When it comes to essential oils, things can get very overwhelming, very quickly. I remember when I first started looking into adding essential oils to our green cleaning and health routines. Scrolling through pages of information on the internet, browsing hundreds of oils and blends and their uses, I had a bad case of analysis paralysis. It gave me flashbacks to my early days of looking into cloth diapering- pre folds and covers vs. pockets vs. all in ones, wool vs. PUL, bamboo inserts vs. microfiber.
It took quite some time and some trial and error to find the best cloth diapering method for our family. The same is true of essential oils. I started off with a set of 10 popular essential oils. I had already been doing some research, so I felt pretty comfortable with the set. And in the following months, I ordered many more oils. This was mostly due to my involvement in an auto ship program that had minimum requirements to earn points and commission, more so than a true need for more oils. While there is no inherent problem with that system, it didn’t align well with our goals of intentional purchasing of only items we really love, need, and use. All told, it was a good learning experience and helped me to truly see how we would use oils in our home and which oils we would use most frequently.
So after nearly a year of using oils, the most frequently used oils in our home are also some of the most versatile. When you consider that each essential oil has multiple uses, having even just a few oils in your collection to start can go a long way. The four oils we use most often in our home are lavender, lemon, peppermint, and melaleuca (tea tree). Here are just a few of the ways we use each of these oils in our home:
Lavender– (often called Swiss Army knife of oils) soothes minor cuts, scrapes, and burns, calming, add to spray bottle with water for a toxin-free room or linen freshening spray, combine with lemon and peppermint for seasonal allergy relief, soothe insect bites, promote restful sleep, aid with anxiety and depression
Lemon– (my favorite cleaner) amazing degreaser, add to toilet bowl with baking soda and melaleuca for natural toilet cleaner, add to spray bottle of water for natural counter spray, diffuse with peppermint to lift mood and purify air, add to dishwasher for sparkling dishes, ease a runny nose, clean scuff marks
Peppermint- (tummy tamer and more) ease upset tummy, diffuse to help with focus, calm a headache, help bring down a fever, ease nausea and car sickness, add with lemon, baking soda, and water to make a tub and sink cleaning paste
Melaleuca- (natural anti fungal, antibacterial) help cold sore heal quickly, athlete’s foot, head lice prevention, clean insect bites or scrapes, dandruff and dry scalp treatment, great acne fighter, all-purpose disinfectant (especially when combined with lemon), control diaper bag odor
Each of these oils has even more uses, but these are the ways we’ve used them in our home. I love that Spark Naturals offers these 4 powerhouse oils in the Essential 4 pack. The set is available in 5 ml or 15 ml size bottles and it’s perfect for new oil users or just an economical way to purchase some the most popular, most frequently used oils. In addition to the powerful oils, the kit comes in a dark plastic case, protecting your oils from moisture, air and light, which all negatively impact the life of essential oils. There is also a small usage card that tells you the English and Latin names for each oil, safe usage guidelines, and some common ways to use each oil. It’s like a mini reference guide. You can see the case and card in the picture below.
The Essential 4 Pack is the Oil of the Month for January. For this month, you can get these oils for just $15.99 (which includes the shipping and tax). It is a great deal to jumpstart your journey to fewer toxic chemicals in your home. The Oil of the Month Club is a great way to build your oil collection. Each month, you are sent a 15 ml size oil for $15.99 (January being the exception with the 4 pack, so you get 20 ml of oil!) You can find a list of the oils for each month here:
http://sparknaturals.com/index.php/oil-month-club/oil-of-the-month-club.html/?id=5142
In addition to the already competitive prices, you can use my coupon code SEARCH4SIMPLE at checkout to receive an additional 10% off your entire order, every time you order.
Remember that making changes to your health and home require research, time, and patience. Give yourself plenty of all three and make the decisions that are best for you and your family. Have a happy, healthy day!
-L
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