Basic Intro to Essential Oils...

Happy Saturday,

Maybe your sleeping in, maybe you're already up and at 'em as am I. Whichever is the case, it's Saturday!! I use this day to get as much done as possible so that I can do whatever I want on Sunday, be it rest, time with my kids, to read a book, to watch movies, to go play, whatever!!

It makes all the running around and all the "chores" on Saturday so worth it. I usually cook a big meal, I mean, the list goes on but Sundays are truly a day meant for fun and relaxing.

I actually got a few emails to my neecieblogresponse@gmail.com with suggestions for topics. One person wants to know more about homemade facials, hair conditioners and treatments in general. Another asked if I could write more about IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and other colon issues and how to naturally deal with them and another one asked me if I could do a basics on essential oils.

So, I need time to research the first two. I don't want to repeat what I've already written about as far as facials, etc. and as for the IBS, I know a lot having had to deal with it my whole life but not enough. I have been someone who for the most part, deals with it and has learned to live with it. I have not done to much to try and put a halt to it. So, give me some time :)

As for essential oils; what are they, how do you use them and of what benefit are they really?

I'm going to do a little plagiarism here but will provide links to everything I "steal".

First of all, what is an essential oil?

What are Essential Oils?
Essential oils are concentrated volatile aromatic compounds produced by plants - the easily evaporated essences that give plants their wonderful scents. Each of these complex precious liquids is extracted from a particular species of plant life. Each plant species originates in certain regions of the world, with particular environmental conditions and neighboring fauna and flora. The result is a very diverse library of aromatic compounds, with some essential oils being made up of more than one hundred distinct organic chemicals.

What do they do for plants?

Essential oils are extracted from oil 'sacs' in flowers, leaves, stems, roots, seeds, wood and bark. They differ significantly from the well-known vegetable, nut and seed oils which are made up of various fatty acids (essential oils are not). Essential oils are used by the plants in somewhat the same way they are by humans - they fight infection, contain hormone-like compounds, initiate cellular regeneration, and work as chemical defense against fungal, viral, and animal foes. Despite their foliar origins however, essential oils have a similar structure to some compounds found in blood and tissues, allowing them to be compatible with our own physiology.

How Essential Oils Are Extracted

To produce essential oils of therapeutic quality - those that retain as much of the original plant essence in its original state as possible - the most gentle extraction method that will draw the oil from a particular plant is most desirable. Extraction methods range from Carbon Dioxide (CO2) extraction - being the most gentle (and most expensive), to pressing (as for extracting the oil from citrus rinds) and steam distillation, to solvent extraction. Steam distillation is most common, and as a result of only requiring heating to just above the boiling point of water, is considered gentle enough for most essential oils. (Note: All of Ananda's essential oils are of Therapeutic Quality, being 100% pure, unadulterated, and properly produced to this standard - Read more about how essential oils are made). 


http://www.anandaapothecary.com/what-are-essential-oils.html 


The benefits of essential oils as alternative or additional means of healing, cannot be disputed, especially by those of us who pursue natural courses of treatment for various ailments first.

They are used to treat actual medical conditions, they are used in aromatherapy and they can be used in homemade household cleaning agents, such as laundry detergent, disinfectant cleaners, etc.

I won't be sharing any recipes for the above today, just giving information :)

I use them for all the above.

How to use essential oils? The best ways to use e.o.'s is by application directly to affected areas (for healing or relief of sore muscles, arthritic conditions, rashes, etc.), direct application (for overall relief from emotional symptoms) to the wrists, behind the ears, along the spine and the souls of the feet, and by inhalation. You can open a bottle and inhale it directly, you can put some in a steamer, you can put some in a diffuser or add to your bath. The last way you can use e.o.'s but that I don't often do, is to ingest them. If you do this, make sure you know your e.o.'s. Many of them are not safe for comsumption. Nothing I recommend will ever include ingesting e.o.'s. I have gotten the results I want from the first methods described.

Most e.o.'s that will be applied to the skin must be diluted in a carrier oil first. Carrier oils are in most cases, fatty oils. The reason you must do this is that e.o.'s are extremely potent and in their natural state, can burn the skin. The only e.o. that I confidently recommend for direct application without a carrier oil is lavender. There are companies out there that will try to tell you that thier process of extracting e.o.'s is so good that you can use any of them directly. It's a lie folks. I've done research on this, on the companies themselves and the people who were harmed as a result. Do NOT ever use an e.o. other than lavender, on the skin without first diluting it. While some people might be fine, others may prove to have a sensitivity and reactions vary from small, annoying reactions to BIG, ouch, not good, go to the hospital reactions.

One more point, there are e.o.'s that are considered to be "hot" and even with dilution into a carrier oil, will most likely cause irritation to the skin.

There "hot" oils that are almost 100% likely to cause skin irritation. These include any of the pine, fur tree oils, cinnamon, thyme, etc. For a full disclosure on dangerous oils, you can google essential oils to get a list of what to stay away from.

In addition, there are essential oils that cause an increased sensitivity to the sun. These are called phototoxic essential oils. Even though many of these e.o.'s are of great benefit to the skin, you won't find them in any of my products that are used as anti-aging, just because they have an opposite reaction if you're exposed to direct sunlight.

Here's a great link I found that goes over everything. http://www.floracopeia.com/articles/256-how-to-use-essential-oils-effectively

So, the last thing that I wanted to cover was for those people who want to get to know e.o.'s and using them. What's a good starting point? I recommend the following, fairly inexpensive essential oils. You can google what they can be used for and good carrier oil to e.o. ratio's to use. You can always ask me too.

• Lavender
• Tea Tree
• Peppermint
• Lemon

I hope you found this interesting and helpful. Do as much research as you can and talk to people in the know. 

Have fun and be well :)

Just Little Helpers...

Good morning...afternoon...and evening,

I really realized here that I need to put energy into what my Saturday blogs will be about. I would love to hear from you and what you would like to hear about, learn about, etc. Please either comment here, or on the link of this blog I post to my Willow's Whimsy page.

But I was thinking about little things; little helps, little suggestions.

I recently burned a candle that spilled hot wax all over my carpet. I went online and researched and here's what I found.

If it's a huge pile of wax, put a bag of ice over it and wait til frozen and much of the wax will simply break off. Once you've got as much as you can that way, cover the wax with a grocery bag or old towel and run a hot iron over it. The wax will melt, lift off the carpet and stick to the paper or towel. By george (who is george by the way?) it worked. I do have a stain but it's much better than it was;

You can do this on the wall too, which I did and it's all gone now

Another little tip of for those of you who, like I, have more cats than you really should (seriously though, can you ever have enough cats) and you want to spend less on kitty litter, that's an easy one and only requires minimum effort. Your basic kitty litter is made of clay. It works by absorbing the urine. But the thing is, if you let it sit there and you only clean out the poop, it's gonna get stinky fast. I clean out my cat boxes twice a day. I take out the poop first and then I stir up the litter really well. This helps it to air out and dry quicker and the smell is not as concentrated. I have four cats, three boxes and for each change, I use two bags of litter. I only have to change it every 3 weeks because if you do this, twice a day, the smell just doesn't build up as quickly. So start scooping and stirring!!

The other thing I wanted to mention is Lemon Essential Oil. EO's can be very expensive but most of them are quite excellent, even though some will claim to be thee premiere oil. Don't drive yourself nuts and if you ever have questions, don't hesitate to call me.

But of the basics, you should at least have lavender and lemon. Lemon is so great, it's great for cleaning, disinfecting, it's uplifting as aroma therapy. Lemon...You can add a few drops to your bath. You can add about 20 drops to a cup of distilled water and use it for cleaning counter tops. It helps cut buildup and dirt. It's just an all around great oil to have and use. You can make a lemon perfume oil with an ounce of carrier oil and 20 - 30 drops of Lemon EO. Put in a container and shake. You can use vodka if you want instead of oil...I've never worked with alcohol so can't tell you how it works in perfume but I have friends who use it as a base for perfumes and swear by it.

Hope you found this useful!! Have a great weekend all!!

Love,
Willow

Promotions

Hi People of the Willow's Whimsy.

I'm feeling so grateful right now. I've gotten so many likes to my page. I've gotten one order! These things are so great!! Thank you, all of you.

I just want to remind you of two promotions going on right now.

First, I would like to get to 200 likes by January 25. For those of you who share my posts, I'm keepin' tabs. The person who shares the most, will win an 8 oz. jar of my whipped cocoa butter body butter. You can share on your page, or a specific friend's page, as often as you like. I'll let you all know who the winner is January 26th.

From now until Sunday, January 6th, or when I get 5 new likes, whichever comes first, the first five people who share and as a result, get a friend to like my page, will get a free lip balm and so will the friend they referred to my page. They have to like it though :) Make sure your friend or you posts on my page to tell me who referred them. I have had three winners already. So, there are still two chances to win while before Sunday. Just make sure you or your friend posts as soon as they like my page, so I can make sure to get you your lip balms. Good luck!!! My facebook page is Willow's Whimsy.

I have a feeling that much of this is going to start coming together, maybe quicker than I dared dream.

Thank you, thank you so much for all the support. I really appreciate it. You guys are at the beginning of all of this. I'm finally ready to give this all I've got.

I won't be around or posting this weekend, thus the lip balm promotion. I'll be back sometime Sunday afternoon.

Have a good weekend. Do something for yourself, some small, loving gesture, for no reason other than that YOU DESERVE IT AND YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!!!!!

Detoxing

Happy Saturday to all of you!!

Well, the long awaited blog on detoxing the body and I found out a LOT. But, it's pretty simple which is awesome.

The one thing I found is that some things that are good for one thing, are not to be used for other things and I think you could confuse the hell out of yourself trying to find a balance in all of this.

So don't. The things I am going to suggest are things you can do on a regular basis.

When I talk about detoxing, I'm speaking mainly of the liver but also the kidneys and the bladder. Why detox? These particular organs work extremely hard to keep us free of toxins and to convert certain things into waste or energy, etc.

The first thing you can do won't cost you a thing. It's water, pure and simple; water. Drink eight 8oz cups a day and this alone will do wonders for helping these organs flush toxins from your body.

The second thing you can do, is eat a healthy, well-balanced diet that includes lots of natural fiber, fruits and vegetables, lean meats and low fat. As a single, full-time job mom, I get that can be hard to do. Hard time wise and hard on the finances as well. I have found in trying to get my children and I eating a healthier diet, that my grocery bill went up...WAY up. I highly suggest co-ops and farmers markets if you can get to them.

The foods that are especially good for detoxing the body are:

• broccoli
• cabbage
• artichokes
• kale
• ginger
• garlic
• lemons
• limes
• apple pectin
• asparagus
• beets
• carrots
• cauliflower 

Herbs that are fabulous for liver detox are:

• garlic
• turmeric
• ginger
• rosemary
• dandelion root
• milk thistle
• barberry

There were others mentioned but in my studies, I found that long term use could be harmful so why even go there?

Now, a brief aside. And I know I'm going to piss some people off with this. I am not fond of supplements for the foods and herbs above, i.e., pills.

All of these nutrients can be taken in natural form and have been proven to be more effective if you do so.

As a society, we want the easiest way possible and so we think, "if I pop this pill, I"m good to go" but in almost all of my readings about supplements, the only people who really need them are women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, people who are on extremely low calorie diets and people who have certain issues with absorption. 

Milk thistle makes a killing in pill form because of Milk Thistle's ability to detox livers whose owners drink excessively or are habitual drug users. But the pill form, they've proven it does little to nothing. The benefits can barely be acknowledged. Drinking a tea using the herb however, does help the liver. Damage caused by long term and excessive drinking and drugging is slowed down dramatically in users who drink one cup of milk thistle tea a day but there was little to no improvement in those who pop the milk thistle supplements.

I think I'm going to try this; I am going to drink one of these tea's each day. In addition, I am going to make a drink that was highly suggested on multiple self detoxing sites I visited. Steep one tsp of fresh, chopped ginger in one cup of boiling water. Add to this the juice of one lime or lemon and one tbsp. of honey (see my blog on honey, it's only good for you if it still has the pollen in it and most chain grocery stores carry the nasty  honey that doesn't). You can put it over ice once it's steeped. This one I'll have once a day.

I also suggest that if you can't eat the foods mentioned above on a daily basis (not all of them all at once of course), make a juice. I'm a big one for juices.

My all time favorite is one beet, one carrot, one apple and one bunch of spinach. Sounds awful but it's fabulous and amazing for your body. You do need a juicer and they are spendy but so worth it. If you have a juicer, play with the foods above and come up with concoctions you like. Remember, it's ok to add honey and lemon and lime juice to anything.

My blog is very basic but this is a good start. I highly encourage you all to do research of your own and please remember that I am in no way an expert. If you question anything I write, check with someone like your doctor or herbalist.

Good luck and happy detoxifying!!!!

Exfoliation, the Do's and the Don'ts

Happy Saturday morning,

I really want to get the correct information out when I blog on this particular site. I have strong opinions about many, many things but not a lot of time to do research, etc. to back up what I put on here. It was my intention to do a blog on detoxing the body. I still want to do that, I think it's important but in some of my research, I came up with a lot of info on supplements; vitamins, minerals, etc. So, I think I'm going to do a blog on both. I need to do more research...so what to blog about today?

Since the air is so cold and dry and tis the season that most of us use forced heat, I'm sure many of us are suffering from dry, itchy skin. It's really important to keep yourself moisturized during the winter. One part of that is removing the dry, flaky skin that results from less moisture and exfoliating is the best way to do that.

Exfoliating is defined in the dictionary as:

1   : to cast off in scales, laminae, or splinters

2

: to remove the surface of in scales or laminae

3

: to spread or extend by or as if by opening out leaves

One of the problems with exfoliating, is that everything good can be bad if done to excess. What exfoliation does for you is to remove the uppermost layer of dead skin cells, leaving fresh, healthy skin at the surface. It stimulates circulation and blood flow to the areas exfoliated and blood flow to those areas promotes all sorts of good things; healthy healing of wounds, glowing skin, slower aging. 

The problem comes in when you exfoliate too much. Exfoliation also removes the body's natural oils. These oils help keep our skin soft and supple, protect us from bacteria's and infections. 

My point in bringing that up is that you don't want to exfoliate too much. I exfoliate my body twice a week, summer and winter. It's important to pair up exfoliation with moisturizing. I make two kinds of scrubs for exfoliation. I use raw sugar in both. 

One is a powerhouse for moisturizing which contains the sugar along with various oils and I add essential oils as well for aromatherapy and for skin conditioning. Lavender is fabulous for the skin and I use it in many of my products. 

The other is a scrub that contains liquid soap and you can use it as a body wash. This one is not as moisturizing because you're not only exfoliating, you're cleaning your body. I do add oils but it is important to follow up your shower or bath with a good lotioning up. 

If you can't afford to go out and buy a sugar or salt scrub, you can make your own. 

One cup raw or brown sugar

1/3 c olive oil

Vitamin E oil - one tsp

1 tbsp natural honey

Clean your body well and then scoop out your scrub and work into the skin in a gentle, circular motion, all over the body. Have someone help you with your back if you can. The back often times gets neglected because it's out of reach. A shower brush can help with that problem nicely as well.

Whether you make your own scrub, or buy one, the sugars will settle. Have a popsicle stick on hand to stir it up well before each use.

And there you have it!

I will be adding pictures and pricing of my products on this blog as well as on my Willow's Whimsy page on facebook as we go along but for now, feel free to visit my page at Willow's Whimsy.

Enjoy!!

Pamper Yourself!!

Hey everyone,

This is a reprint from my old Willow's Whimsy blog. Hope you like it, we had a lot of fun doing it. I'm working on a blog about detoxifying your body for next week. There is so much information out there and I want to talk to an herbalist to confirm much of what I'm reading before posting so look for that next Saturday :)

One that my girls love doing with me is anything facial...we love masks, toners, scrubs, you name it. They are both very enthusiastic about taking care of their skin and I promise them they'll be grateful when they're my age. I didn't always put as much emphasis on skin care as I do now and I'm lucky, I think I look pretty good, people rarely guess my age but even so, there's aging occurring, wrinkles, etc. But with a regular regimen that starts at puberty and is kept up, adding things to your regimen as you begin to get older, you can really preserve what you've got.

Hair masks are fabulous for your hair, bottom line. I add peppermint essential oil to almost every hair mask recipe I have because it makes your scalp tingle and it promotes blood flow to your scalp which is good for keeping it moisturized (I tend to get very dry and itchy in the winter) and a stimulated scalp can, in some cases, limit hair loss. Hair loss in most cases is hereditary so I'm not saying if you do this, you'll keep your hair but it can help with situational hair loss.

So, I've published a blog before about the avocado hair mask. That one is fabulous too, you can use an egg in any of these recipes. Egg is great for adding protein and bonding the hair so it doesn't split. But it adds a smell I don't care for and if you have coloring in your hair, I wouldn't use one unless the coloring is old and you are about to go get your hair done again, it's great in a pre-treatment hair mask.

So...
For the hair mask, you will need: One banana, 1/3 cup plain yogurt, 1/3 tbsp olive oil, 1/3 tbsp honey, one egg if you choose to use egg. If you want to use the peppermint essential oil, 1/4 tsp is more than enough to get the desired effect. Blend it all together!!!

You'll come out with a goop that looks like:

It smells so yummy. Start gooping it into the top of your head and then all over the scalp, working vigirously into your scalp. Once your scalp is saturated, start adding it to the rest of your hair, don't pile up on top of your head unless you have short hair. If it's long, work it in a little at a time until you get the bottom. Apply a generous amount to the tips as this is where breakage usually begins.

You can see we put our face masks on first but because it's OK to leave the hair mask in for up to an hour, I would usually do this first.

If you are just doing a hair mask, go ahead and hop in the shower when you're done and rinse, rinse, rinse and then shampoo, you can choose to condition if you want to but I've found you don't have to.

Ok, so the facial treatment. You can do any of these on their own and get great results but once a week, I like to do the full on. For each of these particular treatments, I don't do any of them more than once a week except for the exfoliation part, which I do twice a week. It's not good for your skin to exfoliate more than 2x per week unless you have MAJOR MONDO greasy skin. I'm talking the kind where you can press a tissue to your skin and it comes away greasy...

Ok, so first you want to steam your face. I bring a pot of water to a boil and then add two drops of teatree oil and 2 of lavendar.

This is very hot, so be careful. This isn't the kind of thing I'd do if little ones are underfoot. Wait til they take a nap or are asleep for the night. To many things could go wrong. Drape a towel over your head and let the steam do it's thing. You will get hot and it's OK to lift the towel to get some fresh, cool air if you need to. I do this for 5 minutes.

When you are done, pat your face dry. For an added extra, if you want, you can then put a clean face towel in the water, wear rubber gloves cuz the water will be HOT and then wring it out. Wait til it's bearable to touch with bare hands and put it on your face, the tea tree oil is fabulous for people prone to acne. Leave the towel on your face for up to 5 minutes.

Ok, next you want to exfoliate. Your skin will be primed for it, soft and pours open for all that heat. One tablespoon of honey, mixed with one tablespoon of brown sugar, any kind of sugar is really OK but brown sugar is softer and therefore more gentle on the skin. You mix this thoroughly and add a small amount to fingertips. GENTLY rub this in all over your face in circular motions.

Rinse off and your ready for your mask. I use green clay. You can order it from any online site specializing in this kind of thing but I recommend Mountain Rose Herbs
You can mix your clay with different home products depending on your skintype. If your skin is dry, I suggest whipped cream or milk. Whipped cream tends to be hard to mix in with the clay and will go on clumpy but does feel good. If you have greasy skin, I would just use water. For normal skin, you can use carrot juice. I love carrot juice and milk. My skin flucuates between dry and normal. I used a juicer to make the carrot juice. For one application, you would only need about 10 baby carrots and then add one tbsp of clay. Stir this together with a spoon.

Doesn't that look yummy? OK, so put it on your face. I just put it on with my fingertips in a downward motion, adding more as needed and creating a nice smooth layer. I apply to the bottom of my chin and my neck too. Anything you do for your face, you should do for your neck...some schools of thought say apply it in upward strokes but I prefer down. Now, here's the trick, DON'T keep a clay mask on for more than 20 minutes. By it's nature, it sucks stuff to the surface to be washed away when you rinse. This includes your faces natural oils. Once a week this is fine but not for prolonged periods of time. You want some of it remain. The clay will harden, put a warm, moist washcloth over the clay and let it soften. Then rinse and rinse and rinse. It's kind of messy but cleans up nicely. Try not to scrub it off, not good for your skin at this point, especially if you are over 35. Then...moisturize. I use my the facial serum bars I created for my business but go ahead and use whatever you know to work for you...

Beauty??? LMAO...but it leads there, I promise!!

Hope you enjoyed this one. BIG thanks to my lovely girls for helping me out, for participating in the pampering and for being enthusiastic, good sports through the whole thing.

If you want green clay and don't want to purchase in bulk amounts, I'd be happy to sell you a couple application's worth for about $5.00 or so and if you are interested in my facial serum bars, hit me up and I'll tell you all about them. They sell for $7.00 a bar and are the size of an ice cube. My first one lasted for 2 months and that's using it morning and evening.

If you want to try this on your own and have any questions, hit me up, I'd be more than happy to walk you through the process...

Happy Beauty!!!
Denise

Oh Honey!!

Happy Saturday!!

Today's blog is a reposting from an old blog. I am passionate about this particular topic and want it here on record as well. If there are any topics you would like me to write about or suggestions for blogs on beauty, skin care, overall health, please let me know. You can find me on facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.440656695987804.99534.307364659317009&type=1#!/WillowsWhimsy. Don't forget to "like" me and post on my page letting me know you stopped in. It's a work in progress so bear with me :)

I was told recently that store bought honey is void of the components that make it worthwhile in the first place and it surprised me so I decided to research it. It's true...and scary. I came across a really good website that explains it fully and will provide the link at the end of this blog. It's definitely worth a read, especially if you are someone who buys honey, thinking you're doing a good thing for your family.

What it comes down to, in summary, is this. Most of the honey we buy from regular, chain grocery stores, has the pollen removed from through a filtering process that is bad. Most of these honey's come from China and include very dangerous and illegal anti-biotics that are added to the honey to make it last longer and, makes the product more affordable. This is scary.

The FDA does nothing about this, hardly has honey on it's radar. It should. Not only is our market flooded with this inferior product, it's affecting American beekeepers and honey producers. Also, not good, especially in this economy where you really have to either be at the top of a corporate chain or willing to try ventures of your own to make money. That's what I'm doing with my Willow's Whimsy business. I'm hoping that it will eventually go somewhere. I don't care if it doesn't make me millions, I just want to stay at home with my kids and not have to worry about how we'll live, ya know?

The article did say that the honey that is sold at Trader Joe's and PCC have the pollen present. So, apparently, you can trust these vendors.

Another article I read said that the closer to the source of the honey, that you purchase, the better. The honey you find locally contains antibodies for whatever illnesses are currently wreaking havoc in your area too.

I plan to buy from a local vendor. A good friend of mine does a flee market and the "bee-man" sells there. I got his card last year but misplaced it.

In addition, I tend to use honey in many of my home remedies and also in my own personal beauty products. I make a facial cleanser that I adore but I can't sell it because it has such a short shelf-life, about two weeks but here again, wasted effort if I'm using store bought, chain honey. The honey I've been putting in things such as tea is not only inefficient, it could potentially be dangerous!!!

So...buy locally. Yes, it costs more but is so much more worth it too. Buying honey from the store is like buying...rat poison and thinking it'll help you feel better. Maybe not that extreme but why put something in your body that isn't what it claims to be??

Here is the link for the article I found. You can google "honey facts" too and get a whole slew of data that shows the same results but this article said it all really well.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey/

Have a good day honey ;-)p