Essential oil DIY is so fun and easy, y’all + so much better than toxic products with long lists of ingredients. Jump in with me and let’s make some cool stuff! 😉
Before I get into the recipe, I want to share with you a quick background: As most of you know I’m a Holistic Nutritionist and I’m always researching science and holistic remedies like this and this to help folks. I turned to essential oils this past year as another tool to add to my holistic tool belt when my thyroid went all whacky after having my baby girl. I found Endoflex essential oil is fantastic for thyroid/adrenals. Essential oils have truly done wonders for our family’s health and immunity overall. I’ve recently been pouring over the science behind them and it is truly mind blowing. EOs contain properties within them called constituents. This is what makes essential oils so effective. Each constituent has a different use: some are antiseptic, some are antiviral, some are anti fungal, etc. and each essential oil contains hundreds, sometimes thousands of constituents making them highly versatile to use. Lavender alone has over 400 constituents, which is why there are so many uses for it: relaxation, cuts and scrapes, scars, allergies just to name a few. I recently read an incredible article about frakincense. In a cancerous cell, the DNA in the nucleus of the cell has been corrupted. Scientists at the University of Oklahoma are conducting studies on the essential oil frankincense because a particular constituent within frankincense can actually go into the corrupted cell and reset the DNA within the nucleus so that the cell reproduces normally again. Um…what? As a cancer survivor myself, this is phenomenal news! They are looking into it for cancer research and treatment. Needless to say, I will be using these little gems for the rest of our lives. And something to note: Contrary to popular belief, it DOES matter what oils you use. These go into our skin and reach every cell in the body within 20 minutes. It matters. Just like knowing your farmer and where your food comes from, oils are highly potent plant material. The kind of farming systems, soil composition and distillation process that companies use directly determines the quality of oils that are bottled and distributed. Do your research carefully because not all companies produce pure, unadulterated oils with ALL of the hundreds and thousands of constituents that need to be in each oil for therapeutic use, like the frankincense used in the article mentioned above. You can read about the oils I researched and chose on my homepage under the category ‘Essential Oils.’
Recipe
- 2 cups organic sugar
- 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
- 10 drops YL Lime essential oil
- Melt the coconut oil just enough to make it liquid. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Store in 4 or 8 oz. glass mason jars. Use as needed!
- Store in glass, not plastic.
- If you want it more oily, just add a bit of monounsaturated carrier oil: almond, grapeseed, jojoba, or olive.
- Disclaimer: Citrus oils are photosensitive. When using Lime EO on exposed skin, avoid sun exposure for 12 hours afterward. When in doubt, just use it at night!
Benefits
Lime Essential Oil = refreshing, uplifts mood and cleans out the lymphatic system, so it is really good for stubborn cellulite. Scrub away! You can also add a drop or two in your daily water!
Organic Sugar = light, natural exfoliant to sweep away dead skin cells. Use all over the body and if it doesn’t feel too harsh for you, you can use it as a facial exfoliant as well.
Coconut oil contains medium-chain-fatty acids or triglcerides (MCTs). Fifty-percent of coconut oil’s MCTs are made up of lauric acid, which is antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral. This is perfect for those trying to kill external fungus like athlete’s foot and yeast like candida.
A 2013 study in the Journal of International Dermatology found that virgin coconut oil calmed inflammation and healed skin in patients with atopic dermatitis [source].
The Huffington Post gives us some reasons on why coconut oil is better than the average facial moisturizer.
Commercial moisturizers contain lots of water, which makes you feel like your skin is being moisturized. But as soon as the water dries, your skin becomes dry again. Also, many commercial brands of moisturizers contain petroleum-based ingredients that can suffocate the skin. In contrast, coconut oil provides deep and real moisture. It helps strengthen underlying tissues and helps remove excessive dead cell on the skin’s surface that makes your skin rough and flaky in texture.
If you cannot use coconut oil for this recipe, just sub it out for 1/4th cup of jojoba oil, which is most like the oil profile for skin.
ALSO –>> LIME comes F R E E with this March promotion + 2 other F R E E gifts. Offer good only until March 31st, 2015.
PIN IT!
Does this scrub help clear up acne?
It might be too harsh for your face, but you could try it. Essential oils that are great for acne are: Melaleuca (Tea Tree), Lemon, Lavender, Purification, Thieves, Melrose and Frankincense. http://cdn.dontmesswithmama.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/natural-acne-spot-treatment-main.jpg
I used to buy my essential oils at my local natural food store until I switched to higher quality oils. I love my Young Living oils and all but Melrose come in Young Living’s starter kit: http://freshly-grown.com/essential-oils/
You could even try an acne fighting serum with a combination of the oils above + a carrier oil like jojoba or rose hip oil and that would work great.