Unusual Uses for Coconut Oil & Lavender Essential Oil

Hello everyone!

It's been a while! I hope your summer was a blast - it was for me. I spent the summer traveling to South Africa, New Orleans, and Israel. I also got a new job and am now the Director of Children & Family Ministries at a church here in Cincinnati. I'm going to seminary (online) in the fall. I'm running my second half-marathon in October. I'm really excited about all these new changes!

I've recently discovered a new love for coconut oil and essential oils. A couple friends of mine were raving about essential oils one night, and it pretty much changed how I felt about essential oils. I used to think people were just saying how much they loved them because they smelled good - and they definitely do smell good. But they also have a lot of healing properties that I am just now learning about. So I picked up a bottle of lavender and orange essential oils from Whole Foods and am now experimenting with them.

First, I made toothpaste. I read about making your own toothpaste a while ago on Pinterest, and thought it sounded like a good idea. Store-bought toothpaste is filled with stuff that is terrible for you and at something like $5 a tube, you can make your own for much cheaper. I already had everything I needed on hand so it didn't take me long to make.

Homemade Tooth Paste

6 T. coconut oil

6 T. baking soda

20 drops essential oil of choice (I used orange)

A dash of stevia (to sweeten it a bit - I used a vanilla liquid stevia)

Just mix it all together and voila! Throw it in a class jar and starting using your toothpaste. This batch will last you a long time. Depending on where you store your toothpaste, it will be thicker or more liquidy (since coconut oil is liquid at room temp.). I just dip my toothbrush in the jar, put some water on top and brush away. It will take a bit to adjust to the taste, and your toothpaste won't foam. But it is much healthier for you!

I also read that lavender oil is good for acne, so I mixed some coconut oil and lavender essential oil together to create an acne face mix. Just stir together, dip your finger in and rub a small amount all over your face. I haven't been using it long enough to note my results, but I did notice a decrease in the redness on my face in the morning after using it.

Finally, I read that lavender oil can strengthen your eyelashes and promote thicker eyelashes, so I added a drop of essential oil to my mascara. It also extends the life of your mascara. Who knew!

How do you like to use essential oils?

Happy almost fall!