The temps have dropped to "way beyond reasonable" below zero. School has been called off for two days. I have my 9 month old grand daughter with me most of the time and she is starting to try many new foods. With new foods being introduced to her little tummy we have had some nasty digestive issues and the results have been some not so fun diaper issues. Because of the weather outside and my affinity to warm places, I refuse to leave the house and drive 46 miles round trip into town for diaper rash ointment. Being the creative, awesome, yet extremely modest Grand-mom that I am, I decided that I probably have some great ingredients to make a nice diaper cream that will work as well or better than the store bought kind.
Sticking to my resolution of addressing one essential oil per week (started out as once a day but let's get real) and gathering as much information about it, it's uses, and it's application for said uses Lavender has hit the radar today in light of the diaper issues with the baby. So first I will tell you all about Lavender, and then I will share with you my awesome diaper rash cream recipe.
Lavender is commonly used to treat burns, inflammation, cuts, wounds, eczema, dermatitis, fainting, headaches, influenza, insomnia, hysteria, migraine, nausea, nervous tension, infections bacterial conditions, sores, ulcers, acne, boils, asthma, rheumatism, arthritis and it smells absolutely amazing. As you can see Lavender is probably one of the most versatile essential oils so it has a ton of uses from cleaning to treating physical ailments.
PHYSICAL: Lavender has been known to effectively treat Insomnia. You can rub a few drops of Lavender on your palms and then apply some on your pillow and the soothing smell will help you to have undisturbed sleep.
Lavender is also useful for treating Dandruff and Regrowth Just rub a few drops Lavender with a tablespoon of coconut oil into your hair at the scalp level, massaging it in well to the scalp so that the oil gets absorbed in the scalp. Lavender oil helps to eliminate dandruff and will stimulate regrowth while keeping your hair healthy.
Lavender essential oil is also used for treating Sunburns. Mix a few drops of lavender with distilled water and gently apply to the sunburned area. This will decrease the pain and give a soothing effect.
Lavender oil can also be used for treating Sinuses and Allergies. Take a few drops of lavender oil and rub on the back of your neck, chest, and between your eyes to reduce the pain and discomfort caused due to these issues.
Lavender oil is one of my very favorite oils for treating Anxiety. Rub a few drops of lavender oil on the back of the neck and within a few minutes it will calm you down and reduce anxiety. I have a child who was diagnosed with ADHD and this is how we treat her anxiety. She loves it and it helps tremendously!
Lavender essential oil has another fantastic use. Its very effective for treating Eczema and Dermatitis. A few drops of Lavender with coconut oil and apply it to the eczema affected areas and this will help you treat eczema as well as other skin diseases successfully.
You can even use Lavender as Deodorant! Just put a few drops under each arm to keep the sweaty smell away in summer.
How about those Cold Sores? Put a couple of drops of lavender on a cold sore every few hours and it will disappear in DAYS!
Lavender oil also helps to relieve Fatigue. Just add a few drops to your hot tea on a regular basis to stay refreshed.
Naturally it makes a great Air Freshener. Add a few drops of Lavender essential oil to a spray bottle of water and keep your whole house fresh and clean smelling, especially the kitchen and bathroom!
Lavender is a great essential oil to keep in your home medicine kit for Wounds as you can put a few drops directly on those Scratches and Scrapes to heal them faster.
Lavender can be used to keep away Flies too, just add a few drops to a spray bottle of water and spray that around the house. It will keep the flies away to a great extent.
If you get cut and are unable to stop the Bleeding you can then apply lavender oil to stop the bleeding instantly.
Lavender oil is also very beneficial for treating Menstrual Cramps. Apply a few drops of lavender to your abdomen area and gently massage the area whenever you are suffering from cramps.
You can even use Lavender oil in your Cleaning products to fight germs.
Stay refreshed with a few drops of Lavender oil in your Bath water daily to wash away fatigue and tiredness. Add it to the baby's bath water and it will calm and relax the baby for a restful night.
Lavender oil is great for reducing a high Fever. Whenever you are suffering from high fever add some drops of lavender oil to a cool washcloth and rub gently on your forehead, neck, and trunk to reduce the body temperature and to keep your body cool.
Lavender oil also helps to strengthen the Immune System of the body. Use lavender oil regularly to build up your immune system against a variety of harmful diseases.
Lavender essential oil can help Chapped Lips and clear up Scars with just a few drops on the effected area and they will clear up in a matter of days!
Use Lavender essential oil to treat Headaches and Motion Sickness too. Massage a few drops into your temples for the headache and put a drop on the tip of your tongue, around the navel or behind your ears to reduce motion sickness.
You can even use Lavender essential oil for treating Acne and Pimples, Bug Bites, Bruises, and Burns! All it takes is a couple of drops on the effected areas and healing begins immediately!
Inhaling lavender essential oil through out the day can lessen the effects of Hay fever too!
Alright, how about Teething Pain for babies? Apply 1-2 drops to a teaspoon of carrier oil (fractionated coconut oil) and apply to the gums. You can also add a couple of drops of lavender to a cup of water, wet a washcloth with the solution, freeze and allow the little one to gnaw on the frozen cloth.
Because lavender can be added to a diffuser, sniffed from the bottle, or topically to help ground and balance you, its great for Vertigo!
Wrinkles, and whom among us doesn't want to control THOSE?? Now you can easily fade the appearance of wrinkles by massaging lavender essential oil into the skin around the eyes, but be careful not to get it IN the eye.
I just want to mention right here that these treatments are for use with Lavender essential oil ONLY and if we started looking into the combinations of Lavender with OTHER essential oil combinations?! OMG, this post would never end!!! Yeah, its THAT versatile!
Well you get the idea about all the things you can treat with Lavender, and there is a lot more too, but I would really like to move on toward some of the awesome benefits using lavender can do for you EMOTIONALLY.
Emotionally: Lavender offers calming, relaxing, and balancing. It also eases anger and frustration.
Lavender essential oil addresses blocked communication, the fear of being unseen or unheard. It opens the voice to the insecure. It aids verbal expression and calms insecurities that are felt when one risks their true thoughts and feelings.
One of the most commonly enjoyed benefits of Lavender Essential Oil is its stress reducing, tension relieving, relaxation inducing properties. Lavender oil is a sedative and helps with depression by improving mood and outlook. It's calming scent eases the nerves and feelings of anxiety.
Lavender can help you to feel more grounded and focused, helping you concentrate and think clearly
when used aromatically (with a diffuser) throughout the room or home, or just on your body. Uses of lavender essential oil for its calming and soothing effects can help balance overwhelming emotions in healthy ways.
Soooooooo, within all the lavender research and learning, I decided that I could make the baby some diaper rash cream and avoid a cold trip to town and 46 miles of gas would cost more than the purpose of the trip. I also promised you at the beginning of this post that I would give out the recipe for that.
Here is what you need:
Coconut Oil or Coconut Butter 1 cup
Cacao Butter 1/2 cup
Bees wax 1/2 cup
Aloe Vera 3 TBS
Vitamin E Oil 1 TBS
15-20 drops of Lavender Essential Oil
15-20 drops of Melaleuca Essential Oil (Tea Tree, common name)
1. Mix all your ingredients except the essential oils in a jar or glass bowl above a pot of water on the stove top. Bring it to a gentle boil and stir the ingredients until everything melts down and starts to mix together.
2. Remove from the double boiler and stir in the essential oils.
The first time I did this, I just poured it into my jar and it was done. Then later, after it had cooled it formed a crust on the top and the softer substance was under the crust. Not exactly what I was going for. So I had to bring it back to the stove top and pour all my jars into a glass bowl and remelt it all again. But now I have the third critical step in the process:
3. Beat the warm mixture with a hand mixer on high for about 2-3 minutes. Just whip it. Then:
4. Pour the warm, whipped mixture carefully into short jars that your fingers can easily reach the bottom of.
It should turn out like a soft but not melted butter consistency, creamy and easy to apply to baby's bottom with a coating or protective layer on the skin. Within a couple of days you should have a happy healthy baby's butt to diaper, making your days go much nicer!
Good Luck and please SHARE!
One last thing I would like to point out, and its important too, so listen up! Get yourself some GOOD essential oils, use only Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade oils. They might be more spendy, but you can't and don't want to use anything on your body or a baby that is Fragrance or perfume grade oils. These are almost 100% synthetic and won't do any of the benefits that I have listed above. Here are a couple of places where you can get some good oils.
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