Today I went to an “Essential Oils 101” class to learn about Young Living’s Essential Oils. My friend Heather started using Young Living Essential Oils last year and has been hosting a few classes about them. I’ve seen several bloggers using essential oils more often so I wanted to go to get more information and see what this is all about!
The class was also a chance to catch up with friends I don’t see that often so I was more than happy to attend! We had snacks and there was a water bar – totally right up my ally since I love drinking water.
They had little bottles of essential oils out to mix with your water. You had the option of adding citrus fresh, lemon, lime, jade lemon, grapefruit, orange, or peppermint to water. I tried out both the citrus fresh and grapefruit. There wasn’t any taste change but it did make the water smell really amazing!
We got to see and smell all the different oils that come in the starter pack. They had also made a few items for giveaways and as bonuses for anyone who signed up. I learned that the essential oils are often mixed with another oil to dilute and carry the essential oils. The “muscle ease” cream for sore muscles they made had coconut oil and a mix of essential oils in it.
The ladies leading the class also went through all the other information about what the oils do, the science behind them, and how they can be used. It was all really interesting since I’ve never heard much or thought about using essential oils. I had no idea people drink and breathe and apply these oils to help with all sorts of problems.
In the end we all got to pick one essential oil to take home a sample in a tiny bottle. I chose to take peppermint oil since I occasionally get stress and tension headaches and it was mentioned as a possible help for headaches. I admit to being a bit skeptical about essential oils and using them for everything under the sun instead of medicine. But will I try it out and see if it works for me? Sure!
It seemed that most of the people at the event already used some kind of essential oils or new a lot about them. I came in without any prior knowledge so it was interesting to get so much information and testimonials from people already using them (a couple people used other brands). Obviously I expected stories from the people selling these items but several others shared their experiences as well.
I’m curious now to find out who else uses essentials oils and how effective they are. Do they really help with headaches? Calmness? Fixing skin issues? It seemed like the oils were able to fix everything based on the Young Living information so I’m curious how accurate that is. I’d love to move toward more natural options in all areas of life so if it’s something that works then I’m open to using them. I’m definitely excited to try my peppermint oil!
Do you use essential oils? What do you like/dislike about them? What’s the most effective one for you? Let me know!
Oh jeez. I am so sick of all of my FB friends trying to sell these. I’m a soapmaker so I do buy and use essential oils, but I’ve educated myself about them and I buy them in bulk so they are reasonably priced. I’m talking 4-8 ounces of oils for $15-$40 depending on the type. Not 15 mL for 10 bucks or whatever. Anyhow, if you want to get into essential oils, run far from Young Living, doTerra, and all the other pyramid schemes unless you like throwing your money away. Search out a good soapmaking company and you’ll do a lot better. And when they try to say they have a special “grade” of oil that makes their product superior, they are lying, they make up the grades. Even a friend that sells doTerra told me she knows they made up the term “pharmaceutical grade” and she still wants to believe she’s getting superior quality oils. Sure.
And, just to be less negative, my favorite use of EOs is tea tree oil and lavender essential oil (My preferences are Provence, Bulgarian, and 40/42 in that order) mixed into unrefined shea butter. It’s my super rash balm and I use it on any rash or bug bite to clear it up quickly! I’ve got lots of skin problems and this has solved them, used to be on a horrible prescription cream that didn’t work well, “thinned my skin” (that was the warning on the label) and stained my clothing. This is so much better.
I totally understand. It does seem like a ton of people are selling these (and jamberry and whatever else is hot!). I don’t plan on spending $150 on a starter pack of oils, but the idea of using essential oils does intrigue me.
Thanks for the mix idea as well. I get lots of mosquito bites and struggle with the scratch/break skin/bleed/scab cycle so anything that could help with that naturally would be awesome. Do you have a specific amount you use of everything to make that mix? Like so many drops per amount of shea butter?
I’m not sure about the big hoopla now about this brand. I’m not sure that I would drink the oils. BUT, I swear by lavender essential oil. I use it to help me sleep and also for pain relief. Eucalyptus helps clear my sinuses when I have a bad cold. I have used these two oils for 10yrs and buy them at the health store. So my view: Yes, use them. No, don’t turn them into a “pampered chef” event. :)
Thanks for your input! I’ve heard good things about lavender essential oil and since I sometimes can’t sleep that might be helpful. Also good tip on eucalyptus. I’ll keep that in mind next time I’ve got a cold and am miserable, haha.
I believe that there are some of the oils that can do well, some that are pure placebo, but the thing that people don’t realize is that certain oils, to certain people, can be very dangerous. My wife has a seizure disorder that can be triggered by some of the oils that are in some of the very popular blends from both doterra and young living.
My beef is not with how much they cost – they are expensive, but hey, spend your money how you wish. My beef is with outlandish claims (I actually had a friend trying to tell me that you don’t need cancer treatment – that her pack of oils would do way more than the doctors could), along with actual health care advice from people with zero training.
If used correctly, and sanely, then awesome, more power to you.
Oh yikes to the cancer treatment comment! That’s a bit crazy!