Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Essential Oils

I know many people who use one specific brand of healing oils. I know others who don’t care about brands but just quality. I like to think of myself in the second category. I have used multiple brands of essential oils. I have to admit some of the cheaper brands are horrible. I would like to stop the mindset that high cost = quality. It frustrates me when so many people are paying a higher price because they know someone that sell a specific brand and they want to be “supportive”. Forget being supportive, you work hard for your money and you should be able to buy the cheaper brand that works just as great without feeling bad. Let me start by admitting that I do not get paid to promote any brand of anything and these are just my opinions based on my own experiences.

The two brands I’m going to compare are DoTerra and Edens Garden. Many people may have never heard of the second brand. The truth is I was looking for a less expensive option for oils for me and my family. I finally found one I’m confident enough to talk about. To give an example of the cost difference I can buy a 15ml bottle of DoTerra Melaleuca (Tea Tree) oil I can buy for $20.90 and a 30 ml bottle of Edens Garden Melaleuca (Tea Tree) oil I can buy for $6.95. That’s a savings of $34.85 for every 30ml. Depending on how much you use that can be a ton of money saved.
I use Tea Tree oil on my scalp regularly, I mix it in with my shampoo and it costs a lot less than shampoo sold with it already mixed in. I have used other oils that work and that don’t in a wide range of prices. The average price I’ve paid for a 15ml bottle of oil was $10.00. Since I’ve used multiple brands $10.00 and under that do work I refuse to over pay for this oil that I use so regularly.

I had wanted to get into using other essential oils for health and well-being for my family and that is what I like about the two above mentioned brands. They sell multiple kinds of oils and oil blends. Both brands have worked for me in other instances. That is why I think they are equal in quality, at least in the oils I’ve used. The only claim I have heard from DoTerra representatives that I am personally not comfortable with for any essential oils is that it can be taken orally. According to the Edens Garden oils manual their oils are all Grade-A Therapeutic Grade oils. I don’t know if that means they can be taken orally but it appears to me with all oils some types are safe to take orally and others are not.  For example I would never take eucalyptus oil orally since it is not safe to do so but I would think lemon oil would be safe. (I am not an oil expert, so research any oils before use). Some readers may feel they do not want to use a different brand of oils other than their expensive brand because they trust it, if that is the case you can stick with what I consider over paying for a quality product when you may just be overpaying for the same quality I get at almost ¼ the price.

No matter what brand of oils you choose to use make sure you have quality information on how to use the oils you have. Good luck and good health to all!

Monday, August 18, 2014

Shop Around



I often look up online how to do things from cooking a meal, planting bustle sprouts, caring for a teething child, and even saving money. One thing I don’t find often is how not to do things, that may seem counterproductive because most of the time we aren’t looking for the negative. However, I am a huge bargain junkie. I LOVE finding something and feeling like I got a great deal. If it’s finding something at a garage sale, thrift store, or just finding it online at a discount. This other thing I really appreciate is finding a way to get something I want but in a non-name brand and that saves me tons of money. I often hear how great a specific brand of clothing, shoes, purses, shampoo, food, or even medicine is great. The problem is I believe that is just what those companies want us to think and that’s why they pay advertisers tons of money. I don’t mean I always get the store brand of items, I just mean there may be a comparable brand out there that is great and costs less.

I hope to do reviews on two different brands of products and give an honest opinion on the two products. Some items may be store brand and some may just be one I found through my own research and even some may be suggestions by others.