Hi everyone,

Today we will go in a different direction. We are going to discuss a nice little friend that plagues people in many parts of the world. That little friend is known by the common name of chigger, or chiggers. You have to say it in the plural form because with them you don't just get one, you get a bunch.

So what are chiggers? They are essentially a little immature mites. In mites you have them in 4 stages: egg, larva, nymph and adult. There are many species but in general we are discussing chiggers, which are mites in the larva stage. How these buggers get here is the adult mite lays the egg(s).

Humans usually become exposed to chiggers in nature – tall grasses, forest areas and such. Because of the way the adult lays their eggs, in clusters, then moving on, you can become exposed to the chiggers in a specific spot and yet, 20 feet away, another person can be totally free of them, because they didn't come in close enough contact for the chiggers to...

All the time the question is asked, “How many drops of oil are there in a bottle of essential oil?”

Answer: It really is hard to tell just how many drops are in a 10 ml. bottle or in any bottle for that matter. But as a general rule 200 drops is an accurate answer for a 10 ml. bottle of essential oil and 100 drops per 5 ml. bottle. Here is why it is a general rule.

The oils all have a different viscosity, which makes the surface tension come in at varying points on the scale. Higher-viscosity oils have more surface tension than the lower-viscosity oils. So with more surface tension, the more likely the drop will be bigger.

 Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/viscosity?s=t

When you turn a bottle upside down, a drop (usually) forms right off the bat. A higher-viscosity oil will try to hold on longer and a bigger drop will form before it detaches itself from the other oil or the orifice of the bottle, based on the weight of the drop. So even...

I don't know about you, but every time I am in the hot sun, I get THIRSTY. Not you? Well you're probably dead then! But I am not here to talk to the dead, but to talk to the strong and vibrant people who want to supercharge their day!

Drop the soda can, you don't want that – no, really – you don't! Reach for this instead and you will fall in love all over again with your glass cups and pitchers that have dust all over them. It's September, but it's still hot out there, and if you’re like me, yard work has to happen before we get into the colder months.

Before I get dressed I fill up my fancy pitcher with water and ice, slice up some colorful and scentsational grapefruit and beautifully and most graciously drop them in the water. For the finale I unscrew the lid of my citrus paradisii/Grapefruit, Pink essential oil (see, even the name has paradise in it!). I inhale and I think of all the good that could go right today. Down go three paradisal drops into my elixir,...

My opinion?? I am sort of one of those myth busters. Now think this through. They were steam distilled- Did the heat destroy them?   When I learned something about steam I thought I learned that water turns to steam somewhere around 212 degrees F at sea level, a little less as you go higher in elevation. Still,  I know it can get hot inside of a car on a hot day, but I doubt it gets that hot. 

Cold?  I have purposely, and by accident, set or left bottles of oils out side in all weather conditions. Sometimes I have forgotten about them and several years have gone by, even to point of the label being about weathered off. Sometimes, I  left some oils in my tool box.  Sometimes in a car. Sometimes I have found oils in my Vet kit from having used them on animals and just forgot about them. They were subject to all sorts of weather conditions from as cold as it gets outside to as hot as it gets outside.

When I  noticed them, I said to myself,...

Gluten-Free Essential Oils.

Today has been an interesting one.

Here is why. Today I was presented with the whole concept of Gluten-Free Essential Oils. Now, this is a very interesting concept. I mean who wouldn't want to give it a serious look. I don't know if this is coming from a big company directly or is just something that is made up by one of their distributors, but this person is with one of the BIG essential oil companies. Despite the whole deal of them having their own whoopers to make their claim to fame, I would think that this would be pushing the envelope a touch too much for them. Now if it was with the other BIG essential oil companies, yeah, it wouldn't surprise me one little bit.

Here goes, Gluten-Free Essential Oils. The struggle to understand this; The appearance of a complete lack of understanding of essential oils and Gluten. A quick primer on gluten. Gluten consists of the proteins, Glaidir and Glutenin. These are contained within the starch of the endosperms...

Sex, Lies and Science (and Rose)

Ahhh … the romance of rose petals as a surprise from your loved one. A sprinkling of petals would pique your interest. An intriguing trail of precious petals would delight you. What would the petals of 10,000 roses do for you? It would collapse your bed and might just literally be a home-wrecker.

The intelligent and thrifty romantic may choose, instead, to put the equivalent of 10,000 rose buds on your pillow – 5 milliliters of Rose essential oil. Real roses die. Rose essential oil is not quite eternal, but it does have a shelf life of three to five years with its chemical constituents of monoterpenols and phenols.

Roses are beautiful and valuable. Sadly, because of the expense, there are unscrupulous sellers of rose oil … those who add extenders and don’t disclose that fact (gasp!). Some will dilute with Geranium (also known as Rose Geranium) essential oil. A rose by any other name, especially rose geranium, is not a rose...

In a FB group that I occasionally view,  they were having a big discussion about some particular EO that is marketed by another company that was sent to this one 3rd. party tester. Some people are all in a huff about his report being wrong and basically trying to discredit him. The problem there is that it would be very hard to discredit the report and tester due to his long history of being on the money and pretty much always right. I trust him even though he is arrogant as all get out. I do see some of his ideas from a tad different point of view when it comes to blending, but still when it comes to testing he is usually pretty right on the money. Anyway, back to blending.  What that deal is is this, that he says it doesn't matter what order you blend the oils, it will come out the same every time when you use equal amounts. Yeah, I have seen that when equal amounts are used, sometimes. But when different ratios are used, yes it does make a difference. I have learned...

We’ve all heard the phrase time and time again, “It's all in your head.” Women that are full of emotions and feelings have come to hate that term. Because for us our feelings are real. Our emotions are worth listening to and comforting.

But what if I told you that it all was in your head? That by simply using one essential oil, you can decrease your brain games from a high stakes blood battle of jousting everyone in your path, to a calming game of chess instead.

In my own opinion Clary Sage is the oil that saves most of men's lives. Not because they use it, but their wives do! It also saves women's lives as well. As a woman and even if I were a man, I suggest having this oil in my pocket all the time.

Clary Sage is mood altering – it lifts up a bad attitude and, as a sedative, calms the mind. This is what I suggest – rub three drops of Clary Sage onto your palms and then rub on your temples, through your hair, behind your ears, then down the...

Man Up.

I have heard some feedback on this oil blend as most people are thinking it is a sexual enhancement oil. I want everyone to know, IT IS NOT a sexual enhancement oil. It is not a replacement for the little blue pill. So remember, this is not a sexual enhancement oil. Directly anyway, maybe indirectly but not directly. If you are looking for that type of oil, then XY will do the job more thoroughly, on both genders. Man Up is an oil blend that is specifically oriented towards the needs of most men, particularly the mature male.

What has been found is that there are several oil constituents that really work good on male specific issues. One of those is Thymol. It is found is the proper amounts in 2 of the oils, Thyme ct;thymol and the Oregano. This particular Oregano is the same one that will be offered in the culinary oil line. It is not as heavy in the one constituent that makes it as hot as the hot Oregano oils but it is sweet and has a notable level of thymol. In fact when...

When you think of essential oils, several will spring to mind first … Tea Tree, Lavender, Frankincense … but probably not Coriander.

And why not? I have no idea. But I’m going to make Coriander my public relations client-du-jour and tell you why it is so wonderful.

Coriander has a connection to the Bible, although it’s a bit obscure. Did you know that, according to scriptures in Exodus and Numbers, manna resembled coriander seed? Do you know what coriander seed looks like? Me neither (that really cleared things up). I don’t profess to know exactly how God created manna. But I will ask for the recipe when I get to the other side (because I’m sure I will be an excellent cook in Heaven).

Manna … that reminds me of an obscure song. I warned you on a previous blog that is that I think in songs and lyrics.  If “ … manna burgers, manna soufflé, filet of manna, banana bread  …” sound familiar, then you...