Episode 180: Using Essential Oils Safely

doTERRA: Just one search on Google will give you tens of thousands of pages about essential oils. And with that many different sources of information, finding reliable information about using essential oils can feel overwhelming. So, we've gathered the best information about how you can use doTERRA essential oils, and we're going to give it to you today.

Welcome back to Essential Oil Solutions with doTERRA, the podcast where you'll hear exciting, useful, and simple everyday uses for essential oils from experts in the field. If you like what you hear today, rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen. We always appreciate hearing from you.

Today, we're excited to talk to Stephanie Liddell about using essential oils safely with you and your family. Stephanie, thank you so much for joining us today.

Stephanie: Thank you guys for having me. This is such an honor.

Are Essential Oils Safe?

doTERRA: We are really excited to talk about this topic with you, and it's a topic that gets discussed a lot in the world of essential oils. Now my first question for you is, are essential oils safe for everyone to use?

Stephanie: What I like to tell my customers is that yes, essential oils are safe. doTERRA has put so much time and effort into researching these oils and how we can use them safely and all of the ways for every member of our family that I feel completely safe and comfortable using them on my entire family, which includes my four children (ages three all the way up to ten), myself, and my husband and my clients as a doula. I feel very safe using them on all of them.

doTERRA: Now are essential oils toxic? Do they have, you know, like you said, that toxic limit that we can reach?

Stephanie: Everything on this planet has a toxic limit, but I've tried to instill into my customers with essential oils you're probably not going to find it with what you would call daily use or daily usage. As long as you are practicing oils safety, you are not going to find a toxic limit for these oils.

doTERRA: And that oils safety, is there a recommended usage that is published, things like that?

Stephanie: So doTERRA has blogs and all kinds of references on their website that if you go on and search will pop up and you can read through those, if that will make you feel more comfortable and more safe in your daily usage. Definitely, they've put a lot of time and effort into putting that out there for us.

Safely Using Oils Aromatically

doTERRA: And Stephanie, are there specific safety guidelines that I should keep in mind when using oils aromatically?

Stephanie: So aromatically, you're not going to mess this up. Aromatically, you can use as many oils as you want throughout the day. Change your sense out throughout the day. I like to start my morning with something really uplifting and happy, like Wild Orange. I like to do something to help put some pep in my step midday like Peppermint and in the evening, I want my four kids to wind down before bedtime. So, I'm going to put something in there that's going to be really calming to them like doTERRA Balance® or doTERRA Serenity^®.

So, you can use essential oils all throughout your day with no problems. I always like to tell people, if you're sensitive to smells, open a door, open a window, you have air moving throughout your home, but otherwise, you are completely safe and using multiple oils all day long aromatically.

doTERRA: Absolutely. And I love, like you said, different times of day call her different oils, which is so great that there are so many different oils that you can use and versatile ways to cater to your needs.

Stephanie: Right. Whatever you're feeling throughout the day, you can find an oil for that.

Safely Using Oils Topically

doTERRA: Now, what about topically? How can I make sure that I'm using essential oils safely topically?

Stephanie: For my customers I like to teach them about carrier oils. So, a carrier oil is any oil that you would mix with your essential oil that, I like to say, you can find in your kitchen—coconut oil, olive oil, jojoba oil—all of these oils are beautiful carrier oils that you can mix in with your essential oils to use those topically, and they have multiple benefits of doing that. You're able to lock the essential oils onto the skin so that they don't evaporate away. You can also keep skin sensitivity to a minimum by diluting your essential oils with a carrier oil.

doTERRA: And is that something to keep in mind, especially with, you know, younger children?

Stephanie: Yes, for sure. So, every time you're putting essential oils on somebody's body, you have to consider who is in front of you. What is their body size? You know, are they a little tiny child or are they a bigger adult? Babies and kids just don't need quite as much oil as an adult does. So, when you're using oils with children, it is awesome to look into pretty diluted oils like the Touch Line and the Kids line because they just don't need as much as an adult does. An adult that doesn't have sensitive skin, you might be able to rub the neat oils on directly onto the skin like Deep Blue, doTERRA Balance^®, Lavender directly onto the skin with no problems. So just consider the person that you're putting the oils on.

Safely Using Oils Internally

doTERRA: And my next question, I think, is the one that people get most concerned about and that's using oils internally. How can I make sure that I am safely using oils internally?

Stephanie: So doTERRA has put so much effort into figuring out how we can use these oils safely that your best bet is just to look at their label. If an oil is labeled for internal use, you can guarantee that doTERRA has put time and energy into deciding whether or not this oil can be used internally. So always follow the label. Look for the supplemental facts that are included on that label. And then follow what is listed on that label, you know, put one drop into your water in the mornings, add one drop to a veggie cap throughout the day. Stick to what is on that label and you know that you're using the oil safely.

doTERRA: And Stephanie, before we end, can you just tell us a couple of your favorite essential oils to use internally?

Stephanie: Every single morning I like to start my morning off with Lemon in my water. This is a great way to wake my body up in the morning. The aroma of just putting it into my oil is actually uplifting and wakes me up. And then putting it into my body internally is a really great method to actually get it absorbed into my body and promote that health and wellness that I'm trying to start my day off with. Other oils that I like to use internally are doTERRA On Guard®. It is wintertime here and I always want to support my body the best ways that I can throughout this wintertime season where I'm not getting as much sunshine as I really want to get. So doTERRA On Guard can be used internally every day to support your immune system.*

doTERRA: I love both of those, and I think those are great ones to incorporate every day. Stephanie, thank you so much for sitting down with us today and teaching us a little bit more about how to use essential oils safely.

Stephanie: No problem. Thank you guys so much for having me.

doTERRA: Thanks for joining us and congratulations on living a healthier lifestyle with essential oils. If you liked what you heard today, rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen. Also, if you want to try any of the products you learned about, go to doterra.com or find a Wellness Advocate near you to place an order today.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.