Where do I Begin?

I wanted to write something addressing some of the most common asked questions I received, the most prevalent of which is "Where do I begin?".

To begin, you need to ask yourself some simple questions like:
- How is my family's and my own health?
- Do I want to use more health conscious personal care products?
- Should I be using more non-toxic household cleaners?

Looking at how to make you and your home healthier with natural products is what Young Living Essential Oils (YLEO) is all about. It is easy to start off small with a starter kit or by just using the nontoxic thieves cleaner. These will give you a great feel for what the whole line of young living can offer. If you love the smell of the oils, I can introduce you to a wonderful diffuser that will fill your house (or individual rooms) with a wonderful aroma and bacteria fighting scents of any oil you choose. There are also inexpensive lip balms that are available (a personal favorite of mine) as well as hand sanitizers and soaps from the Thieves line.

Here are some more questions I thought of that you could ask yourself and I would be happy to address for you:
- Do you get headaches a lot and don't like to take ibuprofen? If yes, peppermint could help with that.
- Do you get cuts, scrapes, burns, or bruises and want to use something natural? If yes, lavender could help with that.
- Do you have an upset stomach, heartburn or digestive problems? If yes, peppermint, digize, or alkalime could help with that.
- Do you have a need to use oils on your pet? YL has an animal scents line that would be great to use.
- Do you want your house to smell nice but do not want to use Glade Plug-Ins? If yes, any oil would be great. Especially, joy, lavender, thieves, or peace and calming along with a cold air diffuser.
- Do you smoke or have pets and want to get rid of the smell and not want to use Lysol or Febreeze? If yes, purification or thieves will help.
- Do you want to start trading out some of the toxic household cleaners for non-toxic ones? If yes, Thieves Household Cleaner would be great.
- Do you want to use a natural mosquito repellent instead of using deet? If yes, purification is a good choice.
- Do you want to build up your immune system during the cold and flu season? If yes, thieves, immupower, or Ningxia Red could help with that.
- Do you know of a child who could benefit from an organic line of personal care products? YL has a kids scents line that would be great to use.
- Do you get massages? Why not bring your own massage oils and reap the benefits of a therapeutic grade oil? Massage therapists don't mind using the oils that you bring in. You can either buy a pre-made massage oil that YL makes or you can create your own by mixing the oils that you want along with the V6 mixing oil.

Start with one or two things in mind and when you feel comfortable with that, then you can expand. Each oil has several uses. The top two oils that are very versatile are lavender and peppermint.

If you have a question about something specific (ailment or oil), I can look it up in the Essential Oils Desk Reference book and email you a snippet. I have a lot of brochures if you want anything specific. I have a blog and it can be found on my website. I have lots more to write about so, keep checking back.

Thank you for your time and I would love to hear back from you.

For more information: www.oilsforhealthyliving.net
www.youngliving.com

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Are Hand Sanitizers Good or Bad?

- Only 17 percent of Americans wash their hands after shaking hands — yet 51 percent wash them after sneezing or coughing.

- Only 33 percent of those who do wash their hands use soap. And only 16 percent really wash their hands long enough.

- Every three minutes, a child brings his hand to his nose or mouth. Every 60 seconds, a working adult touches as many as 30 objects.



Hand sanitizers are good to use if there is no soap and water available to kill bacteria.  It has to contain at least 60% alcohol in order to do the job.  It might say ethyl alcohol, ethanol, isopropanol or some other variation, and those are all fine.  They are not to be used to wash off dirt, blood, oil, food, etc...  Alcohol is easily absorbed by the skin.  Denatured alcohol is ethanol that has additives in it making it toxic.

Hand sanitizers will dry out your hands unless it has a moisturizer added to it.  On the other hand, some say that the alcohol is better for your hands than plain soap.

If it says that it will kill 99% of the bacteria, the other 1% will mutate into a more resistant bacteria becoming less effective over time.  On the other hand, some say that is not the case with hand sanitizers. 

Hand sanitizers either have alcohol, which is highly flammable, or triclosan in them.  Triclosan is known to be a pesticide and is not harmful to humans, but it hasn't been ruled out either.  Knowing this, kids are building up their immunities and don't necessarily need all of the bacteria off of them all the time.  Plus, they are more likely to stick their fingers in their mouth. 

Hand sanitizers kill the good bacteria as well as the bad bacteria.  Essential oils only kill the bad bacteria.  Hand sanitizers stop working once they evaporate (dry). 

Interesting facts about the Thieves Hand Purifier from Young Living Essential Oils (YLEO):
1.  It has denatured ethanol using peppermint essential oil (making it not as toxic).
2.  After the ethanol evaporates, the Thieves essential oil blend still remains on the skin (allowing it to have antibacterial properties longer).
3.  It contains aloe vera and vegetable glycerin (to moisturize the hands).



For more information: www.oilsforhealthyliving.net

What is your take on hand sanitizers?  Which brand will you use?