Getting Started with Essential Oils
Ok, so here’s the deal. I swore I wouldn’t become the mom who started buying natural products as soon as she had a kid, but then I became the mom who buys natural products because she has a kid. And believe me, I’m not that girl. I’m not a crunchy granola hippie – not even close, so I totally used to roll my eyes when people would mention they used essential oils. It just seemed so hippy-dippy to me, and I couldn’t get into it … until I did haha.
So it all started last year when I was pregnant. I had to cut out quite a few products from my beauty routine that weren’t safe for pregnancy, and I asked my aesthetician Erin for a few recommendations while I was getting a facial. She recommend this line of all-natural skin care products, and she was right. It was really good! While I wasn’t surprised that her recommendations were on point (she is AMAZING and so knowledgable. Highly recommend reaching out to her if you need an aesthetician in Orlando, BTW! ), I was surprised that the products were mainly comprised of essential oils. Seeing great results from these products made me curious about trying even more essential oil-based products, but then I got pregnancy brain and then baby brain and completely forgot haha.
Flash forward to a few months back, and my daughter was having some issues with eczema. When I was searching for solutions online, I saw mom after mom sharing great results after switching their babies to natural bath products. I immediately hopped on board and bought several brands of natural baby bath products (full results + reviews coming tomorrow!) and was blown away. Her eczema disappeared and didn’t come back. Then I realized that the eczema I’d developed on my hands had disappeared too, and I realized there was really something to this stuff.
Slowly but surely, I’ve been trying out more and more natural products – including essential oils. I just love being able to customize things, and I’m honestly addicted to diffusing essential oils each night. It’s one of my favorite parts of the day. Since I’ve had such a great experience using these products over the past few months, I decided it was time to share. Today I’m sharing about my favorite essential oils, the best oils to start out with, and how to save money on your essential oil purchases. Keep reading to learn how to get started with essential oils!
How to Get Started with Essential Oils
Does it matter where I buy essential oils? Do brands matter?
YES. Supplements aren’t regulated by the FDA, so some essential oil companies do not-so-great things like label something as a “pure” essential oil when it’s really comprised of fillers and junk. A lot of cheap oils on Amazon will say they’re “100% pure” or something similar, but in reality, they’re diluted with filler oils. You don’t want to waste your money on products when you don’t know what’s actually in them, and I wouldn’t want to risk using those things in my home or on my body. Even if you’re not concerned about the safety aspect, you’re also going to lose a huge amount of potency in terms of scent.Where should I start? Are there particular essential oils you recommend?
After researching the market, I decided to purchase Young Living oils. I love their one-of-a-kind Seed to Seal promise, which guarantees the oils you’re purchasing are 100% pure and will never be diluted or have any added fragrances. Plus, I had heard so many good things about the company from people who I trust that I was honestly just curious to try it out for myself. After several months of using a wide variety of the products, I can safely say that I’m now a big fan of the company. Everything I’ve tried has been top-notch, and the customer service is excellent! I’ve honestly had an excellent experience since I became a member!
Another thing that I love about Young Living is the community. Essential oils can be kind of confusing at first, or at least they were for me. You get your first order with a bottles of oils, and you’re kind of like…ummm, what the heck am I supposed to do with these? I loved that when I joined, I immediately got access to my team’s Facebook groups that are chock full of suggestions, tips, tricks, and some freaking amazing people. I’ve been blown away by the welcoming atmosphere, helpfulness, and most importantly, the kindness of the women I’ve met.
What does it mean to become a Young Living Member?
Ok, so basically there are two ways to buy products with Young Living. The first option is to buy them directly from Young Living as a retail customer at the normal retail price – just like you would any other store. The second option is the become a member and get 24% off every Young Living purchase you make. There is NO obligation to sell or make repeat purchases. They basically just offer the discount to incentivize you to be a repeat customer – that’s it. No catch. Even if you only want to make one purchase ever, I would highly recommend becoming a member because there’s literally no downside.Believe me, I am super tentative to join anything if there is ANY pressure to sell anything, and that’s one of the reasons why I chose Young Living in particular. I’ve used these oils for months now, and I have never been asked to sell or share. I’m just choosing to tell you guys about it now because I’ve tried them for long enough and know that I love them! It’s literally 100% up to you, which is amazing.
Another 100% optional perk of being a member is the option to use Essential Rewards, which is basically a monthly order of products of your choosing where you earn points and free products. You can redeem the points for money off future orders, and you’ll earn a bigger percentage back the longer you’re on Essential Rewards. Each month, they also have free gifts with purchase that are exclusive to Essential Rewards. If you end up liking the starter kit and want to get more or different products, it’s a great way to save even more money and get free products. Again, it’s 100% optional. I’ll let ya know my thoughts on it later in this post!
What are the best products to start off with if you’re a newbie to essential oils?
I would 100% recommend purchasing a starter kit if you’re interested in trying essential oils because it is the most cost-effective option and includes some of the brand’s most popular products. When you sign up to become a member, you’ll get 24% off on all Young Living products forever (SCORE), and you’re able to purchase a starter kit which includes $360 worth of products for only $160 (DOUBLE SCORE)! The starter kits include 11 essential oils, a diffuser of your choice (I love my Desert Mist diffuser!), and samples of Ningxia Red (a low-carb antioxidant fruit drink) and Thieves (super popular non-toxic cleaner) for you to try.I am currently breastfeeding my daughter, so I have not tried every oil in this kit; however, the ones I have tried have become quick favorites. I can’t wait until I have the chance to try out the rest. When you sign up, you’ll get info on how to use each and every one of the products, so there’s no need to be intimidated! Here’s a few photos of what comes in a starter kit.
Ok, I think I want to try it out. How do I place an order for a starter kit?
The one thing I will complain about is the purchasing process. Young Living’s website is not the most user-friendly in my opinion, so I’m gonna walk you through the process. It’s not hard at all, but it’s certainly not as intuitive as it should be. They ARE working on revamping the website, so hopefully the new version will be a lot better. Here’s exactly how to get started!1. Sign up as a member here. As I mentioned earlier, becoming a member just means that you’re buying a starter kit and getting 24% off all of your orders. You absolutely do NOT need to sell oils. Click here to sign up and place an order! If you want to join my team, make sure that the sponsor and enroller IDs both display as 15367025 (should be auto-filled) and then click continue.
2. Choose your starter kit and diffuser. I recommend purchasing the default starter kit that pops up on the screen. It’s what I have and love, and you also get the option to choose your own diffuser. I have the Desert Mist diffuser and LOVE it. If you want something different, you can click around the tabs to select a different starter kit.
3. Set up Essential Rewards (100% OPTIONAL). As I mentioned earlier, becoming a member also allows you to sign up for the Essential Rewards (ER) program, which is basically just a monthly shipment of whatever products you want. You get 24% off everything as a member, and with your ER order, you earn Essential Rewards points that get you cash back on future purchases. Plus, they have different gifts with purchase each month depending on how much you spend, so you might also qualify for a few free products! If you’re interested in trying out some of their other products like nontoxic cleaners or clean beauty products, it’s honestly best to order through ER because you get points back for money off future purchases and free products. If you’re gonna buy laundry detergent every month anyways, why not get some free stuff back?
I am personally signed up for a monthly ER order because I like trying new products and stocking up on my most-used favorites each month, but I promise you, it is totally optional and no one will pressure you to sign up. I’ve loved trying out all of the products, and I’ve already received quite a bit back in points as well as several free full-size products! You can also start / stop your ER orders whenever you want, so if you do want to make a second order somewhere down the road, definitely do it through Essential Rewards to earn the points and free products.
And that’s it. Once you’ve completed this process, your order will be on the way to you, and I’ll send you an email with some of my favorite ways to use the oils and connect with the amazing Facebook groups I mentioned earlier in the post! The groups have even more info available to you, and the people who are members are just a wealth of information. They will be able to answer almost any oils-related question you have! While I am TOTALLY not a pro yet, you are always welcome to email me or send me a DM on Instagram with questions. I’m always happy to chat with you or answer questions!
What happens after I buy a starter kit?
I’ll send you an email with a bunch of resources, tips, and tricks, and I’ll add you to the Facebook groups I mentioned earlier where there’s even more info and pretty awesome community! Just a reminder, if you sign up as a member, you do NOT have to order monthly or sell anything – ever. If you end up wanting to share or sell, you are absolutely free to do so, but there will not be any pressure from anyone.
What other Young Living products would you recommend?
If you want to add a few extra products to your Essential Rewards order, here are my top recommendations. I’ve used these products for months and will absolutely repurchase them once they’re empty.Babies: If you’re a mama to a little one, you 100% need to check out the Seedlings line for babies. See my honest review of the line here. It smells heavenly, is non-irritating, and completely non-toxic and safe for your baby’s sensitive skin. My favorite products from the line are the body wash/shampoo, lotion (I love it so much I also use it on myself as a hand cream!), oil, and linen spray.
Home: Thieves cleaner is a great non-toxic all-purpose cleaner. You get a sample of the concentrate in your starter kit that you dilute to make a full bottle of cleaner, so that will last you quite a while! When you’re ready to re-order, definitely buy the concentrate because it’s much more cost-effective.
Oils: I loveeee all of the citrus oils- grapefruit, lemon, lime, tangerine, citrus fresh, and orange are absolute go-to oils for diffusing! Lavender is another absolute must-have product.
Bath/Beauty: The lip balms are really good. The grapefruit lip balm is my favorite scent! The Lavender Mint conditioner smells SO good. It’s part of the volume line, so it’s not ultra-moisturizing – but I think it would work well for oily to normal hair. I realllyyy want to try the Lavender Mint shampoo because of the smell!
Wellness: I’ve been loving the Ningxia Red individual packets lately. Ningxia is basically a goji berry juice drink with other fruit juices that’s packed with antioxidants. I love fruit juice, but I honestly don’t drink it very often because of the high sugar content. I like that Ningxia doesn’t have a ton of calories or sugar, so I can get the good stuff from fruit juice without worrying about the blood sugar spike. I’m not sure if it’s a placebo effect or not, but I feel like I get a lot of energy when I drink it. It doesn’t contain any caffeine, so I just ordered a case of the individual packets to see if it will help me cut down on my Starbucks habit! I also like that it’s not super sweet like candy or a smoothie, so I’m not tempted to guzzle it down. I actually prefer mixing it with La Croix or any type of sparkling water!
If you have any more questions, feel free to send me an email at ashleybrookenicholas@gmail.com or send me a DM on Instagram @ashleybrookenicholas. I’m always happy to chat with you! If you have any favorite essential oils or uses for essential oils, please leave a comment! I always love to learn more!
Click to Shop Some of My Favorite Essential Oil Books + Diffusers
This post includes affiliate links, which means I make a commission if a sale is made after clicking through the links. As always, all stated opinions are my honest thoughts. I value your trust and only recommend products I truly love. I’ve had a great experience as a Young Living member, and I purchased all of the products mentioned in today’s post with my own money.
