I had always been pretty aware of the toxins around me especially when it came to chemical cleaning products and air fresheners. This was because when I was growing up my mother would plug in a new air freshener or my grandmother would use a ton of bleach or an ammonia-based cleaning product and I would get these terrible migraines that would sometimes last for hours and leave me sick to my stomach. However, it wasn’t until my husband and I started to get sick ourselves over a decade ago that those chemical sensitivities became tenfold. That is when I realized that it is not only what you eat that contributes to your health but also what you choose to expose yourself to in your surrounding environment. It wasn’t long before I started to question all these chemicals that I had been using up until that point to supposedly "clean" my home and that is when it dawned on me that there was a definite connection between my headaches and my cleaning days and how ridiculous it now was to think that I needed to use known poisonous chemicals to clean my house! Even some of my husbands skin conditions seemed to be linked to certain chemicals found in our laundry detergent which left me thinking if these chemicals were affecting us this way, then what other possible side effects could they have on our bodies from both short and long term exposure and what my research came back with was terrifying, to say the least. You can read all about it below:
Did you know...
"According to the EPA, indoor air quality can be two to five times worse than outdoor air quality, especially with regards to airborne chemicals? This should be a major concern to most of us because it is said that some of us spend up to 90% of our time indoors and that “more than half of the body’s intake during our lifetime is air inhaled in the home.” Sundell, 2004"
I began by removing the toxic cleaning products, laundry detergent, kitchenwares, and air fresheners from our house and slowly started to replace these things with natural or green products that I could either make on my own or sourced from smaller companies with a similar vision and concern for the environment and human health as myself. While we had done various things to clean up not only our in-door air quality but also the energetic environment of our whole home, the one thing that I was really missing from having eliminated all my air fresheners several years prior was the essence of scents. Scents for me, as well as many others, have always had the potential to help heal my body, calm my mind, invoke a happy memory while also bringing a soothing sense of cleanliness to my indoor environment. Since chemical air fresheners were now out of the question I decided to start dabbling with essential oils.
However, it wasn’t long before I realized like everything else, not all essential oils are made equal and that some could be just as toxic as the terrible chemical cleaners and air fresheners that I had left behind. So once again, I took to the internet and started to do as much research as possible on the subject and while I am still no professional in this area I did come up with several points in which I try to follow when choosing a clean therapeutic grade essential oil, all of which I discuss in this video here, Purchasing essential oils | What to look for.
So, now that I had what I believed to be a pretty good foundation for selecting the essential oils that I wanted to use in my home, all I needed now was a good quality diffuser and oh, let me tell you that was a task in itself. Why, you ask? Well because first of all, there are four different types of diffusers, including nebulizing, ultrasonic, heat, and evaporative diffusers (2) to choose from and secondly, there are hundreds of models under each of those categories that can be priced anywhere from $20 - $200 dollars.
So which essential oil diffuser should you choose?
Well, that is entirely up to you based on your specific needs. However, I already knew that I did not want an evaporative diffuser or one that used heat to diffuse my essential oils because of the possibility of changing the oils chemical constituents. Therefore at the time, I decided on a higher quality and perhaps the most popular of the diffusers which was an ultrasonic essential oil diffuser. Ultrasonic just means that the diffuser uses water, minimal amounts of oil and a plate that creates an ultrasonic vibration to disperse a cold, fine mist of water and essentials oils into the air. While this method of diffusion may be ok from some in a dryer climate, I live in Ontario, Canada where our humidity can get quite high. I tend to use a dehumidifier in the summer months so adding additional moisture to the air was a bit of a concern to me especially because I wanted to put a diffuser in my Energy Sauna room for my clients.
Wait, let me backtrack a bit. Why is a water-based essential oil diffuser for this particular space a problem? Well because an area of high humidity, warm temperatures, below ground level with virtually no natural light, could potentially lead to the growth of mold and mold on its own can be an extremely dangerous indoor air pollutant to human health. Luckily, in the winter months, our home is fairly dry from the furnace, we use several air purifiers throughout our space, a dehumidifier in the summer months and while our Energy Sauna give off a tremendous amount of infrared heat, it also produces frequencies, harmonics, and a full spectrum of light which in itself is used to control various different pathogens in the human body as well as the surrounding environment. So, while having my ultrasonic diffuser in that room is not a huge concern for mold growth, I am always looking for the best possible solutions to prevent any future complications that may arise later on down the line. That is why I was eventually drawn to the nebulizing diffuser being sold by Organic Aromas.
Organic Aromas essential oil diffusers caught my attention for several different reasons but first and foremost I loved the fact that it didn't use any water or contain any plastic! For years I have been trying to avoid using plastic in my home whenever possible but even the expensive ultrasonic diffuser that I paid extra for had plastic components inside. I originally thought that the water reservoir was made of the same ceramic that was present on the exterior of the diffuser only to get it home and realize that the interior was made of cheap plastic!
Is plastic still a problem if it does not contain BPA?
Plastics themselves are manufactured from synthetic materials derived from fossil fuels. This not only pollutes our planet even further because the process used to make them increase the demand for petroleum-based products, but it also perpetuates our dependence on these non-renewable resources. Products made from petroleum-based materials DO NOT degrade naturally and despite our efforts to recycle (3) these products, plastic production contributes to much larger problems on this planet then most of us are even aware of. Not to mention plastic also contains various other chemical pollutants other than BPA such as bisphenol S (BPS) which many manufacturers now use as a replacement for BPA.
Nearly 81 percent of Americans have detectable levels of BPS in their urine. And once it enters the body it can affect cells in ways that parallel BPA. A 2013 study by Cheryl Watson at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston found that even picomolar concentrations (less than one part per trillion) of BPS can disrupt a cell’s normal functioning, which could potentially lead to metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity, asthma, birth defects or even cancer.
Essential oils have also been known to deteriorate some plastic surfaces over time which is why most of them are sold in dark-colored glass bottles but yet, the diffusers that most of us use in our homes are made of plastic! Now does this make any sense whatsoever!? Well, it didn’t to me either which is why I have had my eye on an all-glass nebulizing diffuser by Organic Aromas.
I first discovered this company a little over a year ago around the same time I was completing my studio renovation and eventually knew that I wanted to switch over my ultrasonic diffuser to one of theirs. Therefore, you can only imagine how excited I was when I reached out to the company to ask if they would be willing to collaborate with me by sending me a free essentials oil diffuser to review on my YouTube channel. Not only were they kind enough to send me one of their beautiful diffusers but they went ahead and sent me their NEWEST MODEL the Raindrop 3.0 along with a full collection of their essential oils!
You can watch the full unboxing video down below but you can also enter to WIN your very own premium, nebulizing, essential oil diffuser for professional aromatherapy, with advanced cool-mist technology which uses no heat, no water, and NO PLASTIC. Simply follow the instructions down below.
Enter To WIN Your Very Own Raindrop 2.0!
(All GLOBAL ENTRIES are welcome! Use PROMO-CODE: HealingHandsDuo10 to enjoy $10 off a purchase of a nebulizing diffuser. Expires Monday Feb 17, 2020)
The WINNER will be announced on our Instagram account on March 1st, 2020, so be sure to follow all the directions listed down below.
How to Enter:
1. You must be subscribed to our YouTube channel, like and share this video or blog to at least one of your social media accounts using the YouTube or our Blog Share button.
2. Subscribe to our blog or mailing list HERE.
3. Follow us on IG: @thehealinghandsduo as well as Organic Aromas: @organicaromas
4. And leave a comment down below with your favorite essential oil and why?
Good Luck Everyone!
The products in this review were sent to me by the company in return for an honest review on our channel/blog. However, this video/blog was not sponsored but we did collaborate with the company to offer you this FREE giveaway.
References:
1. Haldane King, Is Air Pollution Worse Inside Yur Home vs. Outside?, 2018, Retrieved from: https://molekule.science/is-indoor-air-pollution-worse-than-outdoor/
2. doTerra.com, Which Essential Oils Diffuser Should I use, n.d., Retrieved from: https://www.doterra.com/US/en/blog/healthy-living-which-diffuser
3. The Story Of Stuff Project, Where Your Recycled Plastic Ends Up, 2019, Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urFZ5o0az_4
4. Jenna Bilbrey, BPA-Free Plastic Container May Be Just As Hazardous, 2014, Retrieved from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bpa-free-plastic-containers-may-be-just-as-hazardous/
This blog post was so thorough! thank you ! I love the tea tree oil blend, but more recently ive been mixing frankincense with lavender and I LOVE IT ! It’s very calming but i also feel that it relaxes me and comforts me tremendously ! Thank you for this giveaway!
On youtube my acct is xliftedx i used the button to share on twitter , and my twitter is aura_maybgr . I also followed on insta and that account is auramay_ and signed up for emails/blog with xbut...xlif... ❤️❤️ Thank you !
Thank you for sharing this great info about the nebulizer! I have a few but I am now super interested in switching to glass one. Make so much sense! My favourite oils are Doterra’s peppermint, ylang ylang, frankincense, and lemon. Those are my go to’s. But to be honest I love all my oils! I just started using Copaiba and I love that too! I use my oils for headaches, energy, diffusing, cleaning, ingesting to generating breast milk, wrinkles and facial care, when feeling ill. The possibility’s are endless and can’t live without them! Anyways, thx again And I hope I Win 🥰!