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Seven Ways to Prepare Now for Low Stress and Budget-Friendly Holiday Gifting

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Beeyoutiful Mary Leave a comment

I know, I know, I KNOW. There’s a special kind of frustration and pressure that mounts when you walk into a store in October (probably still wearing short sleeves!) only to see Christmas decorations up already.

Goodness, let me have my fall, people! I’m not even getting to wear my boots yet!

But what I do appreciate are all the great ideas for holiday gifts that are creeping into my Pinterest feed, and the fun craft ideas that float across Facebook. And given that I have almost already filled my entire schedule for the next 12 weeks, I am glad to be reminded that if I want to make a few thoughtful gifts, it might be time to plan on it now.

So while we’re not ready to turn on the Christmas tunes at Beeyoutiful headquarters and throw any tinsel just yet, we are going to give you a head start with our list of seven Christmas gifts you might want to make or purchase before the holiday rush this year.

1. Cinnamon Ornaments

They’re not edible, but these cookie imposters smell divine and are great as teacher gifts or for Grandma.

1 cup Applesauce
1 1/2 cup Ground Cinnamon
*You can also add small amounts of glitter to your dough to add extra glitz to your ornaments!

Mix until thoroughly incorporated. Place dough on a sheet of cinnamon-dusted waxed paper; place a second sheet on top of the dough. Roll to 1/4 inch thickness, and then peel off the top paper. Use your favorite cookie or biscuit cutters to cut dough into shapes.

Using a thin spatula, place dough shapes on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Using a ice pick or skewer, poke a hole on the top part of each ornament to later insert the ribbon. Bake in a preheated oven at 200* until solid (up to 2 hours).

Once cooled, insert ribbon or decorative string and tie in a hanging loop. Hang on your Christmas tree or anywhere you’d like to spread the scent of Cinnamon.

2. Herbal Sugar Scrub

This is a great gift for those on your list who enjoy a bit of pampering.
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Sweet Almond Oil
1/8 cup Raw Honey
1/8 cup crushed Hibiscus petals
30 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil (Or substitute another favorite oil)

Mix together until thoroughly incorporated and then store in a tightly capped glass jar. Place in tins or decorative glass jars for a beautiful gift. Use a chalk board tag and a liquid chalk pen for an added cute touch on the label.

3. Herb and Spice Blends

Buy your herbs and spices in bulk and create some of your own blends, then give them as gifts to your favorite cooks! Several popular spice blends are Cajun, Italian, Herbs de Provence, Ranch, and Cinnamon Sugar. Here’s a salt blend to get you started.

Kickin’ Popcorn Salt

1 cup Sea Salt
1/2 cup Chili Powder
1 Tbs Cayenne Powder
1/4 cup Paprika
1/4 cup Garlic Granules
1 Tbs Oregano
1 Tbs Thyme

Mix together and store in a tightly capped glass container. Pop your popcorn, then melt butter and add 1-2 teaspoons of this salt to taste. (I also like to add the juice of a lime.) Drizzle over freshly popped popcorn and toss to distribute evenly.

4. Herbal Tea Blends

Use bulk herbs and teas to create custom blends for your next tea time. (Learn the simple steps to blending herbs here!)

5. Essential Oil Rollerball

Create your own unique aromatherapy blends using your favorite essential oils, jojoba oil, and an empty rollerball bottle. The Complete Book of Aromatherapy and Essential Oils has some great recipes and tips on making safe and fragrant blends!

6. Spiced Vanilla Granola

Get our delicious recipe here! Make it ahead in big batches, then portion it into pretty containers to gift later.

7. Books

Choosing a favorite wellness book for a friend is a great way to share information and education, and boost their long-term health too. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving!

6 Crucial Things You Need to Know BEFORE Using Essential Oils, Part 2

Posted on March 26, 2015 by traditionalfoodadventure 4 comments

6 Crucial Things You Need To Know BEFORE Using Essential Oils, from Beeyoutiful.com

Thanks for joining us for Part 2 of this article! Don’t miss the vital information and helpful graphic we shared in Part 1.

In our last post, we talked about how important it is to put safety first and to respect the potency inherent in essential oils. Let’s continue our discussion with four more areas to consider before using these powerful tools.

What is good for Peter may be bad for Paul

Especially if Paul is a young child! Appropriate and safe guidelines for use vary widely from one species of plant to another, and even more widely from adulthood to childhood. Please take the time to personally research each and every essential oil you use with your child or baby. There are very, very few infant-compatible essential oils, a few that are considered okay for toddlers, and then the list expands by several more for young childhood. Once a child reaches 10 years old, the list of oils considered safe expands significantly. (Here are a few oils that we carefully use with children in our own homes.)

I can hear it now: some of my fellow mamas are voicing exactly what went through my head when I first read some of these age-based safety guidelines. “Huh… well, I rubbed XYZ essential oil on my little one neat and not only were there no adverse reactions but it lowered her fever, so THERE. This sounds like a lot of paranoia to me!” Please understand this: just because you can use a particular oil on a young child with no noticeable adverse effects the first time (or even several times), that does not mean that it cannot happen at a later time. (Remember also that not all adverse effects are visible; for instance, you cannot tell from the outside whether your child’s tiny liver is stressed by trying to process the powerful compounds present in certain oils.)

Reaction x2

There are two main types of reactions that can happen in response to external use of essential oils and it’s crucial for all users to understand them.

Skin irritation was the only type of potential reaction of which I was aware when I started with oils. This is the type of reaction that one is to test for before using any new essential oil externally. Skin irritations can occur in one individual and not in another, due to individual sensitivities. Skin irritation happens on the first exposure to the irritatant, the reaction is rapid, and the severity will depend on the concentration of the irritant present. The skin responds with an inflammatory reaction.

Skin sensitization is the second type of reaction and it took me years of learning to discover a thorough explanation of what it is. Skin sensitization is a type of allergic reaction. The oil will not produce any irritated reaction on the first patch test, but during later exposures, once the allergen has penetrated the skin, the body’s immune system reacts in an attempt to fight off what it views as an invader. This can result in a rash on the skin. Sensitization reactions can also take the form of inflammation, breathlessness, nausea or headache. It is possible to become sensitized to any essential oil, no matter how pure or safe the particular species or variety.

Sensitization to an essential oil happens most frequently through overuse of a specific oil. This is a good reminder that it is unwise to repeatedly use the same oil (or blend of oils) day in and day out. There is benefit to changing out our oils on a regular basis and making sure they are sufficiently diluted for external use. Both of these strategies will decrease the risk of sensitization over time.

The Swiss Army Knife of natural tools

Essential oils are so incredibly multi-faceted. They can do it all, and do it with style. These are the primary ways they are suggested to be used.

Aromatherapy includes heat diffusion, cold nebulizing diffusion, steam inhalation, or simply smelling the oil from the bottle or applied on an item in the vicinity. It is generally agreed that aromatherapy is the safest way to use essential oils. But, even with aromatherapy, there are cautions to beware.

External use covers applying an oil directly to the skin, either neat or diluted. There is a wide range of opinion as to what constitutes safe external usage, recommended dilutions, and what health situations warrant external use.

Internal use is by far the most controversial form of essential oil usage, with well-diluted considered the safest form of essential oil internal use. Diluted or not, internal use requires the most research and expertise, and entails the highest amount of risks.

There is a range of risks and contraindications inherent in the available options of essential oil use. Understanding this is an important step in being an informed consumer and moving beyond the naive view that all oils are equally safe and viable options for everyone.

Why a Company cannot create a well-informed Consumer

When I first began using essential oils, I was very careful to read everything I could that was published by or recommended by representatives of the company from which I bought them. After all, who better to trust than the source of the oil itself?

Now that I’ve read many more books, scientific studies, and articles written by certified aromatherapists, I feel a little betrayed by the narrow scope of information given by the company I placed my trust in as a fledgling essential oil consumer all those years ago. There was so very much that they didn’t say, and so much they did say that I found out later was not a reflection of what other experts considered good advice.

My perspective has changed and I no longer hold that company completely responsible for my ignorance as a consumer. I know now that the information a company publishes and shares about their essential oils, with recipes, dilution recommendations, cautions, warnings, and benefit suggestions will all be driven by that company’s philosophy, the personal way the individuals in that company use oils, and the training and personal knowledge of the people in the company. It will also likely be heavily filtered and carefully worded due to the legal restrictions placed upon alternative health businesses.

Through the years, Beeyoutiful’s essential oil descriptions have been revised multiple times. Many times, the edits were very frustrating for us to make because they meant removing information that could be very beneficial for consumers to know but that we are not allowed to share based on our best understanding of FDA guidelines. Other times, the edits were made to reflect new information as we learned it about specific essential oils. The most recent round of edits was intended to be more comprehensive of health, age, and pregnancy and nursing precautions.

We’ve shared how our oils are made, and we’re happy to answer your common questions about them. We are sharing, educating, and disclosing everything we can to the best of our ability, and even so our efforts, on their own, will never be enough to make you a truly informed consumer. No company selling essential oils will ever be able to educate you well enough because the restrictions are too great and our knowledge base is not comprehensive enough even if we could write what we wanted without restrictions. We will never be experts on your health history, or that of your children and your family. We will never be your personal healthcare provider. We are here to simply make available the tools we use with our own families, and do our very best to share helpful information along the way.

We carry books about essential oils and freely give reading recommendations for resources that we trust that will help fill in the gaps we know exist between where our product descriptions end and where knowledgable consumerism begins. Please take advantage of these resources! It is so worth it to have a broad understanding of how these marvelous essential oils work, and this knowledge will enable you to use essential oils for the rest of your life.

Missed the important information in Part 1 of this article? Read it here! If you found this information helpful, don’t keep it to yourself! Use the buttons below to share it with a friend, and make sure to follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.

6 Crucial Things You Need to Know BEFORE Using Essential Oils, Part 1

Posted on March 25, 2015 by traditionalfoodadventure 2 comments

Over the past few years, essential oils have undergone a radical transformation. They went from being the best kept secrets of hippies, crunchy mamas, and alternative healthcare practitioners, and have now burst into the mainstream in a big way. Nowadays, most of us have at least one essential oil fan amongst our friends and family (depending on your social circles, maybe you know more than just a few!). I had no idea myself what essential oils were until several years ago. The few times they crossed my path, the cost and research involved was daunting. (This was before the days of ever-present social media filled with beautiful photographs and easy-to-find recipes, along with bloggers sharing post after post of their top 10 favorite oils and ways to use them!)

But, after a scary episode with our very young daughter having breathing troubles that nearly landed her in the hospital, we broke down and bought a diffuser and some basic oils. That was the start of our learning journey and we’ve been pursuing more experience with and knowledge of essential oils throughout the years since.

We’ve faced plenty of twists and turns on our road, and I want to share with my friends some tips that I wish someone had shared with me at the very beginning of our essential oil journey. These are particularly crucial points to understand if you are a parent making essential oil decisions for young children.

Safety First

Essential Oils are incredibly powerful. This is what makes them such marvelous and multifaceted tools, but it’s chilling for me to remember the lack of respect that I had for essential oils when we first began using them. I learned quickly that since essential oils possess highly concentrated amounts of active compounds and properties of the plants from which they are sourced, it is entirely possible to be allergic to an essential oil, or for an essential oil to exacerbate an underlying health condition, or simply be too much for an individual body to handle in specific situations.

Here’s the real deal about safety and essential oils. It’s tempting to think that because they are pure and natural that they are of course also safe and gentle. This is not always the case! (Hemlock and cocaine are also pure but nobody would call them safe!). Unfortunately, there is enough conflicting and even flat-out dangerous information out there to sink a ship.

Personal responsibility as a consumer is a big deal. Here at Beeyoutiful, we advocate for informed consumerism in all of life. In some areas, the stakes are relatively low and the margins to live and learn are pretty generous. However, because of their sheer concentration and potency and how they can be so easily (even accidentally) misused, the stakes with essential oils are substantially higher.

Respect the “essential” part before the oil

A little part of me cringes when I think back on my early enthusiast days as I gleefully squealed to my friends that “I use my essential oils for EVERYTHING!” Because they are indeed so useful for oh so many things, there can be a huge temptation to get into the habit of thinking, “Oh I have an oil for that!” or “Hmm. Wonder what I should do for this situation… let’s try some oils first.”

It is crucial to take the time to be an informed consumer of essential oils. Essential by definition means (in this context) the purest, most concentrated extract possible. Find out the reasons that even some experts are hesitant to use them in any form except aromatherapy, and only with very select oils for children under 10, 6, and 2 years of age. Learn why some experts recommend a minimal dilution. Learn about each individual oil that interests you. If you understand the philosophies the experts use, you will be able to decide when you’ll want to apply caution, and in what situations you might personally be comfortable with a more aggressive approach.

Oils are amazing, incredible tools. We use them daily, if not multiple times per day in our household in a wide variety of ways. But I no longer reach for oils first when I face a health situation. Or even second. And often times not third or fourth either.

Why? Because they are the superstars, the power-houses, the strongest natural medicine available. Essential oils may possess the key component that could make all the difference in a serious situation, yet they are also a choice that can often represent the most potential risk. A lot of us essential oil enthusiasts are guilty of bringing our super-powerful oils to a situation where something a lot less potent would work just as effectively with less risk of complication or adverse reaction. (Ever hear it said of an overzealous person that “he brought a gun to a fistfight”? Don’t be that person!)

This chart is a helpful visual to represent the degrees of potency and risk of adverse effects available to those of us who prefer to use tools from nature to support health and healing. You might be surprised to see that essential oils are ranked right up at the top, just under over-the-counter mainstream medications.

Continue reading Part 2 where we consider four additional crucial things you need to know BEFORE using essential oils. Was this post helpful? Share it with a friend who needs to know this important information!

6 Ways to Travel Well and Stay Well (Especially With Kids!)

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Beeyoutiful Mary Leave a comment

Along with fun and excitement, traveling also brings a measure of stress on a body’s health and well being. It takes a toll with later nights, strange beds, hectic (yet fun!) schedules, and exposure to more people and places and thus more germs. There is nothing worse than being out of town and sick, except being out of town, sick and without your favorite supplies. It’s doubly awful if the ones who succumb are young children!

Our family had a stomach bug catch us several years ago on the tail end of a long trip for my husband’s job. Having Tummy Tuneup, Activated Charcoal, Essential Oils, and Vitamin D on hand helped kept me from getting sick too, and we were able to get home quickly and recover.

Here are the strategies and items that I consider absolutely crucial in my family’s travel arsenal.

When I get to our hotel room, I immediately plug in our diffuser. Optimally, I can add Eucalyptus Essential Oil and Bandito Blend into the Breeze and then we can go out for a couple of hours, giving the essential oils time to do their disinfecting jobs. But, since I have littles, I will usually turn instead to a child-friendly combination of Lemon, Spearmint, Tangerine and Thyme to diffuse. Those oils are less irritating to their little systems but still are effective at going after bacteria.
I always bring a small travel size spray bottle. When I arrive, I add several drops of Spearmint, Thyme and Tangerine Essential Oils and then fill with water. I use this to wash down all the surfaces in the hotel. You can also pull down the beds and spray the mattresses, if necessary; just spray lightly and then allow to air dry. That, combined with diffusing into the air, will cleanse the room of the majority of potential threats.
Before we go out in crowds, we prevent, prevent, prevent! If it’s summer, I usually skip the Vitamin D. But if it’s winter or we already seem a bit unwell, we dose up with Cod Liver Oil for extra Vitamin A and D. A dose of an elderberry syrup is next. And finally, we never travel without our probiotics! Our choice is usually Tummy Tuneup because it is easy to dose the little ones, and it’s shelf-stable so I don’t have to worry about keeping it refrigerated.
In case our tummies go sour, we keep extra Tummy Tuneup, Activated Charcoal, and essential oils on hand. Our favorites are Spearmint (for anyone under 10), Peppermint, and Oregano, each well diluted in a carrier oil and massaged on the feet, lightly on the abdomen, and down the spine. We open a capsule and put Tummy Tuneup powder under the tongue. I use Charcoal to both treat and prevent the spread of upset stomachs; it’s highly absorbent and can quickly bind to toxins and move them out of the digestive system.
If a nose is running, we dose up with our Berry Well and Vitamin D [LINK] and then keep a paper towel handy with a few drops of either Spearmint or Peppermint to assist in breathing. (I use Spearmint for children under ten and Peppermint for ten and over.) We also brew a big cup of Red Raspberry Leaf Tea to sip. All you need is your hotel room’s coffee maker and you are all set with hot water to make enough tea for everyone.
Cuts and bruises! Busy travel days in unfamiliar environments can lead to more accidents and injuries than normal. I clean well with soapy water and then slather on some Miracle Skin Salve. For stings, bites, and sunburns, I bring along a baggie of dried Plantain (at home we often use the fresh leaves, but in urban areas it can be scarce or there is a possibility of pesticides). For fresh plantain, just chewing it up a bit and applying the crushed leaf to the sting or bites brings almost immediate relief. You do that with dried plantain as well, or you can make a poultice with hot water and the dried leaves.

While these items don’t chase away every chance of sickness, they do make any downtimes on trips a lot less stressful. Have we missed any of your favorite tips or products? We would love to hear your travel tips!

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Behind The Scenes: How Beeyoutiful Essential Oils Are Made

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Beeyoutiful Toni Leave a comment

How Beeyoutiful's Essential Oils Are Made

Don’t you love to go behind the scenes and discover how things are made? We do, and we thought you might like to know a bit about how a plant product is turned into an essential oil.

All of Beeyoutiful’s Essential Oils are produced utilizing only steam distillation or cold pressing with no additional ingredients (that’s why we can call them Essential!). We also provide a few blended products such as Tension Tamer that include essential oils, and these are clearly labeled as diluted with additional carrier oils.

Most of our oils are extracted using steam, while the citrus oils (such as Orange, Lemon, and Tangerine) are released through pressure.

Steam Distillation

1. The plant material is placed on a screen in a steam still. Steam from a boiler is introduced under the screen where the plant material is held. The steam vaporizes the essential oil in the plant material. Both steam and oil vapor rise to a condenser.

2. The steam and oil are condensed to a liquid, and fed to a receiving vessel.

3. The essential oil rises to the top of the liquid in the receiving vessel. It is separated from the condensed steam liquid (water or hydrosols). The water may be returned to the boiler and reboiled into steam.

Cold Pressing

1. The whole fruit is scarified, which means the peel or rind is mechanically pierced to open the sacs containing the essential oil.

2. The whole fruit is then pressed which squeezes out the juice and oil.

3. The oil and juice, which contains the peel and other fruit solids, are centrifuged to separate the liquids and solids.

4. The oil liquid layer is then separated from the juice liquid layer.

What about chemicals?

Further physical processing such as filtering and distillation of either the steam distilled or cold pressed essential oils may follow, if it’s needed to remove any remaining debris, waxes, etc. However, we NEVER use chemical solvents or additives in anything labeled as 100% pure essential oils. When we say it’s a pure oil, we really mean it!

Plant Quality & Species

The plants we use are obtained from many sources, and we carefully select the species and quality of those plants. The final quality of an essential oil involves many factors, so we start at a high level by weeding out things like old stale plant parts, and insisting on choosing the specific plant species used.

When you purchase an essential oil, always look past the common names (Chamomile) and insist on a label that bears the Latin binomial or scientific name (Chamaemelum nobile) so that you know exactly what’s in the bottle. Not all varieties of the same kind of common plant will have the same therapeutic properties.

Product Standards

Even a very pure oil could be completely dead, containing little to none of the active constituents that would make the oil valuable for health-building purposes. Each kind of oil will have different functional properties and we have a set of standards in place for each one.

A partial list of the components that may be analyzed include Specific Gravity, Refractive Index, Optical Rotation, Flash Point, Infrared Absorption (as published in FCC), Solubility, Taste/Odor, Color/Appearance, Heavy Metals and Predominant Active Chemical Components. We employ state-of-the-art analytical equipment that allows highly specialized analyses, such as Gas Chromatography and Infrared Spectrometry.

As a general guideline, we follow the specifications used by the Essential Oils and Flavor Industry and published in The Essential Oils by Guenther, as well as Fenaroli’s Handbook of Flavor Ingredients. These texts, as well as other sources of scientific information, detail specific physical and chemical properties of a particular oil.

Once an oil passes all of our quality checks, it’s bottled, labeled, and ready for use in your home medicine kit!

For more information on how to use Essential Oils, we recommend The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy. Consider signing up for our email series that includes 101 Ways to Use Essential Oils for free weekly tips sent straight to your inbox!

The Detoxifying Power of Eucalyptus

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Beeyoutiful Toni Leave a comment

Eucalyptus. What a funny-sounding name for an even more exotic plant! You might recognize eucalyptus as the preferred habitat of Koalas in Australia. The cuddly-looking marsupials live almost exclusively in groves of eucalyptus trees, and the pungent leaves are nearly all they ever eat.

While we can’t recommend making eucalyptus a part of your own diet (it’s toxic to humans when taken internally), the oil extracted from the leaves can play a very important role in detoxifying the air you breathe, your home and laundry, and even your body.

Eucalyptus contains high levels of cineole (also known as eucalyptol), a chemical compound widely studied and shown to have a massive range of beneficial properties. Studies have shown that eucalyptus oil is:

antimicrobial
antifungal
antioxidant
analgesic
insecticidal
a respiratory aid
an immune booster

We’ve grown to rely on eucalyptus essential oil for so many uses! Here are some ideas to get you started.

Use eucalyptus in household cleansers to disinfect your home (see one of our favorite and most-requested recipes below). Add a dropperful along with your laundry detergent to rid your linens of dust mites and bacteria (especially appropriate after sickness has visited!).

Include eucalyptus in homemade salves as a pleasant scent and natural preservative. Add a few drops to shampoo or body wash to combat dandruff, ringworm, lice, and scabies.

Dilute thoroughly with a carrier oil and use topically as a rub for sore muscles and sprains, a soothing balm for minor cuts and scrapes, or an antifungal foot treatment. Use eucalyptus-based lotions or creams on the chest, back, and soles of the feet to soothe respiratory issues. (When using on the skin, always dilute eucalyptus with a carrier oil and test for sensitivity.)

Dab a few diluted drops on your body (or place a eucalyptus-dampened cotton ball in a loose pocket) to act as a bug repellent. Spray around your home to ward off invading creepy-crawlies. Dab on insect bites to cool and calm itching.

Use eucalyptus as a base when diffusing essential oils. The distinctive scent of eucalyptus blends well with many other plant oils (especially those that also contain cineole, such as Rosemary, Tea Tree, and Basil) and helps to stretch more expensive oils and make them last longer.

Take a bit of olive oil and eucalyptus and mix with bath salts, then soak in the perfumed water to soothe irritated skin and enjoy a rejuvenating dose of aromatherapy.

Eucalyptus supports respiratory health and breaks down mucus; breathing the aromas has historically been helpful with colds and congestion, allergies, and asthma.

Producing pure essential oil requires a large amount of the herb, flower, or plant. It takes over 100 pounds of eucalyptus leaves and stems to produce just two pounds of oil! This distillation process concentrates the powerful plant compounds into a potent and easy-to-use liquid form, making it simple to keep eucalyptus on hand.

Even with the costs of distillation, eucalyptus essential oil is one of the least expensive oils available, and given its versatility and ease of use, its low price means it packs an even bigger wallop. Once you realize the benefits of eucalyptus, you may come to love it as much as koalas do!

NOTE: Eucalyptus Essential Oil is not considered appropriate to use while pregnant or nursing, and should NOT be used with children under 10 years old. (Spearmint is a much safer choice for children.) If you are on medications or have a medical diagnosis, please consult with your doctor prior to using Eucalyptus because it can interact with medications and is contraindicated in some situations. Eucalyptus Essential Oil should always be diluted when used topically. The maximum concentration with mixed with a carrier oil should be 20% (to achieve, mix 20 drops of Eucalyptus Essential Oil to 1 teaspoon of carrier oil).

Learn more about Beeyoutiful’s Eucalyptus Essential Oil and watch a delightful 1-minute video here.

For even more ideas on how to use eucalyptus essential oil, read longer articles here and here.

Stay Healthy Away From Home With Handy Travel Supplements

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Beeyoutiful April Leave a comment

Have you ever found yourself carefully packing your suitcase for a long overdue vacation and wondering which supplements you should bring along? Every time I travel, whether my destination is across oceans or across state lines, I always bring certain essential items along to keep my family healthy. My handy travel supplement kit includes Tummy Tune-Up, Activated Charcoal, Chew C, Digestive Enzymes, and Lavender Essential Oil. Tummy Tuneup is always in my kit because my entire family can use this gentle yet effective probiotic. I take it when I feel those uncomfortable gas bubbles pop up, and within a matter of minutes I feel better. My two year old takes it on a daily basis as part of her immune support. In fact, we traveled to Playa Del Carmen this summer and of all the children in our group, she was the only one who didn’t experience any digestive upset! I also open the capsules and give it to my newborn for colic, gas, and thrush. (Who wants to be on vacation and have thrush creep in? Not me!)

Activated Charcoal is another favorite soldier of mine. We use it all the time. Heartburn? No problem, have some charcoal! Stomach bug symptoms? No problem, have some charcoal! And the list goes on. It neutralizes excess stomach acid and absorbs toxins, stopping heartburn and other stomach issues in their tracks. It acts like a sponge, absorbing everything in its path as it goes through the digestive system. Use capsules for a mess-free option, or if you have the powder form in your kit, simply stir it into your favorite beverage. (Accidentally got into some poison ivy, or something more exotic? Apply a paste of charcoal and water to the skin to draw out toxins there, too.)

The next thing you need to throw in your suitcase is Chew C. I start taking it a few days before I leave for my trip, whether driving or flying. Travel causes stress on the body, leaving us susceptible to bacteria and viruses that in a well-rested situation the immune system might have fought off. Adding extra Vitamin C is an excellent way to boost your immune system, and Chew C tastes great for the whole family.

When I eat unfamiliar foods, as I often do on vacation, they aren’t always easy for me to digest. That’s why I added Digestive Enzymes to my arsenal. The enzymes help my body to break down the food I am eating for better absorption and less digestive distress. The high quantities of Cellulase and Protease help to maximize yeast cell wall digestion as an added bonus, keeping yeast overgrowth in check.

Lavender is one of the most used and best loved essential oils in history. It smells great and can be applied neat (without a carrier oil). I take it on every trip because of its antiseptic and antibiotic properties. On top of that, it can be used to relieve the itch of bug bites, help with relaxation, and soothe tired muscles. There are endless ways to use Lavender, so just go ahead and drop it in the bag too.

When you include these travel-friendly supplements in your bag, you can relax even more on your vacation knowing you conquered the most common travel ailments before you even left home.

What are your “can’t leave home without them” items? Have you used supplements while away from home? We’d love to hear about your travels!

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Health

Cleanse and Freshen with Tangerine Essential Oil

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Beeyoutiful Toni Leave a comment

Tangerine Essential Oil from Beeyoutiful.com

There is nothing quite like the clean, sweet, refreshing smell of a bright orange Tangerine on a cold day. It’s enough to bring warmth and life to even the longest and dreariest of winters.

Beeyoutiful®’s Tangerine Essential Oil is all that and more in a bottle. Tangerines have been prized in Chinese culture for thousands of years for both food and medicinal uses. The unique name comes from Tangier, a city in northern Morocco, where tangerines first made their way into European culture.

This essential oil, cold pressed from the skin of the tangerine, is orange in color and contains a large percentage of limonene as its active ingredient. It helps aid in brightening a dreary mood, can help relax and at the same time invigorate the mind, and is considered a great cleanser. Tangerine pairs well with Frankincense, Lemon, Cassia, Clary Sage, Patchouli, and Clove.

Cleaning: Mix 12 drops of Tangerine, Lemon, Spearmint, and Thyme into a 32 oz spray bottle and fill with water. Shake well and use to clean and disinfect. Try adding a few drops of tangerine oil to your dishwasher each cycle to boost cleaning and as an added rinse agent.

Diffusing: Tangerine can be diffused alone to help brighten the mood or relax the mind, or mixed with several other oils as well. Chamomile and Tangerine with a hint of Cinnamon is a great combination for relaxation. Tangerine and Patchouli are a great pair to assist with cleansing after illness.

Shop all of Beeyoutiful’s essential oils here. Interested in learning more about essential oils? Consider The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy and our free email series, 101 Practical Uses for Essential Oils.

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Feel the Breeze!

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Beeyoutiful Toni Leave a comment

So many of our readers and customers use essential oils as part of a health-supporting strategy, and we’re excited to make our diffusers available more easily than ever before!

Using only cold air and no heat or water, the Breeze naturally atomizes the essential oils without damaging their molecular structures or powerful therapeutic properties. The Breeze delivery system emits a micro-fine vapor of pure and natural essential oils that permeates the air.

I’ve used this diffuser in my own home for about 18 months and appreciate that it’s sturdy, easy to use, and doesn’t have an open oil reservoir or delicate glass parts that can shatter easily. Even if the Breeze were knocked off a table, it would be hard for it to spill or break.

The Breeze is easy to clean, too. If you notice that the flow of vapor is slower than it used to be, or you’ve been using a lot of the stickier oils, you might need to wash out the atomizing nozzle.

After disconnecting the bottle and tubing from the atomizer, simply submerge the atomizer nozzle in either hot soapy water or rubbing alcohol for one hour. If any oil residue is left, run rubbing alcohol through the atomizer for 20-30 seconds to help loosen any remaining stickiness. (Your diffuser isn’t made for long-term dispersal of liquids, nor are your lungs intended to breathe atomized alcohol, so do this only for short periods just for cleaning!)

Sometimes folks ask how long a bottle of essential oil should last in their diffuser, but that’s a really hard question to answer. It all depends on which diffuser you’re using, the speed of the air flow, and the viscosity of the oil (some of the more resinous oils, such as frankincense, are “stickier” and might diffuse more slowly than thinner, more slippery oils such as eucalyptus).

I got curious about this myself and decided it was time for a little experiment. I put about a quarter inch of oil in the bottle of my Breeze (a couple droppers of Eucalyptus and about 10 or so drops each of Lemongrass and Bandito Blend).

Then I screwed on the nozzle, turned on the air flow to the lowest setting, and waited. It took 2 hours to use up that quarter-inch of oil. It could have gone much faster, if I’d increased the air flow, and if I’d used a gummier oil, it might have diffused more slowly, but now I have a rough gauge for how long to run my Breeze to disperse a certain amount of oil.

We’d love to know how you use essential oils in your home. What’s your favorite oil? (Mine’s Lemongrass.) Do you have a great-smelling “recipe” you like to diffuse? We’re using a lot of Cassia and Orange these days (it’s never too early for the scent of holiday spice!). Share your best essential oil tips with us! And if you learned something from this post, please mention it to your friends using the buttons below. Thanks!

Playing Favorites- Fall 2010 Catalog

Posted on November 29, 2010 by stevetallent

Playing Favorites

Product Preference Confessions of a Beeyoutiful Lover

By Stephanie Kuvik Tallent

One of the “perks” of working at Beeyoutiful is that employees have the blessing of experiencing the benefits of each product in Beeyoutiful’s incomparable lin-up and, for almost 3 years now, I’ve used just about everything. To choose favorites among these prized health helpers feels a bit like choosing a favorite among my kids but I confess: there are some “chosen ones” for me. Although I have a Top 20 list, I’ve narrowed it to five to share with you (maybe more next time).

Aroma-Pro Essential Oil Diffuser

Using the Aroma-Pro Essential Oil Diffuser, I “play” with the fragrances and scents I fill my home with almost daily. I might mix a little Orange Oil with a bit of lemon and eucalyptus and maybe a dash of peppermint to permeate my home with a citrusy-fresh fragrance that is also secretly killing germs. While I don’t see it happening, I know my friend, Aroma-Pro, microbializes each oil into the air, allowing it to do its own cleansing job. The oils remain in the air and kill germs for up to five or six hours after diffusion. Another huge plus: it is far more effective and natural than any germ-killing aerosol spray in the market. Oust and Lysol do not use up money from my grocery list—Whoohoo!

As part of my diffuser playtime, I also read about each oil-its particular properties and what it blends well with-and now I’m not afraid to mix a little of this and a few drops of that. (Beeyoutiful offers a great resource to help in your own adventure with essential oils. If you don’t already have a copy, order The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood. The book explores far more than just diffusing essentials oils and it has been an invaluable reference for me on more than one occasion. You’ll find it on page 14 of this catalog.)

Aroma-Pro Essential Oil diffuser is a special blessing during the fall, winter and early spring months when colds, flu, and allergy irritants are rampant in the air. When we come home fro shopping, church, or the gym, I switch on the diffuser to kill germs or bacteria we may have brought home. As we go about our day-whether putting groceries away or taking a Sunday afternoon nap-we breathe in those marvelous, microbialized oils and rid ourselves of the yuck we brought home. When a cold or flu bug does grab hold despite our best efforts, I crank up the diffuser with oils that have anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and disinfecting properties to help beat the bug as quickly as we can. I blend a few oils that are good for easing congestion and opening airways. And when pollen in the air causes sneezing and teary eyes, essential oils in the diffuser is my answer again.

[The Aroma-Pro Essential Oil diffuser can be found on pg.31 of this catalog. It is available for purchase by phone or mail order only.]

Ow!-Ease

Most of the tears in our house come from one or both of our toddlers as they’ve learned to walk, run, jump, play, and -not so gracefully-fall down and bump something. But those tears dry up almost automatically when Mommy says, “Oh my, I bet that hurts. Do you need some cream on that?” We toddle off to the bathroom to smooth Ow!-Ease on the tear-inducing red mark. Just knowing Mommy is going to “fix it” with our amazing creams stops the tears and helps take the “ow” away.

I love Ow!-Ease, not just because it helps stop the tears but because it works. Arnica has been used since the 1500’s by both Europeans and Native Americans in salves, creams, liniments, ointments, and tinctures (as a base for poultices and compresses) to aid the healing of sprains and bruises, and to soothe aching muscles and relieve inflammation. Arnica, a perennial herb, is used mostly in topical treatments due to the toxicity of the plant and the serious side effects if taken interally.

Medicinal researchers have discovered that what makes arnica so effective is that it acts as a natural vasodilator to capillaries under the skin. Dilating the blood vessels relieves pressure on the injured area and speeds healing of bruises and sprains by allowing new blood cells to rush to the injured area. So when you apply an arnica salve directly to your skin, you cause blood vessels to open, help relieve inflammation, and aid in pain relief.

We use Ow!-Ease more than any other cream or salve. Its handy, gluestick-type container makes it simple to apply and you don’t get your fingers messy putting it on. My husband, Paul, treated a direct hit in the ankle by a softball within an hour of the injury, and the treated area never turned purple. Only the surrounding area, untreated skin changed color, and once he noticed the difference, he treated the discolored area as well. Ow!-Ease helped reduced the swelling, inflammation, redness, and bruising. What should have been a huge problem lingering for weeks healed within a matter of days!

I’ve used Ow!-Ease on glaring red stretch marks to help minimize their redness and visibility. With little people in the house, toys, are often in places they shouldn’t be (like in the middle of the floor), and I ‘ve tripped on my fair share. Like most moms, I often hurry through the house to discover the cause of the latest round of crying and all-too-frequently run into the corners of tables and counters on my way. I discover unsightly mega-bruises hours (sometimes days) later and wonder where they came from and why they hurt so much. Ow!-Ease rescues my sore spots, and it seems I use it on myself as often as I do the kids. [Ow!-Ease can be found on page 34 of this catalog.]

Soothe It! Aftershave Spray

I love Soothe It! Because the fragrance, though designed for men, is so gentle I’ m comfortable using it myself. Its lemongrass and sage essential oils appeal to both genders.

I relish Soothe It on my legs after a shower and enjoy the smoothing and soothing from both the aloe and the essential oils. Soothe It acts like one of those expensive in-the-shower shaving conditioners except you spray on Soothe It after you get out. It’s satisfying to know the good feelings are also good for my skin and not full of petroleum and chemicals.

Soothe It is a refreshing astringent on my face after washing. It gives it that tight feeling without being drying and the aloe discouraging acne and blemishes as well. Soothe It is a special treat in the summer months because I tend to not need a moisturizer at all and just spritz and go. As with Beeyoutiful’s HairShine, Soothe It can be used as an after sun spray because of the cooling, soothing aloe. It’s such a multi-purpose spray I keep one in the bathroom, one on the dressing table in the master bedroom, and another in my travel toiletry bag. [You’ll find Soothe It! Aftershave Spray on page 34 of this catalog.]

Beeyoutiful Balance

I often reach for Beeyoutiful Balance, the bio-identical progesterone cream. After much reading and study, I realized I had most of the symptoms of progesterone deficiency and decided to try Beeyoutiful Balance. We ran a great article on the use of progesterone cream a few catalogs back, so I won’t go into great detail about this amazing product, But I want to share my favorite use.

While every woman’s experience will be different because no two people have the exact same body chemistry, my use of Beeyoutiful Balance has resulted in lessening mood swings, a more consistent cycle, an almost instant feeling of calmness after I first apply it, and with all of those changes in me, a much happier hubby! My greatest benefit has been that, at the very start of my cycle when those annoying, painful cramps hit, I reach for Beeyoutiful Balance, apply it once and, within a half hour cramps are gone. I can go about my day and minister to my family as usual. Although I used to use typical pain relievers, they were hard on my stomach. So Beeyoutiful Balance delivers double relief. The first time I used Beeyoutiful Balance to relieve cramps, I was proud of myself for having figured out a natural way to feel better during what for years had been an uncomfortable time.

[You can find Beeyoutiful Balance on page 17 of this catalog and the article “Hormone Balance with Natural Progesterone Cream” at www.beeyoutiful.com/articles.]

Peppermint Essential Oil

It’s hard to pick a favorite essential oil when there are so many to choose from and all are so different in how they work and what ailment they help relieve. But I would have to say Beeyoutiful’s Peppermint Essential Oil is the one I reach for most frequently and as my universal, cure-all essential oil. Peppermint offers natural antiseptic properties and is a natural antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory, which makes it effective for many purposes.

Peppermint is typically known for relieving stomach indigestion and nausea so , instead of reaching for a piece of hard candy, we do things a bit differently at our house.

– Hiccups. One drop of peppermint oil on the finger and into the roof of your mouth, quickly followed by a small glass of water helps relieve hiccups in about a minute (not recommended for small children as this can cause a burning sensation in the mouth.)

– Fever. Especially for a small child or infant, mix a few drops of Peppermint Oil with Beeyoutiful’s Almond Oil and rub the mixture on the bottoms of the feet. (Almond helps the peppermint oil absorb more quickly than if used by itself and, as a carrier oil, it helps prevent burning of the skin.)

– Bloating and gas. Particularly before bed when you just don’t feel right, a few drops of Peppermint Oil in the belly button should help with indigestion and aids in reducing bloating overnight.

– Migraines. Peppermint Oil helps treat stress headaches and nausea. Rub a few drops of Peppermint Oil into your temples every few minutes while experiencing nausea or headache. You can also put a few drops into your belly button for nausea. Allow it to absorb, and then add a few more drops as needed. Apply it to your temples again when the oil does not appear glossy. That means it has absorbed into your skin and is working.

We also use Beeyoutiful’s Tummy Tuneup in conjunction with Peppermint Oil for nausea, heartburn, and indigestion. Both Peppermint Oil and Tummy Tuneup stay in the diaper bag so we have them for emergency situations when we are out. Head and tummy aches usually don’t get the better of us anymore.

Peppermint Oil is also an ingredient in my all-purpose household cleaning spray. Instead of other cleaners like Clorox Clean-up, I use it on the counters after cutting up chicken, on the kids’ high chairs after a meal, on the floor when a pet or child has made a mess, in the bathroom as my sink and toilet disinfecting spray, and so much more.

Ahh! I almost forgot to mention that I use Peppermint Oil in the Aroma-Pro Diffuser, too. I have to say, THAT is my favorite place to use it. I enjoy mixing it with just Eucalyptus Oil to help disinfect the air and kill germs, but a few drops of Peppermint Oil mixed in with a little of this and a little of that smells so good and…well, you get the idea. [Peppermint Oil can be found on page 29 of this catalog.]

I could keep going and share with you how I use more of Beeyoutiful’s many products, but the editorial police for this catalog limited me to just five. Come to think of it, that’s probably a good thing because I could share for hours (and pages!) how much I love all the many ways we use all-things-Beeyoutiful here in our home.

Stephanie Kuvik Tallent lives in Missouri with her husband Paul and their two children Amanda and Michael. Their whole family is excitedly looking forward to the addition of another child around June of next year. Stephanie is passionate about the health and care of her family and can often be found in her kitchen cooking, preparing nutritious food for them.