Perhaps you are wondering why you would even want to.  Have you read the warning label on your tube of toothpaste lately?  Yes, there is a warning label on most toothpastes that you buy in your average supermarket:
“Warnings: Keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age.  If more than used for brushing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away.”
Poison Control?  I for one don’t care for “acceptable levels” of anything that could be considered poison.  I’ve been using essential oils for brushing my teeth.  Here are two recipes that I made today.

Tooth Powder
3/8 cup baking soda
1/4 cup ForeverGreen’s SmartSaltz (or use dead sea salt ground fine in a blender)
10 drops Essential Oil (Peppermint or Spearmint or other oil of your choice)
1 1/2 teaspoon Stevia (optional)

Combine the ingredients and put a little on your wet toothbrush and enjoy.

Tooth-brushing Blend
Combine 10 drops Tea Tree and 2 drops Peppermint (or 5 drops Spearmint) in 1 oz. of Grapeseed Message oil.  Apply 1 or 2 drops to toothbrush as you would toothpaste.

When you are done brushing your teeth, work a small drop of Tea Tree into the bristles to prevent germs from taking up residence in your toothbrush.

Here is a mouthwash recipe:
Put 1 drop of Peppermint and 1 drop of Tea Tree into a 16 oz. glass bottle and fill with distilled water.  Shake vigorously to mix.  Use as you would any mouthwash to freshen mouth and breath.

The oil of Myrrh is used in pharmaceutical products, including mouthwashes, gargles and toothpaste; also used in dentistry.  It is good for gum infections, gingivitis and mouth ulcers.  I have not used it in a blend yet, so can’t share any experience with it.

Clove bud oil can cause skin and mucous membrane irritation.  Therefore using it in a toothbrushing blend would have to be in an extremely low dilution (less than 1 %).

If you enjoyed these recipes and would like to learn more ways to use TRUessence Essential Oils, you can download a free Ebook here:  www.naturesfarmacy.org/jorjahensley

I discovered that when I have a headache, that the ElectriFire takes it away!

Now, not everyone’s headaches are the same. Headaches can have several causes. In the essential oil world, a common application is lavender and peppermint, which works for many. However, it didn’t work for me. This caused some frustration, but the severity and occurrences of my headaches had lessened because of my use of other essential oils.

When I joined ForeverGreen I set a goal of not having to take any more Ibuprofen, or any other OTC pain remedy. (Let me tell you, there were times when I took lots). With the help of essential oils, FrequenSea and ElectriFire, I can now report that it has been a year since I took an Ibuprofen. (And that last Ibuprofen didn’t even do the job). Yippee!! 

For more information click here:  http://jorja.fg-bg.com/US_ElectriFire.html

Beat the heat with essential oils.  
 

Essential oils can really help during these hot summer days.  They are cooling, healing and refreshing.

Try one of these recipes shared with us by Alexandria Brighton, master aromatherapist:

For a Sunburn:
In a 4 oz. spray bottle, mix the following ingredients:
3 oz. distilled water
1 oz. Aloe Vera
4 drops of Tea Tree
2 drops of Roman Chamomile
10 drops of Lavender
Spray this mixture on the sunburn for pain relief and to help heal.  

When you come in from yard work, or hard play, you can make a cooling and refreshing spritzer:

In a 2 oz. spray bottle, mix the following ingredients:
2 oz. distilled water
12 drops of Neroli 10%, or Lavender or Rose 10%  (or a combination of all three)
Refrigerate this and lightly mist on to face and neck when you come in from the heat.  This can be emotionally refreshing as well as physically.  

For a cooling and hydrating lotion:
30 ml (one ounce) grapeseed oil
12 drops Myrrh  (has cooling properties)
12 drops Frankincense

For a refreshing drink, add a drop of peppermint oil to you bottle of water. 

For more recipes for essential oil usage, go here:

naturesfarmacy.org/jorjahensley

Feel free to leave your questions or comments.  I’d love to hear from you.  

I’ve planted 45 cabbage plants (various varieties) in my garden this week!  I am looking forward to turning those cabbages into great fast food (cultured vegetables)!

I’m getting ahead of myself though…counting my chicks before they hatch so to speak.  I’ve got to protect those plants from cabbage worms!  The first step I took by planting aromatic herbs with my cabbage plants.  For example I planted two cabbages in the row and then a Thyme plant, then two more cabbages and then a Rosemary, and so on down the row.  On the next row I alternated, so that each cabbage is across from an herb as well.  These aromatic herbs will be repulsive to the little white butterflies that lay the eggs that hatch into worms.  

My next line of defense will be to spray the plants with essential oils.  This will require keeping an eye on the garden on a daily basis.  As soon as those little white butterflies start flitting around my plants I will spray the plants with the following mixture, causing the butterflies to look elsewhere to lay their eggs.  I got a good laugh a couple years ago when I sprayed everything in the garden that they seemed to be attracted to.  A couple weeks later my horseradish leaves (in a separate garden) were covered with worms; the butterflies had resorted to the horseradish to lay their eggs!  Since I hardly use horseradish, this was okay with me.  

Here is the recipe I used:

Essential Oil Spray for Cabbage Worms
To one gallon of water add:
25 drops of Oregano
25 drops of Lemongrass
25 drops of Peppermint
25 drops of Basil
1 T of safer soap.  (ForeverGreen’s Silk brand soap will work.  Basic H will also work.  I would think that your basic ‘green’ dish soap would also work as long as it doesn’t have any synthetic ingrediets.)

The easiest way to spray is to buy an inexpensive weed sprayer at the hardware store.  I think I got my one gallon sprayer for $6 a couple years ago.  Mark it with permanent marker so that it will never be used for weed spray.  Be sure to wash it well after each use so that the essential oils don’t ‘melt’ the plastic, plugging the nozzle.  Some essential oils are strong solvents.  I store any unused spray in a glass jar until the next use.  This will keep for a few days or so, not until next year however.  

You will need to reapply the spray after rain or after sprinkling the garden (however I don’t sprinkle my cabbage once the heads start forming — I run the water down the row instead).  

Feel free to leave your comments — I’d love to hear your experiences or questions.

For more essential oil recipes:   naturesfarmacy.org/jorjahensley
 

Jorja
Essential Oil enthusiast
Gardener

It’s really not hard to make your own hand sanitizer with essential oils.  You’re probably asking ‘Why would I want to make my own?’

Here are a few reasons:
1. Commercial antibacterial hand cleaners kill beneficial bacteria also.
2. These hand cleaners kill the weak bacteria but leave the strong bacteria to mutate and become antibacterial resistant.
3. Traditional hand cleaners are made of alcohol, which dries out your skin.  (There are other side effects too; just google ethyl alcohol).
4.  Essential oils are not only anti-bacterial but anti-viral as well!  (I saved the best news for last!)

The following recipe was given to us at the Aromatherapy training  taught by Alexandria Brighton:

To a 4 ounce* bottle of lotion, add:
10 drops of Eucalyptus radiata
10 drops of Tea Tree
4 drops of Peppermint

You’ll want to find some unscented lotion with ingredients as natural as possible (or you can use aloe vera gel).  ForeverGreen’s Balance gel would work well for this.

The essential oils need to be of therapeutic grade, such as TRUessence, or they will not have the anti-bacterial and anti-viral constituents needed.  For example, Peppermint grown in the United States is great for flavoring, but does not have enough constituents, such as menthol, to be therapeutic in nature.

If the lotion is thick, you’ll want to mix this together in a bowl and then return it to the bottle.  If lotion is thinner, it will be possible to add the oils and shake it up.

If you need a small container for your hand sanitizer, your local health food store often sells amber or cobalt blue glass bottles with a pump.

*4 ounces is equal to 1/2 cup.

For more essential oil recipes, click here:  naturesfarmacy.org/jorjahensley