Top ten essential oils & favorite ways to use them + a giveaway!

UPDATE: some of you may have noticed that this post dissappeared off the grid for about 4 hours 

tonight due to the fact that a certain 4-year-old figured out how to entirely delete published blog posts.haha So here's a big shout-out to Kerry from Kerry My Heart for saving the day with a copy she rescued from her blog reader! *cheers* 

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Hey beautiful! This post has been highly highly requested by you guys over the last year or so I think, but it was a little overwhelming to start writing because Essential Oils are such a big part of our lives, and I want to be thorough in sharing the ways we love to use them! I figured it was high time though, especially with sickness season coming, and maybe I'll just call this 'Part 1' or something so I can feel ok about not including every little detail? I think so.haha

Well essentially (pun intended) the back story is that I grew up with my mother using homeopathics and natural remedies on us kids all the time whether we were sick or hurt or whatever, so adding in essential oils was very natural and easy after I got married and started looking for my own natural remedies for my family.

I first really got into using them and saw the amazing benefits when I started seeing a midwife for our first home-birth we were planning during my second pregnancy, and I was hooked after starting that very first blend she gave us! I used different oils all throughout the rest of my pregnancy and felt the huge difference the aromatherapy made in the ease of my birth.

Flash forward a couple more years and we use them for so many things from putting them into homemade bath-soaps and household cleansers to helping to ease headaches and sooth sore muscles, and while I don't believe they have magic *wink* abilities to mend broken bones or things like that, they have changed our lives so much for the better, and I couldn't recommend them enough! And that's where doTERRA comes in.

I recently was offered to try the doTERRA Family Physician Kit by Ashlee from Use Pure Oils, and since we were already such EO addicts, I was more than happy to give them a try! We've been using them along with some other favorites and I thought it was high time to share a few ways we love to use our Family Physician Kit:

1: Breath // is a blend used a lot around here to sooth congestionand coughs by rubbing into the chest, I love rubbing some onto the kids (diluted with fractionated coconut oil) or myself or simply inhaling it out of the bottle when we may need to 'breathe' and calm down a bit.haha I use it on ourthroats to ease them when they're sore, and the list goes on and on for this one!

2: On Guard // breaking these down was just as hard as I though it would be, but I'm trying to just stick to a few favorites! On Guard though is wonderful when it comes to the Fall and Winter seasons (colds and flusgalore) to help fortify against those cold and flu symptoms, we add it to our dishwater, we add it to ourlaundry, it makes a great disinfectant and we put it on insect bites and stings! 

3: Oregano // mostly used to helpfight infections and germs, though it's great to cook with and is full ofessential nutrients. I think it's great helping relax sore and stiff muscles, and last but not least we love it for soothing indigestion andstomach aches as well as period cramps! good stuff.haha

4: Melaleuca // love mixing a few drops with water and lemon to use as a cleanser around the house because of it's antibacterialproperties, it's very good for using oncuts and sores to fight infection, we love mixing it with coconut oil and messaging into rashes,  

5: Peppermint // huge in helping tocalm morning sickness by applying to pulse points and back of the neck, applying a dab to the temples cansooth headaches, rubbing some into the chest and using deep breaths can help alleviate congestion, and coughs. This is one that I really could go on and on about and that we use very often!

6: Lavender // by far my most used and favorite essential oil of all time! I actually use another brand of lavender so I can order it in bulk and not spend a small fortune.haha But basically we use it every where, forevery thing, and 24/7! It's such a powerhouse oil. In the morning and at night I dab it on my pulse points, forehead, and anywhere else I feel like. It calms and refreshes my mind and helps me relax and feelless stressed out. I use it on the kids every day too and love thecalming effect it has on everyone. It's also great for fighting swelling,bug bites, infections, headaches, cuts and scrapes, blemishes, allergies, cold sores, sore throats, itchy skin, flu symptoms, rashes, sunburns, and on and on!

7: Lemon // I love mixing a few drops of lemon with some baking soda and using as a cleanser for sinks and tubs etc. because it's antibacterialand I love cleaning with the smell of citrus! I also love adding lemon to my herbal tea, it's great to use indressings or marinades, it's awesome to mix water in a spray bottle to sanitize and clean surfaces, and it also works great forcleaning up crayon:)

8: Frankincense // we normally dilute to at least 50:50 with fractionated coconut oil or vegetable oil so it does last a long time, but I think inhaling it helps relieve certain levels of stressand lifts moods, I like to use it onstretch marks and scars to fade them, I'm currently using it to help with a few warts that Ellie has on her hand, and I use it to keep mysenses heightened when I'm sleepy. Also I like to apply 1 drop of un-diluted to my nails and it helps strengthen them when they're brittle!

9: Deep Blue // we use mostly tomassage into sore joints and muscles after intense workouts, and it really works well to bring downswelling and bruising when any of the kids take a fall or something of that sort. 

10: Degest Zen // as the name suggests we use this most to help with stomach aches and to ease indigestion and bloating, cramps, etc. I also used it on my pulse points to ease my nausea with morning sickness and motion sickness, and I use it the same way for Martin and the kids when they're feeling sick because I think just inhaling with deep breaths really calms the stomach.

Well I'd better stop for now! There are lots of free reference cards and things you can look up on google for the different areas and things to use essential oils and how many drops exactly are recommended, etc, but for myself and my family I think of it more like instinct, and I just go with my gut most of the time! Generally though when I'm applying oils to my kiddies, if I'm not diluting them I'll usually put it on the bottoms of their feet, back of their necks, inside of the wrists, and sometimes on their temples when I'm not trying to help them with something specific ( like putting it on the feet if they have sore gums, etc).

For myself and Martin, again unless it's something like soothing a certain sore muscle we love to put the oils on our wrists, back of the neck, temples, inside of the elbows, bottoms of our feet. I feel like after putting it on at least a couple of those places I can really be engulfed in the smell if that makes sense and feel the good effects of the oils for hours afterwards.

Okay I promise I'm stopping.haha But I'll just pause for this post and be back soon with another post highlighting more of our favorite uses for essential oils and answering more of your questions, but there's one last thing for today's post that I'm so so excited about!

My sweet friend Ashlee from Use Pure Oils is giving away 1 Family Physician Kit to one of you, my sweet readers! This kit comes with all ten of the oils that I've talked about today, and I couldn't be more excited about getting these to one of you. Below if the rafflecopter widget--you know the drill!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A little more about Ashlee: I am a stay-at-home mom of 3, a business owner, and an energy healer.  I love to hang out with my family, travel, beaches, reading, Trader Joe’s, and eating awesome food every day!  I am happily married to Justin, who is an amazing dad and ultra patient husband.  We have built a lifestyle where we can work together at home - both in our business and raising our family.   I started using essential oils simply as a natural option if my kids were to get sick. I wanted a natural and affordable way to help my little ones.  Once I realized the amazing power of the oils to help not only with physical things, but with emotional support after baby #3, I became addicted!   From tummy aches to tantrums,  I use oils to help with the crazy moments that happen in our home.  Now I teach wellness classes all over and empower others to use natural remedies first.  I offer free consultations and samples if you email me at ashlee@usepureoils.com. 

Thanks so much for visiting and reading today! It's great to share things that I'm passionate about and answer your requests and questions at the same time. Feel free of course to ask any questions you may have and I'll be sure to answer them in another post soon, and in the meantime I hope you've enjoyed this post and that you let my know any thoughts you may have down in the comments!
Take care loves,

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