I like to stay current on all the latest trends… well, that’s what I tell myself, but really I just HATE being left out.  I want to be in on the coolest new stuff, after all I want to be considered cool, hip and in-the-know.

I’ve read and heard all about essential oils.  I even saw a few friends were hosting classes on oils.  I try to avoid any items that require I take a class before use.  I’m also not big on reading the instruction manuals.  Personally, I LOVE those  QUICK Start guides that are filled with big pictures and little words.    Although I kept reading (mostly on Facebook because that seems to be my source of news lately) about the amazing qualities of these oils — stopped headaches, unstuffed stuffy noses, stopped those runny allergy eyes, and balanced the national budget — okay, not that last one, but the claims were pretty amazing.  I decided I HAD to know more and since we’ve established that I don’t do classes, I just ordered some oils — Lemon and Peppermint.  Seemed safe.

The oils arrived without any instruction manual and there was definitely not a quick start guide.  I tried to read the TINY TINY TINY print on the bitty bottle and finally succeeded after putting on my readers and grabbing a magnifying glass — no instructions on the bottle.  So I did what I do in these cases — I just made it up.

I thought I’d just add a drop or two to my ice water and VIOLA!  I tried the lemon because I love lemon in my water.  The first time I went overboard and put three drops in the glass.  It  smelled wonderful — all lemony and fresh. YUMM!  I took a big swig and released that just because it smells good doesn’t mean it will taste good.  Apparently three drops is about 2.5 drops too many.  My water tasted like chewed up lemon rinds.    I tossed out that glass and decided to try a lighter touch with the  peppermint– the taste was odd… not really pleasant.  I tossed that glass down the drain and went for the lighter hand with the lemon oil.   I had hit on the right recipe.  I sipped on that lemon water and felt like I was on the path to this new essential oil place of healthy living.  After several weeks of ingesting lemon drops I happen to read (again on Facebook) that ingesting essential oils is not wise.  Well, I guess that’s what happens when you don’t go to the class.   I stopped drinking the oil and decided to just dab it on like perfume.  I smelled lemon fresh.

Today I had a bit of a headache and remembered something about dabbing mint on your temples for a headache — honestly I think it was spearmint, but spearmint, peppermint, there almost the same right?   Not really!

I grabbed my bottle and put a few drops on my temples and forehead.  I don’t know if it got rid of the headache, but I didn’t think about it for some time as those drops of oil turned from slightly tingly to OH MY WORD that is stinging!  It seems that peppermint has a high level of menthol in it which isn’t always pleasant on the skin unlike Spearmint which DOESN’T have a high level of menthol.

I shared all these stories to show why it’s important to read instructions, go to the classes, or just stop trying to be cool!

I’m opting for the third one.