In this newsletter we will try to help you further your knowledge and use of essential oils.

We are going to deviate from our normal format in this newsletter to give you a list of helpful hints and tips about using essential oils and more!

Helpful Hints and Tips with Essential oils and Aromatherapy
– a hodgepodge of information.

Some of these you may already know, others will be fun to know!

by Alan and Penny Keay

1. To apply just a small amount of Lavender on an insect bite, first put a few drops on the end of a cotton swab, then dab on the area.
2. Before blending essential oils with your carrier oils or lotions tear several pieces of paper towels in quarters or smaller to use to quickly wipe up the small drips that can occur.
3. Always mix essential oils in glass containers such as Pyrex measuring cups, condiment dishes or beakers . Of course depending on what you are mixing them with will determine the size container you will need. For stirring use stainless steel or glass. Do not use rubber, plastic or wood as essential oils are nearly impossible to remove from those surfaces. If you are only mixing essential oils – just mix into a clean glass amber bottle, swirl or roll in your hand.
4. As much as you might enjoy blending and mixing essential oils remember to step out of the room every 20 minutes or so and take a break from all scents for about the same length of time.
5. When developing a blend using essential oils make sure to WRITE everything down, (or you’ll wish you had)!
6. Mixing Carpet freshener can be a trick when you add the essential oils. Often times it will be come clumpy. Apply the essential oils to a cotton pad (such as a Scentball or TruMelange pad) and place that in the jar of Baking Soda mix – shake vigorously, let sit overnight if possible.
7. Keep Silk or fabric flowers in several places in your home. When unexpected company arrives, quickly apply a drop of essential oil to one of the petals (hide the bottle of essential oil in the flower pot or near it for quick and easy applications).
8. Place a Terra Cotta Disc diffuser in the bathroom. Apply your essential oil or blend onto the diffuser at bedtime. In the morning the bathroom will smell so much better!
9. Have you had the Flu or colds and are getting really tired of smelling Eucalyptus and the pines? After your feeling better, diffuse some citrus oils. Lemon, Mandarin , Orange , Lime or any of your favorites. Not only are they refreshing they are also uplifting, especially after you have been under the weather.
10. Anise oil has long been used by fishermen, but if you are a hunter, did you know it will help cover your smell too and not scare away the wild animals you are in pursuit of? Remember a just a drop or two is all that is necessary.
11. When using essential oils inside your automobile, remember use only a drop or two as the interior of you vehicle is just a small portion by volume compared to any room in your house. More than a drop or so can cause you to become overdosed especially when using strong oils like the mints or Eucalyptus globulus .
12. Use a Roll-on perfume bottle to apply smaller more concentrated amounts of essential oil/carrier blends to specific sore and tired muscles spots. (Do not use the Roll-on concentrated mixture for a full body massage – it is only for smaller areas.)
13. To blend essential oils with Talc Powder – again, use a Scent ball pad or other cotton pad to apply several drops of essential oil on, then place in your talc bottle, shake several times and let blend for 24 or more hours before use.
14. Quick refreshing bath - Add one drop of each of the following essential oils to your tub while it is filling – Spruce , Geranium , Spearmint, Juniper andLemon.
15. Place a cotton ball or terra cotta diffuser near your doors that you have placed several drops of Geranium oil on, as Geranium is one of nature’s natural insect repellents!
16. Did you know that Eucalyptus globulus can remove small amounts of glue remnants after you have removed tape from surfaces such as counter tops? Just remember to apply with a cotton ball, rub gently, and then wash off with soap and water. Eucalyptus globulus can ruin the finish of painted and varnished furniture, so do not use Eucalyptus globulus or any essential oil on those to remove tape from those surfaces. (Yes, if Eucalyptus globulus doesn’t work or you don’t have any, you can try Orange orLemon – umm, sound familiar??)
17. Although you can use tap water to make your “room spray”, distilled water is usually a better choice. Often time’s water from the tap has chlorine or other impurities that can alter the essential oils in your room sprays.
18. Quick – “kill two birds with one stone“– add several drops (4-5) of essential oil to your vacuum cleaner bag prior to vacuuming your room. Our Favorites – Anise , any of the Citrus Oils or the Citrus Blend , Douglas Fir or Siberian Fir needles or Celebration (at Christmas), or if you have a ‘flu bug’ in the house – Four Robbers blend or Pure Cleansing blend s.
19. Out of Furniture polish? Mix 10 drops of Lemon or your favorite floral essential oil – Ylang Ylang? With once ounce of Jojoba . Use a soft cloth and rub a small amount on your furniture. Buff to a beautiful shine!
20. Do not apply essential oils to CATs – ever. Their livers cannot metabolize (breakdown) essential oils or break them down slowly. Essential oils can cause liver damage and failure in cats. Some hydrosols can be used on cats but again, with caution. What about diffusing essential oils around cats. Limit the diffusion to rooms the cat doesn’t spend much time in. Make sure your cat can ‘escape’ to a scent free area of the home. You can still diffuse and use oils for your pleasure, just make sure your cat has a room that is free of essential oils.
21. Smelly shoes? Put a few drops of any essential oil in them at the end of each day you wear them. The next time you put them on, they should smell a little better.
22. Keep a few essential oils handy in your purse or suitcase. You’ll be glad you packed that Lavender, Peppermint , Eucalyptus globulus andLemon in there. (Maybe a few blends too!)
23. Allergies – essential oils with natural antihistamines – just inhale a few times a day. Roman Chamomile and German Chamomile . Especially good to use prior to allergy season, continuing throughout the season.
24. Remember – more is not better when it comes to aromatherapy. Just a drop or two is all you need for many applications.
25. Dispel cooking odors quickly by adding some essential oils to a small bowl of very hot tap water. Just set on counter, soon the scent will be dispersed into the kitchen. (Excellent place to use a Scentball diffuser too.)
26. Forgot your diffuser at home? Simply put a facial tissue or two that you have placed several drops of your essential oils on near the hotel/motel air conditioning or heating units. The movement of the air will scent the room quickly. Our favorites to diffuse – Lavender, Peppermint or Pure Cleansing blend .
27. Tired Feet? To a basin of warm water add 1 cup Epsom salt and 1 drop Peppermint and 1 drop Eucalyptus globulus . Cooling and refreshing.
28. Long car trip or any trip? Try inhaling a little Rosemary to keep you alert and aware of things happening around you. Keep a Personal inhaler with Rosemary or our Concentration blend to help keep you alert.
29. Keep Helichrysum 10% handy in a roll-on perfume type bottle . So you can apply it quickly and easily to bruises.
30. Last but not least, make a mix of Lavender, Peppermint and Rosemary in Jojoba or fractionated coconut oil. Put in a roll-on perfume bottles and apply a stroke or two on the back of your neck or on your temples when you have a headache.

BIRCH HILL HAPPENINGS NEWS

Hello Everyone,

This newsletter again is a little shorter than normal, but sure you understand and can find the information we have provided helpful.

Hope Summer isn’t passing too fast for you. It is passing way to fast for us. Probably ‘cause we are so busy.

As we have reported earlier, construction is continuing. We hope to be done with the outside work before the end of August. We still have a lot of repairs to our deck including painting and trim to put up. Time is running short of weather here in Minnesota to cooperate with outdoor activities. So we have lots to do yet before we can get to the inside work.

A very important message. To avoid confusion with two products sold by Young Living we have changed the name of two of our very popular products.

Please note- just the names were changed – not the formulations. They still are the same great blends.

Thieves Blend is now Four Robbers blend . Still the great essential oil blend and at a more affordable price than YL’s Thieves ®.

Also our former Purifying Blend is now PURE CLEANSING blend, although it has none of the same oils as Young Living’s Purification we thought it would be best to change our name so folks that buy their blend know it is not the same.

So in summary – the two new names for a couple of our blends are - Four Robbers blend – formerly Thieves blend and Pure Cleansing Blend – formerly Purifying. To order “Four Robbers blend ” or Pure Cleansing blend visit our Synergy Blend page at http://birchhillhappenings.com/aroma3.htm

A few “What’s new?” Items – Two new inhaler colors – Light silver and bright Magenta. See our inhaler page for more information about these sealed inhalers and to order at Click Here .

Our "Strictly Feminine" Perfume is on sale – Buy one, get one!
(In other words Two for the price of One)

Let me explain. Several months ago, we were approached by a National Woman’s magazine. They had us send them a bottle of our Strictly Feminine Perfume and said they would be featuring it in one of their Fall 2006 issues. They were making sure, (with us being a small company), we could supply to their readers and fulfill any orders. We contacted another Aromatherapy company that had been featured in their magazine for other products and from there determined how much to blend – as it being a perfume it needed a few weeks to blend. We blended plenty and had it ready by the time the magazine was to appear on the shelves.

Well, the issue the Perfume was to be featured in – came and went and our perfume was not in that issue nor did it appear in any issue since (we have been watching, but will no longer patronize them).

The article was to be about the Essential Oil Yarrow.

SO – we have a ton of Strictly Feminine Perfume, Well, not really a ton (but close to a gallon), in other words, we have plenty. Although it has aged beautifully, we do need to sell it. It has aged for about 1 year now and is wonderful. The essential oil blend is our For Women's mixed with Jojoba . It is great for any woman, any time.

So, if you would like to use an all natural perfume that has a great smell and can make you feel even more like a woman, you’ll want to try this. We hope you will take advantage of this beautiful natural perfume during the sale. To order Strictly Feminine Perfume - Click here

Need Talc Powder in bulk? We now have it available in a one pound (16 ounce) jar. See our Bulk Quantities page at Talc PowderClick Here to order. We also have Powder Sifter Bottles (click here) for repackaging in smaller containers.

Also before I forget – Two new Essential oils – Helichrysum - Certified Organic from Corsica. Many aromatherapists feel that Helichrysum from Corsica is the best Helichrysum to use for skin and other applications. To order Click here

The other new essential oil is Bergamot FCF - Bergaptine free . This Bergamot FCF - Bergaptine free is safe to use in massage oils and lotions that is applied to the skin. It still is wonderful diffused too. Any Bergamot that is not FCF can cause Photo toxic skin reactions that are not pleasant. So please, use Bergamot FCF - Bergaptine free in your blending when it’s going to be applied to the skin. The regular Bergamot is still great for diffusing! Click here to go to order page.

Well, that’s it for now. Just a quick and short letter for this time. As I’m sure you are like us and want to spend time enjoying the outdoors – as summer is passing way to fast.

If you have suggestions, questions or comments please feel free to send us an e-mail to bhhinfo@birchhillhappenings.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

‘til next month,

Yours in Aromatherapy,
Alan and Penny

E-mail us at bhhinfo@birchhillhappenings.com

CLICK HERE to SEE WHAT'S NEW!!

For a listing of the Resources for information in this newsletter (including recipes) and others please visit our Reference page Click here