Boo Boo Blend

Now that my Little Guy is running full steam, sometimes his feet get ahead of him. It's hard as a parent to watch your kid fall, and even harder when you see a huge goose egg coming through. A few weeks ago, Little Guy made an epic fall. He hit his forehead on a stone edge after tripping on a tree root, and from the sound, I knew it was going to be a pretty bad hurt. Through the snuggles and the tears, and the hugs, I grabbed a peek at his forehead.

Ouch!

Thankfully, I had my Boo Boo blend ready to go in my bag. I put a little on my finger, lightly rubbed it on his injury, and I applied it again right before bed. This is what he looked like the next morning.

Still a small bruise, but nothing a bad as it could have been. Thank God for my oils!


I realize I'm putting myself out there with this post. It's easy to be a better parent from the other side of the computer screen. It's easy to say, "Oh that never would have happened if you had...." or "My kid would never do that." or "You should have done _____ instead!"  or even worse, "Your kid deserved this because you were a lousy parent and let this happen." This isn't a parenting blog; you do what works for you. I'm simply sharing what works for me in case it might also work for you. For the record, I did monitor for signs of a concussion and would have taken him to a hospital had shown ANY signs of a more serious injury. Thank God that wasn't the case.


Boo Boo Blend

** For blends I use on my son, I only make a 0.5%-1% dilution**

10 mL Carrier Oil
1 drop Helichrysum
1 drop Copiaba
1 drop Lavender


Make sure your roller balls are made from colored glass AND have a stainless steel ball! Over time, those essential oils can degrade the plastic.

What's in Your Bag Wednesday

I was at the store earlier today, and, of course, my wallet was at the waaayy very bottom.  As I'm sitting at the checkout counter taking practically everything out, I got the inspiration for this post.
I don't leave the house without my staples -- some for me, and some for my Little Guy. Here's what's in my every-day bag.

What parent doesn't need a mid-afternoon energy boost? Thank goodness for my Ningxia Nitro; it's my all-natural pick-me-up! No sugar, no caffeine, no crash after.

Next is my bottle of Stress Away. Sometimes, chasing after my little one gets tough. Sometimes, I don't want to read the same book AGAIN or play cars AGAIN. Sometimes my poor Little Guy is getting teeth and can't sleep and is just in a spicy mood. Just a dab on my wrists or a couple drops in my diffuser, and I no longer want to throw a tantrum myself.

The Deep Relief Roll-On is my best friend after some of the epic toddler wrangling that happens almost daily. This one bottle takes away the aches and pains so I don't need to pop a pill.

The last two are my own recipe: Mamma's Kisses and Boo Boo Blend. Toddler life comes with a lot of bumps, bruises, cuts, and scrapes. With these oil blends, nothing can stop us from having fun. Don't worry, I'll share the recipes in a later post.

Alright fellow oily Mammas (or Daddies), what's in your bag that you can't live without?

Desert Living

Ok y'all. This is about to get real. I've lived in a desert for 6 years of my life and I've hated it. There's nothing about feeling like you live in an oven that I find pleasant. I've had many people say, "Oh, but it's a dry heat!" Yea, and how comfortable is YOUR skin when you reach into your oven and get too close to those filaments at the top? My legs actually felt like they were baking today when I walked my son in a stroller down the block to a friend's house.

Needless to say, my skin has suffered. Until a few months ago, you'd have found at LEAST three different moisturizers in my bathroom cabinet. Then, I took a leap of faith. I'd already been using oils for cuts and scrapes, but my face? The first thing people see? I didn't want to risk it! What if I broke out? What if my skin looked dull? What if it didn't work? You see, I was willing to trust the small things to oils, but not my vanity, and we all know what vanity gets us. I chose to move forward with faith and trust my research and take the plunge.

You know what? That first week, oil cleansing felt weird. But then, I noticed that my skin didn't have that cracked feeling. I hadn't needed my moisturizers at all! For all it's weirdness, it was working. Now, I'm proud to say that I've ditched my facial cleansers, I've said "goodbye" to my moisturizers, and I'm an oily gal 100%

What's my secret? Here it is, just for you!

Oily Facial Clenser

For 8oz (a 1% essential oil dilution)

20 drops Lavender

13 drops Frankincense

13 drops Roman Chamomile

13 drops Myrrh

13 drops Helichrysum

Fill the rest of the glass bottle with Grapeseed oil

Directions:

Every morning/evening - put a small amount of oil in your palm and rub on face

-- Let it sit on your face for 1-2 minutes

-- Place steaming washcloth over your face for 1 minute

-- Dab face with washcloth

Voila!

NOTE: I've also heard of people using jojoba with great results, grapeseed happens to work well with my skin. My advice, skip fractionated coconut oil -- it'll clog your pores!

Road trip Adventures

What a week it's been! After spending a few weeks visiting family, it was time to come home. Man am I glad I traveled with my oils. Have you even checked into a hotel room that was a bit funky? That was us yesterday! We didn't notice the odor until we cranked up the AC, and by then we'd strewn our stuff everywhere and someone needed to be put to bed. No way were we going to be able to get another room. I hooked up my diffuser, put in a few drops of purification and lemon, and voila! The mildew-nastiness was abated. Then, for bedtime, I cleaned out the diffuser and put in our sleepy-time blend of Vetiver and Cedarwood. I think it helped all of us get a better night sleep, because who really sleeps well in hotels?

Using oils goes beyond just bumps and scrapes. It's come in handy far more often than I expected. I now look at the time I spent hesitating taking the plunge with disbelief. If only I could tell my earlier self how amazing these oils are and how often I use them in every-day situations.

If you're interested in joining in, I have a $20 off a Premium Starter Kit coupon that I'm happy to share! Don't wait like I did, see how oils can change your life too! Comment on this post or email me
at YLChelseaOils - at - Gmail.com

Making It Until Lunch

Food is one of my weaknesses. I just love it! BUT I also love being healthy and being able to run around with my kid, so I can't have ALL the donuts, even though I want to. Want to know what helps? Oils, of course!

This one is for your diffuser. If you don't have one already, the Young Living Premium Starter Kits  come with a great one (not to mention they come with 11 bottles of starter oils)!


                                                      Banish Hunger

3 drops Grapefruit
3 drops Lemon
1 drop Spearmint
1 drop Ylang Ylang


This is great to use those few hours before lunch or before dinner.

Stronger Nails

Have any of you tried the old Wives' Tale that eating gelatin will improve your nails? Well...I did.
Every day for 6 months before my wedding, I ate gelatin. EVERY. DAY. That's 183 servings. Know what? My nails were just a flaky and weak as before, except I developed an aversion to gelatin. It seriously took me years to even look at a packet of it in the store.

This recipe was the very first thing I tried, and now I have the nails I used to envy in others.

Bye Bye Brittle Nails

These are the only 3 oils you need!

2 Drops Frankincense

2 Drops Lemon

2 Drops Myrrh

1 Oz Carrier Oil

Apply 2-3 Times Daily

WAIT WAIT WAIT you say....What's a Carrier Oil?!

Since Essential oils are an oil, they need to be diluted with an oil or an alcohol. We call this a "carrier oil," some examples are grapeseed oil, fractionated coconut oil (FCO), or Young Living's V6 Oil

For my recipe, I chose to use grapeseed oil since I had it in my pantry already.

WANT TO KNOW A SECRET?

There are plenty of glass bottles on Amazon that are perfect for these blends. Just add the essential oils and fill the rest with the carrier oil! Remember, only use glass or medical grade plastic when storing oils and blends -- essential oils can eat through plastic!

(seriously...I almost lost my steam mop reservoir to it!) 

Hippie Voodoo Magic

I've always been more of a natural person, so using oils rather than traditional medicine to help with life was a perfect fit. Notice I said, "help." I'm not here to promise or suggest cures or imply that traditional medicine has no place; rather that essential oils have the ability to help your body help itself. This blog is how I want to share my journey incorporating oils into my daily life.

I wasn't always a believer. I preferred tolerating minor aches and pains to popping a pill. Then my son was born and my world shifted. Now there was this perfect little person entrusted to my care -- basically he's my heart running around outside my body. As that tiny person began to grow, all the trials that came with it started to appear: gassiness, teething, bumps, bruises, scrapes, sleeplessness, and growing pains. What to do, what to do? It was at that crossroads I was introduced to Young Living Oils.

Again, I didn't want to believe that some oil from some plant would work. But I also didn't like going through a bottle of infant medicine per month, or having the remnants of a fall left on his face for weeks, or just holding him while he cried. Oils were, what I called, Hippie Voodoo Magic; if they really worked, why didn't more people use them? Alas, I got to the point I think all parents reach where they're willing to try anything that isn't harmful. Am I right? This is how our kids get us to cluck like chickens and dance silly dances and sing silly songs just to keep them happy. With that thought in mind, I took the plunge.

Know what happened? I got hooked. I went from one bottle of medicine a month for pain to zero. I found a kid-safe blend to help promote sleep at night. I even found a blend that made my flaky and weak nails strong and beautiful!

Now, I'm that person. The one with an oil for everything. Now, I want to share that with you. Bookmark the blog, follow the journey, pick up recipe blends to try. My hope is these oils bring the same help to your life as they did mine. I'm not an aromatherapist, just a regular, every-day Mom taking it one day at a time. Hope to see you back here soon!