yleo Archives - Authentic Simplicity

5 Reasons Why I Use Essential Oils

February 13, 2014 By Anne Simpson

When I first signed up as a distributor with Young Living Essential Oils, I wrote a lengthy post about that decision. (You can read that post here, and you can sign up as a distributor yourself here, because once you’re done reading this post, you’ll probably want to. *wink*) I detailed then the mental and physical journey that led me to essential oils, but I didn’t specifically address the reasons why I chose essential oils as the primary healing modality, if you will, in my home.

Now that I have over a year invested in learning about and using the oils, I figured it was past time to put into words the reasons why I chose to go with essential oils. Naturally, I believe these reasons are good reasons for you also to choose essential oils, but please keep in mind this is only a post about my experience and it is not to be construed as medical advice because I am not a doctor. If you have any concerns or questions, please do speak with your medical practitioner before experimenting with the oils.

1. Essential Oils are Safe

Did you realize you have probably been ingesting essential oils and rubbing them onto your body already without even knowing it? That’s because many of them (here’s an itemized list) are categorized as “GRAS” (Generally Recognized as Safe) by the FDA and approved as such to be used as food additives. Companies add GRAS essential oils to food and toiletry items for flavor and fragrance purposes all the time.

And if you don’t trust the FDA (Ahem. I don’t blame you.), here’s an interesting analysis by Dr. Robert Tisserand, an expert on essential oils, about the safety and various concerns regarding the use of oils. I encourage you to read through for yourself, but my conclusion after reading it myself was that he was hard pressed to find any hard evidence of any sort of serious negative side effects or reactions from the usage of oils. A quote from this article: “As used in aromatherapy today, essential oils have not caused a single death.” The same cannot be said for modern chemical medicine!

Certainly, we need to respect the power of essential oils and use them wisely and with a heavy dose of common sense. First of all, we need to make sure the oils we use are of the highest quality to avoid the adulteration and chemical exposure referred to in the above referenced article by Tisserand. Secondly, it is a good idea to dilute essential oils for both topical and internal use. And it goes without saying that caution should be exercised when using oils on children (although I have read that studies done on children reveal no negative effects when they are used properly). With all that in mind, I think one can say that aromatherapy is just as safe as any other readily available therapy, if not safer.

2. Essential Oils are Effective

I have experienced the effectiveness of essential oils personally and in my own family, and I have heard the testimonies of many others’ positive experiences. Browse through Oil Testimonials and see how many people have benefited from the life-blood of a plant that is called its “essential oil”.

3. Essential Oils Very Rarely Have Side Effects

The most common side effect of an oil is that it can cause a minor reaction in sensitive skin, like a tingling, stinging sensation or even a slight rash. The best way to avoid this reaction is to dilute the oil with a carrier oil.

Some people respond strongly to some oils think they are having an allergic reaction. However, it is more likely that any reaction to an oil is actually part of the detox process, which can be a good thing. (Even so, it’s a good idea to stop using any oil when you experience detox symptoms and allow your body time to recover before using it again.) There’s some debate about whether or not oils can be allergenic at all, but here’s a good rule of thumb: if reactions strengthen with each use of the oil, it’s probably an allergic reaction. If the reactions reduce in intensity, it’s probably detox.

One thing worth mentioning here, although it’s not the purpose of this post, is that some medical conditions do not tolerate certain oils. Epilepsy comes to mind, since I recently had a friend with this concern. If you have a chronic medical illness or condition, do your research and make sure the oils you want to use will not aggravate your condition.

4. Essential Oils Have a Long History

The aforementioned Dr. Robert Tisserand gives a brief history of essential oil usage here, but suffice it to say that ancient cultures (Rome, Egyptian) regularly used essential oils medicinally. And, of course, the Bible is filled with mentions of oils (distilled and infused) used for many purposes, including physical and emotional health.

I don’t know about you, but I have a lot more trust in something that has stood the test of time! Modern medicine miracles exist and are not to be discounted, but give me a time-tested remedy any day over!

5. Essential Oils are Easy to Use

You know how I like things to be simple! I find aromatherapy to be the most accessible of all modern alternative remedies: Chiropractic care is expensive and time-consuming (although very beneficial!); acupuncture is also expensive and exclusive in that it’s not really something you can do at home; homeopathy is just downright confusing; and I confess that I find herbal medicine to be much the same.

Essential oils are easy to use at home - simply diffusing them into the air is an effective way to use them, as is rubbing the diluted oil into the skin. Although there is much to learn about the science of aromatherapy, at its very basic level, it can be used at home by even the most inexperienced person. (Provided, of course, that inexperienced person is willing to learn the basics of safety and usage!)

They are also neither expensive nor exclusive like the other therapies I mentioned. The average wholesale price of a bottle of essential oil from Young Living is around $20 and contains several hundred drops. (Ask me how you can get the wholesale price for yourself!) When you consider that you use only one or two drops at a time, that price is actually minimal in comparison to most other alternative meds out there. (Hey, it’s even cheaper than most run of the mill OTC meds!)

Leave a Comment Filed Under: At Home, Health Tagged With: essential oils, yleo

Why I Use Young Living Essential Oils

February 9, 2014 By Anne Simpson

If you are interested in using essential oils as an alternative to chemical-based medications, then you’ve probably come across at least a few different brands, all of them claiming to be the best for one reason or another. The information out there is often conflicting, always biased, and extremely difficult to sort through.

I can’t tell you definitively which brand of essential oils (EO’s) is the best, but I can tell you why I chose to use Young Living oils almost exclusively. I’m not writing this post to bash any other essential oil companies out there - I have no reason to do that - but simply to explain what benefits led me to choose YL over other brands in the event that my decision-making process is helpful to someone else out there researching the available options.

Why I Use Young Living Essential Oils

History - Young Living has over 20 years built into the industry, giving them plenty of time to learn about and invest into the oils they sell, as well as plenty of time to develop a reputation. Many of the brands out there have popped up seemingly overnight (certainly that is not true of all of them, and surely there are companies even older than YL, but I am not speaking of those on this point), and are relative unknowns as far as I am concerned. It is awfully easy for those start-ups to be here today and gone tomorrow. Young Living is not a start-up or an unknown entity, and that’s enough to edge it out over others that were recommended to me.
Reputation - Twenty years has given Young Living plenty of time to develop a reputation, and aside from those who are skeptical of any alternative medicine, that reputation is a very good one. The vast majority of people who have used Young Living oils have been very pleased with them and found them to be of high quality. I can count on one hand the number of negative reviews I’ve read in terms of the performance of Young Living’s oils.
Quality - The quality of the oils is what is behind their strong reputation. Much has been made online of Gas Chromatography /Mass Spectrometry testing, but in reality that test only tells the beginning of the story when it comes to essential oils. Young Living performs a total of 7 tests on every batch of oil that passes through their facilities and onto their customers, and if the oils don’t pass the tests, they don’t sell them. Even so, that’s not enough to establish the quality of the oils, because once again, each of those tests tells only part of the story. The chemical makeup of an essential oils depends on so many factors, all of which are highly variable, so YL makes sure that optimum conditions exists in all those factors. Starting with the seed of the plant, and continuing with its cultivation and harvest, YL monitors every step of the way to ensure that the highest quality oil is the end result. If you don’t believe me, read this summary from a chemist that explains in detail all the efforts YL takes to ensure a quality product.
Training and Support - If I ordered a random oil from a random company online, chances are I’m left to sink or swim when it comes to using that oil. Sure, a quick google search will tell me the basics about any particular oil. Or I could read tomes and tomes of textbooks about oils, their chemistry, their usage, etc, and I probably will (I’ve already read a few!). But what has helped me more than anything has been the support of my sponsor and the rest of the folks on her team. Any time I have a question, I know where to go, and someone on the team always has an answer for me! Young Living’s company structure was intended to create that network of support so that no one is left in the dark on how to use their oils. As my own team grows, my desire is to create that same environment of training and support that has been so beneficial to me.
Thieves’ Oil! - This proprietary blend is produced only by Young Living, and although others have similar products, this is the one I kept hearing about over and over and over again. I haven’t been disappointed with this powerful oil, and I always make sure to have some on hand. I clean and disinfect with it, and I use it whenever someone in my family gets sick! I have seen it first hand cut colds and the like short when they’ve already started, and I’ve also seen it prevent various sicknesses from passing through the family from one person to the next. Good stuff, I tell you.

Reasons Why YOU Might Like Young Living Oils

Some more for you to consider as you make your decision:

Young Living has grown 75% in the past year! That’s some pretty incredibly amazing word-of-mouth sales going on there!
Young Living’s wholesale price (available to distributors) is comparable to a lot of the companies I’ve seen online, plus you have the option to enroll in their Essential Rewards autoship program, which allows you to earn bonus points you can use towards free oils! I’ve received 4 or 5 free bottles of oil in the past 6-8 months. When other companies imply that they are cheaper than YL, that’s probably because they’re comparing against the full retail price.
Young Living makes it easy for you to get the wholesale price - all you have to do is purchase a starter kit (from $40-150) and then make another $50 purchase within the year. No other commitment, but all the benefits of having a wholesale account.
Of the major brands, Young Living is the only one I know of that owns and operates their own farms and produces their own oils. Not all of their oils are produced in this way, but quite a few of them are. Some of those farms are based in the US, and some of those farms are based in other countries where the plants are indigenous to that area.

If you think you’d like to give Young Living oils a try, I’d be happy to have you join my team! Visit my Young Living website for more information.

Please note that I am not a doctor and I am not dispensing medical advice. I’m simply sharing what I use for my own family.

3 Comments Filed Under: At Home, Health, In The Budget, Spend Wisely Tagged With: essential oils, yleo

5 Ways to Remove Labels

September 30, 2013 By Anne Simpson

This post contains affiliate links and other assorted money-making madness.

You know how I love to keep my pantry (which I actually don’t really have right now…) organized with glass jars, right? I waxed eloquent about it in this post: How I Organized My Pantry for Free with Empty Glass Jars. If you open up my fridge or any of my cupboards, you’ll see dozens of glass jars hard at work containing all our food.

But those pesky labels can really drive me crazy! Some come off quite easily… others not so much. I’ve had more than my fair share of label scrubbing, and I’ve learned a few tried-and-true methods for removing them with minimal fuss.

1. Soak in Warm Water

This should be the first step in any case. Sometimes (Ok, most of the time), I skip the “soak” part and just hold the jar under running water. Sometimes (Ok, quite frequently), I run the jar - with the label- through the dishwasher. In any case, the whole point is that I get the label on the jar thoroughly wet with warm or hot water, and that is the first step in the label-removal process. If you’re lucky, this will be all you have to do! Some labels just slip right off after a good washing. Usually, you won’t be that lucky, though, so on to the next step.

2. Scrape the Label

Sometimes the label just needs a little help coming off the jar, in which case you’ll want to employ some kind of scraping tool. I’ve used all sorts of things: plastic knives, fake credit cards (the kind they send you in the mail hoping to lure you to sign up), and who knows what else. But my favorite tool is a sturdy pan scraper like these I found on Amazon. They are the ultimate label scrubber-offer, so everybody should have one. (Cuz I said so.)

At the very least, the scraper will help you get rid of the paper label itself, so that all you will have left is sticky gunk. Sticky gunk is no good, so hang on to that scraper (cuz you’re gonna need it) and try one (or more!) of the following options:

3. Use Coconut Oil & Baking Soda

Combine equal parts coconut oil and baking soda (say, 1 TBSP of each) in a small container until you have a paste. Smear the paste all over the sticky residue and let it sit for 15-20 minutes or so. Scrub it off, and hopefully the label and sticky residue will come off, too. If not, repeat the process until it does. And don’t forget to use the scraper!

4. Use Peanut Butter

Smear it all over the sticky stuff and let it sit for a while. Scrub it off and repeat if necessary. You can use the scraper again to help get off some of the more stubborn sticky yuckiness.

You can also use any other heavy fat (like shortening, or other nut butters) with similar success.

5. Use Lemon Essential Oil

Nowadays I usually skip options #3 and #4 and go straight for the big guns. Lemon Essential Oil* is the bomb-diggety when it comes to removing that sticky gunk left behind by all those labels. All you have to do is drip one little drop right onto the jar. Rub the drop into all the sticky gunk, then scrub it off under hot running water. Magic! You might have to repeat this process once or twice with really stubborn stickiness, but it is far more effective than either of the other 2 options. Oh, and don’t forget the scraper! It can come in handy here, too.

*Lemon Essential oil comes in a 15ml bottle for less than $15 (just over $11 if you are a distributor), and that bottle can have as many as 400 drops in it. You can use Lemon Essential Oil all over the house in all kinds of cleaning applications, so you definitely get your money’s worth out of it.