Why Ditching Candles + Wall Plug-Ins are Important & What We Use Instead
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If you already follow Little Southern Life and subscribe to my newsletter, you know all about why I choose essential oils. If not, HEY THERE! I am so excited to share another switch to safer that I’ve made in my household and I hope will inspire you to make in yours.
When I was pregnant with my first child, Nolan, I kept getting debilitating headaches. I knew nothing about essential oils but when I reached out to a few crunchy mamas, they told me to inhale Peppermint oil and it would help. Ummmmm, WOW! It was a game changer and one that I used a lot during my pregnancy with Frankincense oil for headaches. NOTHING worked for my headaches but these oils and I’m so thankful that I was introduced to them for this reason. A 9 month long headache is not something anyone should have to deal with.
In my research, I found that you truly get what you pay for with oils and “cheap” oils mean less actual essential oil, more fillers with toxic ingredients and less of a chance of them being effective and safe for your household. As of right now, I have found a few high quality sourced brands including a new one featured here called Far and Wild.
I stopped using candles in the house when I was pregnant for the first time as well. This was a change that I made due to my headaches because it would always trigger them. I just thought “well, once I’m not pregnant I can use them again.” But, I watched a Dr. Oz episode on TV one day about the dangers of indoor air pollution due to candles and it shook me to my core. I do not want this for any person and especially in the homes of people with children.
I know that candles and wall plug-ins and air fresheners are something that most people use, I know that I had them in all areas of my apartment when I was in college. They come with a very wide variety of potentially harmful and dangerous chemical makeups that can damage different parts of our bodies.
formaldehyde – this is a known ‘human carcinogen’ that is linked to nose and throat cancers. It can also cause sore throats, coughs, itchy eyes, sneezing and nosebleeds.
VOCs- off-gassing causes you and your family to breathe in an array of chemicals in the form of VOCs. This can have short-term effects and cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, and difficulty breathing. Some can damage the central nervous system as well as other organs.
petroleum – this and its derivatives have been linked to asthma in adults and children. Pregnant women who used air fresheners in their homes were significantly more likely to have babies that suffered from wheezing, lung infections and higher levels of diarrhea and earaches. And the mothers of these babies that used them while pregnant tend to have headaches and depression as side effects.
phthalates – these can cause tissue damage and several different types of cancer. They are especially harmful to children and have been linked to birth defects and early breast development in girls AND boys causing hormone imbalances and even decrease of sperm count.
fragrance – fragrance is a big chemical makeup of all of these products and comes with a major red flag! Manufacturers are not required to list their ingredients of “fragrances” used in their products which leave us wondering what exactly is in the products were using and is it safe?
Here is why that’s not a good thing to be in the dark about…
On www.healthywyze.org: Febreeze and other air freshener’s work by attacking the receptors in the nose, and thus eliminating the sense of smell. This is how the new generation of air fresheners actually “freshen”. The manufacturers are literally using chemical warfare to destroy their customer’s sense of smell. That lack of smell is where the illusion of freshness comes from. The user only smells these air fresheners for about the first minute after they have been sprayed, and then the nose cannot smell most fragrances anymore. This is not a normal adjustment to odors. The chemical causes intentional damage to the mucous membrane, which is claimed to be temporary. However, no long-term studies have ever been done to test the effects of chronic exposure. It is important to remember that anything inhaled is immediately absorbed into the blood through the lungs relatively unchanged.
Listen, I know that it might “not show up right now” but often times, our body has a reaction to something that doesn’t get attributed to the actual issue. People suffer from strange forms of cancer, or they might have some weird disease like chronic fatigue syndrome, and of course, there is the ever more popular “genetic disorders”. Common chemical products are increasingly shown in studies to cause serious health problems, and it is impossible to test for truly long-term problems. Chemicals that are created and emitted from these products can store in our fatty tissues over years and years of time taking their toll on our toxic load. The presence of toxins inside fat can make weight loss difficult. Since the human body uses fat to store certain materials that are too toxic for it to process, breaking down the fat would mean releasing those toxins, so a body must resist its fat loss for self-defense. Thus, fat is sometimes the result of an immune system properly responding to a danger. (healthywyze.org)
I get so many questions about how I use oils in the home and how to switch to safer away from candles so I figured I’d share my diffuser because that’s the simple answer. I diffuse essential oils all day and night. Depending on what my mood is or what time it is depends on what’s in the diffuser. In the mornings I try to put oils in the diffuser that pep me up and get the kids moving and grooving. Harper is NOT a morning person (she’s just like me in that aspect) so anything like this helps. Throughout the day I diffuse something that helps me focus or motivate me for work. Then when it’s time to sleep, give us all the sleepy time oils. If you’re confused about where to start with oils just go to Pinterest and type in “diffuser blend for ___” fill in the blank for what you’re wanting them to help with.
I HAVE SEVERAL BLOGS WRITTEN ABOUT ESSENTIAL OILS, WHY I LOVE THEM, HOW TO USE THEM AND THE PRODUCTS I LOVE MOST ASSOCIATED WITH THEM. USE THE SEARCH FEATURE ON MY BLOG TO GET CONNECTED WITH ALL THINGS OILS.
Now, I am always on the hunt for non MLM based high quality brands for you to shop through. Why? Because some people just don’t want to shop that way. I have shared my favorite MLM based oil brands and if you have friends who sell, you should support them and shop through their links. If you want to be able to order directly through a website without a membership or monthly minimums associated with oils, here is the brand I’ve found that is a great resource. Far and Wild. Their pricing is TOP NOTCH and competes with other MLM prices in direct to consumer. The quality and purity grade of their products are the highest available on the market (remember what I said about them some being watered down and not good for you?) Another wonderful thing about them is that they certify every oil they sell and can even send out purity certificates/testing analysis upon request. If you’d like to try their oils and diffusers, use code: AMANDA20 at checkout for 20% off.
I hope ya’ll try to use essential oils in your household, I know that you will love it! I would love to hear more about what oils you diffuse. I am always excited to learn more about blending them to make good smells in our house!
