I've been using EOs for almost 4 months now, I started just a few weeks after my son was born. To avoid being a book, I'll try to keep this post focused on why I started looking into EOs and why I went the direction I did.
I've always loved to make stuff but I'm creatively challenged...this makes being a teacher difficult, thankfully Pinterest exists. Two years ago I found a recipe to make your own bug spray and I bought my first bottle of Lavender EO for this. Friends loved this for their kiddos and I shared the recipe a gazillion times.
Well, one of my new neighbors was making homemade body scrub for friends and asked if I had any EOs she could borrow. I let her borrow my lavender and I noticed it didn't smell the same as it did when I'd first gotten it. I started to research this and learned alot...let me bullet point some interesting things I learned:
- the FDA doesn't regulate Essential Oils.
- an oil can say 100% pure on it as long as it has 5% essential oil in the bottle!! (this means it has pure oil and is diluted in the bottle but the company doesn't have to list what it's diluted with!)
- some EOs have "for external use only" type of warnings on the label
- as with other "organic" "natural" type of products, there is no regulation of these type of labels and the companies can basically put what they want on there. This is true for so many products on the market...do your research!
- many EOs have added fragrances to them (can contribute to allergic or site reactions..or in my case, headaches!)...oh, and they don't have to list this on the label
This week 3 of my son's life and he's going on his 2nd week of cradle cap. My daughter had cradle cap and we were able to use the little hospital comb and massage the baby shampoo and it was manageable. Well...not the case for this boy. I asked for help in a FB mom's group, asked friends and family and tried everything: hospital+shampoo (got the top layer off only), olive oil (just made it greasy), head and shoulders (nothing), baking soda paste (nope) and then I read about coconut oil. I asked my neighbor and she is in love with coconut oil and let me borrow some....BAM! Not only did the flakes come off but now my newborn smelled like a pina colada...bonus! Unfortunately, it came back but the coconut oil helped get it off.
I talked to a friend of mine who'd been using EOs and has 3 kids and she encouraged me to research and she'd answer what questions I had....and the obsession began. I looked up the bottle I was used to purchasing, the MLM brands I'd heard of and found several bloggers did comparisons. I read and read for a week and a half (this replaced my reality TV obsession and it's what I did during feedings and while both kids napped). I ended up going with a company called Young Living.
Before I dive into this, let me first say I am NOT marketing against any other company...I'm sure they all have their great parts, I'm just listing the reasons why I chose the company Young Living.
- I'd seen friends have success with it (as elementary as that sounds, word of mouth is very important to me...what my friends recommend impact my purchases of baby gear, recipes I cook, vacation spots I travel to, doctors I choose, restaurants I try, places we go, gifts I give, etc)
- You can visit their farms. They have a "seed to seal" guarantee which means they pick the seeds, plant the seeds, grow them, harvest them, distill them, bottle them and you are welcome to visit and see any part or all of this process. Open door policies are cool.
- They've been in business for more than 10 years (I don't doubt the validity of new companies but I like to give a company enough time to see if people get mad at them and see how it's all handled...drama queen in me? maybe)
- I don't have to leave my house to get it (this goes along with my obsession with Amazon Mom/Prime and how I can shop in my pjs)
- I read about success with cancer and Frankincense (had no clue what that was other than it was brought to sweet baby Jesus). I basically googled Frankincense and cancer and found a dr with the University of Oklahoma (gasp) doing research and having success fighting cancer with this and it specifically lists the YL Frankincense. Cancer sucks...it's in my family...anything showing progress with this scores MAJOR points for me.
- It is a MLM (multi level marketing) which initially made me want to walk away. (Side note: I've been a "rep" for a beauty product MLM and I loved their makeup/skin care, etc BUT you had to buy several hundred dollars worth of products every quarter in order to maintain your "rep" status. And it was always the new season stuff...seriously...what am I going to do with eyeshadow set that is bright green and royal blue? Maybe if I'd been able to pick how I was going to spend my $...maybe..anyway I never made any $, I did get a discount on what I wanted but I ended up spending a FORTUNE and had a TON of products I didn't know what to do with...finally ended up throwing them away...sad face). Anyhow, when I found this out I asked a LOT of questions to the gal I knew and here's why it's ok. 1) you don't sell anything. 2) you get 24% off. 3) the only requirement to keep your discount is spending $50/year. 4) you don't HAVE to buy anything specific (no preset packages like my previous MLM)..you spend that $50 on what you want, when you want it. 5) you don't do the "parties" candle, makeup, bag, food, jewelry etc..(i.e. you don't have to monopolize your friends/facebook/coworkers etc and be "that girl"). There IS a business side to it and plenty of people make money with (basically you get a check if you refer a friend...so if you do have someone who drinks the punch like you did, you want them to list you as your referral).
- the drama that I mentioned in a previous bullet, I found a lot of negativity being spewed toward people in the company. Saw another company and strong competitor was formed from previous employees and has almost identical names for their products (a lawsuit was involved). People were questioning the religious beliefs of the founders. I found all of this interesting and it didn't bother me because as a mom, what I was looking for were lawsuits against the company for false claims, damages, injuries, etc. Didn't find that. It did make me feel better to know that it is a company with Christian founders/leaders but that had nothing to do with my decision. Because lets be honest, I have no idea who founded the products I buy for my kids or what their religious affiliation is (Chicco, Homedics, Pampers, Huggies, Enfamil, Carter's, Fisher Price, Baby Jogger, etc). This did, however, entertain me for awhile and made me realize that people attack each other's character when they can't attack "what they're selling."
- my pediatrician. My pedi is the type who will always give me the "home remedy" or "wives tale" to try and also write me a prescription for when those don't work (his words), haha. I asked him about how he feels about EOs. He told me he gets approached by parents all the time trying to "enlighten him" on their favorite stuff and he always looks into it. He asked, "are they the ones with the nutrition labels on them?" I didn't know the answer. He told me, I've talked to a lot of holistic doctors and read a lot and if you're going to pick someone, stay away from the ones that say "for external use only" BECAUSE children's skin is so soft, they absorb things easily. Even if you're only applying it externally, it will absorb internally. With other baby products, they are regulated but since these aren't that's what I would look for. Also, if it has a nutrition label or says "supplement" usually both, it's met the requirements for food (ingesting) but that is for adults NOT the kids. His stance on the use of EOs is that he thinks they are great for mood, temperament, staying healthy, sleep, emotional needs, etc. However, when someone is sick....and not just has some annoying symptoms, he chooses modern medicine. I agreed. I left with a promise not to put oils IN my kids but ON my kids and he said always diffuse or apply feet first and then maybe wrists, tummies, etc but to use a tiny amount of oil and a large amount of judgement and common sense.
As I'm writing this 4 months in I already have a lot of success stories and "maybe it was the oils, maybe it was luck" and I'll post them separately.
Oh, and my MIL called me a hippie and told me I better not stop shaving my legs...
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