Thursday, August 31, 2017

Anxiety Blend For Dogs

Many people ask me about what they can do for their pet's anxiety and how they can help them in stressful situations. These could be things like thunderstorms, fireworks, visiting the vet or groomer or when company comes over.  This blend can help your dog if s/he experiences stress or anxiety in situations such as these. The oils in this blend are known for their calming properties. 


Always remember that it is important to dilute your essential oils with an appropriate carrier oil or emulsifier when using them with pets and children. Pets are much smaller than us, usually, and therefore will not require as much essential oil. They are also much more sensitive to smells than we are. I recommend diffusing this blend in your diffuser in a room that your pet can leave if s/he wants to get away from the oils. You can also use the above recipe as described, diluted in a spray bottle and use it topically. I recommend using the spray on the bedding, along the spine, ear pinna, and paws. I DO NOT recommend placing the oils directly in your pet's face or on the nose. Avoid the eyes and inside the ears. Always consult your veterinarian if you notice any adverse reactions; vomiting, salivating, seizures, etc. 

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Co-Impact Sourcing of Ylang Ylang from Madagascar

Co-Impact Sourcing

In addition to supplying the highest quality essential oils doTERRA is committed to making a positive difference in the lives of farmers, harvesters, and distillers who contribute to doTERRA’s oil production.


With over 100 essential oils in its product line, doTERRA sources its oils from over 40 countries —more than half of which could be considered developing countries. To ensure that small scale farmers and harvesters in disadvantaged areas are treated ethically, doTERRA has introduced an initiative called Co-Impact Sourcing.


Co-Impact Sourcing is an initiative that seeks to develop long-term, mutually beneficial supplier partnerships while creating sustainable jobs and providing reliable income in underdeveloped areas. doTERRA is committed to the ethical treatment of its suppliers by providing on-time payments at fair prices. Growers and harvesters are encouraged to form cooperative groups to share collective benefits and bargaining power while improving skills and capacity.




A Co-Impact essential oil from Madagascar,
Ylang Ylang is used for its exquisite fragrance and long history as a component of perfumes.
Through doTERRA's Co-Impact Sourcing efforts, the reality and quality of life has been improved for the harvesters of Madagascar.

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Choosing Your Oil Brand


Today I would like to talk with you about something that is really important to me and should also be important to you if your going to be using essential oils to help with your family's health and wellness, especially if you have children or those with illnesses that could be sensitive to things like pesticides, herbicides or fillers/fragrances. We're going to dig into a bit of a sticky issue today: choosing an oil provider.

If you've not been in the essential oil world for too long, you may not know this can be a controversial issue. People go to war over this. Seriously. It's crazy.

I'm here to say we can all be friends and even learn from each other even if we use different brands of essential oils. But, I am going to share with you about what types of things I looked for when choosing an essential oil company—and then I'll talk about the company I ultimately chose.

I looked for 3 primary qualities when choosing an essential oil company:
  • High quality and thoroughly tested oils
  • Affordability
  • A company that offers great customer service and support
1. Quality and Testing
  • The quality of the oils you are using is of upmost importance. If you are using oils on a regular basis and your children are around them, you want oils that are pure. You want oils that are not contaminated with pesticides and aren't diluted with "fillers." You want oils that have exactly what they say is in thems. Finding a brand like this, isn't as easy as it sounds.
  • Now, I’m not naive enough to think just one essential oil brand has the corner market on quality—that’s ridiculous. I do believe some brands are more consistent with quality. Some brands have better checks in place to make sure they are consistently producing quality products.
  • That's why testing is important. Having oils tested by a third-party (not just tested by the company that makes them) is important because you can be certain of exactly what's in the bottle.
2. Affordability
  • Let’s get real. We all live on a budget. Nobody can afford to spend their entire wage on essential oils, so we want a solution that is cost effective. Next to having a quality essential oil, affordability is the next thing I look for.
  • While there are some super cheap essential oils on the market, they aren't always quality. That doesn't mean you need to buy the most expensive oils on the market either. But you do have to be smart about balancing cost with quality.
  • If you're a regular essential oil user, be sure to check out what sorts of loyalty discounts a company offers. These can really add up to huge savings.
3. A company that offers great customer service and support
  • One of the big missions of my website is researched-based education, and the more I have learned about the benefits of essential oils, the more I wanted to share what I was learning with others.
  • But I’m also only one person, and there are some wonderful experts out there who know far more about essential oils than I ever could. One of my big reasons to want to partner with one company was the desire to really get to know the researchers in the industry.
  • Furthermore, a company that offers excellent customer service is worth paying a little extra for. We've all had experiences of spending an hour on the phone, never being able to actually talk to a person. Or feeling like even when you did get to talk to a person that they weren't answering your questions or helping you.

After a lot of research, I finally landed with a company I'm very proud to promote: dōTERRA®

Before you stop reading, take a moment and let me quickly explain a few misconceptions you might have (at least, I know I had them).

  • I thought doTERRA had inflated pricing. Not at all. (you'll read more about that below)
  • I thought if I signed up for a wholesale account with doTERRA, I'd be pressured to sell. That couldn't be further from the truth. 80% of the people who sign up to purchase wholesale oils don't sell the oils. But it is always an opportunity open to you if you decide you love oils and can't keep them to yourself.
  • I thought I'd have to purchase a lot of products I didn't need every month. Nope. There are not minimum purchases required to receive wholesale pricing.
So...Why DID I Chose dōTERRA?

1. Quality & Testing
  • The #1 reason I decided to go with dōTERRA is their dedication to quality and rigorous testing. The more I read about the quality of different oils the more they kept sticking out to me.
  • dōTERRA goes above and beyond with the testing of their oils. They have them tested by third parties to make sure their oils are not adulterated. They have a third party perform 7 tests on each liter of their oils—and those tests are repeated 3 times each!
  • In order to get the highest quality oils possible, they work directly with independent farmers, sourcing their oils from all over the world. This is important because qualities like soil and climate impact the chemical profile of essential oils. Most of the time, they need to source oils outside of the US. For example, lavender grown in the US will have a very different chemical profile (one much less therapeutic) than lavender grown in the Swiss Alps of France.
2. Cost
  • One of my misconceptions was that a big company like dōTERRA was too expensive.
  • But then I actually took the time to sit down for a few hours and do an oil-by-oil price comparison. I compared a couple smaller oil companies with dōTERRA prices, taking into account the yearly subscription fee. Because wholesale members get discounted prices, I was delighted to find the prices were comparable.
  • What's more, dōTERRA has some really cool ways they reward their loyal customers with free products and product credits. Eventually, if you place monthly order you can earn back as much as 30% of your money towards free products. That adds up fast. I earn lots of free oils each month!
3. Service and Support
  • I have nothing but positive things to say about dōTERRA's customer service. I have had to contact them a couple of times in my initial few months of buying from them—just because I'm a newbie and had newbie questions.
  • Recently I totally screwed up an order. I meant to take advantage of one of their buy 2 get 1 free sales, and I didn't add it to my cart correctly. When my order arrived, I realized what I did. It was 100% my fault for not paying attention. Guess what? They sent me the free oils anyhow. I love companies who go above and beyond for their customers!
  • They are absolutely amazing. I love their online chat feature I can use when logged into my account. I get answers to my questions STAT.
If you'd like to join as a wholesale member or are just interested in trying out one or two oils I'd love to talk more with you. Just email me and I'd be happy to answer any questions you have!

PS: I'm running a special for those of you who are just getting started with essential oils. I'd love to bless you with some extra goodies to go along with your essential oils.

When you buy one of the doTERRA enrollment kits, I'll send you a few complimentary products that I've found useful in getting started. This will include several of the products that make using essential oils easy peasy as well as a reference book that will help you get off the ground using your oils! Because whats the point of oils if you don't know what to do with them?

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.

Saturday, August 26, 2017

Helping My Mother

Two years ago my mother was diagnosed with Cirrhosis of the liver. She has been hospitalized several times, on more than one occasion our family was told to be prepared for losing her. My mother is very cynical and was not interested in allowing me to help her with my oils in the beginning. I made her up roller bottles and left them with instructions but she wouldn't use them. After her last stay in the ICU she finally allowed me to try my oils with her.

Laying in the hospital bed, swollen and full of fluid, she was up to 180lbs. Her tiny, frail body was being crushed by the weight and sheer volume of fluid that had accumulated in her abdomen. She normally weighs in around 130lbs. She had 50lbs of fluid on her abdomen. She was in so much pain and she was scared, we all were. I went to the hospital and I called Kay when I pulled into the parking lot. I explained what was going on with my mom and she gave me some tips to try and help her. I also checked in my Modern Essentials and The Essential Life book and it concurred with what Kay had recommended. Armed with knowledge and hope I headed into my mother's room. She had compression bandages on her legs to help with the swelling and prevent blood clots. We removed the bandages and I massaged her feet and legs with a layering technique using Frankincense, Myrrh, Lemongrass, Helichrysum, Bergamot and Roman Chamomile, all diluted in fractionated coconut oil. I chose these oils due to their properties for helping heal the liver, detox the body and diuretic abilities. I repeated the foot massage a few hours later before I left. I also left a blend for my dad to apply as I had shown him. My mother came home from the hospital 2 days later, after the doctors had told us not to expect her to come home at all. They also told us she probably wouldn't make it 30 days. That was about 4 months ago.

My mother's health is improving, she's feeling better, she's walking without assistance. She's back down to her normal weight of about 130lbs. She uses her roller bottles with the blends I have made up for her. And the diffuser I gave her for Christmas this year, well it's always on when I go visit her now. We have an appointment next week to meet with a specialist to get her on the transplant list. Something the doctors told us would never happen, they never believed she would make it long enough to receive a transplant.


I can't prove that the essential oils helped my mother. I can see the correlation from the time she allowed me to use my oils with her to the dramatic improvement in her health. The fact that she is using them tells me that they are helping her. She's not one to "humor me" by going along with the oil use, if she didn't feel better using them, she wouldn't.

I am cautiously hopeful that my mother will see our son grow up, something that wasn't going to happen a few short months ago.

If you have a story of how essential oils have helped you please share it with me below in the comments.

If you would like to learn more about using essential oils or how they could help your family please reach out to me. I want to share what I have learned to help others keep their mothers around to see their grand babies grow up.



I highly recommend both of these books to anyone using essential oils.






Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Sourcing doTERRA Nepalese Wintergreen Essential Oil

One of the reasons I choose to work with doTERRA, besides the quality of their oils, is the hearts behind this company.  I love that this company helps the people from all of the areas that they source their oils from.





The partnership between dōTERRA and the hard-working Wintergreen harvesters in Nepal is an exciting Co-Impact Sourcing initiative for dōTERRA, but made the devastating news of the 2015 Nepal earthquake even harder to hear. However, through the remarkable response of Wellness Advocates across the world, the dōTERRA Healing Hands Foundation was able to support the Nepalese people in their time of need. Watch how the generosity of the dōTERRA community influenced individuals in Nepal after the earthquake struck.

Saturday, August 19, 2017

Essential Oils for the Itchy Dog

Of all the questions I get from pet owners about Essential Oils
and their pets this would be the topic that comes up most often.
Everyone wants to know what they can do
for their Itchy Dog.


Chamomile: This soothing floral essential oil is a great solution for itchy skin.
Irritated skin that is dry and itchy will immediately calm down once you apply this healing oil.


Sandalwood: A powerful anti-ager and skin supportive oil. It helps skin retain moisture, calms dilated capillaries and provides relief from inflammation and tension. In addition to treating and reducing itching sandalwood also supports acne, rosacea, dry skin, insect bites and scar tissue.


Lemon: This healing oil contains anti-fungal, antibacterial, and antiseptic properties that will kill any itch-inducing bacteria on the skin. Lemon essential oil works great on its own, or for a powerhouse
anti-itching blend, mix with peppermint and lavender essential oil.


Lavender: Provides excellent anti-inflammatory and antiseptic qualities for the treatment of itchy skin. It reduces swelling, redness and hydrates skin – reducing dry skin conditions, rashes and sunburns. In addition to soothing irritation it also speeds up the healing process. Also, if bug bites are the cause of your pet’s itchiness then make sure to keep your lavender on hand as it’s a great insect repellent!


Geranium: If you’re pet is suffering from itchy bug bites or needs a natural insect repellent, this floral essential oil is for you. This anti-inflammatory oil calms down irritated skin while its regenerating properties encourage the growth of healthy new skin cells. Geranium essential oil also helps expedite the healing process of wounds and skin irritations.


Peppermint: This cooling oil will help stop the itch immediately. This minty oil is a pain reliever, anti-septic, and anti-inflammatory, addressing many skin conditions that can lead to irritating itching. Those suffering from some rashes and redness will find that peppermint essential oil takes care
of these problems lickety split. This soothing oil is also great for taking care of skin irritations associated with poison ivy and poison oak.


Juniper: Juniper essential oil is an anti-inflammatory that is great for treating skin conditions. This healing essential oil will help get rid of those dry, itchy patches of skin on the double.


Rosemary: This essential oil is another great remedy for a dry, itchy coat. This fragrant, woodsy essential oil is an effective antifungal and antibacterial, killing any microbes responsible for itchy,
inflammation of sensitive skin. Add a couple drops of this anti-itch oil to your pet’s shampoo to
help promote a lustrous mane and a healthy integument. Rosemary essential oil also help heal rough patches of skin and reduces the scaly appearance characteristic of dermatitis. If you want to prevent the possibility of itchy bug bites, rosemary essential oil is a great alternative insect repellant.


Myrrh: Containing powerful healing properties, myrrh oil soothes itchy, chapped and cracked skin.
Myrrh is also effective for fungal infections like ringworm and thrush.


Melaleuca: Tea tree contains a variety of anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-septic and anti-inflammatory benefits making it a potent skin healer. It’s great for itching, insect bites, blisters and burns.

Depending on what your pet is experiencing you can mix the appropriate oils in a blend with your favorite carrier oil and spray the affected area. Make sure you dilute appropriately. 

Itchiness accompanied by a skin condition or any other abnormality should be checked out by your pet’s veterinarian.



How My Journey Started


My journey with essential oils began the summer of 2016. My husband became ill very suddenly and dramatically. He was in so much pain, was having swelling in his hands and legs, couldn’t eat and was so tired all the time.
Several doctors’ visits and 2nd and 3rd opinions. The doctors ruled out Lyme disease among other things and finally settled on an autoimmune disease, though they couldn’t decide exactly which one. They decided the best option for treatment was high doses of steroids. I work in medicine, veterinary medicine mind you, but I know the effects of high dose steroid use and long term steroid use on my patients. I was not willing to see my husband go down that road, especially without a definitive diagnosis.




So, I reached out to my friend Kay, God rest her soul. She helped me, she spoke with me about my husband’s symptoms and we came up with a plan to try using doTERRA essential oils.  He started using the oils along with a nutritional supplement and within a month he was back to 90% and in 2 months he was 100% himself again. It was at that point that I decided that maybe these oils really are as amazing as I had heard. 

Now we implement them in our daily lives. My son loves them, he wants them in his diffuser every night, any time he has a boo boo or a belly ache he wants to be there with me as I choose which oils would be best to help him. If you are interested in learning more about essential oils and the amazing things they can do for your family follow along with me on my journey as I share with you what we are doing with our family and essential oils.


Friday, August 18, 2017

Essential Oil Case Review



This is a sponsored post that contains affiliate links.

This is the first essential oil case I ever bought. I love the color and the texture, a faux alligator pattern, on this case. This case holds 42 of the 15ml size bottles and 10 of the 5ml or roller bottle sized bottles, however the smaller slots do not hold the oils as tight as the 15ml slots.  The case has a hard cover, double zipper and foam inserts. My doTERRA bottles fit perfectly in this case and were well protected. There is a handle on the top of the case but I admittedly did not carry this case around by the handle often when it was full of oils because it could be quite heavy. It hasn't shown any signs of breaking but I didn't want to chance it. The only reason I changed cases is because I ran out of room with this case, but I do still use it on my dresser for my extra oils. It's a beautiful and functional case that I would recommend to anyone interested in it.



Although this post is sponsored, all opinions are my own. 
This post contains affiliate links,
which means I will receive compensation if you
purchase this case using the link above.

My First Blog Post!

Thank you so much for checking out my blog!

I am so excited to go on this journey with you.

I will use this blog to share my Essential Oil journey and I hope that I will be able to provide information and experiences with you.

I have a Facebook page that I share with regularly and I am going to try and share regularly here as well.

https://www.facebook.com/ArchersAcresEssentialOils/

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