Essential Oils 101: What Are Essential Oils? (Lesson 1)

Have you heard your friends talking about “essential oils” and all of the great things that can be done with these versatile products?

Your co-worker is making bath salts with lavender essential oil…

Your neighbor is cleaning her counters with lemon essential oil…

Your best friend just kicked her cold with some blend of essential oil called “Thieves…”

Your local fire fighter just saved a cat from the top of a tree while standing on his head, singing Mary Had A Little Lamb and diffusing some sort of stress relieving essential oil…
ok, not really, but you’ve probably heard some sort of claims related to using essential oils that sounds a bid outlandish, right?

So, what’s this all about? What are essential oils? What do you do with them? How do they work? Why do I consider them life altering?

Welcome to Essential Oils 101! The series where I will educate you on all things, well, essential!

Let’s start with the basics:

What are essential oils?
An essential oil is the essence of the plant from which it comes. An essential oil is not actually an “oil” like olive oil or coconut oil (these are called carrier oils and we will discuss them later). When a plant is distilled, it is broken down and the liquid that remains is the essential oil.

What’s the difference between essential oils and herbs?
Although some essential oils come from herbs, such as oregano, basil, rosemary, peppermint, lavender, etc. they are highly concentrated amounts. It takes many plants of the same type to make one bottle of essential oil. For example, one drop of peppermint essential oil is the equivalent of 28 bags of peppermint tea. That means that one 15 ml bottle of Young Living peppermint essential oil is equal to 7000-8400 bags of peppermint tea! WOW, that is potent!

What is the difference between Young Living essential oils and other brands?
After much research & personal essential oil usage, the brand I have become loyal to and am a distributor for is Young Living Essential Oils & products. I have found it to be true that when it comes to essential oils, you get what you pay for! Young Living is committed to providing 100% pure, therapeutic grade essential oils. This means that there are no additives, fillers, or ingredients added to dilute the oil bottles. Many store bought brands, though cheaper, contain other ingredients and can be as low as 1% essential oil in the bottle. After experiencing the difference between Young Living and other store bought brands, I found a very noticeable difference & cannot in good conscience recommend other brands. If you read the labels on the store bought essential oils, you will find disclaimers that say, “for aromatic use only. do not ingest!” With Young Living, many of their oils are safe when ingested properly. This is because they are 100% pure, high quality oils. Young Living also goes to great measures to acquire their ingredients from their natural environments. For more information about how their products are created, visit their Seed To Seal Promise.

Why is it important to purchase your essential oils from a trusted brand?
If you are going to be putting a product on your skin, breathing it into your lungs, and/or ingesting it in your body, it is very important that said product is safe! Young Living provides 100% pure essential oils with a guarantee of no fillers, the plants are not sprayed or treated with dangerous chemicals, and they are grown & harvested in their natural habitats. Other brands potentially have added ingredients which may be carcinogenic (cancer inducing), can cause other long term adverse effects, may not be quality plants grown safely, and may not be 100% essential oil. Some other essential oil brands actually only contain 3% essential oil in the bottle & the rest of the product is water and filler ingredients. So, with other brands you may be paying a cheaper price, but you are also getting 97% less essential oil in the bottle.
After personally using Young Living products for over 3 years, I can promote that this brand is effective and true to its word without a doubt in my mind.

So, now that you know a little about what essential oils are, would you like to know how to use them? You can find out in the next post in my next Essential Oils 101 series!

 

DISCLAIMER:
– No statements made here are meant to diagnose, treat, or cure disease. Although many people have found great relief from ailments with use of essential oils and products containing them, we legally cannot claim to heal or cure disease with essential oils because they not FDA regulated.