ESSENTIAL OIL SAFETY - DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW?

Recently I was introduced to a closed Facebook group about Essential Oil (E.O.) use and MAN DID IT MAKE ME WANT TO SCREAM! Ok ... I’m calm now ... Some of the things said it this group are BEYOND unsafe. Such awful advice, against all the science of how E.O.s work, advice which could undo all the good of E.O.s and it made my skin crawl. What was worse was reading through the comments, “Barb - check this out - she totally knows what she’s talking about!” “I didn’t know I could do that! Cool!” NO YOU CAN’T AND SHOULDN’T!

Ok . . . I’m calm now . . . So I’m not going to go into a bunch of details about safety here because, the truth is, if you are truly into safety, there is SO much material out there, it’s not hard to find. But in my line of work what I see most is “clogged” filters - organs being sluggish and creating all sorts of havoc in the body. Kidneys, liver, spleen, skin - these filters need to be cleaned regularly or your body begins to have worse and worse allergies, hives, food sensitivities, stomach problems, gallbladder issues. With the improper use of E.O.s these issues can be exacerbated and you’d never know it was how you’re using E.O.s. Can you imagine doing harm to yourself or your child because you were told it was safe to do something, only to find out their body was being overworked and is breaking down because of what you are doing? If you are told something is safe, if you’re told you can use this blend on a child, if you are being told an E.O. is detoxifying you, if you are told you can diffuse for long periods of time or around animals, if you are told you can use an oil “neat” on the skin, if you are told you can ingest an oil* (BTW - if they are recommending ingesting but they are not licensed to prescribe RUN, unfollow or block) - RESEARCH, RESEARCH RESEARCH!! Do NOT believe that person, just because. Who is paying that person to “educate” you? Where is their bread being buttered? Why are they advising something NO other aromatherapy course advises around the world?

*BTW - I am not against ingesting oils on the rare occasion, when topical use is contraindicated for a condition, when you are safeguarding your internal tissue (i.e. not in water) and when you are taking something to help your liver with the extra load you are giving it. But I’m not licensed so you’d better believe I don’t tell clients to do it.

I haven’t even mentioned my 2nd trigger yet. I met Lea Jacobsen through a marketing course and began following her page (link below) and there were a couple of posts that were contrary to what I had been taught (or more like “led to believe”) that aren’t true either! So when I saw those posts, I dove deep and did research and by golly, she was right! HUH! I’ve been working with E.O.s for over 30 years, I’ve been custom blending for years and I took a Level 1 Aromatherapy Certification course as well as it being part of my Holistic Healthcare Practitioner course - so I’m not uneducated about E.O.s. But we just don’t know what we don’t know. It’s SO important to be open-minded and continue to be educated and read, read, read. Especially if we are advising others how to use something as powerful as E.O.s.

I BEG you to follow these Facebook pages and I BEG you to keep an open mind. You don’t have to agree with everything being said but learn from them and do better when you see fit. Keep in mind that MOST of us have been told false and harmful information and it’s OUR job to research and keep our family safe:

1) Using EOs Safely I believe this is a MUST FOLLOW page! I am learning so much from this page 2) Tisserand Institute - Gold Standard Education. You can learn SO MUCH from him & his wife. 3) And Jennifer is the VP of NAHA (National Association of Aromatherapists) & where I received my certification: JennScents 4) EO Consumer Reports He offers 3rd party testing of oils on the market. VERY strict group so I don’t comment much. But it’s helpful to see when oils I use fail for some reason (doTerra or Young Living. He hasn’t tested the other 2 brands I use). I think it’s great to have a 3rd party testing all sorts of brands. 5) Essential Oil University This guy is a little too sciency for me usually but I do pick up some good info when I peruse his page.

Some articles I found really useful:

1) Undiluted Application of Essential Oils 2) What We Learned in France about French Aromatherapy 3) How to Use Essential Oils Safely 4) NAHA Safety Information

And please let me know what you find as you research! Let’s spread the word about the wonders of E.O.s while keeping ourselves and our families safe.