Essential oils are essential for snowy skin

Essential oils are very versatile and powerful. I keep one or two bottles in my handbag and I would never travel without them. I started using essential oils many years ago when I was making candles. Keen to find natural scent for them, I turned away from synthetic fragrance oils and onto essential oils. I then discovered their uses and became very interested in them.

From the beginning, I understood that they are not magic oils or medicine. They don’t replace medicine. Many people think that they prevent, treats or cure illnesses, no they don’t. If I’m sick, I would go to the doctor. I use essential oils to boost my body’s ability to heal itself because after all, it is our bodies that does the healing.

Being interested in them comes with one major problem- where to find good quality essential oils? One can find essential oils everywhere from pharmacies to health stores and online. How do I know which ones I can trust?

Essential oils can be classed roughly into four categories: synthetic grade, food grade, therapeutic grade and lastly Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade (CPTG).

Synthetic grade essential oils are mainly the stuff that’s found in your soap and shampoo, food grade is mainly for flavouring. Then there’s therapeutic grade which are the oils that are found in pharmacies. These “cheapies” are difficult to avoid because they are found in most of the common products that are used. I avoid them as much as I can but I accept I can’t avoid it all because that’s the way it is. However if I can help it, I turn to the top quality essential oils.

Before I go on, many people feel differently about ingesting essential oils, so in this blog I talk about how I use it, but if you want to give it a try, please consult a doctor first.

There are many brands out there and when I was introduced to Doterra and I immediately liked them. They are Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade (CPTG) and they produce high quality essential oils and they source plant material from where the plant grows indigenously. They select their growers and they use third party testing. They sell their oils worldwide and are very popular globally. After using them, I wouldn’t use any other brands.

How do I use essential oils? Three ways:

1. Aromatically- inhaling using a diffuser or putting a drop on my hand and cupping my hands on my nose

2. Topically- apply the essential oil on the skin, usually diluted with carrier oil

3. Orally- I put a drop of essential oil in a glass of water or tea and drink it; or put a drop in a veggie capsule and swallow it or put a drop under my tongue

There are many different essential oils available and they all have different properties. For me, the basic Doterra oils (and these are the ones I wouldn’t travel without) are: lavender, peppermint, frankincense, lemon, tea tree, On Guard, Deep Blue, Digestzen and Easy Air.

#essentialoils #doterra