Myrrh essential oil (Commiphora myrrha) is steam-distilled from gum/resin of the plant. It is known for its warm, earthy, woody, balsamic odor.
Myrrh essential oil has anti-infectious, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antitumor, astringent, and tonic health properties. It has been traditionally used to promote healthy skin and support the immune system. Myrrh promotes spiritual awareness and is uplifting.
This oil branches from ancient Greek mythology and has been used for thousands of years in religious rituals, embalming, treating leprosy, and more. Today, common uses of myrrh include allergies (skin), chapped/cracked skin, dysentery, gum disease, Hashimoto’s disease, hyperthyroidism, impetigo, inflammation, stretch marks, and ulcers.
Myrrh mainly affects the hormonal, immune, and nervous systems, so it can also be used to help with appetite (increase), bronchitis, digestion, eczema, decongesting the prostate gland, and skin conditions.
This oil should be applied directly to the area of concern or to Vita Flex points.
Safety Data: Myrrh has been approved by the FDA as a food additive and flavoring agent. Use with caution during pregnancy. Myrrh is not for children under 6 years old and should be used with caution and in greater dilution for children over the age of 6.
Add 2–3 drops of myrrh to 1 cup (240 g) epsom salt, or follow this recipe to make a Frankincense and Myrrh Bath Bomb, and add it to your bath for a relaxing and rejuvenating skin treatment.
As myrrh oxidizes, it can become resinous and may even seal your bottle shut. Just rub some fractionated coconut oil or another carrier oil on the inside of the lid to prevent the oil sticking to the lid.
For a facial moisturizer, wrinkle treatment, and owie ointment, combine 5 drops myrrh, 3 drops frankincense, and 2 drops lavender in a 1/3 oz. roll-on bottle with 2 tsp. (10 ml) jojoba oil.
Combine 5 drops myrrh, 4 drops rose, and 3 drops lemon for an emotionally uplifting diffuser blend.
Gift-giving is popular around the holiday season, and we all love something that is cute and simple that can be given to neighbors and coworkers. The easiest way to make something cute and simple is to put it in a nice-looking container. Abundant Health has lots of different containers that can transform your gift from ordinary to classy!
Not only do we have a few ways you can use our containers in gifts, but these recipes also include essential oils. You’re sure to be a hit when sharing these simple delights with an added twist of essential oils in every bite!
Butter a square pan, and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a microwave-safe bowl, heat chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk for 1 minute on high.
Remove from microwave, and let sit 1 minute.
Stir to combine until the chocolate chips are completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla extract.
Pour fudge into prepared pan. Let cool all the way through before cutting (to speed up this process, you can place fudge in the refrigerator for 1 hour).
Cut fudge into squares, and place them in a mason jar mug or PET jar. Tie a tag on with ribbon or string for the final touch.
Note: This fudge does not need to be refrigerated.
In a medium pan, heat corn syrup over medium heat.
Once corn syrup is heated through (bubbling), add sugar, and stir until well mixed.
Let syrup cook without stirring until it is a golden color.
Remove syrup from heat, and add butter. Stir until well mixed.
Slowly add cream while continuously stirring to blend. Stir in essential oil.
Pour into 4 oz. glass salve jars. Add a label to the top or tie a gift tag on with ribbon or string.
Other Gift Ideas:
Add any of the following hot chocolate ingredients to Clear Plastic Tubes: hot chocolate powder, mini marshmallows, crushed peppermint candies, caramel bits, chocolate chips, etc. Tie a few tubes together with ribbon, string, or burlap and add a gift tag with instructions of how to make the hot chocolate. You can even tie a tiny sample vial of peppermint essential oil with the ribbon.
Make Italian Dipping Oil (omit the balsamic vinegar), and place the flavored olive oil in a 2 oz. Amber Glass Bottle. Add a gift tag instructing your recipient to use this in their Italian cooking recipes or to add balsamic vinegar and use for dipping bread.
These little spritzers work great for spraying your linens, towels, curtains, blankets, or the air. You can even help your fake Christmas tree smell real! They’ll give whatever you spray a fantastic holiday aroma that you can enjoy during this season.
Mix together the glycerin with your desired essential oil or blend in a glass bowl. Allow this mixture to sit for at least 15–30 minutes to let the oils dissolve into the glycerin. Note: if you are pressed for time, you can just mix it all together in the spray bottle, but you may need to shake every time before spraying to make sure the oils are sufficiently dispersed.
Transfer the mixture into your spray bottle.
Add distilled water to the oil mixture, screw the lid on the spray bottle, and shake to blend thoroughly.
Spray 1–3 times into the air or onto your sheets, towels, curtains, blankets, or Christmas tree.
Christmas Trees:
3 drops fir
2 drops pine
2 drops cedarwood
1 drop juniper or spruce
Three Kings of the Orient
2 drops frankincense
2 drops myrrh
3 drops orange
Extra Idea:
These little sprays make a great make-and-take activity for an essential oil class. Just bring the above oils, vegetable glycerin, distilled water, and red or green plastic spray bottles to the class along with a 1/2 Tbsp. (7.5 ml) measuring spoon and funnel for easy pouring. Then allow each individual to choose a scent and make a spritzer to take home.
As we approach the holiday season, it’s time to be thinking about giving gifts to friends and family. Don’t forget to take a look at our Holiday Gift Guide for some great ideas!
These ideas aren’t the only reason you’ll want your own copy of this gift guide—it unfolds into an 11″ × 17″ (28 × 43 cm) world map that shows where many popular essential oil plants are grown! This map can be a great tool to use in your essential oil classes to help you educate your attendees or other interested parties. It’s the perfect size to frame and display or to pass around for your attendees to unfold and view.
As a little sneak peek into the gift guide, we’ve included this fun bath bomb recipe. It features frankincense and myrrh essential oils (perfect for the holiday season), but feel free to substitute your own essential oil combination if desired. You can get several ideas for oils to use in the Reference Guide for Essential Oils by Alan and Connie Higley. Try looking up oils for relaxation, increased energy, romance, stress relief, muscle pains, or whatever ailment you need help with. These bath bombs make great gifts for neighbors or for anyone who likes taking baths.
Nutmeg essential oil (Myristica fragrans) is steam-distilled from fruits and seeds of the plant. It has a strong, sweet, musky, and spicy odor.
This oil possesses anti-inflammatory, antiparasitic, antiseptic, stimulant (cerebral, circulatory), laxative, and tonic properties.
Nutmeg has been used for centuries for digestive and kidney problems. The French have used it for loss of appetite, chronic diarrhea, debility, digestion (especially in helping the body digest starchy foods and fats), gallstones, halitosis (bad breath), and rheumatism.
It is commonly used for Addison’s disease, halitosis, and cooking.
This oil has adrenal cortex–like activity that helps support the adrenal glands for increased energy. Nutmeg may also help arthritis, bacterial infection, circulation, fainting, flatulence (gas), frigidity, gout, impotence, immune function, joints, menstruation (regulates scanty periods and soothes pain), muscles (muscle aches and pains), nausea, nervous fatigue, neuralgia (severe pain along nerve), nervous system support, and vomiting.
The main body systems supported by nutmeg essential oil include the hormonal, immune, and nervous systems.
Since the constituents and properties are pretty similar to cinnamon essential oil, nutmeg can be used in place of cinnamon every once in a while. However, it should be used with care and not too frequently.
Safety Data: Nutmeg essential oil is not for use by people with epilepsy. Use caution during pregnancy. If over-used (several undiluted drops at once), it may cause mental discomfort or delirium and convulsions and could overstimulate the heart. Dilute well or use a single undiluted drop; then wait for a period of time before using more.
Ways to Use Nutmeg Essential Oil:
Nutmeg essential oil can be used in cooking, but it can be strong; start with a toothpick of oil stirred into the food. Taste, and then add more if needed.
Make a cream using 5 drops nutmeg, 5 drops clove, 10 drops frankincense, and 8 drops rosemary essential oils for relieving arthritis, rheumatic pain, or other joint pain. Use only as needed, and be sure to give yourself a break of a few days between uses.
Add a drop to an epsom salt bath blend along with orange, frankincense, lemon, cypress, patchouli, or rosemary. This is a great oil to add to your bath during the winter months. Try this mixture in your bath: 1/4 cup (55 g) baking soda, 1/2 cup (120 g) epsom salt, and 1 drop each of clove, orange, frankincense, and nutmeg essential oils. Add the mixture to an extremely warm or hot bath under running water.
Diffuse during the autumn/winter months along with orange, clove, and/or cinnamon essential oils. Try one of these blends in your diffuser:
Orange Spice:
5 drops orange
1 drop nutmeg
1 drop clove
Ginger Snap:
3 drops cinnamon
2 drops clove
1 drop orange
1 drop nutmeg
Festive Fall:
3 drops orange
1 drop nutmeg
1 drop clove
1 drop cinnamon
Make your home smell like you’ve been brewing some delicious hot apple cider with this diffuser blend! All you need is a diffuser from Abundant Health and orange, cinnamon, and ginger essential oils.
Either of these wood-look diffusers will go fantastic with any of your autumn or winter decor. They are both humidifying diffusers—which means they use cold water and an ultrasonic disc, so the water evaporates along with the added essential oil and disperses into the air to provide therapeutic benefits along with a wonderful smell.
Click the following links to see more of their features: Phoenix Ultrasonic Diffuser Wood Look Ultrasonic Diffuser
If you are planning a road trip, try using essential oils to keep you going. Of course, if you feel drowsy, pull over to take a nap. However, if you just feel yourself going on auto pilot, try diffusing or rolling on peppermint, sage lavender, basil, lemon, or rosemary to help you stay alert.
Cranberry sauce should be made from scratch—not eaten from a can. If you have never made your own cranberry sauce for your Thanksgiving feast, then you need to give it a try this year! It is incredibly easy to make and so tasty—especially with the added essential oils!
Bring sugar, honey, water, and orange juice to a boil in a saucepan.
Add cranberries. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10–15 minutes or until sauce thickens. Smash cranberries with the back of a spoon, if desired.
Remove from heat, and allow to cool completely before stirring in the essential oils.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Extra Ideas:
If you have leftover cranberry sauce, try spreading it over cream cheese and dipping it with crackers.
We also like making Thanksgiving sandwiches with cranberry sauce: Spread this cranberry sauce and mayo on your bread, and then layer with turkey, potatoes, stuffing, or whatever else your heart desires.
Have you heard the word “carrier oil” and not really known what it meant or what you were supposed to do with it? Well, you aren’t alone. We’ve received a lot of questions about the subject, so we decided to write this post to clarify some things and give you some ideas as to what you can do with the carrier oils we offer. By the end of this post, you’ll have the means to figure out the differences between carrier oils and choose the ones that will work best for you and your needs.
What are carrier oils, and why do I need them?
Let’s start with definitions. Carrier oils are vegetable oils pulled from the fatty portion of a plant, usually from the seeds, kernels, or nuts. Carrier oils get their name because they are used to “carry” an essential oil into the skin during topical application.
Carrier oils also help dilute essential oils. Since essentials oils are very concentrated and potent, it is highly recommended that you dilute them to use them safely. Children, pregnant women, and those with sensitive skin especially need to dilute their oils. In addition to safety, diluting your essential oils and adding a carrier oil stretches out your supply and allows you to spread the essential oils out on a larger area than if they were used neat (without dilution).
While the word “dilute” typically means that it is not as concentrated or strong as it was before, when using a carrier oil, it does not dilute the effect of the essential oil. In fact, it prevents waste due to excessive application. This blog post is a great reference for diluting your essential oils.
Carrier oils can be used in a multitude of ways. Probably the most common way is to mix an essential oil and a carrier oil in a roll-on bottle. This can be a very easy way to apply a diluted essential oil topically.
Since water and oil don’t mix, it is sometimes necessary to include an emulsifier such as Vegetable Glycerin, Castile Soap, or Epsom Salt, or our vegetable-based Essential Oil Emulsifier. Emulsifiers help disperse essential oils and carrier oils through other ingredients such as water, keeping them from separating. The essential oil emulsifier can even be added, along with essential oils, to drinking water to prevent the essential oils from floating on the top of the water. Epsom salt is most commonly used as bath salt and can be a fantastic way to dissolve essential oils throughout a bath.
How do I use the solid butters?
Some of the butters we offer are solid at room temperature and need to be heated to mix them with oils and other ingredients. To heat butters (and other carrier oils), we recommend using a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, you can easily create one by placing the ingredients in a heat-proof glass dish (a measuring cup works great!) and then placing the glass dish in a pan that contains an inch or so of simmering water. It is very important to use low heat for most carrier oils and butter so you don’t alter their constituents and their effectiveness. Do not microwave carrier oils or butters.
One butter that can become gritty if not melted and cooled properly is Shea Butter. Heat shea butter to at least 175ºF for at least 20 minutes. Let it cool in the refrigerator if possible. Store the shea butter at room temperature after it has cooled.
Is it possible for carrier oils to go bad?
Yes, it is. Carrier oils are pressed from the fatty portions of a plant, and they often contain essential fatty acids that, although very beneficial to our body, unfortunately contribute to a short shelf life. Because the ratio and the specific essential fatty acids differ from one carrier oil to another, their shelf life also varies. The level of natural fatty acids, tocopherols (vitamin E compounds found in many carrier oils), method of extraction, and other characteristics of an oil can all affect how quickly it becomes rancid.
How can I tell if a carrier oil is rancid?
The best way to tell if the carrier oil has gone rancid is to compare the odor with the odor of the same carrier oil that is fresh. In general, carrier oils should have a soft aroma, so if you find your carrier oil has a strong, bitter aroma, it has likely gone rancid.
What is the best way to store my carrier oils?
To prolong shelf life, most carrier oils (except Avocado Oil) can be stored in the refrigerator. However, some oils stored in the refrigerator may solidify or become cloudy and need to be returned to room temperature prior to use. Because avocado oil contains many important, fragile constituents that can be affected by lower temperatures, it shouldn’t ever be stored in the refrigerator.
Some carrier oils that are less fragile and have a longer shelf can be stored at a cool room temperature. Check the shelf life info on each of the carrier oil graphics below to see how long each can be stored. There should also be an expiration date on the bottle you purchase. Try to use the oil up before that expiration date and store it properly to prevent your carrier oils from going rancid.
General Safety Information
It is important to use caution when trying out any new ingredient. Carrier oils are no different. If you have a nut allergy, consult a medical practitioner before coming into contact with nut oils, butters, or other nut products. If you have an allergy or sensitivity to latex, avoid shea butter (and shea oil), or perform a skin patch test prior to use. Latex (a natural rubber) is a natural constituent of shea butter. Even if you don’t have a known allergy, it is always a good idea to do a skin patch test on a covered area of your body before using the oil elsewhere.
Stress affects all of us at some point or another. One way to handle stress is to breathe deeply. An even better way to handle stress is to breathe deeply while diffusing this essential oil blend. Both oils in this blend are known to calm anxiety and promote a relaxed state, so all you need to do is diffuse and breathe.
Do you have a good diffuser at home or the office to diffuse this blend? Consider one of our most popular diffusers, the Airmid Ultrasonic Diffuser!
The sleek Airmid is a great way to diffuse your desired essential oil or blend! Ultrasonic diffusers transform water and essential oils into a fine, cool mist that preserves the oils’ health benefits and humidifies the room. The Airmid has timer settings from 1 to 4 hours and also has 3 different lighting options (no light, 1 color, or rotating colors), so it can be used anytime to suit any mood or attitude.
Features:
Humidifies and purifies the air while providing aromatherapy.
Near silent operation, so you can use it at night in the bedroom without the fear of extra noise keeping you awake.
Ultrasonic diffusion at 2.4 MHz.
Separate reservoirs for oil and water protect ultrasonic disc from precipitation.
3 lighting options (kaleidoscope of colored LED lights, solid LED light, or no light), making it ideal for a child’s room.
4 timer settings (1, 2, 3, and 4 hours continuous) to accommodate any schedule.
Auto shutoff mechanism (when water or time expires).
To read more about this great product and to order your own, click here.
