Oils I won’t leave home without this summer

If you know me at all, you know how much I love the outdoors. I love nature,  and more than any other activity I love being near water in the summer heat! My family has land with a pond that I call my “piece of heaven on earth”-it’s seriously one of my favorite places in the world! It’s so peaceful out there, between just listening to and connecting with nature, swimming in the pond, berry picking, fishing and riding four wheelers, it makes my soul happy.

The ONLY thing I’d rather avoid when it comes to the outdoors, are bug bites- especially Mosquitos. I’m actually allergic to them, when I get bitten the bite swells up pretty big and looks gross. They have pretty much eaten me alive every summer of my life, but not anymore! I’ve never liked to use chemical filled bug sprays; they are gross and oily, they smell bad, and most contain poisonous chemicals (like DEET and Pyrethrins) that seep into your skin thus get into your blood stream. As if that’s not bad enough, when inhaled they can cause difficulty breathing, coughing, nausea, vomiting, and loss of alertness due to imbalance of oxygen levels. Don’t believe me? Read about it here. Uh, no thank you. Thankfully I’ve found a natural alternative that smells GREAT, isn’t oily and gross feeling, and isn’t harmful to the body. The homemade bug repellent I’m currently using contains 15 drops lavender essential oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, and water. (To make, combine lavender, vanilla extract, & lemon juice in an 8oz spray bottle & fill the rest of the way with water, shake. *settling is natural, shake before each use) Seriously, four simple & safe ingredients, I can’t believe I’ve gone so long not knowing how awesome this stuff is.

This summer when I go out doors, you won’t catch me without these five  things: my homemade bug repellent, my Purification roll on, lavender essential oil, peppermint essential oil, and my “allergy bomb” roll on.

The bug spray really impressed me this past weekend when I used it for the first time. We spent basically all day (from noon until 8pm) outside and I didn’t get bit once. Like what?! The only downside to it is that it’s not water proof so after you swim you need to spray yourself down again.

My purification roll on is just Purification essential oil diluted with a carrier oil so that it’s ready to use when I need it (I used sweet almond oil to dilute but any liquid  carrier oil will work). Some oils don’t require dilution and can be applied neat to the skin, but purification does need to be diluted 1:1. This awesome blend disinfects and cleans cuts, scrapes and bug bites. It also relieves swelling from misquito bites and stops the itch. So incase I forget to reapply my bug spray after swimming, I have my roller ball. Although it hasn’t happened yet, I’m sure one of the kiddos is bound to fall and scrape their knee a some point and when it happens, I’ve got it covered. 🙂

I keep lavender essential oil around for many reasons- like purification it is also helpful with stopping the itch from bug bites, it can help with extracting stubborn splinters, and it’s great to relieve pain from burns. Like I mentioned earlier, we like to ride four wheelers and sometimes someone ends up touching the hot pipe and gets burned. When that happens I apply lavender neat (it’s safe to use undiluted) directly to the burn and it really reduces the pain, along with helping it heal. Any time I’ve burned myself (whether my method be on a four wheeler, a hot pan in the kitchen or whatever)when I’ve used lavender it has taken most of the pain away quickly and it has helped my burns heal quicker and without turning into gross blisters.

Peppermint oil- oh how I love this stuff. First of all, I occasionally get headaches especially around my time of the month. I don’t use anything other than peppermint oil to get rid of my headaches now-a-days because it works faster than any over the counter pill I’ve ever taken and it’s totally natural, no chemicals and it’s not a drug. That makes me happy. I just apply a drop to each of my temples and within minutes I’m feeling better. Also, we like to cook out. We usually cook hamburgers or the like when out at the land and I put a few drops of peppermint around wherever we’re keeping the cooked food that day and it keeps the ants away.

And lastly, the awesome “allergy bomb” roll-on. Because pollen problems suck and you never know when they’re going to strike, but I won’t let em get me down. Commonly referred to as the “allergy trio”,I combine 15 drops of each oil into a 10ml roll on then fill it up the rest of the way with a carrier oil. I roll it on to my wrists, behind my ears, and the back of my neck as needed.

Idk how I’ve managed all this time without my oils, considering I use them every day now. I’m so glad I’ve discovered them and continue to learn more about their uses everyday!

Thanks for reading,

-Tori Alysha