Joy is aptly named. It promotes what it’s name implies which is great for anyone who struggles with irritability, anxiety, mood swings, depression, cramps or PMS.

It’s a blend of 10 different oils, including bergamot, ylang ylang, rose, lemon and tangerine.

Many love it as a perfume or to wear in a diffuser necklace. I love the way it smells but I’m sensitive to fragrances so I wear it on my feet.

I don’t leave the house without it!

Lemon oil was the first oil I ran out of for a couple of reasons:

A) I use two drops in my drinking water each day, and it’s a delicious sweet lemon taste vs. sour lemon juice. Here’s why I make sure to drink lemon water each day, and you should too:

http://complete-health-and-happiness.com/happens-body-drink-warm-honey-lemon-water-morning/

Be sure to only use glass bottles or glasses when using lemon oil!

B) It’s a key component for my allergy trio. Must have this time of year!

Some of my other favorite uses for lemon include: fever reducer for kiddos and it’s a must for my sore throat/cough spoonful (thieves/lemon/honey).

Lemon oil is a staple around here!

If you told me I could keep one essential oil and all the others would be taken away, I’d have a really tough time deciding, but Thieves would be near the top of my list just for what it’s done for our family. (Thieves is an essential oil blend of clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus and rosemary oils.)

Here are my top 3 uses for Thieves:

1. Immunity.

Before Christmas (and before Thieves) we were in and out of the doctors’ office like a revolving door. If strep, pink eye or a stomach virus was going around in my girls’ classrooms, they were getting it.

Since then we have been diffusing Thieves each evening when the girls get home from school and applying diluted Thieves to their feet each night. We also keep and use daily a homemade hand sanitizer on my desk at school and on Anna Claire’s backpack and lunch box with the star ingredient, Thieves.

Fast forward to today, and we have had zero doctor visits or days missed from school due to illness. The one variable that has changed in our home is our use of essential oils.

2. That feeling you get when you think you might be getting sick. As a teacher in a public school, I have had several of these moments! A teaspoon of honey, thieves and lemon later and I am back in the game. (Tastes terrible, works great.) This same spoonful has become my go to for scratchy throat or cough. Gone almost instantly.

3. Teething. When I took essential oils on as a lifestyle change, I was determined to replace as many of our OTC and prescription meds as possible since I hated being dependent on either and disliked how they made me feel. Hardest to let go of was pain reliever for the baby’s teething. When one of my babies are hurting, I need a way to put a stop to it quick. And let’s face it, ain’t nobody got time for screaming and crying with no relief.

Then I read heavily diluted Thieves could be used on baby’s gums for teething. I made a batch but it was weeks later before I was able to actually try it and let me tell you it was instant relief for Madeline. She was all smiles! And I was a skeptic turned believer.

Disclaimer: these were my personal results and used based on research and with consistency. Also, Young Living oils are pure therapeutic grade oils, able to be safely ingested and used orally; please do not attempt these uses with brands that are not pure therapeutic oils, state “for aromatherapy use” or say they cannot be ingested.

Stay tuned each day as I continue this little tour of my premium starter kit and how we’ve incorporated EOs into our daily lives.

Since receiving our starter kit, I’ve been most surprised by the many uses of lavender, especially with children.

I knew it smelled great and relaxing, but it has replaced so many products in our home that have blown me away!

Lavender has replaced cold/allergy meds and antibiotic ointment for my kiddos. It’s the star ingredient in the eczema cream I use for the girls.

I use a drop of lavender in my mascara for longer lashes (encourages hair growth). It’s a key component of my face blend, focus blend, anxiety blend and allergy blend, it helps us all sleep, I could go on! (Btw, many of the oils for major blends mentioned above are in the starter kit!)

And these results were with therapeutic grade lavender. Not “for aromatherapy” use varieties or types say they cannot be ingested. All lavender essential oils are definitely not created equal. (Please don’t drop some random lavender oil in your mascara, y’all! That’s your eyes we’re talking about.)