herbal infused oil

If you’ve always wanted to buy an herbal oil, but didn’t like the prices at the store, why not try infusing your own? It’s a simple process, and you’ll probably save some money too. In this video, I show you how to make a calendula solar infusion of olive oil (or another oil of your choice).

While making a solar infusion is not a fast process, there is something satisfying about creating herbal oils for wellness and culinary usage for family and friends.

Cautions: Do not use calendula during pregnancy or breastfeeding (safety has not been established for use during these times) or when taking sedative-type medications as it could cause excess drowsiness.

Be sure to watch the video below, and here’s a simple recipe to print also.

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If room sprays, bath salts, and essential oils come to mind when you hear the word aromatherapy, you’re on par with what most people probably think. Aromatherapy, however, is much more than just a pleasing aroma or beauty product. It is a true healing modality whose potential is just being realized in the Western world.

Jade Shutes, founder and director of education of The East-West School for Herbal and Aromatic Studies, defines the term in the following way on the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy’s website:

“As a holistic practice, Aromatherapy is both a preventative approach as well as an active method to employ during acute and chronic stages of illness or ‘dis’-ease.

It is a natural, non-invasive modality designed to affect the whole person not just the symptom or disease and to assist the body’s natural ability to balance, regulate, heal and maintain itself by the correct use of essential oils.” 

Essential Oils: A Hot Topic

The popularity of essential oils has taken off in recent years due in part to two major MLM companies, doTERRA and Young Living. Both companies have put essential oils on the forefront of the home party scene, and many other quality and not-so-quality companies sell EOs online and in stores. But please keep in mind that you are wise to do your own research when using essential oils, especially concerning these two topics: using essential oils on children and the ingestion of EOs (ingestion if done, is best done under the care of an experienced, certified expert). Don’t just blindly accept what a sales rep or friend tells you. Essential oils are powerful — 75-100 times stronger than the dried herbs, so you need to exercise caution. I’ll be covering both of these topics in future posts, but for now I want to highlight a few points about EOs with children because there is so much misinformation out there that can be dangerous.

1. Always keep your essential oils safely stored and out of the reach of children.
2. Do NOT use essential oils on premature babies. They have high skin permeability, so it is not safe.
3. When a baby is 6 months old, you may choose to try a baby massage using 1 oz of an unscented carrier oil to which you add 1 drop of an essential oil, such as lavender (Lavendula angustifolia). This is a 0.1% dilution. Generally, do not apply EOs unless you have diluted them first in a carrier oil. It’s always a good idea when first introducing a new product to try it on a small area of the body before applying it everywhere to make sure your child will not have a reaction to it.
4. Do not use essential oils daily on your baby’s skin (dermally), as we don’t want the baby to become sensitized to the EO. A massage with EOs diluted in a carrier oil should be a periodic soothing treat for your little one. Of course you can do a daily massage without the EOs.
5. Don’t give your child EOs to ingest without proper consulation. Always consult with a health/medical professional trained in this discipline.

What Exactly Are Essential Oils?

EOs are highly concentrated aromatic extracts that are distilled or expressed from plant material. Essential oils can be found in either the flower, flowering tops, fruits/zests, grasses, leaves, needles and twigs, resins, roots, seeds, and woody parts of a plant. About 15 percent of plants produce essential oils and only about 5 percent are good for use in aromatherapy.
Certain EOs are located externally on the surface of the plant inside glandular trichomes. You can probably guess that some, though not all, herbs fall into this category, such as basil, lavender, Melissa, oregano, and peppermint, just to name a few. These essential oils are easily released by running your fingers along the plant. I’ve always loved herbs and their intoxicating scents.

Other EOs are located internally in cavities. A few examples are sweet orange, tangerine, lemon, eucalyptus, and frankincense. EOs that are found in ducts include dill, yarrow, and Roman and German chamomile. Finally, a few EOs are secreted in cells. Examples of these include ginger and nutmeg. Ginger is a favorite of mine with its pungent aroma.

Activity: Become familiar with the aroma that is released from the actual plant as well as the aroma of the corresponding essential oil. If you have time, take a few of your favorite EOs and then obtain the plant/fruit/root of it. For example, purchase a piece of ginger root and slice into it, smelling its aroma. Then open your bottle of ginger essential oil (Zingiber officinale) and compare the aroma. As you “train your nose,” you’ll be better able to distinguish pure essential oils from  fragrance oils used in the perfume industry.

In the next post, we’ll discuss EOs and the Bible and how essential oils are absorbed into the body. In the meantime, enjoy the recipe for Sweet Peace room spray that you can easily make at home.

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you use aromatherapy in your life by leaving a comment below.

Jane VanOsdol has a Level 1 aromatherapy certification from Natural Options Aromatherapy, which follows the guidelines for certification from the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA). She is currently studying for a clinical certification with the East-West School for Herbal & Aromatic Studies and is developing a line of products. She is also available for workshops or one-on-one meetings. Visit (and Like) her AromaScents Facebook page for more information.

When you take off the cap of your favorite essential oil and inhale the lovely aroma, do you ever think about the plant the oils came from? I love herbs and flowers and grow some of my favorites in my own garden. I am purposeful about how I care for them. For one thing, I don’t use pesticides or herbicides. And I try to nourish them with compost or an organic fertilizer when possible. I want to be sure that what I am eating or using in a lotion (that I make for my Indianapolis aromatherapy business, AromaScents) is as healthy as possible.

Four Ways Plants are Grown for Essential Oils

It’s good for us to ask the question of how the plants that our essential oils come from are cared for during the growing cycle. Usually, the company you buy your oils from should be able to tell you this. Generally, though, farmers grow these plants in one of four possible ways:

• Ethically Wild-crafted: This term means that these plants have been gathered as they were growing in the wild or in their native environment. The ethical part means that they were harvested in such a way so that the plant will continue to grow and thrive. In other words, the plant wasn’t decimated in the process of harvesting it.
• Cultivated: This term means that the plant was specifically planted, grown, and harvested for the purpose of distillation for essential oils.
• Traditional: Traditional plants are subjected to the use of pesticides during the growing process.
• Organic: This term means that plants have been grown without the use of pesticides and that the company is usually following  guidelines set up by an independent agency. Not only that, but it also means that the organic farmer is usually following a protocol that protects the land, supports biodiversity, and respects the balance of nature rather than interfering with it by artificial means.

Why is this important?

It’s important so that you can make an informed choice about what type of essential oils you use. If a pesticide-free plant is important for you to use in aromatherapy, you’ll want to seek out essential oils that are organic. Here’s a bit of research on what organic means.

• Congress set forth general organic principles in the Organic Foods Production Act.
• The United States Department of Agriculture defines specific organic standards.
• The Act allows states to set organic standards that are more stringent than the federal standards.
• Read this USDA Organic Agriculture post for more information.

Keep in mind that just because an essential oil is organic does not necessarily mean it is better for aromatherapy purposes. It depends on many other factors, a major one being the quality of the distillation process. You may have organic plants but end up with an inferior product because of poor distillation techniques from an inexperienced distiller.

Ultimately, when buying essential oils, decide what factors are important to you and research the companies you are purchasing them from to see if they follow practices that you support.

Jane VanOsdol has a Level 1 aromatherapy certification from Natural Options Aromatherapy, which follows the guidelines for certification from the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA). She is currently studying for a clinical certification with the East-West School for Herbal & Aromatic Studies and is developing a line of products. She is also available for workshops or one-on-one meetings in the Indianapolis area. You can contact her here.  Visit (and Like) her AromaScents Facebook page for more information.

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Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 John: 2

Have you ever wanted to step out in faith for a work you felt God was calling you to do yet felt that something was holding you back?

It can be frustrating trying to figure out what you’re missing. Over the years Mary and I have discovered a few things that it takes to be an effective worker for God’s kingdom.

Three Important Steps

1. Availability. God tells us in 2 Chronicles 16:9a “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” God is watching for people who are willing to be used so He can work through them. Mary and I realize the importance of watching for those opportunities that Jesus brings your way. That doesn’t mean you sign up for every opportunity, but for the ones God has prepared in advance for you to do. Knowing what those are takes …
2. Prayer. Prayer should be the foundation for everything we do, including any new works we are considering. We need to pray that God will reveal whether we should be involved and that we will know how to proceed. I like to pray that God will open the doors I should walk through and close the ones I should not. It also helps to be in good …
3. Physical health.  As much as we can control it, we need to make wise choices concerning our fitness and health so that we aren’t limited when Jesus comes calling. Now that’s not to say He can’t use us if we have a chronic illness. What we’re thinking about here is protecting our physical health to the best of our ability by taking care of ourselves.

Seven-Week Online Bible Study/Fitness Challenge

We are excited to announce a 7-week online Bible study and fitness challenge called Faith & Fit that combines all of these things. Will this solve all your challenges? No, but it will jump-start you on the road to spiritual and physical health to help prepare you for what God has next in your life!

Here is what to expect: Every week we will follow a theme for that week, and you will receive two emails, one on Monday morning and one on Friday morning that contain the following:

• Two Everyday Faith challenges (a short video teaching and scripture reading and study questions) and
• Two Everyday Fit challenges (a physical challenge and a food challenge)

• Extra Faith and Extra Fit options for those who have more time and want to integrate a spiritual discipline and a target fitness video.

How It Works

When you receive Monday’s email, work on those challenges from Monday-Thursday. Early Friday morning you will receive the second email. Work on those challenges on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Every Wednesday evening we will have a live Community Call on Talk Shoe to discuss the previous week’s work.

We’d love to have you join us in this study; as a matter of fact, you can sign up right now.  NOTE!! If you do not have a PayPal account you may still sign up by following these instructions:

1. Choose the option that says Have a PayPal account?

2. Ignore the email and PayPal password fields and hit the login button

3. After you hit the login button a new tab should pop up below that offers the option of paying with a credit or debit card or Bill  Me Later.

In addition to the all the above,  we’ll also include some recipes that Mary and I have created made with healthy ingredients that taste good, because we think that good health should be fun too. Here’s a sneak peek at one of the recipes to have as an occasional treat.
Tropical Sunrise Smoothie

I cup yogurt (Greek or regular), plain
2 oranges, seeds removed
1/2 lemon juiced
1 banana sliced into chunks
2 wedges cantaloupe sliced into chunks
Coconut water as needed (look for this in cartons in the Gatorade aisle)
Ice cubes to your liking

Juice the lemon first and pour it in the blender. Add all the other ingredients and process until smooth. Serves two. (If you are diabetic, this recipe may be too high in sugar for you.)

You’ll also have access to a private Facebook Faith & Fit page to post your workouts, share your successes and challenges, and share your prayer requests and encouragement.

What do you have to lose, except some bad habits? : ) Grab your Mom, sister, friends, or yourself and sign up today. We begin on Monday, September 8. Hope to see you there!

One-Week Workout! a free seven-day Bible study and fitness activities designed to challenge you spiritually and physically! Starting July 19th, log on to Only by Prayer , click on the One-Week Workout! post, do the provided Bible study work and a workout on the post page, or an exercise routine of your own. You are on your way to greater physical and spiritual health. If you missed the start date you may easily join in at any time!