Essential Oils! A Perfect Gift From an Awesome Steemian!
This is a story about someone gifting me something special and maybe a little education along the way.
I was pleasantly surprised the other day when I went to check my mailbox and discovered a package from Canada. The package was sent from a good friend of mine here on steemit from @rebeccaryan! I met Rebecca when I first joined on here and I was blogging about having MS and she had responded to my post with helpful information and asked to contact her for further information. We quickly discovered that we have a lot in common with each other and we developed a unique, long distance friendship that I do not and will not take for granted. Being able to talk to someone openly that has the same disease that you do (Especially when you’re a closed person like myself.) is something very special as well as helpful. I can talk all day long to my wife and family about what I go through but they don’t fully understand. Nobody can understand unless you have experienced it and even if you have MS, it may not be as a severe case as the next persons. It just helps talking to someone that can relate a little bit more than the normal person, even if they are in another country lol.
But Rebecca said she was going to send me something and I was thinking “What in the world is she going to send me?” She said that it wouldn’t be much and not to get excited about it and that it would be some spa products for my wife and I….Okay, I’m thinking to myself using my inner voice here. Here I am being a gun enthusiast, knife collecting, adrenaline junkie, ex-cop that loves to blow shit up on the weekends and she’s going to send me some facial cream? Are you kidding me? Is she trying to get inside my head or something? I mean, I’m the type of person that will appreciate the smallest of gifts and all. You could make a box by gluing sticks and twigs together and give it to me for my birthday and I would be happy go lucky! But have you seen my face? Spa products ain’t gonna help this ol’ boy out, girlfriend! The only thing that will improve my looks is the mask that you see me wear every now and then lol.
But I didn’t know she was talking about essential oils! I never even thought about essential oils and spa products being in the same ballpark to be honest. I guess they are, I just looked at it differently. I use essential oils all of the time for the health benefits so when I saw that’s what she had sent, I was really excited as you will see in the video. Also, just so you won’t think I’m feeding you a line of BS, here is my private stash of oils and my personal diffuser.
TOLD YA!
AIN'T PLAYIN, GIRL!
I TAKE MY OILS SERIOUS!
Here is a picture of a reference book called Dr. Me, 2nd Edition. This can be obtained at Aromatools.com
This book is extremely valuable because it basically tells you what oils do what and what to use them for. I know the internet is a great tool at your fingertips but this booklet is a handy tool to have also in a pinch!
I need to be doing more of this, I have gotten slack here lately and I can tell!
Here is a picture of "some" of the gifts the Becca sent me. I think my wife has already taken claim to some of the items :/
Notice the Bandit's Blend? I went ape shit when I saw that in the video as hopefully you will see lol. I thought that was the coolest thing ever because I have never heard of it before.
If you don't know much about essential oils, they're an extremely and powerful oil that is extracted from plants.
Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation using steam and cold pressing. They are used in perfumes, cosmetics, soaps and cleaning products, for flavoring food and drink, and for adding scents to incense. They are also widely used for medicinal purposes and just about anything else you can think of around the house from cleaning the counters to deterring bugs. I cant remember the exact numbers, but it was amazing how many lavender flowers it took to make just one ounce of pure lavender oil from distillation. It's a very cool topic to research if your interested.
Here is the video where I opened the package and discovered the Bandit's Blend for the first time :)
Thank you @rebeccaryan for the perfect gift that I know will help me in so many ways!
Video, gun photo belong to me. essential oils photo sitting on the granite counter top belongs to me. The other photos were taken from google images.
Hahaha! awesome video!!!
I'm so glad you like the oils! It's tricky to give oils to other people because really for them to work properly, the person really has to love the aroma and you should never use an oil that you don't like the smell of.
I hold certification as an aromatherapist. Every time I treat someone with oils, I take them on a sensory journey to test what the person's body is looking for to create balance within their system. This changes all the time so what the body needs one day can be completely different the next day. This can be hard for the therapist because even though I may think I should be using rosemary oil (for example) because I think I know that it will help their condition, if I test it against them and they don't love the aroma, I DO NOT use it on them.
THE NOSE KNOWS BEST.
This means I am constantly shoving my own ego aside as a practitioner and I become a guide to help the body and myself recognize what that particular body needs.
That's how aromatherapy should work, if you respect plant medicine.
Aromatherapy massage is typically one of the lightest forms of massage therapy, because the oils do all the work through the lymphatic system. The lymph system is a passive system that sits just under the last layer of skin, so if too heavy a hand is used, the oils don't get taking up by the lymph nodes properly.
(Yeah, too much info, but I hold certification in Dr. Vodder manual lymphatic drainage (from Austria) too.
On the cannabis side of things, I plan to eventually be growing plants, specifically breed to treat MS. I will then be making oils from those plants. In cannabis, 30 grams or 1 oz of plant material will produce 3 ml of finished oil. Just like other essential oil making, a huge volume of plant material gets distilled down to a very concentrated, powerful oil. You need over 1/2 a pound of cannabis bud to fill one of those small 10 ml glass bottles in your video. Street value on that oil would be $3,000 Canadian dollars. LOL!!! And that's why I am growing.
So glad you liked everything @bluelightbandit! You DO NOT need to send me anything. ;)
I have done the french aromatherapy, so we could also make medicine to take internal. Not that i used it that much but i did... I love to make pills that go in to your bum, suppositoire? made them with eucalyptus globulus, in coconut fat, you keep them in the fridge ! Ideal for people who have problems breathing during the flue or a cold. I also made tem with cannabisoil, for someone in her last days of life. She started eating again ! and had a lot less pain. something else we have in common, i also have lymfedrainage from dr Vodder ! but find the total drainage no fun to do , so borring ... And takes like 2.5 hour ! Do you do them? I also have grown my own plants :-) and made my own oil, although i use a differend methode. I never tried to destille weed, or any other thing, but i do have a distiller and would love to try. :-) On here in a cannabis story, a woman first puts her flowers in a pressure cooker, before making oil, that way the cbd would be higher? Never heard of it ! I asked her more information but so far she did not answer me.
Oh dear, I hope it wasn't me who hasn't responded to you @janine-ariane...I always use a pressure cooker to decarb cannabis and if you do that for the correct amount of time and use good quality alcohol to make the oil, you can pull cbd out of the plant. I had this properly tested about 3 weeks ago. If you did send a message or comment, I'm sorry that I didn't respond. Around the same time that I wrote my post about it, we were having a lot of problems commenting on Steemit.
What I can tell you is that the raw cannabis buds (before decarb) showed 14% THC and trace amounts of CBD. My finished oil was 50.8% THC and 14% CBD. This is confusing because you would naturally think that if the starting material had 0 CBD in it, it would have 0 as a finished oil, but the Lab Tech who did the testing for me said that you absolutely can pull CBD out of the plant if the plant has CBD in its genetic lineage. This comes at the expense of THC...so my THC % dropped a little and I gained CBD. I was shocked and thrilled. It was a great experiment. You aren't going to believe this... but I took that oil and used it to make suppositories. Normally a person would take about the size of a grain of rice amount in the oil, orally. In suppository form, I did not encase it in fat because (through research) I learned that the membranes in the colon can't absorb fat. I made capsules instead and filled them with 1 gram of oil each...I'm going to write a post about it shortly and will explain how to do it and why you would want to. There are some key things that you need to know about the insertion, which take more explaining than I have time for right now. I just can't get over how similar our backgrounds are! It's scary and fantastic!
It was a video with how you did it? A closed of metalbox in a pressure cooker? I have a fantastic reader from a dutch woman, who has the allowens to form a herbal medical school. It is a fantastic reader. She learned me how to make the oil, i never tested mine. But it is one that let you fall a sleep. So when i saw the video with the presure cooker, i wrote to her, and asked what do you think about that? I send the whole blog you? Wrote. Her cold weird answer was: janine do you think i have time to read this? I have 60 people to reach and it is examination time. I said sorry i was just curious about your 2 pennys about this. And she said do not pick on a good formula why would you? I wrote back that the why was in that video. But gave her a thumbs up, and answered what ever. Pfff how stubborn are you when you do notwant to learn and think about new ideas which might be better. So feel a bit peed off...
It's hard to get a good decarboxylation of the cannabis flower if the temperature doen't remain constant. Oven temperatures can fluctuate and there are differences between toaster ovens, electric ovens and propane ovens. With pressure cooking the temperature stays constant and works well. For THC, you need to keep the material at 240 degrees F for 45 minutes. CBD takes a higher temperature 270 degrees F for 75 minutes. Lots of people think that by simply infusing cannabis into an oil or butter or baking it in cookies, they are activating it. To some degree they are, just not nearly as efficiently as it could be. The Lab Tech told me that he's personally tested 100's of finished batches of oil and mine was the most potent (to date) of all the oils he's tested. The difference is all in the decarb process which most people don't do. They either don't do it because they don't know they should or they are lazy and don't want to make the effort. This is my video:
Is that the one you saw?
yes !! oh weird i was talking about you before i cyber knew you hahaaha
It is very cool! LOL!
Oh yeah suppositoires are oke with coconut, they melt quick and the body only needs 3 minutes to take the working out of the fat. For them who can not take by mouth 3 drops under the tonque ideal!
It's hard to get a good decarboxylation of the cannabis flower if the temperature doen't remain constant. Oven temperatures can fluctuate and there are differences between toaster ovens, electric ovens and propane ovens. With pressure cooking the temperature stays constant and works well. For THC, you need to keep the material at 240 degrees F for 45 minutes. CBD takes a higher temperature 270 degrees F for 75 minutes. Lots of people think that by simply infusing cannabis into an oil or butter or baking it in cookies, they are activating it. To some degree they are, just not nearly as efficiently as it could be. The Lab Tech told me that he's personally tested 100's of finished batches of oil and mine was the most potent (to date) of all the oils he's tested. The difference is all in the decarb process which most people don't do. They either don't do it because they don't know they should or they are lazy and don't want to make the effort.
I forgot to answer your question about the full body lymphatic drainage. I rarely do a full body, in fact it's been years. I usually am doing very targeted treatments when I do perform lymph drainage...cancer patients mostly. :(
yess lately i also did that by a brest operation, but i still do not like to do it. When there is noone else oke i give the best i can, but i do not like it, and by knowing that i can not offer them the best of me. :-)
I was glad that I recorded the actual unboxing so I got my real reaction when I saw the Bandit's Blend lol, that was priceless! And then get to share it with everyone else too lol , I'm already catching heat over my giggling lmao. I can't help it, that's when you know that I'm genuinely laughing and excited, when I sound like a lil school girl! Thanks again! And I still want to send you something, I just don't know what yet. I don't think you will eat a Slim Jim. Maybe a box of nice hollow point bullets? Explosives? Might be tricky getting past customs so if you got any other ideas, I'm all ears!
OMG!!! Your laughing was the best part! It made the whole surprise really worth the angst I went through hoping like hell that I could get these bottles to you without them being smashed or held up in customs. Please please please ( note: begging on my part) do not send me anything. I just wanted to do this for you to put a smile on your face and send your lovely wife a little something too. What you can do for me, is accept this gift so that your very good friend (read: me) can take pleasure in knowing that I was able to give you something that you liked and made you laugh at the same time. :)
Thanks for making the Bandit laugh and cry all in the same post.
Don't take that the wrong way, I can just be a sentimental bitch sometimes when people do or say nice things to me...
When you go as many years as I have with being called names, judged, insulted, ridiculed and every other negative word you can think of, it feels pretty damn great when someone does or says something nice. Makes you appreciate those smaller gifts,compliments and random acts of kindness that much more. 😊
You are a good person, @bluelightbandit. Let's let this be about "righting" the balance a little bit. I love to help and I'm really good at pulling long-standing knives out of people's backs. LOL! (You've already pulled a few out of mine, for me.) It's an honour and a privilege to be your friend.
Rebecca
Weird weird weird... like i am reading an answer i could have written :-0
Same frequency @janine-ariane. We are reading each others minds. You are one of the few people who even know you can dose essential oils through the colon...besides me...not something that normally comes up in general conversation and we've known each other for all of 48 hours. Lol! The universe makes me laugh.
We are more than the place where we are born, we are pieces of the all what we all are. Namaste. :-)
what a great gift, @rebeccaryan is incredibly helpful and generous! Essential oils are awesome, I agree completely.
I couldn't agree with you more @natureofbeing, she keeps surprising me with her positive energy!
This makes me laugh because I've got a very dry, very sarcastic sense of humour and that's where this next comment is coming from:
Ahh! Shucks, Sir, thanks for the gracious compliment...you know I'm medicated right?
It brings out positive energy so I admit to having an unfair advantage. :D
Thanks for your kind words @natureofbeing!
@bluelightbandit
I could say I'm jealous. But I won't. Ha
Rebecca is a good girl. One of best if not the best. I better not let my wife read this. I will be in he dog house. lol
Just kidding. As old as I am. No one or anything is in danger. Ha ha
I enjoyed watching your video. You add very good content to Steemit every time you post.
Francis
" No one or anything is in danger"
Famous last words, my friend lol!
Thank you for your kind words,time and as well as your support!
That's a t-shirt phrase for sure! LMAO!
See my comment to Francis. ;)
Hahahaha! Oh Francis you crack me up!
Just you wait until you get my extra special rum cake in the mail for Christmas...then we'll see what and who is in danger. Hahahaha!
You may want to hold off giving me the title of good girl until after the cake. ;)
LOL Everybody loves some good ol' fashioned rum cake! You may have to send Pat the recipe for New Years Eve! :)
What a thoughtful gift. Bandit oil! Hum. I wonder what that is made from? You don't think she is trying to tell you something else do you? Lol! So glad you have someone you can swap stories with. 🐓🐓
I might need to send it to the SBI and have it analyzed, I have sent a lot of peeps to prison and I do have a lot of enemies out there ya know lol! The Mexican Mafia has a long reach from CP. I've already ran a background check on her to make sure she doesn't have any ties to any of my ex-girlfriends or anything, just to make sure no arsenic was slipped in by mistake..heehe.
Ironically enough, I once tried to sell my own brand of facial cream that I made daily but it just didn't ever take off like I had hoped for unfortunately.
The use of oils with good quality gives the beauty and personal impression of the person with confidence .. away from any odor is not filled with nature oils
Oil can be applied to the skin glasses well
greetings
I have given up on the beauty part, nothing can help me now. My goal is straight health benefits lol! Thanks for checking it out!
Awesome update. I've been introduced to essential oils, but never really gotten into them yet. You have quite the collection!
Great to see another post. Keep up the great content and hoping so to see another great update tomorrow!
I got in to them slowly, I mean they really didn't appeal to my style if ya know what I mean lol. But I kept an open mind and tried them out and noticed a difference after using some of them and I was all in after that! Thanks for the comments, bro!
when your friend produces oils her self she might really made the bandid oil special for you. It could well be the answer for you. How does it smell? are you only going to difuse it? or will you consume it? or can it also be used in a good oil to use it as bodyoil? Our skin is our biggest organ an able to take the diffuse parts of the oil in our blood system. How are you gonna use it? And offcourse verry curious to your findings about that. And for sure will have a look at your friend.
ohw when i click on @rebbeccaryann i come to not existing page ?
i just answered my self saying the account does not work and it is gone :-( but your second link is right ! the first one has a N to much on the end. sorry ...
The Bandit's Blend has a Cinnamon / Lemon smell to it and fits the holiday season, if that makes any sense? I know for a fact that I will diffuse it, I will have to look in to it further to see the best uses for it and where to apply it first before I start rubbin myself down with it. No, I won't consume it! Consuming essential oils should be done very cautiously and at ones own discretion. I have done it myself with a few different ones like Digest Zen for an upset stomach and I have added one drop of lemon oil to a liter of water which was more than enough. It seems like I may have made a simple concoction in the past with some empty gel capsules once, but I can't remember what it was for. I'm sure you will like her content!
With cinnamon you best first find out witch cinnamon, some of them can be so strong that they can burn you ! It is one where you have to be cautious with. diffusing it will not be any problem. Lemon is very refreshing and uplifting, and it is perfectly fine to mix that with some bodymilk, take a natural one, or with an other carry oil without extra smell. That you did a drip in water !!! :-o that is the problem when people do not really know how to use it. A essential oil you always have to mix first with fat, like when you go in the bath with it, 3 drops in a cup of milk before you throw it in your bath ! Oil like you know floats on water and will not be mix, how hard you try it it wil not work. And there are many oils that just would have burned you.
Ask my husband ... he knows by my mistakes ! He loves the smell of orange, so when he was in the bath i thought i wanted to spoil him, so i took my essential orange en threw a few drops on my hands (no problem) and from the edge of the bath istarted massaging his back and neck. It took 2 minutes when he was next to crying, .... The only way how to simmer it down is whit fat, so i took the closest oil to me, and the bathroom was next to the kitchen so it was the frying oil, i really poured it over his head and back. The burning sensation left, and he did feel very uplifted !!! but smelled like a chip the whole week!! An other time i took my pine with me on a house call, the man had an extreme cold but still wanted his massage, i massaged him with pine, on that very moment he loved it, he could instantly breath said that he felt tingeling all over and felt him self so much better ! but in the night time they had to bring him to hospital because he could not breath well and was itchy all over, they found out he was allergic for terpantine do not know if this is the right word in english but that is the main ingredience in pine... Allergic for pine !! Ohw the man said when i visited him , that is also the reason why we always have a fake tree in the house with xmas. I always ask if people have an allergy , and he did not mention it !!! He thought in him self something natural on my skin can never cause them problems. Like most think it will not harm ... Long story but a favorite subject :-) I am sure that @rebeccaryan can tell you what to d with your bandid oil. :-)
Hi @janine-ariane!
Orange chip! I have a great visual of your experience. LOL!
That is a kicker about the fellow with the allergy. I know people with the same thing and they usually break out in hives and have some level of anaphylactic response depending on how allergic they are. Most can't even touch pine needles. In Canada, we would say that it's the terpene profile which contains a few different chemical constituents like: b-pinene and 3-carene that some are allergic to. ;)
Terpene thats it! On my way home from a day pampering in the sauna, i will write tomorrow
I am so happy to learn that you had a relaxing day and could enjoy it. In Canada, we say that we "unplug" when you don't have a cell or computer within reach. Everyone needs to unplug every now and then.;)
defenitly, i love to leave my phone behind and just enjoy all of them moments. But i do not think you have saunas like us in Canada. Unplug you can in more ways i know :-) but a day in our family saunas , oooohhhww so nice, if you smell me now ! I took a hammam treatment, a short one, they had not that much time, and my husband Lee a back and neck massage. wood sauna, infrared sauna, wetsauna, normal steamroom, laconium, rosewater steamroom, inside saltwater baths, big mineral float bath, a snowcabine !! , and so much more... just delicious :-)
Last year when I'm in the Philippines I told my husband I want to make essential oils! I want to make my own perfume, soap, cosmetics and lots using it. And there so much uses. But it didn't happen, can't get what I want in the Philippines easily. And wow you've got loads so lucky of you to have a friend who gave you that wonderful oils! Cheers!
I hate that you can't get things like this that easily over there because they have so many benefits! Have you looked in to joining an essential oil home based business? There are a couple of different ones that I know of and you can get them at a discount if your a member but I don't know how they work in other countries. It wouldn't hurt to look in to it though....
Im here in Northern Ireland and I'm lucky I read your post, I even forgot about my dreams of making my own scents! Can you do me a favor and give me details of person I can contact to join in or buy essential oils and that book of its uses!!! I want one. You are really lucky not just in quick draw lol..
This was such an uplifting post!
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment!
What a special gift from a special person!
Enjoy the oils!
I just recently started using them and I have to say... why didn't I do it sooner!
Thank you for commenting and yes, she is a special person indeed! I'm glad you are enjoying the oils also!