Summer Essentials
Challenges:
Sunburns, chapped lips, bug bites, cooking burns, cuts, scrapes and more, are challenges that many face during the summer season. So before you head to the lake, pool, backyard or campground, think about protecting yourself and family with essential oil travel kit items that includes: Lip Balm, Throat Drops, Insect Repellant, and more.
Repel Insects:
Clove, Lavender, Lemongrass, Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Rosemary, Thyme, and White Fir are all essential oils that will deter insects. For an All-In-One Deterrent, try Repellant Blend: an all-natural formula of therapeutic-grade essential oils blended in a base of pure Fractionated Coconut Oil. It can be used safely by everyone in the family. One application provides coverage that lasts up to 6 hours.
Beat the Heat:
The hot sun can zap your energy and leave your skin traumatized. Create a soothing mist by adding 40 drops of Lavender, 15 drops of Peppermint, and 5 drops of Roman Chamomile to 3 ounces of water in a spray bottle. Shake to mix and lightly mist over the skin.
Fractionated Coconut Oil is a feather light emollient that provides a soothing barrier without clogging pores. It is ideal for combining with essential oils for topical therapies and is completely soluble with all essential oils: odorless, colorless, and non-staining.
Overexposure to sun can cause headaches. Tension Blend eases muscle tension in the head & neck, reduces stress & worry. It also soothes the mind and calms the emotions.
Lakes and rivers (fresh water):
While you may not encounter lots of chlorine, you could certainly encounter many other hazardous chemicals and bacteria found in our many lakes and rivers. Make sure swimmers and water skiers fortify their immune system and use essential oils known to combat bacteria and fungus before and after swimming. Protective Blend and Lavender are great choices to support ones immune system before and after a day of swimming. Carry Chewable essential oil supplements with you in an ice cooler for an energy recharge during the day and replace essential nutrients lost thru sweating.
Oceans (salt water):
Similar to fresh water (depending upon where you choose to swim), you may concern yourself more with dry skin, cuts from small shells and critters in the water. Use Lavender over areas of concern.
Cuts and Boo-Boos:
Rinse with purified water, apply a few drops of Cleansing Blend, Lavender (soothing) and/or Geranium. Bandage if needed and to protect. Protective Blend, Melaleuca, Thyme, Geranium, Lavender, and Cleansing Blend will guard against staph or MRSA which is found in many lakes, rivers and streams. It can enter the body through a blister, small scrape, and any opening of the skin.
Pools:
It could be a pool in your backyard or the local recreation center, but one thing is for sure – you are probably swimming in chlorinated water. Knowing that our skin absorbs water like a sponge we need to take precautions when swimming in a chlorinated pool to minimize the absorption of chlorine into our body. Chlorine can cause problems with the thyroid gland. More immediate problems can be nausea and vomiting, let alone the lingering chlorine smell. There are skin protecting products on the market which really do work, BUT – they work by using chemicals that temporarily bond to the surface of the skin and act as a barrier preventing the chlorine or other petrochemicals from entering the bloodstream. Below is a more natural approach to this problem.
Protect yourself from chlorinated pools:
1. To prevent the chlorine from entering the pores on the skin, use fractionated coconut oil as you would a body lotion. Only a small amount is needed. You do not have to be “greasy” to be protected. A quick water rinse before entering a pool (which is usually required) will not wash off the product.
2. A charcoal or pectin based product will absorb toxins in the body, this includes activated charcoal or Trimshake meal replacement – both of which absorb many times their weight in toxins.
3. Adults – Protect the thyroid from harmful contaminants, such as chlorine with daily supplements. Quality whole food supplements support healthy cell proliferation and lifespan as well as mitochondrial energy production.
Hot Tubs:
To keep your hot tubs clear, clean and protected. Use Protective Blend, Geranium, and Cleansing Blend.. Directions: Drop 1 to 3 drops of Geranium into the filter area, not into the hot tub itself, each time you get in the tub (of course this depends on how much it is used…don’t over use the oils because they will cause the PH to go up and will turn a little milky.
Then use 2 to 4 drops of Protective Blend about once a week to help take care of scum, virus, bacteria, fungus and etc. and run through a cleaning cycle. They both make the hot tub smell great and add to the relaxation of the hot water and ‘bubbles’. Using the oils help to keep the hot tub clear, even after not using for months at a time. It keeps the PH up and the Alkalinity in line. And if you should use a chemical such as Bromine or Chlorine and then drop the oils into the filter area and turn it on for a few minutes, the oils will neutralize the chemicals.
It is recommended on a new hot tub that you add the proper amount of chemicals recommended by the manufacture to make sure that all the pipes, tubes, jets and etc are cleaned out good. Then you can start using the Essential Oils. Using your test strips, check to see that the readings are up where they should be, then add the oils and run for a little while, then test the water again and you will see that the PH and Alkalinity will be up but the Bromine or Chlorine will be clear…no color on the strip…this means that the oils have neutralized the chemical and you are safe to enter the tub. Use, experiment, and enjoy your therapeutic hot tub experience.
DIRECTIONS: Add everything except zinc oxide in a medium glass mixing bowl. Fill a medium saucepan with a couple inches of water and place over medium heat. Place the glass bowl on top of the saucepan so that the saucepan is cradling the bowl. As the ingredients start to melt, stir occasionally to mix. When all ingredients are completely incorporated, add the zinc oxide and stire well to mix. Pour into a pint-sized tin or mason jar and store in a cool place. Use within six months.
Make Your Own Time-Saver Sunscreen
1 tube unscented hand & body lotion
12 drops of Helichrysum essential oil
2 tablespoons of non-nano zinc oxide
DIRECTIONS: Add ingredients to a 8 – 10 ounce empty lotion bottle and mix well by either stirring the mixture with a straw of shaking vigorously.
Zinc Oxide:
Zinc Oxide can absorb ultraviolet radiation of sun and protect the damaging effects of UV radiation. Because it absorbs the broadest spectrum of ultraviolet radiation, the FDA has approved its use in sunscreen, lotions, creams, makeup, deodorants, soaps, and more.
Zinc assists in the growth and repair of skin tissue and acts as a broad spectrum UV (A, B, C) deflector. Make sure your multi- vitamin contains zinc – I recommend a whole food daily supplement.
Soothing Sunburns:
Lavender After Sun Spray: Mix 20 drops of Lavender essential oil with 1 ounce of aloe vera juice in a spray bottle. Store in the refrigerator.
Apple Cider Vinegar: Eases the discomfort of sunburn pain, itching, and inflammation. 1 cup in a cool bath helps with whole body sunburns.
Fractionated Coconut Oil: (FCO) is great for adding moisture to scorched skin and combining with essential oils. Add 15 drops of essential oil (either Lavender, Melaleuca, or Roman Chamomile) to 2 ounces of FCO in a container and mix.
Heat Stroke – Avoid It:
Staying well hydrated is probably the most important step in avoiding heat stroke. Your body loses water to evaporation, breathing and sweating. There are also some people who do not sweat, which is also the action of cooling the body so these people can also be at risk for over- heating. Stay cool by adding Peppermint to your drinking water – one to two drops per 16 ounces water. Have a misting bottle of water and peppermint oil to spray on face, with eyes closed, arms, legs, back of neck, etc.
Peppermint mist recipe:
2 ounces purified water, 4 drops Peppermint oil. Shake and spray. Recipe may be doubled for larger spray bottles. Lavender can also be added. Both are refreshing on a hot day, even if you are just doing errands.
Essential Activity:
1. Go through your medicine cabinet and read the ingredients of all of your “summer” products. Ditch the toxic sunscreens and the petroleum based products.
2. Make a list of the drinks you purchase and prepare in the summer time. How much sugar is in them? Are they brightly colored with dyes? Determine the amount of money you spend on beverages each month.
3. Switch from popular brightly colored electrolyte drinks to a refreshing glass of pure water flavored with a citrus essential oil.
4. Make a list of products that you can stop purchasing – because you now know that they are not healthy for consumption by way of topical application or ingestion.
5. Consider “transfer buying” to save your health & money. Contact me to learn more about the high quality products that I choose.
Essential Oil Disclaimer:
I only use essential oils from the true leading essential oil company in the world – doTERRA. Based on personal experience and scientific knowledge, it is even more dangerous to inhale and impure essential oil, than it is to ingest and apply it. I once got headaches from essential oils that claimed to be therapeutic grade from a company who claimed to be the world leader in essential oils. Those essential oils proved to be fragrance oils, as over time, I developed fragrance toxicity.
A true certified pure therapeutic grade essential oil will not make you feel any level of dis-ease. As the marketplace becomes flooded with essential oil companies who make untrue claims, please be mindful of what you bring into your homes. The energy of impurity is simply not healthy for the energy of you or your home. Keep it simple, keep it pure, choose well, choose doTERRA for safety, purity, and results that work like magic. I am living proof. Remember, happy, healthy, and free is your birthright and smart choices equals vitality plus success.
We have a pool and hot tub and I would like to switch to essential oils for cleaning and sanitizing. You mention “Use Protective Blend, Geranium, and Cleansing Blend”
Is the “protective Blend” the doTERRA OnGuard?
Is the “cleansing Blend” the doTERRA Purify or do you use another brand?
Hello Carol, Yes, I use doTERRA and both blends you mentioned are correct. My friend has used these in her hot tub and has had much success.