Better Essentials

This isn't a food-related post. But every once in awhile, I like to share health and wellness stuff. And I LOVE essential oils. I use them for everything — sleep, headaches, energy, relaxation. I make my own home cleaners using essential oils, and I even do oil shots and lemon oil water daily. I prefer to go the natural route for health and wellness, and essential oils work.

I was contacted a couple months ago by a company called Better Essentials. They sell single oils and blends that are comparable to oils from the large companies — doTERRA and Young Living — but they're much more affordable. I actually just went to a friend's doTERRA oils class, and I was a little surprised by how expensive those oil blends are! But the Better Essentials oils are more my speed, money-wise.

They shipped me four oils, but one — lavender — broke in shipping. When I opened the package, the other bottles were covered in lavender oil, and that caused the pretty labels to fall off. So for this post, I've screen-shotted pictures of their oils from their website. I'll be reviewing the three that survived here. The lavender smelled great! But I didn't really get a chance to work with it, so I don't feel qualified to review it.

Let's start with the Fresh Air — a blend of Lavender oil, Rosemary oil, Fir oil, Naiouli oil, Eucalyptus oil, Tea Tree oil, and Peppermint oil that is designed to help assist with respiratory function. It's also said to have a calming effect. This compares to doTERRA Breathe or Young Living Raven.

I have horrible sinuses, probably because we share a house with nine animals! And they're the worst when I wake up in the morning. Since I hop out of bed and head outside for my run, my nose starts running about mid-way through. So I wear one of these handy snot rags around my wrist.

This morning, I placed a drop of Fresh Air on my rag, and every time I blew my nose, I could smell the eucalyptus-heavy scent. And it really helped me breathe!

I also used a little Fresh Air in my homemade all-purpose cleaner this week, so when I spray it around the house, it helps open my sinuses. And it relaxes me. I make a new batch weekly with 2 Tbsp. Dr. Bronner's, 1/4 cup vinegar, 2 tsp. Borax, 1/4 tsp. essential oil, and 4 cups hot water.

Next up is the Peppermint Oil. 

Peppermint is so versatile, and it's good for a LOT of things — nausea, fatigue, back pain, muscle pain, headaches. I use it most often for headaches though. Whenever I have a headache, instead of taking pills, I rub a little peppermint oil on my temples. I tried that with this oil one Saturday morning, and it worked.

Finally, here's the Lemongrass Oil.

Lemongrass has a lot of uses too — insect repellant, fatigue, sore joints, anxiety. Since I'm into oil shots lately, I decided to shoot some lemongrass oil one morning when I was feeling pretty sleepy. I brewed some herbal tea (with herbs also meant to help with fatigue) and allowed it to cool. And then I added one drop of lemongrass oil. Down the hatch. Not only did I feel more awake, I had super fresh lemongrass breath for a couple hours! Lemongrass is very strong!

I would totally buy these oils! The prices — which range from about $10 to $30 — are more reasonable than some of the other companies. And according to their website, they have a commitment to quality. Good stuff!