Back in November I went over to my friend Charlene’s house to help set up for an adorable surprise birthday party. Upon entering her home I smelled a mysterious cinnamon-y magic that was making its way through every room. Charlene wasn’t even home and her house had a warmth and delicious aroma running through it! Knowing my friend’s health conscious and organic lifestyle I was pretty certain that this autumnal fragrance could not be coming from a candle, and after some detective work, I determined that I was right.

In between setting up the toppings for ice cream sundaes and cuddling with Charlene’s adorable puppy Sadie, I explored the house for the source of the amazing scent *in a not creepy way, I promise*. After some casual searching I found a color changing diffuser releasing puffs of Young Living’s Thieves oil, hidden on a shelf in her dining room. Ah-ha! That scent is the source of nostalgia for me. It brings me back to my childhood, as my mom would frequently tell my siblings and I to rub our feet with Thieves at the first sign of a cold. The powerful combination of clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus and rosemary clears out your sinuses and just smells heavenly.

Until Charlene’s party I hadn’t thought about essential oils in a while. My mom had been on the Young Living bandwagon about 10 years ago, so she owns a large variety of oils, but doesn’t use them much any more.

When I first left home for college circa 2012 I took a bottle of YL’s Peace and Calming combination oil with me, in an attempt to sooth some nervous anxiety. I never used it religiously, but just recently I ran out -you can take that as an increase in anxiety from age 18-23 or an increased need for peace.

I moved into an apartment with some friends back in October and the stressers that accompany a change in lifestyle seemed to follow. Unfortunately some of our neighbors are less than considerate and smoke in the vicinity of our apartment so it comes in the vents.. we’re still trying to figure out a permanent solution. In the meantime, purchasing a SpaRoom Mini diffuser from Bed Beth and Beyond has been helpful.

If I am in my bedroom at the apartment then my salt lamp is on, music is blaring -in an attempt to drown out the aforementioned neighbors- and the diffuser is running. Santa generously put some Vitality Extracts essential oils in my stocking and I have been experimenting with them all!

Contrary to popular opinion, I am not immensely particular about the brand of essential oils that I use. I have a minimal understanding of the importance of therapeutic grade oils, but anything coming in contact with my body should be of a certain quality and purity. I am not strictly a Dotera, YL or Vitality supporter. I look for the therapeutic grade marking and pick my favorite scents, with hopes that the effects of a certain herb will help as well.

For Christmas I received 4 Vitality signature blends: Stress Away, Inner Peace, Sweet Dreams and Immunity. Besides using the oils in my traditional air diffuser, I have been “wearing” them with my White Howlite Lava Stone bracelet. Per the Vitality website: “Howlite is a calming stone and many people use it to relieve anxiety and stress of all kinds. It makes an excellent antidote to insomnia due to an overactive mind.” YEAH I NEED THAT.

I am not writing this post to share life changing evidence that these oils can cure cancer, make the blind see and the deaf hear. I just love the way I feel when exposed to the calming scents and natural beautiful aromas that they produce. Who doesn’t want to stress less, feel at peace and smell good?

What are some of your favorite essential oil blends? Where do you buy them?