Essential Goodness

Wild Orange is my favorite essential oil.  To me, it is energy in a bottle!

This time of year, as I’m opening up windows (when the weather cooperates) and doing my spring cleaning, I love to infuse it.  It makes my whole house smell fresh & clean.

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Why am I bringing this up?  Because, if you are like me, a clean house just isn’t enough.  Don’t get me wrong, I love an uncluttered and clean environment.  As a matter of fact, I thrive on it.  But it’s not enough to just know it’s clean… I want it to smell wonderful, fresh and homey.  There is something perfectly comfy about walking into a home and having it smell amazing.  Many people go about this with plug-in air fresheners or with sprays such as febreze or glade.  Have you ever considered what chemicals are in those sprays or what it does to your body when you constantly inhale them? 

I prefer more natural methods!  Here are just a few suggestions:

I often diffuse scents in 2 ways – on the stove top in a pan of water or using an electric or candle heated tart warmer (you know, for the wax tarts).  Instead of using the wax tarts, I just add essential oils and water.  You can also get fancy and use a diffuser specifically made just for essential oils.

Some of my favorite essential oil combinations:

-Wild Orange, Lime, Geranium
-Wild Orange, Lavender
-Peppermint, Lemon
-Lemon, Lavender
-Lime & Chamomile

Not an essential oil user?  Don’t despair.  Try one of these options:

In a small saucepan, add about a cup of water and…

-Zested Orange peel, Vanilla extract (smells like a creamsicle)
-Lavender or Lilac flowers
-Lemon juice and zested Lemon peel, Cardamom
-Pumpkin pie spices
-Rosemary and Peppermint leaves (tea)
-Lime juice, zested Lime peel and Spearmint leaves
-Chopped apple, Cinnamon, Cloves

Bring almost to a boil and remove from heat or lower to very low flame.  Keep an eye out so as not to burn off all the water.   Worried about forgetting about it on a flame?  Put ingredients into a crockpot.

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As you can imagine, the sky is the limit.  I could sit here all night listing off great scent combinations.  I encourage you to experiment and find the exact combination of scents that smells like home to you.

I wish we could do a scratch and sniff blog!  My nose is looking to experience one of these, so I’m heading off to blend something up.  What one are you going to try?