Luxurious Coconut Oil For Extra Dry Skin

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Essential oils often need to be diluted, and one of the most popular choices is coconut oil.  I happened to see some in a jar at the grocery store (next to the other cooking oils) and grabbed it.  (I also saw a giant tub today at Costco.  Maybe next time...)  What is funny is that the coconut oil that I bought is a solid at room temperature, but melts at 75ish degrees (that is super scientific of me).  So pretty much you grab a tiny chunk out and it turns to oil in your hands.  For some reason I think this is funny.  Anyway.  I have been using it for diluting oils to use on my guinea pig children, and as a result have a glob of it in a bowl sitting on my bathroom counter.  I decided that my poor, dry, cracked, awful winter heels could really use some.  Ready for a recipe?

Luxurious Coconut Oil
1 tsp coconut oil
1 drop lavender

This amount will last you for a long time, as I have been using mine for about a week and still have a ton.  (And I have been using it on my kids feet as a nightly foot massage which they have been loving.)  This stuff is made of miracles.  My poor painful hideous feet are getting softer and healing!  I put it on at night, then throw on some socks, and surely enough that magical coconut oil (and lavender which makes it smell nice) is curing them.  I think if I would be more diligent and put it on in the morning too I would get even better results.  So, if you have dry anything, I highly recommend this.

P.S. This doubles as a calming solution which is safe to use on kids.  As I mentioned, I massage this on their feet at night.  Also the lavender is good for putting on cuts to help with healing.  I have been putting it on a wound on my daughter's chin, but I have no idea if it is helping.  (It's not like I'm going to put it on half the cut but not the other half...) But she likes it.

Tasty Water

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The main reason I love essential oils is they smell wonderful, and of the few of them I have tried, they taste great too.  I already love water, and drink a ton, but this is a great and easy way to give water some variety.

Tasty Water
24 oz cold water
1 drop of oil
And ice so you feel like you are fancy.
(If you feel like it is too strong you can obviously add a bit more water.)

Suuuuper easy.  So far I have tried and loved: grapefruit, peppermint, and orange.  I have also tried it lemon and although I liked it I didn't love it.

It is also important for me to point out that you should only be ingesting oils that are labeled for consumption.  Several companies make oils that are pure (not diluted with other oils, chemicals, etc.) so make sure that you only are using something that you are as certain as possible is ok for you!

I suppose there are probably some health benefits to drinking water like this, but mostly I just like it for the taste.  Here are a few:

Potential benefits:
Grapefruit: appetite suppressant, mental stress, withdrawals
Peppermint: alertness/energy, cools body, really good for all sorts of digestive problems
Orange: anxiety/fear, elevates mood, digestive problems
Lemon: elevates mood, good for colds & sore throats

P.S. I am not a doctor, so just pretend this is your friend telling you about something they've learned.  Use good judgement!!

Homemade Laundry Soap

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After reading 20 almost identical recipes on the internet, I just picked the one that seemed most common.

Homemade Laundry Detergent 
1 bar grated laundry soap (I used Fels-Naptha but I am pretty sure you could use anything)
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Borax
20ish drops of essential oil of your choice (this time I used grapefruit)

I started by grating my bar of laundry soap on the smallest holes on my regular grater.  Next I added the other dry ingredients into a big jar with a lid.  I let my 4-year-old shake it for a while until it seemed pretty well mixed up.  Next I added the essential oil until I thought the smell was strong enough.  This will vary by which scent you are using and how much you want it to smell, hence 20ish.  Then it was back to shaking.  You could also add a few drops to the detergent right before it went in instead, but I can't be messing with bottles and carefully dropping drops in at laundry time, as I am normally juggling a baby in my arms at the same time.  When you are ready to do the laundry you just measure out a tablespoon (or a bit more if your clothes are really dirty) and you are good to go.  I bought a cheap coffee scoop at the grocery store which is 2 Tbs and works really well to have something to leave with the soap.  Also you will either need to use warm water in your wash to dissolve the soap or dissolve it before hand in a little bit of water and add it.  And apparently you should add all laundry soap to the bottom of the top-loading washer (hello, how long have I been an adult and not known this?) before putting your clothes in so it can dissolve better/have more time in the water.

I love this recipe.  I am a cheapskate and so I am always buying cheap laundry detergent, which often leaves me with super stinky stuff.  This way is even cheaper and smells amazing!!  It is also safe for HE/front loading washers.  Enjoy!

P.S. I bought the ingredients (except the oil) at the regular grocery store (Winco) by the other laundry soaps for much cheaper than the above links on Amazon.  I just included them here so you can see what they look like.  Or if you can't find them.

Getting Started

Several weeks ago my cousin's wife invited me to a class on cleaning your house with essential oils and homemade cleaners.  This was particularly well timed, as I had recently been handing my small children spray bottles filled with a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water, and had been wanting to make my own laundry soap for months.  I liked being able to give my kids something non-toxic to clean with (otherwise they would surely be spraying each other in the face with windex, etc.) but I am pretty sure no one loves the smell of vinegar.  At the class (party) she gave us some different ideas on how to clean and make it smell delicious.  Not only that, but apparently different essential oils are anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, etc. etc.  Who knew?  Not me, but I considered it a great bonus, as I was really just looking for something to make my laundry and cleaners smell better.

That day I only bought lavender, but I left the class with the idea of essential oils stuck in my head.  I started thinking about all the ways I could use them, and scoured the internet for more uses and more information.  I won't lie, I was becoming kind of obsessed.  Shortly thereafter I signed up to sell oils, admittedly only to get the sweet discount.  But now that I am finding a lot of awesome uses and resources I wanted to put something out there for others.

I am kind of a skeptic when it comes to magical potions and solutions, as are most people.  Yesterday I got a hold of a book about the properties of most of the essential oils, and their potential uses and benefits.  I pretty much devoured the entire thing, and came out feeling hopeful.  Now I don't pretend that I think essential oils will cure every last thing or even help every person, but I do think they have some great value.  This blog will be dedicated to things I have actually tried and seen work, recipes I have actually used and like, and maybe a few stories about how I use my family for guinea pigs.

Enjoy!