How do you use Essential Oils + Important Safety Tips!

To continue the introduction to Essential Oils here on Behind the Camera and Dreaming, I'd like to address the HOW of using essential oils. What do you DO with this magic little bottles once they are in your possession? Well, here is some great info to help you get started!

Each bottle is labeled. Please always read your labels, always! 

• Inhale: You can simply breathe them in, either by putting on your hands and inhaling, putting in a diffuser, or inhaling straight from the bottle.

•  Topical: Our skin is our largest organ: what we put on it gets taken into the system and either used, stored or filtered out.  This isn't new science, think of the nicotine patch or a birth control patch.  Medicine is routinely given through the outside of the skin.  We use carrier oils to apply oils to the skin.  A carrier is a quality vegetable/fruit oil used for diluting your essential oils.  We prefer coconut oil, but you can also use grape seed, hemp, avocado, jojoba or olive oil.  Apply oils topically to your feet, spine, chest or area of concern.  We always recommend using a carrier oil when applying oils topically to children.

• Ingest:  While there is lots of information on the topic of ingestion, we believe that essential oils do benefit you when taken internally.  If this is not something you feel comfortable doing, applying topically or diffusing are 2 great ways to get the benefits of these oils. 

I am personally the only person in my family who ingests essential oils, unless I use them for cooking, but only if they are labeled for ingestion, like the Vitality line. 

1. Please never put essential oils directly into your eyes or ears as this could cause damage.  Placing a few drops of oil on a cotton ball, then placing the cotton ball in your ear is recommended.

2. Citrus oils are photosensitive. If you apply them topically, you will want to avoid direct sunlight for 12 hours so that you don’t burn.

3. If you are adding any oils to your water, please make sure to drink out of a glass water bottle. 

4. We always recommend a carrier oil when applying oils topically to children. Please also do your research on each oil you are using with young children! I tend to use the side of caution on my child under 2 years of age. Especially since my children have sensitive skin. All oils we have used with them though have been nothing but beneficial! I highly recommend the book Gentle Babies, by Debra Rayburn. I keep it in my nightstand! 

5. When using essential oils in your bath, add a few drops to Epsom salt first, then put salt into bath water.  This will help the oils to adhere to something, so that you don’t have them just sitting on top of the water.

6. If you apply an oil topically and it feels uncomfortable, apply a carrier oil over it, then wipe away with a cloth.  The carrier oil will carry the essential oil off of your skin. 

7. Please keep your oils stored in a cool, dark place and avoid extreme temperatures, hot or cold.  This will ensure your oils don’t go bad.

I also love using Honest's Body Oil as a carrier oil it is amazingly moisturizing! 

Next up, we are going to learn about each of the oils in the Everyday Oils Kit, which comes with the Premium starter kit. 

 What oil would you like to learn about first?