Episode 266: doTERRA Products for Hydrated Glowing Skin and A Look at Balsam Fir

With the weather cooling down, your skin might need some extra hydration support. And today we'll give you our favorite doTERRA products to help.

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.

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Today we're excited to talk to Stephanie Mlacker, Product Manager of Skincare at doTERRA about the doTERRA products to help keep your skin hydrated. Plus, we'll take a look at the history of Balsam Fir.

doTERRA: Stephanie, thank you so much for joining us today.

Stephanie Mlacker: Absolutely. I'm happy to be here.

doTERRA: We are so excited to sit down and talk about this topic with you because you're kind of an expert, especially when it comes to using doTERRA products to help with this. So, as we head into winter and some of the colder weather, why is it that skin hydration is such a big concern?

Stephanie: So, skin is actually the largest organ of the human body and the outermost layer of your skin is called your skin barrier. And your skin barrier is made up of fats and proteins and some other things that protect the other layers of your skin and the inside of our bodies, especially from environmental stressors, and also helps maintain the amount of water that you have inside your body, you know, from excessive sweating and different things like that.

So one of the main ways that you can keep your skin barrier healthy and going strong is through hydration. Hydration means that your cells are plump and smooth, and there's smaller spaces in between the cells in which environmental stressors could eke their way inside. So, hydration is key to maintaining healthy skin.

doTERRA: Amazing. And you know, you mentioned it a little bit with the environmental stressors, but what are some of the other consequences of under-hydrated skin?

Stephanie: Yeah, under-hydrated skin. It's really key in the skin barrier, like I said, and that's really what is driving hydration for the most part. Because if you have a compromised skin barrier, things like microbes can get into your skin, chemicals, it affects your temperature regulation of your body and other things like that. So it really is key in maintaining your skin health.

And also, if you do not have enough hydration in your body, it definitely affects the way that your skin looks and behaves and feels, as well. Especially during the winter months you can get dry skin, cracked skin. And a lot of people have dry skin throughout the year, but it's usually at its worst in the winter months. The air outside is cold and cold air does not hold as much moisture. And inside, when your heater is running, that dries out the air as well. And so it really is important to make that one of the key steps in any type of skin care routine in the winter.

doTERRA: That is incredible. Something seemingly so inconsequential can have such a big effect on our skin health and our overall body health.

Stephanie: Yeah, it really does. It's very important.

doTERRA: Now, switching gears a little bit into the products that can help us with this issue, especially during the winter: what are some essential oils that can help us support our skin's hydration?

Stephanie: Yeah, there are a variety of essential oils that can help us with skin hydration and skincare in general. One of my favorites is Immortelle.

Our Immortelle essential oil is just a powerhouse blend of some key essential oils that all have really good, amazing skin benefits to them. Now, Immortelle, itself promotes smoother, more radiant and youthful-looking skin, and it improves the look of stressed skin as well. And of course, your skin is stressed when it's dry. It's not at its healthiest.

So, Immortelle is a great way to help target that. Immortelle is especially effective for the face, and we do have other products that work well on the body as well. But first, let's talk about the individual oils in the essential oil blend.

So, Rose is very important for skin. It promotes an even skin tone and a healthy-looking complexion, and it helps balance the moisture levels in the skin, which we previously talked about as being very important. So, Lavender is a skin conditioning agent and is used to treat the skin during minor irritations and stress. And it also promotes healthy skin restoration.

Frankincense is well-known for its skin benefits and is used in several of our essential skincare products like the Hydrating Cream and the Anti-Aging Moisturizer.

And Helichrysum has rejuvenating benefits for the skin. And our preclinical studies suggest that Helichrysum may support and protect the skin as well.

Sandalwood promotes a healthy, smooth complexion and Myrrh is soothing to the skin and also promotes a smooth, youthful-looking appearance.

So, those are just some of the oils that you can find in the Immortelle blend, but you can also buy those individually, which is really important because everybody's skin is totally different. That's one thing I like to say about personal care, is that it is personal. My skin isn't like yours, and other people have different skin types and needs for their skin, as well. So that's one of the great things I love about our essential oils is you can customize to your needs. And also, Immortelle is a great way to get all of those oils at once. But the individual oils also have distinct benefits that make each of those valuable to a good skincare routine.

doTERRA: Absolutely. And I love that point you touched on, that it is so personal that, you know, maybe you use the Immortelle and you add a little bit of extra Rose or something else that your skin needs, that is going to help you the most. I think that's great.

Stephanie: Absolutely. We like to call that cocktailing. So you can do that with skin care products, with lotions, with anything like that. You can take it and customize it by adding in a few drops of your favorite essential oils before you apply that to your skin and get those added benefits.

doTERRA: Absolutely. Now, obviously, doTERRA also has some skin care products, specifically, on top of our essential oils. What are some of those products that can make sure we're taking care of our skin's hydration?

Stephanie: Yeah, absolutely. For the face, there's a couple that I specifically recommend. One of those is our Yarrow|Pom Nutritive Duo. That is excellent for the skin and has a lot of really great benefits. You can also get that in the Yarrow|Pom Body Renewal Serum, which is a great product specifically for the body, and that helps hydrate and smooth the skin on the face and on the body.

And then, in addition to that, we also have, for the face, as I previously mentioned, we have our Essential Skincare Hydrating Cream. And just a little tip for that, I personally like to use that on my hands, as well. My hands get very dry in the winter like I'm sure they do for a lot of people. I like to use the Hydrating Cream on my face and on my hands. It works wonders. Specifically, the Hydrating Cream is a little bit of a thicker, creamier, more emollient cream. So, that one is great if you have extra dry skin or to apply in the evening and let that moisturization really soak in overnight.

Also, in the same essential skincare line, we have our Anti-Aging Moisturizer, which is a little bit of a lighter moisturizer, and so that's much better for daytime use or reapplying throughout the day as needed.

We also have a couple of really good Verage^® products. We have our Verage Moisturizer and our Immortelle Hydrating Serum, which contains the Immortelle blend, which we talked about, which is great. And our Verage Toner. The thing I really love about our Verage Toner is it's an easy spritz, and you can just reapply that throughout the day as you need more moisture.

And then there are some great products that we also have for our body. I previously talked about the Body Renewal Serum with Yarrow|Pom.

We also have the doTERRA^® spa Hydrating Body Mist with Beautiful Blend. And what I really love about this product is it's perfect for application right out of the shower or the bath. And the reason you want to apply right out of the shower or bath is your pores are open and can more readily absorb the moisture that you are applying. And the doTERRA spa Hydrating Body Mist with Beautiful Blend is awesome because it's just head-to-toe, 360 easy application and you're moisturized and you can go.

If you need deeper hydration--you have particularly dry skin in certain areas like your hands, your elbows, your heels--I really recommend our doTERRA^® spa Replenishing Body Butter for that. It's a nice, thick emollient cream. It goes on smooth and it deeply hydrates and promotes skin suppleness. So that's a really great product for dry skin.

doTERRA: Yes. And what I love most about all of our skincare products is they smell so good.

Stephanie: They do. And one thing I can mention about that is, like I had previously stated, that you can use essential oils to personalize your routine. Each of these products has a unique oil blend specific to that product. And those oils are uniquely chosen for their skin-benefiting properties, for those individual products. So, just know that we're taking care of you and we take that into consideration when we develop these products. And we want your skin to look great.

doTERRA: Yes. Well, Stephanie, thank you so much for sitting down with us today and teaching us more about how to take care of our skin and make sure that it's hydrated all year long.

Stephanie: You bet. Happy to do it.

doTERRA: Refreshing, clean and airy--the aroma of Balsam Fir conjures up images of forests covered in crisp, freshly fallen snow; cozy holiday gatherings around a crackling fire; and brightly lit trees. Balsam Fir has a long and storied history, and we can't wait to learn a little bit more.

Today, we're going to talk about some internal historical uses for these plants. But we want to remind you that not all of these oils are for internal use and should only be used aromatically or topically. Any internal benefits discussed for the individual oils are not applicable to aromatic or topical use. Also, various plant parts such as the leaves bark, flower, stem, fruit, peel, bud, resin, etcetera were often used for many different practices and benefits throughout history. These historical uses are mentioned here to offer insight as we explore the history of oils and plants. As such, these ancient uses are solely for informational purposes and are not being advocated or recommended by doTERRA. Proceed at your own risk with such uses.

Deep in the North American forest lives a special evergreen tree: the balsam fir. Other names for this tree include balm of Gilead, northern balsam, silver pine and blister fir. The word "fir" comes from the Old English word "firgen," which means "mountain forest" and comes from the ancient words like "firre:" f-i-r-r-e and "fyr:" f-y-r meaning "fire" and "light" respectively.

Fir trees and other evergreens were seen as ancient symbols of eternal light associated with the winter solstice and the return of the sun. In fact, during the Roman festival of Saturnalia, which led up to the winter solstice in honor of Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture, evergreen wreaths, decorated doorways. Germanic people also brought evergreen boughs into their homes during the mid-winter festival of Yuletide.

Balsam fir is native to eastern and central Canada, as well as the northeastern United States. And unsurprisingly, it has a long history with many First Nations as a resource in traditional wellness practices. And the Chippewa First Nation reportedly used the gum and the essence of the root. And many other nations use the tree in their traditional wellness practices as well.

In modern day, balsam firs are often farmed on plantations. Many of these farms are family-owned, and techniques for taking care of these trees have been passed down through generations. You may be surprised to learn that balsam fir trees are actually one of the greatest exports of Quebec and New England. "Why," you may ask? Well, this species of fir tree is a popular pick for Christmas trees, due in large part to its rich fragrance, which feels like walking through the forest with fresh brush underfoot. In fact, these trees have been used six times as the US Capitol Christmas tree between 1964 and 2019.

Of course this hasn't been balsam fir's only use. While most people may not find the fir too appetizing, it's certainly edible and may help sustain you in an emergency. Though, let's hope it never comes to that. The resin has also historically been munched on like a very strong flavored chewing gum.

Fir trees also have a very detailed symbolic history. They symbolize determination, honesty and the endurance that comes with hope for the future. Fir trees can also inspire dreams of better times while going through hardship and teach the lesson of being true to yourself while being confident in your decisions.

When they are grouped together, fir trees become a symbol of friendship. This symbolism is furthered by the fact that firs are evergreens and never lose their green vibrancy. A reminder of the lifelong connections we can share with our friends.

Legend says that firs were also markers of important gravesites for the Druids and Celts, and that even from a great distance, certain firs could be identified as the markers of great chieftains and heroes among the Celtic people.

Balsam Fir has also had many practical applications throughout history. For thousands of years, Native Americans used the tree for a variety of wellness purposes. They also sometimes combined the tree's resin with grease to make a fragrant hair oil. Additionally, its needles were used to brew tea and even served as a source of food.

In Ayurveda, the traditional Hindu wellness system, the tree's essential oil is considered sacred. It's also often used in the art of Ayurvedic massage.

With its incredible history, and beautiful fragrance, we know you'll love Balsam Fir. It's the perfect essential oil to capture the spirit of the holiday season.

Thanks for joining us and congratulations on living a healthier lifestyle with essential oils.

If you want to try any of the products you learned about, click on the link in the episode description or find a Wellness Advocate near you to place an order today.

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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.