Essential Oils

xandriarain

Is anyone else obsessed with essential oils, or is it just me? When the pandemic first started, when it was still just news stories, my grandmother told me to get thyme and oregano essential oils and diffuse them because they have antiviral properties and would protect me from covid. Even though I thought it was silly, I did as she said and diffused them about once or twice. I got my office space nearly a year later and thought the diffuser might be an excellent addition. I realized I needed more essential oils, and it wasn't long before I became obsessed with collecting them. It's like playing pokemon where I gotta catch em all. If you are not crazy about essential oils, is there anything else you obsessively collect?

Disclaimer: I am not an aromatherapist; I enjoy the way they smell

Hollydollhugs

I am fascinated by essential oils also. My oldest daughter when she was about 10 had a stomach virus. So sick to her stomach. I had an essential oil that her grand aunt had given us called “di-gize” I rubbed it on her stomach and within 10 minutes she was able to rest and went to sleep with no more issues. I always kept that on hand. Oregano oil is a very powerful anti viral I have used as a tea many times.

Travismo

You know, as much as I’ve heard people talk about essential oils, I didn’t actually know what they were until this very post. Now I want some, as smell is my favorite sense and filling my home with a new one every week or so would be pretty cool.
I do enjoy collecting things in general, both physical and intangible, and I maintain a modest library of books and DVDs, with a couple shelves on the bottom for VHS tapes.

xandriarain

@Tranquilescape That's amazing; it sounds like a blend you used on your daughter. I mainly use essential oils for diffusing in my office but would like to experiment with other uses at home. I have some duplicates at home, but it's nowhere near as big as my office collection. They are a great alternative to scented candles/ air fresheners. (I was previously addicted to scented candles)

@Travismo You should try it out; just make sure to go for high-quality brands. Many cheaper essential oils are diluted or adulterated even though they claim to be pure. My favorite brand is Plant Therapy because they are reasonably priced and not an MLM like Doterra and Young living. You can also try Eden's Garden or Rocky Mountain Oils. I am sure there are others, but that's what I can think of on the top of my head.

MissAdventurous

With 3 kitties I have to be very careful with what aromatherapy oils I use, some can make animals really ill.

Otherwise I love them 🙂

TheMidnightOwl

I love them, too.

I have some my mom gave me and use lavender on wool balls instead of dryer sheets, but I'm in love with your oil organization!

MCcuddles2

I always use them before a cuddle. It's nicer for my partners.

Mela_B

I grew up with the scent of eucalyptus. My grandmother always had eucalyptus oil and eucalyptus flowers in her house, and I grew up with that scent as part of my life, so now I associate it with comfort. 💜

TheFunCartel

use lavender on wool balls

Just tried it and I have to say it stings.

HoneyB94

My sister is absolutely obsessed I have to say her collection isn’t as big , but I usually just stick with candles , but there are so many cute diffusers that I actually might start using them !! Besides lavender any scent suggestions?

Hollydollhugs

Someone just told me yesterday that Bath and Body’ Works scented oils, candles and body washes come with warning labels on them from the chemicals that they have. Essential oils are a natural alternative, as long as you or no one in your home has a sensitivity. I like orange and lemon to make me feel energized and it’s a fresh clean scent.

cookiecrumb

Not a collector of essential oils myself, but I do enjoy them occasionally. I quite like your rope shelf. Is that wool? hemp?

DaringSprinter

Essential oils are fine and all (just be careful with them around pets), and I like the smell of the Thieves blend—but what I really love are books. Oh, books. I can never get enough of you, my papery friends.

...I do need more bookcases, though.

Babichev

I’m distressed by the explosion in the popularity of EOs for a number of reasons. In no particular order:

The claims made about them are mostly unsupportable. For instance, thyme oil may be antiviral in a Petri dish and there are even some disinfectants that use it as one of their active ingredients but there’s no reason to think that inhaling it will have any effect on whether one catches a virus or not. Think about bleach. It kills viruses on surfaces but drinking it will not kill viruses in your body nor will inhaling it. It might, however, kill you or damage your respiratory system.

The environmental impact is a disaster. This is one of the things that distresses me the most that people rarely consider. It takes anywhere from hundreds to thousands of pounds of raw material to make one pound of EO. Think about that - the waste generated & the energy used in the distillation process.

https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/the_environmental_impact_of_essential_oils/

Fraud is rampant in the EO industry and always has been. Think of it. If it takes hundreds of pounds of lavender to make a pound of lavender oil and the crop fails . . . This happened a number of years ago and a European organization tested samples of lavender oil being sold in Europe. Every Single Sample was adulterated. Here in the U.S. a group of aromatherapists pooled their money and had samples of EOs from thirteen companies and all but two were adulterated. That probably includes your favorite “seed to seal” company, too. Yes, your favorite “quality” brand is probably adulterating at least some of their EOs. There is no regulation and, time after time, when independent analysis of popular essential oils from “reputable” companies is done, adulteration has been found to be common.

A number of EO companies have been caught trafficking in endangered species including one popular MLM.

The popularity of EOs has pushed a number of plants into endangered status, particularly frankincense. Frankincense trees are being threatened from overtapping.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/frankincense-trees-declining-overtapping

The number of poisonings of children, pets, and even adults as increased due to the increasing use of EOs. Just because EOs are “natural” does not mean they are not toxic. Some are extremely toxic if ingested. The most common EOs in poisonings include eucalyptus, lavender, and cloves. Babies that have had eucalyptus oil applied to their skin as an insect deterrent have gotten poisoned from absorption through the skin. One young female athlete got poisoned from applying too much wintergreen ointment to her skin on a daily basis. They are extremely concentrated and can cause a chemical burn to the skin when applied undiluted, another unsafe practice promoted by some MLMs.

Some companies that sell EOs (I’m looking at you, MLMs) promote dangerous and unsafe practices. A woman I know was urged by one of her friends to ingest EOs daily while she was pregnant. Fortunately, neither she nor her baby suffered any ill effect but it is not safe to ingest EOs nor is it safe to apply most EOs undiluted to the skin.

EOs are not without their hazards. There is a case report on PubMed of an aromatherapist who had to get rid of her furniture and tear the plaster from the walls after using an aroma lamp for a year. She developed a sensitivity to a number of EOs and everything in her home had become saturated with them. Prolonged exposure can lead to the development of an allergic reaction and is an occupational hazard for massage therapists, aromatherapists, and others who handle them regularly.

I’ve been discouraging the frivolous use of EOs for years because of the environmental and health consequences of their growing popularity. As a massage therapist, they are a constant presence in my field. For people like myself who have sensitivities it limits where we can go, where we can work. I finally ended up in an office by myself because of coworkers who insisted on using them in spite of that they were causing me to have problems with migraines and asthma. As a result, I opened a fragrance-free office.

I am not going to chastise any specific individual for enjoying them. However, I don’t think most people think about the environmental impact, are unaware of the massive fraud in the industry, and are unaware of the potential hazards.

There are few reliable sources for information about EOs. Some that I recommend:

Robert Tisserand, probably the most well known in the field of aromatherapy, is a voice of reason in a field full of crazy. His book on Essential Oil Safety is a great resource.

Dr. Pappas, a chemist with an interest in EOs, is another reliable resource.

MCcuddles2

@Babichev I always enjoy your unfiltered take on things. I learned something today about the environmental impact of these oils.

Babichev

That made me laugh. Yep, that’s me, unfiltered.

xandriarain

@Babichev I was not aware of the environmental impact that essential oils had. I do try to stay away from cheap, fake brands and MLMs. My favorite brand is plant therapy. I never really thought the thyme and oregano were going to protect me from covid (my grandmother is crazy). For me it a fun alternative to scented candles and love diffuser recipes and creating unique scent combinations. Also they are in my office where there are no pets or children.

cuddleNsqueeze

@xandriarain I used essential oils to help me concentrate when I was in labor and I felt that it helped me, amongst other techniques, to get through it without an epidural.
However, I have read up on them @Babichev, and so I do not use them regularly because I realize that the ones that are good quality are pricey and there is still no guarantee that they won't be toxic.

Babichev

For the record, I do have a few essential oils. It is a common practice to add a few drops of certain EOs high in terpenes to henna paste, it helps to darken the stain. Interestingly, all the henna artists I’ve encountered in online forums unanimously agree that the EOs from the MLMs are overpriced and not of good quality. You can fool people’s noses but you can’t fake a henna stain. They are used sparingly.