Tag: essential oils

Essential Oil Diffuser Blends for Fall and Winter

November 30, 2015 kimberlee 2 Comments

I wanted to share some new essential oil diffuser blends I have come to enjoy this fall. Most of the blends include Basil essential oil which has become a new favorite for me.

Basil essential oil is used in traditional Asian Indian medicine. The name basil comes from the word “basileum” which is the Greek name for king. Uses for basil according to my pocket reference book are: help with migraines, combat throat-lung infections and insect bites. The fragrance is also know to fight mental fatigue – promoting energy, alertness and good decision making.

Two of my favorite combinations of the above list are:

Basil, Peppermint and Lime
Basil and Peppermint

Both of these combinations smell good and seem to give me energy to get things done, which I can always use.

Basil, Cinnamon Bark and Lime is another pleasant combination.

So far I have only tried Basil essential oil and these combinations in the diffuser. It seems that Basil oil when applied topically with a carrier oil, like jojoba oil, would be good for colds or congestion. According to some information in my Aromathreapy 101 book Basil is a good oil to aid with respiratory illnesses and muscle spasms in the chest area, especially when used with Eucalyptus oil.

I use Young Living essential oils. Please contact me using the form below if you would like more information about Young Living and how to use their essential oils.

What are some of your favorite essential oil combinations in the diffuser? Leave me a comment and let me know.

-Kimberlee

Categories: Essential Oils Young Living

Essential Oil Blends for Perfume

October 16, 2015 kimberlee 5 Comments

There are many ways to use essential oils. One of the ways I have found to use them daily is wearing them as a perfume. Not all oils are good for this but I have discovered a few of the different essential oil blends from Young Living that smell nice when worn as a fragrance.

Three of the blends I have discovered that work well as a perfume are:

Awaken
Lady Sclareol
White Angelica

Awaken is actually a combination of five different Young Living Blends in fractionated coconut oil. The blends are: Joy, Forgiveness, Present Time, Dream Catcher and Harmony. According to the Essential Oils Pocket Reference Book this blend enhances inner self-awareness, stimulates right brain creativity, amplifying functions of the pineal and pituitary glands to balance the energy centers of the body. I think this blend has a pleasant smell and have applied it on my wrists and behind my ears and over my heart area in the morning before doing some yoga.

Lady Sclareol is a blend of 11 different single oils to create a lovely fragrance that I have been using a lot as a daily perfume over the past several months. This blend is suppose to enhance feminine nature by improving your mood and raising estrogen levels for women – it may also provide PMS relief according to the Pocket Reference Book.

White Angelica is a blend of 12 different single oils in fractionated coconut oil. This blend is suppose to bring a renewed sense of strength and protection to the body, create a feeling of wholeness in one’s own spirituality and neutralizes negative energy as stated in the Essential Oils Pocket Reference Book. I have also been wearing this one a lot as it has such a pleasant and calming smell.

To wear any of these three essential oils as a fragrance you can apply them as you would any perfume, as each of them are safe to apply without dilution, to the wrists, neck, behind ears, on the forehead, on the shoulders or over the heart area. You could also use a small glass spray bottle and dilute about 15 to 25 drops in one or two ounces of filtered water to create a body spray – I have done this with some single oils to create my own blend and this works well.

If you are interested in learning more about essential oils or about Young Living specifically please contact me using the form below and I will get back to you.

If you are interested in signing up to be a Young Living member please click on the highlighted Young Living to take you to the sign up link. If you join Young Living with this link I will send you a free gift for signing up once you have ordered you starter kit.

How do you use essential oils and what are some of your favorite Young Living blends? Please let me know by leaving a reply.

– Kimberlee

Categories: Essential Oils

Tags: awaken essential oil, essential oils, essential oils as perfume, lady sclareol essential oil, white angelica essential oil, Young Living essential oil info

DIY Bug Repel Spray

September 7, 2015 kimberlee 1 Comment

One of the things I love about summer and early fall weather is being able to sit outside on my front porch after my morning workout. I love to sit out there with a cup of coffee and read or do a little crochet or knitting. One of the things I don’t like are the mosquitoes that also like to sit out there with me.

Since I have been using Young Living essential oils for the past nine months I have gotten quite a collection and decided to make my own DIY bug repel spray this year. I tried it once before in the past with some other oils that were not Young Living and I didn’t think it worked all that well. Well, this blend I came up with seems to work pretty good. I have used it daily for the past few months and do not get mosquito bites. The mosquitoes do still come around me but they do not seem to bite me. The other bonus with this blend is that it does not smell terrible like some of the other products you buy. It is also free of harmful chemicals.

The blend is a combination of citronella essential oil, rosemary essential oil and peppermint essential oil with a tiny amount of optional witch hazel. It is super easy to make up. I keep mine in a 2 ounce glass spray bottle. I think I ordered the bottles from Amazon but you can also find them at Whole Foods or Sprouts.

The main essential oil in this blend is the citronella oil which is known for keeping bugs away – especially mosquitoes. I added in the other two oils to make the smell a little more pleasant and they were also listed in my Pocket Reference book as recommended for an insect repellent. The citronella oil is pretty strong on its own but if you only have that one then you could probably try the blend with just it and leave the other two out. I also read in my Essential Oils Pocket Reference book that blending the citronella oil with cedarwood enhances the insect repelling properties. I have not tried that blend yet. Two of the top oils to blend with citronella as listed in the book were palo santo, and idaho tansy but I do not have those oils.

Citronella essential oil has powerful antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal medical properties as listed in the Pocket Reference book. That in addition to being an insect repellent. Other uses as listed in the book include:

respiratory infections
muscle-nerve pain
digestive problems
anxiety
skin problems (acne, oily skin, eczema)
skin penetration enhancer

In addition to using my DIY bug repel spray I have also been taking a gauze pad or cotton ball and placing 2 or 3 drops of the citronella oil on it and sitting it next to me when I am outside. I have a friend that lives in Michigan that told me about using essential oils last summer to make a DIY bug spray and she said it also worked well to spray it around the perimeter of the area you are sitting in. I am not sure what her blend was but I remember her telling me about spraying it around her deck so she could sit outside in the evening to read.

If you would like more information on Young Living essential oils please email me at kkg@kimberleeskorner.com. You can also click on the highlighted Young Living to take you to a sign up page.

*Please note that this blend is my own creation and opinion, it may or may not work for everyone.

Categories: Essential Oils

Tags: citronella essential oil, diy bug repel spray, essential oils, young living

Essential Oil Books Part 2

March 7, 2015 kimberlee 1 Comment

Essential oil books are great to refer to once you start using essential oils. I mentioned this in part 1 of my post on essential oil books and today in part 2 of the series I am going to share a couple of other books I use regularly when working with essential oils.

In addition to the books I wrote about in part 1, I have also been reading and referring to The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood and Aromatherapy Through the Seasons by Judith Fitzsimmons and Paula M. Bousquet. I bought both of these books over 10 years ago when I began learning about essential oils.

The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy is one of the reference books that is very nice to own if you are focused on learning more about essential oils and how to use them. This book is full of great information on using essential oils for your body, your home, your pets and cooking with essential oils. To cook with essential oils you need to use therapeutic grade, high quality, oils safe for ingestion such as Young Living oils which are the kind that I use.

Recently I have used the Complete Book of Essential Oils to make up some blends for stress. There are two pages in this book devoted to various blends and what type of stress they are best used for and for the level of stress. One of the blends is for general stress that I have use in my diffuser as well as topically mixed with a carrier oil.

General Stress Blend:

Grapefruit – 15 drops
Rosemary – 11 drops
Palmarosa – 5 drops

To use the above blend mix in a small recycled 5ml glass bottle or buy a glass bottle with a dropper. Use 7 or 8 drops in a diffuser with water or add a few drops to a teaspoon of almond or jojoba oil for topical use.

Another stress blend from the book I have tried and like to use on my neck and feet at bedtime is one for Low Immunity. I figure it will help me sleep better, strengthen my immune system and lower my stress level while I sleep due to the properties of some of the oils in this blend.

Low Immunity Stress Blend:

Vetiver – 10 drops
Lavender – 10 drops
Geranium – 10 drops

Combine all the drops in a 15ml empty bottle and top it off with almond oil or your favorite carrier oil. I did not put the reducer back on the bottle – to use just shake it gently and pour a small amount in the palm of your hand and rub it on your neck, thyroid area and then the bottoms of your feet at bedtime.

The other book I have been using lately is the Aromatherapy Through the Seasons as I mentioned above. I love how this book is written. Each chapter is a month from January to December and there is an oil recommended for that month. For example, March is cedarwood and there are lots of great recipes using cedarwood oil – along with other basic oils like lemon, lavender, rosemary and melaleuca a. (tea tree). The beginning of each chapter-month explains the oil and its uses. For cedarwood there are recipes for hair care and skin care. I also like how many of the pages have inspiring quotes. There are lots of recipes in this book for body care and for your health – like a cold blend, a flu blend and allergy blend.

In my opinion if you are looking to expand your knowledge and have some guidance with your essential oils both of these books would be great to add to your library. Next month I will be reviewing some essential oil books on body and skin care for part 3 of this series.

Have a good weekend!

– Kimberlee

Categories: Books Essential Oils Young Living

Tags: aromatherapy books, essential oil books, essential oils, reading

Essential Oils from Young Living

January 9, 2015 kimberlee

Essential oils seem to be everywhere lately. I first learned about essential oils over ten years ago. I was learning how to make my own cleaning products and found that essential oils are used in many of the cleaning recipes in some books I purchased back in early 2000. I still have and use the books and they are still available today.

Essentail Oils Books for cleaning recipes — Books for natural cleaning recipes

Recently I have learned about Young Living essential oils. I kept finding information about them on pinterest and I also read about them in my fitness group on facebook from someone who was using Thieves oil for illness with her kids. Then, I remembered that a friend of mine was selling them so I contacted her to learn more and how to get them.

After talking to my friend I learned that Young Living is a company that only sells the oils to “members”. You can buy at a “retail” level but you pay more money. To get a better price you have to join and be considered a “distributor” to get the wholesale price. Also, when you join at the distributor level you are required to buy a kit for your first purchase.

Well, after learning those facts I was kind of apprehensive about “joining” their company and being part of something I may or may not like. I talked to my friend some more and she assured me I would love the oils, since I already knew so much about essential oils, and that the Young Living oils were very high quality. She also told me there was not a catch to joining that if I bought a kit and decided I didn’t want anything else ever again I would not be obligated to order monthly or ever again for that matter. The only way you are obligated to maintain a monthly order is if you join their ER – Essential Rewards – program that is optional on your part.

So, I did more research on Young Living – found even more great info on pinterest and decided back in November to join and ordered the Everyday Oils kit that also comes with a diffuser and a few samples. The oils that come in that kit are the 5ml bottles and I have already used most of them up in the past six weeks.

I am in love with these oils and use at least two or more daily for the past six weeks. I like the fact that so many of their oils are therapeutic grade and can be ingested. The essential oils I have used in the past could only be used topically or in my cleaning recipes. I also notice the Young Living oils smell much stronger and have a lot more staying power – the scent does not fade off quickly. The Young Living oils have also helped me and my family with some recent health issues. I think that when used properly essential oils can offer some alternative therapy for many common ailments.

In addition to making my own cleaning products, which I have done for years – I am now making my own face and body care with these oils. Some of the things I have made are recipes I have found and tried from pinterest and others are a combination I have created using books I have and my own personal preferences. I am trying to be more chemical free and use less toxic ingredients on my skin. I am now making and using my own face wash, face toner, moisturizer, body butter and deodorant. I will be sharing my recipes and more info on these in future posts on my blog.

If you are interested in joining Young Living you can click on the highlighted text to take you to the sign up page on the Young Living site. You can also message me via email at kkg@kimberleeskorner.com for more info if you have any questions.

Have a great day!

– Kimberlee

Categories: Books Health Young Living

Tags: alternative health, books, essential oils, young living