Healthy Living With Essential Oils

This post contains affiliate links. You can see full my disclosure here. 

This past week I posted some of my new roller balls on instagram and got a few questions about where I got the rollers and what types of oils I use. So today is the day I share with y’all the nitty gritty of my journey with essential oils.

For the longest time I have always tried to find a holistic approach to whatever problem I’m having first before turning to western medicine. Whether I’m having a really bad headache or menstrual cramps; If I’m exhausted but can’t sleep or feeling incredibly overwhelmed and stressed – I try to look for stretches, foods to eat, pressure points, and essential oils to help. A few years back one of my good friends was telling me about how she used essential oils to help combat her anxiety and I was intrigued. Thinking back to all of the early medicines our ancestors used to use, and even that peppermint water you would drink in the nurses office when you had a tummy ache – it got me thinking; could these little liquid drops really do anything?

I must tell you, I was incredibly skeptical.
I didn’t start with doing a lot of the research myself (because I didn’t know what to research) but instead trusted good friends who I knew did their research. (ha!) I started off with the ‘essential’ oils everyone says that you should start with: peppermint, lavender, and lemon. Peppermint helps with stomach aches, sore joints, muscle pain, antibacterial, fever, focus, nausea, vertigo, headaches, etc. Lavender is great for acne, depression, stress, migraines, insect bites, burns, muddler pain, etc. Lemon is excellent for it’s antibacterial properties, canker sores, closed, sore throats, mental alertness, headaches, fevers, etc. You can see why they are great choices to start with oils if you’re looking but not ready to make a financial investment. I bought a diffuser because I wasn’t sure about topical treatments (applying oil to your body) and spent a few weeks just using the diffuser. I honestly slept better, felt more alert, and wasn’t as “down” as I had been. When it came to that time of the month I got desperate and started to rub the peppermint on my abdomen and y’all, it was a game changer. It helped SO MUCH with my cramps I was able to rely less on medication and more on essential oils, heating pads, and staying hydrated.

I then branched out into using essential oils for sickness prevention and treatment.
When everyone around me was getting colds, the flu, and feeling overall sluggish – I found that I was fairing better. Did I still get sick? Yes sometimes I did, but it never lasted long or as severe as it used to. I started learning more about what oils to apply and where to apply them…it became really fun for me honestly.

So here I am today – still on my oil journey and constantly looking at my resources for “what oil does this” or “what can this oil do” so that I really am learning and getting the most out of the items I buy. I’m researching different (and new!) brands of oils to try out and blends to use and it’s all really interesting for me.

My Essential Oil Necessities:

+ Essential Oils Natural Remedies – This book is the best one I’ve found so far. I found it to be the best because not only does it give you an introduction to essential oils, how to apply and store them, where to buy them, etc; it also gives you natural remedies for common ailments (acne, bloating, headache, nausea, etc) but it also has a directory of essential oils (not all of them, but a lot of the most used) and it gives a brief description of the oil, application methods, what it blends with, precautions, and medicinal uses.

+ Diffuser – We currently have 3 (yes!) in our house; these guys are troopers and I use them for hours on end each and every day and I have yet to have any issues with them. I don’t really use the light feature but they would be great to use at night for a nightlight.

+ Wooden Oil Organizer – This isn’t the exact one that I have (I can’t find it!) but I LOVE having a wooden box for most of my oils! My box doesn’t fit the oils larger than 15ml but I just keep those in a separate area.

+ Travel Bag – This bag has been a lifesaver! Every time I go on a trip I take my pre-made (or bought) roller balls or small bottles of pure essential oils. I don’t have to worry about them getting lost or busted. Sometimes I shove some tissue paper in there to give a little extra cushion, but I haven’t had any problems! ((I just found this one and may be ordering it too! I like that its as a hard shell on the outside))

+ Amber Roller Balls with Gold Lids – These are the ones from the picture up top; I love these because they are functional roller balls but also so dang gorgeous.

+ Bottle Openers – These are great for when you want to re-fill your roller bottles!

+ Bottle Decals – I recently got these from Jenny Highsmith and I legit love them! You can also create custom labels!

Some of the Essential Oil Companies I Use:

+ Edens Garden – I love this company and their prices. Not only are they quality (you can read more about their oils here) but they give 10% of their profits back to faith-based ministries; which makes my heart so happy! Edens Garden is great for diffusing and I also use them topically.

+ Rocky Mountain Oils – This oil company is truly one of the best ones for medicinal purposes. I LOVE their defend capsules, feminine aid, and true blue.

+ Plant Therapy – This 6 oil starter pack is a great one! Eddied ordered it off of amazon when we were engaged so I could have oils when I visited.

+ Now Essential Oils – These are easily purchased at most health food stores. Sometimes if I forgot an oil or forgot my rollers while on vacation I run into a store and grab one of these. They also have pre-blended oils and my current favorite is “mental focus” – I diffuse it a lot while working.

+ Saje – I stumbled across this Canadian brand on instagram and have been so impressed with their quality. Their marketing is just phenomenal – their website is SO HELPFUL – and they are actually in a lot pocket pharmacy of stores as well las having their own stores (I would love to visit one) I purchased their and have used it almost every single day; the peppermint halo is a game changer.

I personally do not own any Young Living or Doterra oils (I do own these Doterra On Guard Capsules that I take if I’m feeling especially sickly and I got them off of amazon). I think they are amazing oils, some of the highest quality, but they are also highly priced and I’m a cheapskate so I often try to find just as amazing oils (if not higher quality) and go with that. I will 100% admit that I will probably be buying Young Living’s Thieves laundry soap as well as their hand soap because I used it at a friends house and loved it! I could make my own (and probably will), but man, their branding gets me every time.

Some of my favorite blends to diffuse / put in rollers:

+ FALL: Orange, Patchouli, Clove

+ SLEEP: Lavender, Frankincense, Ylang Ylang,

+ FOCUS: Lime, Eucalyptus, Grapefruit, Lemon, Orange

+ IMMUNITY (Thieves Oil): 10 drops Clove, 9 drops Lemon, 5 drops Cinnamon Bark, 4 drops Eucalyptus, 3 drops Rosemary

+ STRESS: Cedarwood, Patchouli, Cinnamon, Bergamot

+ I also diffuse A LOT of Lemon + Eucalyptus; it smells so fresh.

Favorite Oils / Blends / Rollers:

+ Spearmint

+ Solace (roller)

+ Digest Ease

+ Peppermint Halo (roller)

+ Fighting Five (roller)

+ Love

If you’re applying topically you definitely need to look into essential oil to carrier oil ratios.
Some oils ‘burn’ so you must dilute them before putting them on your skin unless you want to feel like your skin is on fire hah (I learned this the hard way with Oregano). Also there are differing opinions on ingesting oils and if it’s safe for you to do and the ratios in which you ingest. Personally I have only ingested peppermint when I was REALLY sick (put a drop or two in a huge glass of water), and the doterra capsules I mentioned above. I’m still cautious of ingesting the oils, even though yes, your body obviously absorbs oils as you apply it topically and breath it in.

Whew, that was a lot of information thrown y’alls way.
If you’re an essential oil user I would love to hear more about your journey with them and what blends/companies/etc you use.
If you’re not an EO user have you ever been curious?
OOOOOO tell me all the things please!