The Mama Notes Wellness Club

Today I’m excited to share more about how we’ve been using essential oils in our household. DON’T ROLL YOUR EYES! If you’re anything like me you’ve seen a ton of people on social media start using essential oils in the past few years – and I was like many of you are probably feeling……skeptical. I toyed around with them casually for a few years picking them up at Amazon and Whole Foods etc. but it wasn’t until the past 6 months that I really started making a shift with our house. And the largest push to do so was Flora’s Eczema ( read about it HERE). And I also signed up to get my oils from Young Living  and this made a huge difference in our life!!  They are really an amazing tool to have as a mother. I started a new Instagram account called THE MAMA NOTES WELLNESS CLUB where you can find out all about how oils. Quick FAQ here!

I started getting serious about ridding our house, my beauty cabinet and cleaning supplies of toxic chemicals when I was pregnant with Piper over 3 years ago. I’ve since gone back and forth being on the ‘natural’ band wagon – while it’s always my goal sometimes I’ve just been lazy. I’ll never claim to be a clean beauty expert and trust me I still use plenty of beauty products that aren’t considered clean but for me I’ve found its all about balance and realistic expectation.  Essential oils are playing a big part in removing chemicals from our house because they have SO MANY USES! But I’ve also come to love the many other benefits of essential oils and use them for everything from immune support to helping my husband’s headaches to calming myself down in those overwhelming motherhood moments. I’m pretty obsessed at the moment!

So….why oils?

When I was pregnant with Flora I was quick to make healthier swaps again (you can see all of my favorite safe beauty products for pregnancy here + clean anti-aging skincare for breastfeeding mamas here) and now that we’ve been battling her Eczema the past 6 months I’m hyper aware of every chemical in our house. And there were a lot. It’s what made me start using essential oils more frequently again and really get into creating a healthier, happier environment at home. In the past I’ve purchased oils on Amazon and at Whole Foods but finally bit the bullet and joined Young Living. And, I have to say I’m totally sold and wish I signed up years ago. They are also helping me with emotional support during this postpartum phase.

And….what’s the deal with Young Living?

From my experience, Young Living oils are drastically different than those I tried from other places (Amazon, Whole Foods etc.). Young Living has a seed to seal process that guarantees the purity and potency of every single oil. And it’s a pretty incredible difference I’ve been noticing with our use. With oils you buy on Amazon you can’t be sure how pure they actually are and are very often diluted and actually have a tiny percentage of oil in them!  So they don’t work as well at all and you won’t see the same results as when you use Young Living’s 100% pure oils.

The best way to use Young Living oils is to SIGN UP, join a team and get your starter kit (which is a huge value and comes with a diffuser) – which grants you access to oils at 24% off retail. Yes, it’s an investment  (especially if you’ve been buying diluted oils for near to nothing on Amazon!!) – but the starter kit has the tools you need to really start incorporating oils in your life. Once you get your starter kit you have the option of selling oils yourself (like I’m doing now) or not. You don’t have to! If you join my team you get access to incredible Facebook support groups with other mamas that are ALL about oils – how to use them, what to use them for etc. They have been invaluable to me and I’ve found them to be such a great resource. If you’re interested in trying Young Living –I’ve started a whole new Instagram account to share more about our wellness journey and you can follow it here!

If you’re at all skeptic about essential oils I’d highly suggest reading this eye opening book written by the founder of the popular skincare line S.W. Basics.

What we are using oils for

So – now I’m really into using oils for any and everything!  I’m slowly trying to get rid of all the toxic chemicals in our home — everything from dish soap to bleach wipes (just looked up how bad those are on the EWG site the other day!!!) to all of the personal care products I use on the girls. The easiest way to see how toxic a product is is by looking up the ingredients on the EWG  site which rates each chemical.  So here are a few ways we’ve been using oils and how I got started with the girls.

I was hesitant at first about using oils around the girls but have been doing a ton of research on what’s safe and what’s not and feel really confident now. This is a great resource. For topical application I started with a roller ball on Piper’s feet using oils from the KidScentz line which are pre-diluted (meaning you don’t have to mix them with a carrier oil, but I still do). I patch test every ingredient for DIY lotions or body products first. And starting with diffusing is always a great idea to introduce kids to oils! Piper’s obsessed!

I’ve created an eczema cream for Flora that I’m pretty excited about once I realized many of the other creams and ointments I’ve been using the past 6 month have nut oils in them (Flora’s allergic to tree nuts + peanuts) among other things. When at all possible I’ve been using my homemade cream instead of her prescribed steroid regimine and it’s making a huge difference.

I’ve been using oils a ton for sleep support for years. And now, sleep is EVERYTHING when you have an infant and toddler — and our oils have really helped make bed time easier. I’ve made a DIY pillow mist, room spray for the girls and diffuse different sleepy time blends every night in our diffuser. I also diffuse lavender + frankincense in Piper’s room an hour before she goes to bed and use a roller ball with SleepyIze from Young Living’s Kid Scentz line before nap and bed time, and she won’t let me forget that’s for sure. It’s a part of our bedtime routine she looks forward to! She’s also sleeping through the night for the first time consistently since Flora was born. If she’s all hyped up before bed I put a drop of SleepyIze in the bath and it works like a charm every time to calm her down before bed.

We ditched dryer sheets, toxic dish soap, counter cleaner, BUG SPRAY for SAFE alternatives that aren’t full of toxins.

How about those candles I love to burn to make our house smell nice? They are actually burning chemicals into the air that I’ve exposed the girls too. Horrible. Now we diffuse amazing different essential oil blends (that rival Anthro candles) that also have a ton of other benefits and our house smells even better.

I have a ton of different rollerball blends for all different purposes — immune support, anxiety, when Piper needs to SETTLE DOWN, when I’m feeling overwhelmed and in a funk- there’s literally an oil for everything! I’ve found this season of motherhood to be challenging and these oils are a huge support to me.

So – if you want to learn more…

To enroll with our team you can join HERE . Sign up as member, this does not mean that you have to SELL oils, but it allows you to purchase a starter kit with everything you need to get started and get 24% off retail prices. But if you’re interested in making income on the side, from your home I’d be happy to chat with you about what an amazing opportunity Young Living offers! It also gives you access to the private invaluable Facebook community that I’ve been using for education and support in how to use oils. You’ll get a welcome email from me and info on how to start using your oils once you get them! Just make sure the sponsor and enroller ID both have 15363453 filled in when you join!

Images by Lauren Swann