oils may damage contacts and will irritate eyes." I have heard to use them only above the eyes on your face to avoid any burning. But, I have also heard how Frankincense can help fade dark spots. So I very sparingly have been dotting a tiny bit on 2 age spots I have on my left cheek area. It has been great to watch them fade! I think they are faded about 50%. It's like that Clinique commercial except I am not putting all those nasty chemicals on my face. I am not advocating you to put oils all over your face, but just sharing what is working for me.

Until next time ...

Heather

Coughing Baby?

My 5 month old is having to build one strong immune system! I work at my older daughter's preschool, and my baby is there with me also. She is exposed to many more germs than I would like. But, we are fighting back! We use Thieves blend on her feet to help prevent illness, and she is still exclusively breast fed which helps too. Sometimes we just can't avoid the common cold and she has had one for over a week now. She has started doing this thing where she is fine until it's time for sleep and as soon as she is drifting off she goes into uncontrollable coughing fits. Sometimes she gags and throws up because it gets so bad.

On Friday, she had not napped the whole day except for 30 minutes around noon. Every other time we tried a nap she would wake from coughing. Then it hit me ... oils! So that evening I got out the R.C. blend and rubbed it on her chest and feet. I layered that with the Peace and Calming blend. Then in my diffuser I put 10 drops of Eucalyptus Globulus and place it next to the bed.

 After that, for the rest of the entire night she only coughed 2 times! What a blessing! I love getting to use the natural things that God created to make my girls feel better.

Until next time ...

Heather

Fennel Update

I tried the fennel yesterday to see if it made a difference in supply. I did not notice any difference immediately. But, as the evening and this morning have arrived I do notice a slight increase in fullness. Pretty cool!

We have had a full house with a fun girls sleep over last night. I had just gotten my Joy blend in my last rewards order. I got it out and put it in the diffuser in my room and can I say that I have felt SO relaxed and easy going! I thought, 'sure, anything is worth a try', but I have not felt that relaxed in probably more than a year.

So here I go forward in this relaxing day to enjoy it with a house full of little girls! I hope yours is as filled with adventure as ours is sure to be.

Until next time ...

Heather

Fennel and Breast Feeding

So here is what I am trying today. I have a 5 month old baby girl who is exclusively breast fed. I have so enjoyed our nursing relationship together! It gives me such great feelings to watch her thriving! I have researched about using the Young Living Fennel essential oil to increase supply. I do not have a supply issue, but today my body seems to just be keeping up. So I decided it would be a great day to try it out! I have applied a drop directly to the breast. I am curious to see what happens.

I will post an update later today.

Until next time .....

Heather

Here we go!

I am so excited to get this blog started. I began using Young Living essential oils this past Fall. I started in hopes of using them to protect my family from illness. Little did I know how much I would learn about them and use them for so many more things! I plan to use this blog to document our experience with the oils. Maybe you can find some information helpful.

When I first started using oils, I had little to no expectations. Then I would use one for an issue we had and it would work. And I was so surprised! This happened over and over and now I am a firm believer!

Please don't take any information in this blog as medical advice. None of it has been "FDA approved" to cure, treat, or prevent disease. These are just our real experiences.

If you are ever interested in how to get started with the oils yourself, I would love to help you! Please email me (Heather) at stylezhair@yahoo.com. You can also find out more about me on my childbirth website, www.joyfulbirthedmond.com. I am also listed as an educator on www.bradleybirth.com.