Essential Oils on a Budget // The Shocking Discovery

One of the biggest barriers I hear to people starting out on oils is the cost. I get it. I was just the same. As a one income family, I loved the idea of essential oils as part of our everyday life (mainly for health support), but the price point just seemed out of our reach... these tiny little bottles just seemed so much more expensive than their synthetic counterparts.

The thing was, the more research I did, the more convinced I became that I wanted the synthetic stuff out of my home. There are a lot of toxic products that my kids come into contact with every day that I have no control over. But I could influence what I exposed them to at home. A quick google into the ingredients of my shampoo, my cleaning spray, my make-up and just about every other product I was using showed I was daily dealing my family a toxic diet of endocrine disruptors, potential carcinogens, allergens and developmental toxins. It was a shocking discovery. I had always assumed that if these things were being sold, they must be safe. But the truth is that there is still much research to be done, companies can hide their ingredients inside the word "fragrance" or "perfumes", and though individual products may only harbour a small amount of these ingredients, combined together, we are throwing chemicals, perservatives and pesticides across our bodies with reckless abandon every day.


I thought at first it was the pessimistic few with just another conspiracy theory, but it soon became evident that there was no-one arguing the other way. These ingredients are recognised dangers (BPA, parabens, heavy metals, formaldehyde, Triclosan, Phthalates, Sodium Lauryl Suplhate) and are scattered across our cleaning and beauty products. Grab a product within reach and take a look!

And so the search for natural, safe alternatives became more important, and I began to seek a way to make it affordable for us. 

So I thought I'd share my findings here... mainly because I want everyone to know that there are other options available, that we don't need to feel forced to buy the cheap stuff and wonder what its doing to our families. So over the next few Wednesdays, I'm going to be sharing a little bit of my journey, and a few top tips for how to make it do-able!

If you'd like to find out more about Essential Oils, click here and have a read!

Some brands that I use with safe products...
- Young Living (I don't buy my essential oils from anyone else! There are DIY options that make oils cheaper than buying ready made products below)
- Faith in Nature (bath and body products)
- Neals Yard Remedies (deodorant)
- Tropic Skins Care (make up and sun cream)
- Child's Farm (Children's bath and body)
- Dr Bronner's Castille Soap (cleaning products, DIY hand soaps - its a huge bottle!)