Essential Oils to the Rescue

Bee & wasp stings hurt! No wonder everyone takes notice when one is flying around.

Essential oils to the rescue over the weekend when my husband was stung and a few months ago when I was stung. I reacted quickly and used what I had on hand for both stings. For me it was Indulgent Fragrances blend with Sandalwood, Jasmine, Myrrh and Neroli in Jojoba oil and KJ Hand Sanitizer. For my hubby, Indulgent Fragrances went on first, then a drop each of Lavender and Helichrysum.

After I was stung, I did a bit of research. Love it when my knowledge of essential oils comes in handy, and then it usually leads me to more questions. This time it was:

-What type of wasp stung me?—Paper Wasp, but not sure about my hubby’s though.

-Why do humans have a physiological response?—Bee & wasp venom is composed of different protein and peptide antigens. These substances elicit an immune response (i.e. histamine is released and causes that itchy feeling). Everybody’s immune system generates at least a localized reaction to the potent antigens.

-Why does it hurt more than a pinprick?— From Pain.com, Stings are painful due to neurotransmitters and chemicals present in bee and wasp venom that stimulate pain receptors and increase the frequency of nerve signal transmission, making the sting more painful than it would be without venom.

REFERENCES:

http://pain.com/library/2011/07/08-symptoms-bee-wasp-stings/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bee-stings/DS01067/DSECTION=symptoms

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/169324-overview#showall

http://www.surviveoutdoors.com/reference/beeswasps/index.asp

I was standing inside, so it was quite unexpected to be stung in the temple by a wasp.  Added to that, the rogue wasp stung me while the national anthem was being sung and I was surrounded by hundreds of silent people.  The above mentioned setting means that my “OWW” was heard loud and clear.

I had to act quickly (again I repeat OWW) because two boys and large crowds, not the place to be distracted or teary eyed over my boo boo.  Out of my purse came my KJ hand sanitizer and my Indulgent Fragrances.  The hand sanitizer went on first, then after it had a chance to absorb for a minute, the Indulgent Fragrances was rolled on to my temple.

Repeated this process three more within 20 minutes when there was a noticeable difference.  The heat was lessened and the pain not as sharp.  Over the next two hours, I reapplied the hand sanitizer and roll-on every 30 minutes (or so).

Later that night, no swelling, no pain, no heat.  I almost forgot about it!  As a just in case, I rolled on a bit more Indulgent Fragrances right before bed.  Over the next few days the area itched a couple of times, but that was the extent of it. Boo boo crisis averted.

To learn more about Indulgent Fragrances, visit www.kristajean.com.

When ‘Just One More’ leads to ‘One Too Many’

Talk of the upcoming release of The Hangover 3 as well as various friends’ plans for the Memorial Day Holiday weekend has led to questions about which oils will help combat the not so fun effects of too much to drink.

When tons of fun partying until all hours moves into the yuck of the morning after…

You know the feeling – Fuzzy headed 

if you are lucky,

and a full on jackhammer working on your skull if you are not so lucky with body aches, dry mouth, queasy stomach, nausea, etc.

What is the best way to battle a hangover???

To not get drunk! Too late for that? Yup, I have been there too. Here are some suggestions.

Water – Alcohol dehydrates the cells in the body, so add some water back. Drink small amounts often. No need to overwhelm your already sensitive stomach with a gallon of water in five minutes. If water is lacking the flavor your crave, a good idea to naturally flavor your water is to try adding some lemon or lime – good flavor, stimulates the liver and is refreshing. Real fruit is so much better than flavored powders.

Simple Food – Stick to toast, crackers, soups and pasta. Start with snack size portions to make sure that your stomach is ready for it. Avoid those grease-soaked fries and fast food burger. Drowning a hangover is grease will actually impair your liver function for longer and extend your hangover symptoms.

Essential Oil Blends – Get a little relief by using therapeutic grade essential oils. Blends combining any of the oils below will help reduce the effects of your symptoms and aid your body’s natural ability to heal itself. These should be added to a lotion, cream or oil before applying to your body. Reapply often as you are recovering from your night. After applying to your skin, hold your hands in front of your nose and simply inhale. This will get you some quick relief while your body is absorbing the oils through your skin and spreading them through the blood steam. Suggested oils include:

Peppermint – Helps with pain from headaches and settle your stomach

Lavender – Soothing and relaxing for those body aches, but it’s also an analgesic for that pounding headache

Ginger – Great for nausea and stimulates localized circulation (Cardamom is an alternative)

Black Pepper – Increases circulation to help flush toxins and eases aches & pains

Frankincense – Clears the head and cooling to help battle those sweats

Juniper – Powerful detoxifying affects

Roman Chamomile – Calming an upset stomach and aiding in sleep

Rest – Don’t forget this simple tool to help your body heal.

As I researched various hangover cures, milk thistle (herb) kept coming up because it is used to fortify and protect the liver from the effects of alcohol. I need to do more digging on that one. If it gets added to our herb supply, I promise it will get its own post down the road.

A little science about why your body feels so bad

As you drink alcohol, it hits the blood stream and causes the Pituitary Gland in the brain to stop producing vasopressin (also known as the antidiuretic hormone). Without this chemical, our kidneys do not absorb water (needed to hydrate our cells and flush out toxins), instead it sends it directly to the bladder. That is why you have to pee every two seconds when you start drinking.

This dehydration is one reason your head hurts the next day – your organs deal with their own water loss by pulling it from the brain, causing it to decrease in size and pull on the membranes connecting the brain to the skull...ouch.

All of that peeing that you did stripped your body of salt and potassium, both of which are needed for your nerve and muscle function. If you don't replenish your salt and potassium, headaches, fatigue and nausea may rear their ugly heads.

Alcohol can cause blood vessels to dilate – again where your headache comes into play.

Can’t forget our liver. Alcohol also affects the body’s store of glycogen turning it into glucose (sugar) and sending it around the entire body. This will impact your digestion and over all functioning of your immune system.

To learn more about the benefits of essential oils and healthy living, visit www.kristajean.com.

My Car Smells Like Boy

My car smells like boy and...

I would love to blame it on the forgotten socks and ‘unseen’ sneakers jammed under the seats, but I know that the culprits are too numerous to assign sole (pun intended) blame to stinky boy feet. Unseen defined here as “Momma, I didn’t see it!” Yeah, right! You had to trip over it to get out of the car.

Over the years, the contents of toy bins and costume buckets have all taken up residence, crayons & markers have been left, mountains of dirt & sand tracked in, snacks crushed to bitty bits and last bites of breakfast smashed into every crook and cranny.

Yes, I am ignoring all of the years that I basically lived, ate and worked from my car running from meeting to meeting. It doesn’t smell like ‘over stressed working mom’, it smells like ‘boy.’

Even with the mess and obvious imperfections, I realized, I like my car and I do not want to trade it in yet. My husband knows that he cannot even begin to think about trade-in value or build a list of possible replacements until I am ready—over 250,000 miles sounds like a good time. After committing to holding on to my car and when I was finally well past the sleep deprived mom stage, I am better able to handle the massive amounts of stuff that needed to come in at the end of every day. By no means did this actually clean my car though.

A few months ago, here is what I motivated to do…

1-Cleaned out all items that should not be there (this is my every day battle, but the boys are old enough to help with strong reminders)

2-Vacuumed (optional and a rare occurrence at our house in recent years)

3- Lightly sprinkled baking soda onto the floor mats (I used a heavier hand under the seats and under the floor mats)

4-Wiped down all surfaces with damp cloth. Just spritz some all-purpose cleaner from spray bottle OR if you are like me… While I was finishing a call, I grabbed that damp napkin needed to clean sticky hands and finally scrubbed off that shiny spot on the dash made from the gooey banana. Call still not done, so I wiped layers of dust from dash, around clock, radio and gear shifter. Woo hoo!

5-Clean windows inside and out. Can use a vinegar water mix (as much as 50/50 mix if your car has really, really dirty windows caked with sticky kiddo fingers and dog snot) and if you want a fresh scent, then add some essential oils to your spray bottle.

6-To keep it smelling nice will take a bit of a commitment. First, I have to be vigilant against invading forces (those socks, partial costumes and snacks being the worst) and add a few drops of essential oils as needed.

Things to remember when creating your own Car Aromatherapy:

• Less is More!!!! You will grow accustomed to the smell (good or bad) in your car, so go easy on the application of essential oils. Think potpourri in your neighbor's house that you can smell on their cloths hours after they left their house, but they are buying three new plug-ins because theirs have lost the scent.
• Evaporation and the heat of your car will affect the oils. Reapplication will be necessary. As mentioned above a few drops on some cotton balls or a clean rag under the seat(s) will go a long way.
• Apply oils to clean cotton balls, stray piece of clay (that random terra cotta piece or coaster), clean cotton rag or repurposed piece of cardboard. Place in a spot that is easy enough to get to so you can reapply or switch it out if it gets dusty/dirty. I have been putting mine under the driver’s seat.

To find out what essential oils Krista recommends for your car aromatherapy, visit www.kristajean.com .

Laundry Soap is Easy

Really it is easy! Promise!

As my knowledge and research on essential oils expanded, so did their place in our lives and our home. It started with lip balms and lotions and has expanded to all corners of our life. 

Even with all of the essential oils I have around, changing a product in our home still comes with some basic, but strict guidelines. Is the new product…

• Cheaper or the same price as store bought?
• Convenient – either fun for me to make or just plain fast & easy to throw together?
• Effective? It has to work (windows have to be clear, counters clean, soap scum removed, etc.) or why change.

Essential oils are in every room of our house, but we still bought our laundry soap. I was a bit hesitant after an epic fail with my attempt at dish washer detergent. Granted, I was doing it off the cuff and the dish washer was on its last clunking leg (dishes all done by hand now so no need to perfect that recipe yet). 

Tried and true on mountains of dirt-encrusted, dog-smelling, sweat-soaked laundry-- Months later, it still makes me smile when I add the laundry soap to the washer.

I started with this basic recipe for Powdered Laundry Soap.

2 cups of Washing Powder

2 cups of Borax

1 4 oz bar of coco castile soap

Optional 1-2 tsp of essential oil

Instructions:

1-Grate your bar soap using a cheese grater or if you are doing multiple bars use a food processor (cut into smaller chunks first)

2-Mix grated soap with Washing Powder and Borax

3-Store in air tight container or baggie

To use:

Scoop out 2 Tbsp of mixture per large to extra-large load of laundry.

Note-All of my research states that this recipe should be safe on front load/high efficiency washers, but I do not have one so I have not tested it.

To learn more about essential oils and Krista Jean, visit http://www.kristajean.com/. 

My First Post!

The blog is new, but the journey started years ago.  Always listening and absorbing information about products, ingredients, otc meds, etc. led to asking questions and research and later a discovery of essential oils and aromatherapy.

Starting in my early twenties, I was especially struck by all of the things that you shouldn’t use or eat while pregnant. If nitrites in lunch meat are bad for you and the baby in utero, then why oh why am I eating them on a regular basis? If ingredients in that basic bottle of lotion on my counter are questionable in my prechild-bearing years, why am I going to put it on my newborn?

As the questions continued, I usually followed up with hours of research. Every half-answer I found led me to more questions (never ending… no wonder the idiom about curiosity and the cat is still so widely used).

My type A, over-achieving self was searching for ‘The Right,’ one-size fits all solution. Others must have asked these same questions—How did they solve it? What do they buy? What do they eat?  Oh, yeah and how did they find the solution while not falling prey to false marketing or wiping out their savings accounts?

Note to self – This crap is expensive! Why? Damn, another question! Must stop internal commentary, shut off the computer and go to bed.

Want to know my answer???  There is no ‘Right’ answer.  The control freak in me is still annoyed by this.  I want the gold star for getting it right and doing it well.  Instead of one right answer, I have a world of possibilities.  Ha! What fun and how frustrating at the same time! Yet another reminder that life is what we make it—a balance—The right choice for today doesn’t have to be tomorrow’s answer.  I continue to learn and to try ingredients, strategies, communication styles, products, etc.

While essential oils and aromatherapy were one of my great finds on this journey, they are not the only discovery. My website (http://www.kristajean.com/) will focus on essential oils while my blog will focus on the journey of discoveries.

Again, Welcome! This is a journey… Mine, my family’s, my friends’, my community’s and now yours.  Ready?! Set?! Goooo…