I discovered Naissance castile soap, absolutely love it, but..... not on Amazon anymore! So annoying that some things are too good to be true. Still, I'm a big fan of Naissance and I hope they will come back on Amazon. There are still many other Naissance oils on Amazon, but just not the castile soap. So, onto the next brand, ZevenMinerals, which also works great!

RECIPE
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One of my favorite recipes is kitchen top cleaner: add 1/4 cup of castile soap to a 500 ml. glass spray bottle. Fill the rest with demineralised water. Add essential oils as you wish: peppermint, tea tree, lemon, OnGuard, whatever you fancy and whichever oils are antibacterial.

Happy Cleaning!

Surprise your loved ones with a home made gift. This bath soak gift is easy, smells amazing and looks great. This aromatherapy blend will make your friend/family member/loved one feel totally refreshed and restored. Let's get started straight away, this is what you need to create 1 pot of home made amazing smelling bath salt, multiply as required: 

​And vóila, there you have a wonderful gift. This is where I get my favorite oils:
Wild Orange and Clove.

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Interested in oils classes? Keep an eye out for the classes on the home page! Top right corner.

Daar heb ik dan ook weer mijn middeltjes voor. Manlief slikt nog steeds naar hartelust allerlei chemicaliën, alhoewel dat ook wat minder is geworden over de jaren, en de kinderen doen zoveel mogelijk met mij mee: alles zo natuurlijk mogelijk. Wat gebruiken wij dan zoal? Hoestdrankjes op basis van natuurlijke ingrediënten, homeopatische middelen, etherische olie, kruidenthee, kruiden en specerijen in voeding, hoge doses vitamine/mineralen. Het klinkt misschien voor velen een beetje soft en vaag maar geef het eens een kans zou ik zeggen! Waarom met een hamer slaan als je ook zacht kun zijn? Vooral kinderen zijn hier supergevoelig voor. Wat is er voor een kind nou fijner: een pilletje, kus en naar bed, of een lekkere voetmassage met een effectieve olie, heerlijke geuren, even praten, kus en naar bed? Ik zie het verschil wel, en het kind ook. De  extra aandacht draag natuurlijk ook bij aan het genezingsproces! De etherische olie zelf werkt vaak verbluffend snel en goed. Kijk voor inspiratie ook eens op mijn etherische olie pagina.

Wat inspireerde mij eigenlijk om dit te schrijven? Omdat ik iets nieuws heb ontdekt op het gebied van medicijnen. Tijdens een lezing die ik gisteren bijwoonde leerde ik een interessant merk kennen.  Zo op het eerste gezicht ben ik al behoorlijk enthousiast. Het merk Genexa, uit Amerika, maakt natuurlijke 'medicijnen' voor volwassenen en kinderen. 

Often, people sign up as a member with an essential oils company, and next, they don't know what to do with them! Such a pity. Because chances are, they have gold in their hands and they are just not aware of it. Usually, a basic package of oils has lemon, lavender and lemon in it.  Lemon is great for focus and has an uplifting effect. Peppermint gives you a kick, like coffee does, it wakes you up and keeps you alert. Well, sounds perfect for the office, right?

What I like about lemon is the story behind it, where it comes from, the people involved. It's not just the oil, there is so much more behind it. Watch the video below if you are interested in lemon:

​Peppermint has great benefits, too. It's perfect for the office as it gives you a healthy and effective pick-me-up, like coffee, but better :o)

​How to get started with oils? Simply visit EssentialOilsAmsterdam or click here to find out more on oils, education, workshops, how to use etc.

Bij deze nodig ik je dus uit voor een gezellige een leerzame avond koken met verse kruiden uit Leo z'n eigen tuin, uitleg over kruiden door mij (ze zijn niet alleen lekker maar ALLE kruiden zijn supergezond!), verschillende technieken en na afloop krijg je de recepten mee zodat je ze zelf thuis kan reproduceren.

De avond begint om 19:00 uur en eindigt ongeveer om 22:00 uur. De kosten zijn 75 € p.p.

​Opgeven kan via: kookcursus

Info over Leo van CookYourLife: klik hier

Did you ever wake up feeling exhausted? You had only a few hours of sleep and you don't look forward to the day, drained. Today is one of those days for me. I really don't understand where I get the energy from to write this post. Husband is away and both children sleep in my bed. Three is a crowd. Finally, at 5:30 I decided to move to another bed. From 5:30 to 7:00 I was worried: 'how am I going to get through the day feeling exhausted?'. I woke up really really cranky and could not hide it from my children. They tried their best. 8 Year old Lisa said she was going to be my helper the whole day, maybe even for 2 days! She was going to do everything I wanted. Sounds great doesn't it? Very sweet. 11 Year old Nina had a different approach. She mixed her own blend of oils and put it in the diffuser. She said "Mom, come inside, it smells really nice, I created a blend just for you". She continued: "Peppermint to get you more energy, Balance to make you feel, well, balanced, Elevation to improve your mood and I also added Serenity. No idea what it does, but it sounds like you could do with some Serenity". She added: "I take back everything I said yesterday". We had a bit of an argument yesterday.

Indeed, it smelled divine. Despite my tiredness, I went for a run. I know I can't run tomorrow, nor the day after, so today was the day. When I came home, the diffuser was still on. Oooops! Happens when you're tired. It smelled lovely. And this is how I continued my day. Like it or not, I made a small to-do-list yesterday and I just worked through them step by step. Without this is I think I would have been lost, thinking what to do next, brains not working properly. I even filmed a little video for a small group of runners, helping them with tips and tricks for their upcoming run! Weird, getting so much done in this state. 

My point is actually: children often just seem to know what's best for their parents. Having a little 8 year old helper is wonderful. When I look up the oils they are JUST the right ones! With a big big emphasis on Peppermint, this kicks butt. So I'm sniffing away on the Peppermint, behind my computer, getting more things done than I expected, and it feels great!

Tomorrow is another day, let's be grateful for this day, tired or not. 

x
​Barbara

Now, I use oils on a daily basis, for everything imaginable. And I'm still not there, it is a learning curve as to how to use them. How did I use them, say, like a day like today?

• In my home made moisturiser
• In my home made tooth paste
• In a home made toner
• In my home made body butter
• In my home made hand wash
• As a perfume
• On my tummy to control my nerves (I had to give a business presentation today...)
• In my glass of water
• In my soup

And the day is not over yet, I will be using more of them later on!

As you can see, I do a lot of home made stuff. Lots of work? Sort of. Once you get the hang of it, it is super easy. I make large batches so I won't have to make them all over again for a while. 

The easiest way to use them, however, is to use them straight from the bottle. But some oils are so potent and strong, you need to dilute them. What better way than putting them in a roller bottle? Or a small spray bottle? This is exactly what I will be teaching you next week!

Are you joining me? Register via Meetup or Facebook. Tickets are € 15 for a one hour workshop. You will walk away with more knowledge on oils, your own home made roller bottle of your choice including recipe.

• ​40 drops of lemon essential oils
• 40 drops of orange essential oils
• 10 drops of peppermint essential oils
• honey to taste

I have many other stories to share with you how my children use the oils, without me ever encouraging them to use them. Somehow children seem to love oils :o)