essential oils, a basic introduction

ive been recently sucked in to the world of essential oils and all they have to offer.
essential oils are the volatile liquids that are distilled from plants. when using essential oils for personal health and wellness, as i'm doing with my family, its important to use the purest oil possible. anything i state on here about oils and what they can be used for, is done only with Young Living Essential Oils. i do not recommend using anything else. this is based on reviews ive read and research ive done.
the trouble with oils is that they are not regulated by the FDA, so there is currently no standard for quality control. anyone can walk into sprouts, whole foods, or their local grocery store and get a bottle of essential oil that will most likely claim to be "pure," maybe even "therapeutic-grade." based on what, though?
i've found a couple of different articles noting what the standard is for a company to label their oil "pure", and the percentage has ranged from 3% to 10%. either way, its not pure.
this is why i can go to the health and wellness department at my local grocery store and buy a bottle of frankincense, one of the most expensive oils, for less than $20. the real stuff, 100% pure frankincense is about $100. quite a jump in price, but you get what you pay for.

so if what you're buying at the store is only 3-10% pure, what else is in there???
carrier oil: such as grapeseed, vegetable oil, etc.
synthetic oil: an artificial oil made to mimic the real thing
pesticides: often sprayed in large amounts on crops
petrochemicals: nasty stuff; found in a lot of cleaners, cosmetics, plastics, etc.

essential oils, in their purest form are organic. they come straight from the earth that God created, and if they're grown and processed correctly and with care, they are our best resource for our overall health.
there are close to 200 references to essential oils in the Bible; frankincense, myrrh, rosemary, hyssop, and spikenard, to name a handful. these were used for anointing and healing the sick.

i find it fascinating that God provided these oils thousands of years ago for the healing of our bodies, minds, and spirits, and theyre still available for us today. i completely believe there is a place for modern medicine. doctors work so hard to get where they are and most are very good at what they do.
however, in my opinion, modern medicine isnt always the best option. pills and injections and syrups have so many chemicals and compounds in them, that a lot of times while they're 'fixing' one problem, they're causing others.

drugs are engineered to solve a specific problem.

i get a headache, so i take 400mg of ibuprofen. i may only need 300mg, though, and so the other 100mg gets stored in my body as a toxin, or its used anyway and my body begins to develop a resistance to the drug.

essential oils are living. they're not created in a lab for one purpose only.
for example, if i use myrtle oil to help alleviate a cough, my body will use what it needs for that purpose, and if theres any 'left-over' it will make itself useful; perhaps to fight off the beginnings of a UTI, or clear up my oily skin. if it looks around and doesnt have anywhere else to go, it gets flushed out of my system, not stored up over time.
every single oil has multiple uses. there are over 100 different uses for lavender, from allergies to laryngitis to sunburn.
i like to say that oils have side benefits, whereas pharmaceuticals have side-effects.

now, i'm not trashing my medicine cabinet. yet.
i have a prescription dependent condition, and take 2 medications daily. my son uses an inhaler and a nasal spray for asthma. over time, though, and under a doctors supervision, i hope to wean us off of the medications, and treat our conditions holistically.

BUT, i will be using oils for our day to day first aid; insect bites, scrapes, runny noses, insomnia, etc.

i know this is a lot of information, and i'm sure i left out a lot of what i wanted to say, but this will do for now.
my next post will be a few common oils and some of the things they can be used for.

if you have specific questions, please feel free to ask.
i'm a distributor for Young Living Essential Oils, and will be happy to order anything you'd like and ship it to you. you can click on the icon to the right to go to their website. my purpose in all of this, though, is not to make money off of you. i only want to share what i'm learning!!