Thank you for Supporting the Harveys!

First off, thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this letter that I have written.  It's taking a lot of guts for me to write it.  I'm definitely stepping out of my comfort zone, but what did comfort zones ever do for me?  Thank you so much for reading this and knowing that my heart is to serve you, if you ever decide you have the need.

***

Dear everyone,

Y'all know that I'm absolutely gaga over essential oils.  A little bit over a year and a half ago, I made a seemingly lighthearted decision that has forever changed my life.  I can tell you story after story about essential oils but I know you value your time, so let me cut to the chase.

My husband, Erik, has always been supportive of my oily habit.  I mean, he did raise his eyebrows a few times when he saw how much I started spending on them, but he never doubted the efficacy of oils.  He even used a few oils daily and was impressed at how they continued to support his wellness.

Well.  He came to International Grand Convention in Utah and he caught the oil fever!  He soaked everything up like a sponge and is now home reading up on oils and Ningxia Red and all things oily!  He even bought an EO Bros t-shirt and he's ready to teach classes and do this business WITH me.

At the lavender farm in Mona, Utah

Introducing my new business partner:  Erik Harvey!

So now I have a huge favor to ask of YOU.  Young Living has 1.7 million distributors.  You can't walk down the road without meeting somebody on your block who uses and maybe even sells Young Living products.  So if and WHEN you decide to get into essential oils (and the 100% pure living energy kind), you have some choices.  We realize that.  

Young Living is a business of relationships, and family always comes first.  If you have a family member that is building a business out of Young Living, please enroll with that family member.  Same thing with a best friend.  However if you don't know anyone who is actively building a Young Living organization, I would love to have you start your account with me and Erik. 

What do you get when you get started with a Young Living membership in genaral?  Perks of a YL membership include:

• A premium starter kit with 11 oils, a diffuser, samples, and oil literature
• a wholesale membership (24% off retail prices) with no renewal fee (50 PV minimum order in one year required)
• Access to Young Living customer service, accredited with an A+ rating with the BBB
• Access to endless product education and/or business building education, if that interests you

Why should you explore essential oils with us, specifically?  How can we be of VALUE to YOU?

• Continuous product support.  We don't want you to get a kit and then leave it on the shelf.  We want to help you learn how to use it.  We want to assist you in meeting your family's wellness goals.  We are available to partner with you.
• Education.  We offer class of all kinds all throughout the month.  And if the class dates and times don't work for you, we are happy to schedule a 1:1 that works on your schedule!  Classes like Essential Oil Basics, The NonToxic Home, Essential Oil Supplements, Raindrop Technique, Aromas & Emotions, Pets & Essential Oils, and more to come...
• Commitment.  We aren't doing this "on the side" or just because it's the current fad.  We are 100% committed to doing this for the rest of our lives.  That means that we won't leave you hanging if we become bored with oils.  Haha, not possible!
• Passion.  I know so many others have passion too!  I love love love it when people have passion for essential oils and natural-based wellness.  
• Business building support.  Okay most of us do not get into essential oils to sell them or educate about them.  I know we didn't!  It just kinda happened.  But if you should desire to get involved in making a little (or a lot of extra money), we are happy to share ALL of our tools and experiences with you.  When you succeed, we succeed!
• Love.  I know, I know.  Corny.  But it's so true.  I have SUCH A STRONG LOVE for every single person in my organization/team/family.  Family, is what my fellow oily friends feel like to me. 

So anyhow, this is me asking you to join me when you are ready to try these oils out.  Debra Raybern- a Royal Crown Diamond with YL - says, "You don't have because you don't ask."  I'm Dr. Seuss and I'm telling you, "Try it [green eggs and ham = oils] and you may, I say!" 

We know you have umpteen choices out there.  And we appreciate all the support you give to the Harveys!  

Live, love, and Rise Above, with the power of essential oils.  :)

Peppermint: The Chuck Norris of Essential Oils

If you're an oiler, chances are you'll get asked one question pretty often:

"What's your favorite oil of all?"

You may find that question easy to answer, but I don't. My favorite constantly changes! It used to be Peace & Calming.  Then it was Royal Hawaiian Sandalwood. Then it was Valor (still kinda is). Then I became obsessed with Bergamot. And Thieves...well I just cannot live without Thieves. Same with Digize, but I really only tolerate the smell of Digize, so it can't be that one.  

Do you see? It's not so simple! But there is one oil that is so versatile...so effective...so powerful...that I have a bottle by my nightstand, in my office, AND in my purse. I bet you can't guess which one it is!  Oh yeah, it's the title of this blog post.  PEPPERMINT!

God, look how lovely it is. Surprisingly enough, I've never liked peppermint candies. You know the kind you can get at restaurants after you eat? So I was kinda impressed at how quickly I took to peppermint essential oil.

FACTOID: Did you know that it takes 1 POUND of peppermint leaves to make one 15 mL bottle of pure essential oil?! That's a crap-ton of peppermint plant! So this stuff is POTENT. I prefer to think of Peppermint as the Chuck Norris of essential oils. There's nothing it can't beat to a pulp. :D

I digress. So let's get back to some tangible ways you can use peppermint and fall in love with it like I have.  

*Medical disclaimer:  The information contained on this blog is not meant to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.  The information represents what I, an Independent Distributor of Young Living Essential Oils, have chosen to do to take charge of my own personal health and that of my family.  Statements on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. *

1) COOLING. Peppermint has a natural cooling effect, wherever it's applied. At first, it might take your breath away or freak you out when you apply it to your temples. It's so cooling, that many have put peppermint on their kiddos feet to help support temperature homeostasis when they baybays get hot. I for one, have made a cooling spray with distilled water, witch hazel, and peppermint oil. Now remember: oil and water don't mix, so make sure you shake it up before you spray. I live in Texas y'all. It's effing hot here. So I never leave home without my peppermint cooling spray to mist my arms and neck when I begin to feel a sweat coming on.

2) CONCENTRATION. Peppermint has a naturally uplifting quality to the smell. It has a way of perking you up when your brain is in a fog and maybe even improving your concentration when you can't seem to focus. I've made a spray with peppermint mixed with orange that I'll put on during that time after lunch when I want to pass out. Diffusing these two together is also divine!

3) DIGESTION. Digestive distress is on my family crest. Just kidding, but seriously. It runs in my family. That coupled with the fact that I don't always eat as cleanly as I know I should. So what can get things moving again? You guessed it. Peppermint oil mixed with carrier oil on my tumtum. It's very soothing and supports the digestion system in many ways!

4) NAUSEA. Speaking of digestion, a related topic is nausea. Back in the day before "modern medicine", native cultures used to chew on peppermint leaves to help with nausea. I think they may have learned a thing or two living surrounded by nature! I do believe that God put something on this planet to help with anything our bodies need. For me, just opening the bottle of peppermint and taking a whiff when nausea washes over me usually does the trick. If not, I'll take a couple of drops  of peppermint vitality in a veggie capsule, sometimes also with ginger vitality.

5) EXERCISE. I don't work out at the gym, but judging by my Facebook feed, many do and are downright proud of it. And should be! Wanna increase your performance at the gym? Studies have shown that a drop of peppermint in water before exercise has boosted performance. Do your own experiment and see what peppermint can do for you!

6) ITCHING. Got a bug bite? Put peppermint on it for some soothing relief. Lavender works too.

7) RESPIRATORY. We all know that lung and nose issues can be utterly annoying. One nostril works, and the other doesn't. Eucalyptus is great for aiding in opening your airways, but guess what? So is peppermint! Diffuse it or put a drop on your hands and inhale. Plus the added benefit that it'll wake you right up!

8) SEASONAL DISCOMFORT. Yeah, you read that right. Right along with the former respiratory comment, peppermint is a key ingredient in a little roll-on I like to make to support me during Pollenocalypse. The ingredients are equal parts lemon, lavender, peppermint, and copaiba in some carrier oil. You can also take a couple of drops of each oil (the Vitality line) in a capsule to do double duty on such days that being outside makes your face less than smiley.

9) HEADACHES - Man. Chronic sufferer here. I can tell you the back story behind it but I don't want to bore you to death. All I know is that peppermint oil on my temples or behind my ears is such a wonderful way to help me cope with my headaches. Sometimes I even add basil EO on top of the peppermint or lavender. But the peppermint is the one that will always be in my purse, without fail.

OBVI, peppermint is one bad-a mofo (if you want a saucier version of that label, use Samuel L. Jackson's voice and read the full dirty wordies). It truly is the Chuck Norris of essential oils. So order some today! If you aren't a member of YL, you can sign up here.

I'll leave you with a cool Chuck Norris-approved infographic:

  

The Oily Debate: Young Living vs doTERRA

I'm going there.

If you have dabbled at all with essential oils--or even just started reading about them--you've no doubt heard about two companies: Young Living and doTERRA. You may have even read crazy articles about how they are involved in legal battles with each other and how doTERRA actually originated from some higher ups in YL who left to start their own network marketing company. I'm not planning to go into all the drama because it's exhausting and you can lose yourself in the muck of blaming and bashing. And that's no good for anyone. What you focus on, you become.

Instead, I would like to tell my story. I believe it has a very powerful message for both camps and I hope it's read and received from the place from which I've written it: a perspective of curiosity.

My first introduction to essential oils was through HEB--our local grocery store. I wanted my house to smell delicious and after trial and error, I found that Scentsys and Bath & Body Works candles gave me headaches. I purchased NOW brand lemon, peppermint, jasmine, and ylang ylang. They smelled okay to me because I didn't know any better. THIS, my friends, is a large percentage of the population of people who are trying essential oils. The opportunities for education are endless, as we all know those store-bought oils are full of crap. Almost literally.

My first introduction to therapeutic essential oils was with one of my acupuncturists. She asked if she could put a drop of lavender on my forehead because I was particularly stressed that day (former middle school teacher = 'nuff said). At first I was hesitant because I thought it was a fragrance oil, which gave me headaches. But in the end, I decided to trust her and boy was I wowed at the scent! I asked her to order me a bottle of lavender, this she did, and I was hooked. I signed up for a doTERRA starter kit the next month, even though I still had one foot in skepticism. The other foot was hopeful that these oils were all they were hyped up to be.

First off, I started with a Family Physician's kit which did not come with a diffuser, so I had to order that too. This put me well over $200 for my first purchase. My kit arrived promptly and I was very impressed with the oils. I didn't really like the smell of DigestZen (which ended up becoming my favorite doTERRA oil, which just shows you that it's not about the smell; it's about the therapeutic benefits) but the others smelled good! Lavender, lemon, and peppermint smelled sweet and I liked it!

But apparently I have a lot of green in my dominant yellow personality. For those of y'all who don't know the colors assessment, green is the analytical, fact-based researcher tendency. [If you’re curious, click the link to take the test: https://jacobadamo.com/personality-colors-quiz/] And so I began researching what all I could do with my newfound love of doTERRA.

I was obsessed with learning more. I began to read articles and articles about essential oils. And wouldn't you know it? The name Young Living kept popping up. Many articles were comparing the two brands. Some articles were about the dirt of how doTERRA left Young Living. But what especially piqued my interest was reading about how Young Living was a 20+ year old company and had built their own farms and distilleries. Article after article, people were raving about YL, and yes, some were bashing it. But the scientist in me had to know by experience.

Just 11 days after I ordered my doTERRA kit, I begged and convinced my husband to let me spend another $150+ on a Young Living starter kit. It came WITH a diffuser, I cried!  We'll use it, I promised. And so I enrolled online without a member number and was given an amazing woman who lived in Amarillo, TX as my sponsor. We are now very close!

I played with both kits for months. Immediately, I enrolled in both autoships, purchased more products, and continued to experiment and compare. The more I smelled doTERRA's lavender, the more it smelled sweet. When I smelled Young Living's lavender, it smelled like a lavender PLANT. I liked the sweeter smell, but YL's smelled truer to the botanical. The more I smelled doTERRA's peppermint, the more it smelled like a peppermint candy cane! Again, YL's peppermint smelled like a peppermint PLANT, which was actually less palatable at first but somehow felt more TRUE. On Guard wasn't even in the same vicinity as Thieves (in my personal opinion) and so I barely used it. Still, I continued to use doTERRA's Breathe, DigestZen, Past Tense, ClaryCalm, and a few others right alongside my YL oils. And here's my (as unbiased as I can make it) report:

• Young Living's oils just FELT better. While many of doTERRA oils SMELLED better, YL's smelled truer to the the botanical. Ergo, the therapeutic properties were vastly more present.
• YL oils were "thicker" than doTERRA's. DoTERRA's oils seemed thinner or more "watery". Ergo, I felt like I needed less of YL's oil to achieve the same effect.  
• There were blends from both that I couldn't stand the smell of at first, but the reasons why were different. With YL oils, I started out being repulsed by RC and Dragon Time (I think it's the clary sage) and Digize. I pushed through the smell and kept using them and my body (and sniffer!) adjusted because they worked. They began to smell better as my body associated them with relief. With doTERRA's, there were oils that I was repulsed by because they smelled off. I don't know how else better to say it, but they just didn't smell okay. I used them anyway for a time and eventually couldn't get past it and stopped. Those oils were Serenity, Holiday Joy, and On Guard.  
• YL has a Seed-to-Seal process that is unparalleled! Over 20 years of research and science behind their craft, and they’re the only major company to not simply rebottle another farmer’s product! That’s right, they own farms all over the world and have built their own distilleries from the ground up, so we can all take part in that process. When they grow it, they know it! Full disclosure: We don't grow it all ourselves, and we do partner with other farms to provide us with certain botanicals. These suppliers do need to abide by our rigorous Seed-To-Seal standards and they are constantly checked in on to make sure that's the case! 
• More about the above bullet point can be found in a book that I devoured in days! I can not recommend this book ENOUGH; READ IT: https://www.youngliving.com/en_US/products/d-gary-young-the-world-leader-in-essential-oils
• Young Living's humanitarian efforts are the icing on the cake!  Just look up what the Young Living Foundation has done....oh em gee! (Side note: I believe doTERRA is also doing some humanitarian work as well)

This is purely my opinion, based on about 9 months of using both. In the end, similar comp plans, customer service, and similar pricing didn't weigh in. For me, it was the spirit or energy behind the YL oils that won me over. The Seed to Seal philosophy. The fact that YL owns their own farms and distilleries and has over 20 years of research and experience behind it. Who else can go and physically see and take part in their oils cultivation, harvesting, and distilling?

So what do I say to people who say they prefer using doTERRA? Or Native American Nutritionals? Or Melaleuca? Well I'll tell you what I DON'T say. I don't badmouth them or try to "convert" them. In my opinion, that shows a lack of integrity and that's not what YL stands for. I say, "I'm so glad you found oils that work for you and your family. I'm assuming that you've done your research and feel like this is a product that you can get behind, and kudos that you are incorporating natural wellness into your life instead of relying purely on chemical-based pharmaceuticals. Best wishes to you on your journey with essential oils."

And then I mean it. That's it. If they want to press me for why I choose YL or why I left doTERRA, I'm more than happy to share my story. But if they don't ask, I don't tell.

So there you have it! After a year of membership, I chose not to continue as a doTERRA distributor. I wish doTERRA reps the best and I also freely admit that I'm an oil snob for Young Living. [And any doTERRA peeps reading, if you would like to try some of my YL oils to do your own comparison, I’m game to share!] If you are aren't a member of either and you are considering both, I implore you to do your research. I don't believe you can assert a strong opinion until you've at least tried them both. Go forth with what resonates with you and fill your life with 'little drops of God in a bottle.'

[If you are ready to get started with a Young Living Premium Starter kit and nobody else is already working with you, I would love to support you!  Please click the following link "SIGN ME UP!", follow the instructions, and I'll contact you when you've successfully ordered your kit!  memberSIGN ME UP! ]

Love always,

Michelle Harvey
Hippie Oil Chick and Oil Goddess  :)