Essential Oils: Which brand do you use?
I’ve personally tried the popular MLM brands before I knew anything about Essential Oils. I started with Doterra, then I tried Young Living. Both were lovely, but to make home made products with them would break the bank! I started to do some digging and tried several, finally settling on Edens Garden. Instead of spending around $30 to $50 for a bottle of oil, I can get the same exact kind, as I have personally compared these MLM brands against Edens Garden and other brands on my own, and spend only $10 to $15 instead. Plus it’s always free shipping, no matter how much you order, and I get my oils within 2-5 days.
I have used them to diffuse, clean, skincare products, and have even ingested them, all with my expectations being met and at a fraction of the cost of the popular MLM oils. I guarantee you that you will have your expectations met as well.
To save even more money, Eden’s Garden has a free rewards program that you can sign up for called Aroma Notes. After you spend so much on oils, you get $5 off coupon codes in your account. They don’t spam you nor do they sell your information, which is why I rarely sign up for rewards programs. This one is very much so worth doing! Once I get alot of points to build up several $5 off coupons, I make several orders at once so that way I can use my $5 off multiple times in the same day. Considering that my lemon oil that I love so much is only around $8, it’s like getting it for almost free. Here is the link so you can get the free rewards points and get your oils:
Additionally, I’m giving you a heads up that around the end of November, Eden’s Garden has some crazy awesome sales on their oils, and comes out with specialty blends that smell amazing, so I stock up alot at that time. When I combine their sales with my multiple aroma notes $5 off coupons, I get items so fairly priced that it’s extremely satisfying.
How I Make My Own Body Butter
My skincare doesn’t stop at my face! I have dry sensitive skin and my kids are always hugging on me and kissing on me and I wanted something that wouldn’t irritate them either. I found that the body butters sold at stores were very expensive and some of them just didn’t deliver what it promised. After trial and error I started making this recipe for my skin. My stretch marks have greatly diminished, my suntan lasts way longer without the flaking or shedding, and my surgical scars have been drastically reduced. People always comment on my skin now and before it was so dry and flaky and itchy. As always, her are the exact ingredients I have trusted for years.
Here are the ingredients I use, with links of those I use from Amazon
Shea Butter https://amzn.to/3usgeEN
Carrot Seed Oil https://amzn.to/3cWfZfo
Raspberry Seed Oil https://amzn.to/2PCmQl2
Coconut Oil (I buy it in bulk at Costco)
Essential Oils from Eden’s Garden. http://rwrd.io/aqiymxe
How to make:
- 3/4 cup Shea butter or cocoa butter
- 1/4 cup of coconut oil
- 10 drops of carrot seed oil
- 10 drops of raspberry seed oil
- As much Essential oils as you prefer.
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a bain-marie, melt down the shea butter and coconut oil together. You can also put them in a glass jar inside a pot of boiling water. Use oven mits to pick it up and stir it around while it melts. I’ve used both methods and both work well.
- Once it’s melted, add in your drops of the other oils.
- Put in the freezer to harden, around 20 minutes.
- The mixture should look like wax on top. If it still has liquid spots, just put it back in the freezer for a few more minutes. When it’s ready to go it will look like a lighter color at the top and very waxy.
- Use your electric whisk such as a hand mixer, or Kitchen Aid to whip it into white fluffy clouds for about 5 minutes. You should add your essential oils in during this process. Add as much as you like to get the fragrance that you want.
- Put it into a container. Glass ones are best but I use tupperware because I have little curious kids.
- I keep it in my bathroom to slather on after a shower. The best trick is to only lightly blot your wet skin then to spread it on top of your slightly damp skin. This presses the water against your skin making it even more effective.
- This should last for up to three months. I make a new batch about every 50 days because I live for this!
Why does this work so well?
Carrot Seed Oil is a natural form of Vitamin A-which is what Retin-A and Retinol is based. So you are putting a light Retinol onto your skin every time you use it! This helps to support healthy cell turnover giving you tighter, smoother skin. It’s high amounts of Vitamin C and E help to erase stretch marks, sun damage, and scars. This contains a mild SPF.
Raspberry Seed Oil has a high amount of antioxidants such as Vitamin E and Vitamin A, and alpha-linoleic acid which reduce inflammation and fight tissue damage. The Vitamin E and A helps with skin regeneration like Retin-A would which helps promote tighter, smoother skin, and replenishes collagen levels. This oil also has a high level of phytosterosis, which helps your skin retain moisture to give it a glowing appearance. But it is noncomedogenic so it won’t clog your pores. It does contain a mild SPF.
Shea Butter contains a high amount of fatty acids and vitamins to soften your skin. It also contains vitamins A and E, just like the two oils above. It has been shown to reduce stretch marks, soothe dry skin, and improve your skin’s elasticity. It also contains a mild SPF.
Coconut Oil is pretty well known by everyone by this point. It soothes and protects skin while minimizing the look of fine lines and wrinkles. It offers protection and hydrates the skin. It also contains antioxidants and provides a little SPF.
Vanilla Essential Oil is an excellent neutral and delicious scent for your body butter. It not only has a great scent but did you know that it also contains niacin, thiamin, and panthothenic acid? Niacin has become so popular in skincare that you can buy facial serums with high concentrations of it. So now you can have it in your body butter. All three of these help to correct sun damage and prevent wrinkles, fine lines, and sun spots.
So now you see why this body butter is so effective! You just can’t buy anything like this at the store. And even if you could, how much would it cost? With the ingredients I linked on here, you can make many many batches, have gorgeous glowing skin, feel comfortable that there are no toxic ingredients in it, and save your money. Plus, if you make these for your friends, they will absolutely love it!
Another fun tip is that I like to use this in the daytime when I’m going to be at the pool or the beach. It diminishes lines and scars gradually but it also works as an excellent temporary cover up as well. Your skin will be so hydrated and glowing that any stretch marks or surgical scars will be drastically reduced. Plus, you will have some extra SPF protection. You still need to wear sunscreen on top of this.
Easy to Make All Purpose Cleaning Spray
I used to get headaches from traditional cleaning products. I also have small children and whenever I clean, they are coming right up after me, getting into whatever chemicals I have left behind. So to save money and to not worry about harsh chemicals hurting my children or myself, I have researched and figured out my own cleaning spray solution. Here is my recipe:
1/2 Cup of White Vinegar
1/2 Cup of Vodka
1 Cup of Water
20 Drops of Lemmon Essential Oil
10 Drops of Guardian Oil
I love the lemon in my cleansers bc it truly degreases things! I once had this glue stuck on my son’s sweater that no washing, no vinegar soaking, etc could get out. I then bought this oil and put it on his sweater. I was able to rub it out immediately. This made me a believer! I also enjoy the fragrance of the lemon and guardian together, plus the guardian has antiviral properties with added orange and lemon within it, so that’s why I add it.
I have used this solution on my wood floors, granite countertops, windows, and mirrors. Your home will smell really good and you can feel good about using simple ingredients to make your own cleaning spray. An added bonus is that once we were hit by skunks in our home and I sprayed this in the vents. It immensely helped to neutralize the odors immediately!
Make Your Own Foaming Hand Soap
Regular soap leaves my skin so dry and during the pandemic that skin dryness became an issue for many people. Also, there are scientific studies that show that antibacterial handsoap isn’t as good for us as we thought it could be. Particles from those hand soaps have even been traced to the placentas in pregnant women! So what’s the alternative? Make your own. Sounds hard and time consuming? Nope. Takes just under a minute. Here is how I do it and what I use from Amazon.
First you need a foaming hand soap dispenser. I’ve purchased these several times without any issues. Here is the link:
Second, you need your soap. I chose this castile soap because it has soothing ingredients and is a fraction of the cost of the name brand at the store. Here is the link:
Pour the soap directly into your bottle and fill about 20% of the bottle with it. This isn’t an exact science. The more you add the thicker the lather, the less you add, the less the lather. I just eye ball it.
I then add about seven drops of my essential oils. I like to use the Guardian Oil from Eden’s Garden because of it’s antibacterial properties. It also smells like cinnamon and oranges! Check the link above on this page for the links to get your discounted essential oils.
Add in water until you are almost at the top. Add the water slowly so you don’t cause the soap to start bubbling, which just leaves you less space for your mixture. Leave space about half of an inch at the top because when you place the lid back on some could spill out.
Put your lid back on and your done.
That’s it. It’s really quite simple. Not only is this better for your health but it saves you money and it’s great for the environment because you’re not throwing out hand soap bottles.
For a fun gift giving idea I like to make this soap for my friends. They really like it!
Get Bonnie-fied! 