22 April 2013

Essential Oils: Lavender



I'm kind of new to the essential oil craze, my first experience being with lavender. I say "kind of" because I've actually been using lavender oil for a couple of years, but only picked up a few of the other oils in the last few months. My first experience with lavender oil happened when I was pregnant with Cameron. I had been to baseball game with my family, and despite being sufficiently lathered with sun screen, was burnt to a not so nice shade of lobster. I tried putting every sunburn remedy I've herd of or googled on my skin. I killed and entire aloe plant, lathered on yogurt, bathed in buttermilk, sprayed on stinky sprays, and picked up a few other drug store concoctions. I would find relief for a few minutes, then back to pain. A couple of days after acquiring the burn I was at an evening church service where someone said, "I've got an oil for that." She gave me a small bottle and I proceeded to sprinkle way to much of it on the red areas.  Ahh, relief. I was sure the pain would be back soon, but I was pain free for the rest of the night. The next morning I it was sensitive to the touch, but I wasn't exactly in pain anymore. The skin was still red, but didn't hurt.

I spent several hours that day searching the town for more lavender oil with no luck (I now know you can find it in the health and beauty aids sections of Whole Foods, Giant Eagle, and Raisin Rack). The friend that had allowed me to use her oil actually sold oils through doterra, I would come to find that several of the women in my church did so at the time. I ordered a bottle, I didn't want to chance ever getting a sun burn again without it.

It sat in my cabinet for a few weeks, then I came across a diaper wipes solution recipe to use with cloth diapers. So, when Cameron was born I started using it in my wipes. A few months later I was given a suggestion to use it for diaper rash. I developed a rash on my arm and decided to see what would happen if I put some of lavender oil on it. Soon it was time for another bottle of this miracle oil. This was the point I decided google what else this oil could do. I went through the second bottle much, much quicker than the first. I was loving the oil, but at about $30 for 1/2 an ounce... well, I had to either find it cheaper or stop using it so much. I was using a little over one of those 1/2 ounce bottles at a time.

I had been using lavender oil for about a year. This was about the time I put some on a friend's son that was staying at our house for a few days. He had developed a rash that was responding to nothing and had been to the doctor several times. My friend was amazed at how well the oil worked and actually knew where to get 4 ounces of it (in a different brand) for the price I had spent on 1/2 an ounce. I have to say I was amazed when her MUCH cheaper her oil was and it worked just as well as my doterra. Don't get wrong, I love my doterra selling friends & want to support their businesses, but 8X the price is just a little more than I can logically do on a regular basis.

With my current pregnancy (update: DO NOT USE LAVENDER OIL WHILE PREGNANT! See warning below) I actually crave the smell of lavender oil. I've found putting it on my feet before I go to bed at night is the only way I can get more than a couple of hours sleep at a time at this point. Last night I slept a miraculous 6 hours.

I purchased a few more oils when winter respiratory nastiness entered our home this year and being pregnant, there isn't much that is safe to treat those bugs with. I now generally purchase the NOW brand of essential oils from amazon. A 4 ounce bottle of lavender oil runs around the $20 mark. Some of the other essential oils our family has tried are eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary, and tea tree. I've liked them all. I've ordered and am waiting for frankincense, clary sage, and geranium oils to come in.

***Important warning: After having Ember, I found I had postpartum pre-eclampsia (total nightmare).  Using lavender oil while pregnant can hide pre-eclampsia by reducing it's symptoms. This is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS! DO NOT USE LAVENDER OIL WHILE PREGNANT!
Check out the post on
Essential Oils: Cleaning and Sanitizing Spray (here)
Essential Oils: Eucalyptus (here)

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