Enrollment website

Top 5 Frequently Asked Questions:
  • What is the Best Deal? Definitely, the Premium Starter Kit (PSK). This kit is jam-packed with samples is by far the best Bang for Your Buck. This kit includes 12 full-size bottles of essential oils and a free diffuser!
  • What is the most economical way to Become A Member? The Basic Starter Kit includes one bottle essential oil (Stress Away) and several samples including the famous NingXia Red antioxidant drink.
  • Can I just look at products without becoming a member? Of course! Click my enroller link above, then click the Young Living logo at the top of the screen. Hover your mouse over "Products" and select the sub-category you're most interested in. Just make sure to come back to this page and click the link above to enroll, or make sure my ID is filled in under Sponsor, Enroller Information.
  • What is your Sponsor/Enroller ID? 15620445
  • A note when looking at product prices: you'll find two prices listed (Retail and Wholesale). In order to get the Wholesale price, you MUST become a Young Living member! Example, Valor Essential Oil: Retail cost of a 5-ml bottle is $54.28. Retail price is $41.25. This oil is included in your PSK. Likewise Lavender: Retail cost is $16.50 and Wholesale is $16.45.
There are many more kits available to choose from, but here is a breakdown of what the two kits mentioned above include:

Premium Starter Kit, cost: $165
Desert Mist Diffuser
2 AromaGlide Roller Fitments
10 Thieves Waterless Hand Purifier Sachets - 0.1 oz. ea.
Thieves Spray
2 NingXia Red 2-oz. samples
Product Guide and Product Price List
Essential Oils Magazine
Essential Edge News
Member Resources, and 
12 full-size bottles of essential oils to get you started:
  1. Lavender 5-ml
  2. Peppermint Vitality 5-ml
  3. Lemon Vitality 5-ml
  4. Citrus Fresh Vitality 5-ml
  5. Frankincense 5-ml
  6. Thieves Vitality 5-ml
  7. Raven 5-ml
  8. DiGize Vitality 5-ml
  9. PanAway 5-ml
  10. Stress Away 5-ml
  11. Valor 5-ml
  12. Peace and Calming 5-ml
Basic Starter Kit, cost $25
Stress Away 5-ml
AromaGlide Roller Fitment
10 Thieves Waterless Hand Purifier Sachets - 0.1 oz. ea.
Thieves Mints
2 NingXia Red 2-oz. samples
Essential Oils at a Glance
Discover Your Young Living Lifestyle booklet

*All prices listed are subject to change without warning or notice. This blog is set up as a courtesy for more information. 

Welcome to Young Living

Welcome!

Click this link to purchase or peruse: Kate's Young Living. This is where you can become a member (please read my post about what becoming a member means!), buy a starter kit, make a purchase as a retail customer, or to simply explore Young Living products. They have so much more than essential oils! Everything you need to keep your home natural and chemical-free, from personal care and oils, to cleaning supplies, to supplements. And more! Young Living is a complete wellness company.

Too soon for that? Start with my blog post "Where do I start?" or ask me for an invite to my next FREE class Essential Oils 101. The class is 30 minutes on Facebook Live, so feel free to watch in your jammies! If you already attended an Essential Oils 101 Facebook Live class and you're looking for the After Class Resources, please click here.

What's the deal with essential oils?
Oils are distilled from shrubs, flowers, trees, roots, bushes, fruit, rinds, resins, and herbs. They are the most powerful and potent part of the plant.*

What makes Young Living so great?
Seed to Seal. Seed to Seal sets Young Living apart from the other companies. In addition, their farms, their promise of quality, purity, and authentic grade oil, all make Young Living stand out from the competitors. Authentic oil means that the oil is 100% pure, with no added synthetics. None. The oil that you get in the bottle has not been diluted or manipulated; it is the pure plant. And you get what you pay for! It takes 60,000 rose blossoms to provide only one ounce of Rose Oil. Jasmine flowers must be picked by hand on the very first day they open, before the sun becomes hot.*

From Young Living's website: "Part of our stewardship is to do business responsibly—from sustainably sourcing plants, to uplifting local communities, and to complying with environmental and other laws. (...) Young Living offers pure product that you can feel confident is contributing to the greater good."

You can learn more about Seed to Seal and the Young Living promise at www.seedtoseal.com.


*Citation: Gameplan, by Sarah Harnisch

**Note: All prices contained within this blog are subject to change without warning or notice. This blog is a courtesy set up for information. Please refer back to Young Living for most current pricing.

Keep in the Sunlight

"Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight."
~Benjamin Franklin



This is my favorite quote. Something about that last line, keep in the sunlight, resonates in my soul. Sunlight is life, warmth, joy, peace. It's God, and faith, and His loving face shining down on me, on my family, and watching over us. It's my brother, my guardian angel, that bright beam of light, those golden rays which I always imagine are him peeking through the clouds, watching my kids growing up. Keep in the sunlight is such a positive message, and as a person living with a pretty severe case of anxiety, I need all the positivity I can get. 

My husband and I sing John Denver's Annie's Song ("You fill up my senses...") as one of the bedtime songs for our kids every single night. My son is five years old, my daughter is almost three, and you can probably count on one hand how many times in their lifetimes that we've missed singing that song before putting them to bed. And before that? I don't especially recall singing it growing up, but any time I heard it playing on the radio or what-have-you, it's always been a favorite and I would stop and sing along.

Well, it came as quite a shock to me, oh . . . maybe a year ago? It came as a shock when I found out that I have been singing the lyrics wrong my whole life. The lyric is: You fill up my senses like a night in the forest. Not, evidently, like a light in the forest?!

Mind. Blown.

Boom.

We had been singing it wrong for so long that there was no way we were going to change now; to me it will always be a light in the forest. When I sing that lyric, and I mean every time I sing that line, I imagine the fear that someone who is lost in a dark forest, maybe camping, maybe hiking, would feel, and also that person's joyous and tearful relief when they finally spy a campfire, or lantern, or flashlight, which will guide them back. I imagine that the light is God, and I believe with my whole heart that if John Denver were still alive and I could ask him, he would not be mad at me for changing his very important song. I believe, and I hope. 

Why is this important? I felt like I needed to confess my little lyrical faux pas first. I'm a writer, and a stickler for accuracy, and a rule-follower, and when I say Simply Sunlight comes in part from my love of Annie's Song, then I sound like an idiot since the song as written doesn't technically have anything to do with light. But when you know how we sing it in my house, when you know that it was a minor mistake that turned into a thoughtful edit, with no disrespect intended for John Denver, it starts making a little more sense.

And now, with all that said, I'd like to call your attention to the title of my blog: Simply Sunlight. The meaning it is first and foremost a reminder of the Benjamin Franklin quote, but also as a tribute to my Annie's Song rework. Keep in the sunlight, but also keep looking for the sunlight, the light. If you get lost, if you can't see the light, it--He--is still there. When you can't see see the sun, if it's behind a cloud or if you're in a dark forest, that doesn't mean it's gone.

You Simply have to trust in your faith that He will find you.

Just got my kit, now what?

Congratulations!! I am so excited that you are on this Young Living journey! Whether you just ordered your kit, or maybe you just received it in the mail, this post has a lot of beginner information for you.

Unboxing the Premium Starter Kit
When you actually receive your kit: watch this 4 minute video from 7 Oily Days. They actually go through opening the box, what is inside, and how to use the samples. They have a lot of videos that you may find useful, so feel free to explore their videos.

What else do I need? The short version
  1. Roller bottles (tinted glass): like this amber 24-pack on Amazon, although any color will do
  2. Carrier Oil: for example, Fractionated Coconut Oil. There are literally hundreds to choose from. Young Living's V-6 is a blend of several oils and another great choice. Look for cold-pressed and unrefined.
  3. Reference Books: e.g., Essential Oils Pocket Reference 7th Edition (optional)
What else do I need? A little more detail
You don't need much else besides your kit.

1) Essential oils should not be stored in plastic, but rather tinted glass. So if you're doing any kind of mixing at all, either making your own blends of essential oils, or diluting the Thieves Household Cleaner as directed with plain water, you're going to need tinted glass bottles. I suggest one or two larger spray bottles (16-oz), and some 10-ml roller bottles.

There are many, many options on Amazon, and none of them are that expensive. I like the amber tint, for no reason. There is also blue, green, rainbow . . . it doesn't matter, you just want to protect the contents from light exposure.

2) You're also going to need to pick up a carrier oil. I wrote another post about it with a lot of detail, so you'll want to check that out, but in a nutshell: there are hundreds of carrier oils out there. You want one that is cold-pressed and unrefined. Young Living's V-6 is a blend of 6 different oils, so it's a great multi-purpose carrier oil. Fractionated Coconut Oil has a nice long shelf life and is also a great multi-purpose carrier. The Thieves Starter Kit does come with a bottle of Thieves essential oil, which can be applied topically, so even if you don't have the Premium Starter Kit, you'll want a carrier oil and roller bottles so you can use your kit to its full potential. The 24-pack of roller bottles I linked above also comes with a tiny funnel and labels for the bottles.

Speaking of labels
I am a little bit Extra when it comes to Microsoft Office. That is to say, I actually like Excel and Word, and I like doing mail merges and printing labels and all the hoopla. I keep track of my blends in Excel. I created my own labels and I merged it with my Excel file so I can print them out. I like these Avery 22804 Oval Labels because they're shiny (although not waterproof unfortunately). If that is too fancy for your taste, NO BIGGIE! Those labels would still work great if you hand-write on them with a Sharpie. Or, use the ones that come in the box with the 24-pack of roller bottles. Or use a Post-It note and tape! You do want to keep track of your recipes somehow, some way. Excel, a notebook, 3x5 cards, or the back of a cereal box. It doesn't matter, just somewhere that you can find it again when you use up your blend and you want to make it the same way that you did the last time!

If you like doing mail merges and would like my file, I am happy to share it. Just let me know and I will email it to you.

3) Reference Books
There are zillions. A lot of them are great, and informative, and expensive. Just count all of the reference material out there as optional; all the information you need is in the Product Information Pages which are available from Young Living for free. Whether you choose to print them or just save them to your computer is up to you, but please do at least look at the Cautions for all of the oils that you have in your home. For example, Raven (my favorite!) is in the Premium Starter Kit and it contains Eucalyptus, which is not recommended for children under six.

Personally, I like having the hard copy book with all the oils in it. If you feel the same way, I suggest the most recent edition of Life Science Publishing's (LSP) desk or pocket reference guide. You can buy LSP directly from their website, but make sure you check Amazon first to save on shipping costs. This book contains all the medical uses, ingredients, properties, and cautions, for all Young Living single and blended oils. LSP is an official licensed publisher of Young Living. Side note, LSP has a bundle available that you may want to check out: LSP Quick Start Bundle. It's the reference guide, but also glass spray bottles and an essential oils recipe book!

There is a book by Sarah Harnisch called Fearless, and if you're feeling intimidated by your own kit, or if you're psyching yourself out about using or even opening your new oils, then you definitely need to read this book! It is available for $2.99 on Kindle, and is a very quick read. I have links to other books by Sarah Harnisch on my Resources tab, which you will definitely want to read if you are considering the business opportunity of Young Living.

4) Your diffuser
Here is some information about how to take care of your diffuser! Click here.

Sounding too complicated?



Carrier oils? Dilution charts? Reference books? Are you feeling like this is more trouble than it's worth? If you're interested in making a change to live a more natural lifestyle, then Young Living is for you. Being a Young Living member does not mean you have to sell anything. Confused about that part? After you finish this, you'll want to read my post about what becoming a member means.

Please read this!! I promise you won't regret it. And I also promise this isn't too complicated. All you need to do is choose a kit, set up your plan, and buy a few optional supplies.

Step 1 - Choose a starter kit ($45-$260)
You have four styles to choose from.

1) Premium Starter Kit or PSK, $165-$265
The Premium Starter Kit comes with 12 bottles of essential oil, a diffuser (the price varies depending on the model you choose), samples of Thieves Household Cleaner and NingXia Red, and various tools such as a Product Guide and bottles to share oils. Included oils: Lavender, Peppermint Vitality, Lemon Vitality, Valor, Peace & Calming, Frankincense, Thieves Vitality, Citrus Fresh, Raven, DiGize Vitality, PanAway, Stress Away.

Check out the Diffuser Comparison Chart, or take a quiz here to find your perfect match.

The PSK is by far the best deal if you're looking to add essential oils into your life. If you were to add all the items up individually, this package would cost twice as much! It is FIFTY PERCENT off when you buy it as a kit. But, if you're not going to use the oils, then of course you should choose a different one. I have been eyeing the Thieves kit myself!

2) Basic Starter Kit, $45
The Basic Starter Kit comes with one essential oil (Stress Away), plus two samples NingXia Red, Thieves Mints and Thieves hand sanitizer, and various tools such as a Product Guide and bottles to share oils.

3) Premium Starter Kit with NingXia, $170
This is the Basic Starter Kit, plus a 2-pack of NingXia Red (that's a month's supply), NingXia Red samples, and NingXia Nitro 14-pack.

4) Premium Starter Kit with Thieves, $160
This is the Basic Starter Kit, plus a 15-ml bottle of Thieves essential oil, Thieves toothpaste, Thieves mouthwash, Thieves Household Cleaner, Thieves foaming hand soap, Thieves spray and Thieves waterless hand purifier.

Step 2 - Set up your plan
This will be a separate post, but in a nutshell: you'll need to decide if you're going to enroll in Essential Rewards, and if you do, if you want to enroll in YL Go.

Step 3 - Buy supplies

After you choose a kit, what else do you need? Technically, you don't need anything, but some 10-ml roller bottles are nice to have on hand. If you get the roller bottles with the intent of mixing your own combinations, you'll need a carrier oil. You can buy V-6 from Young Living, or a bottle of Grapeseed oil from the cooking aisle. The choice is yours! I started out with coconut oil that I bought on Amazon, and I have nothing negative to say. However, after a few months I purchased the V-6 and I can tell you I much prefer it to the coconut oil. A little goes a long way too, so a bottle of it will last you a long time.

THAT'S IT!

Truly, that's all you need. I also purchased a reference book because I wanted one; I have found the Pocket Reference Guide incredibly useful. I would suggest getting it, but it's definitely not required. All of the information you need to use the oils safely can be found for free on the Young Living website in the product information pages.

Help! Product Overload!

We already went over how to choose your starter kit and how to decide if you want to enroll in Essential Rewards. But let me guess? Now you're sitting at your computer and are stuck on which products to actually add to your Essential Rewards order? How do I actually get the free products everyone is talking about?

Let's go through this step by step!

I will show you my method for figuring out my orders. For the sake of needing an example, we're going to start with your initial order which includes your Premium Starter Kit, but it's the thought process and methodology that's important here. This is what I used:
  1. Reference Guide (desk or pocket version) (not required, but extremely helpful as you will see)
  2. Young Living's website
  3. A piece of scratch paper
If you're anything like me, you've started researching how to make your own blends. That's actually probably what brought you to this post; there are just so many fantastic products. And you want to create your own blends, but just not sure how to do that or where to begin? Try opening up Pinterest and typing in: "Young Living recipes" or "Essential Oil Roller Bottles." You'll open up a whole world of essential oil combinations that you can create yourself with only a few simple supplies.

Unfortunately, it can also be pretty overwhelming. I took one look and I wanted them all! Lavender, Rosemary and Cedarwood for luxurious hair. Lavender and Cedarwood to relax children before bedtime. Carrot Seed for sunscreen. Oregano, Purification and Thieves for immune support. Ylang Ylang, Clary Sage, Orange for feelings of sensuality.

I had to stop myself. I had to limit myself. I decided to go through it systematically. Remember, you don't have to get everything all at once! No one can afford to do that!

Ask yourself: what is your biggest body system issue that you need essential oils to help with? For me, this was a simple question to answer, but for you it may not be so cut and dry. I have terrible stomach issues, so for this example we're going to use pages 241-243 of the Pocket Reference. Digestive Problems. Specifically on these pages, Heartburn, Indigestion, and Stomachache (not pictured, Gas on the previous page. Seemed overkill to put it all in here. You get the point).



In my pocket guide, I highlighted the oils that were already coming to me in the Premium Starter Kit. Here they are:

Gas: Peppermint Vitality, DiGize, Thieves
Heartburn: Lemon Vitality, DiGize Vitality, Citrus Fresh
Indigestion: Peppermint Vitality, Copaiba Vitality, DiGize Vitality
Stomachache: Peppermint Vitality, Lavender, Frankincense, DiGize

Then I just looked at what was left and tried to pick one oil from each area.

Gas: Carrot Seed $22.25
Heartburn: Ginger Vitality $13.50
Indigestion: Grapefruit Vitality $7.75
Stomachache: Cedarwood $11.50
Total: $55

Done! Your first Essential Rewards order (A.K.A. "ER" order). Please note, the oils I chose for this example include Carrot Seed which can be used for sunscreen, and Cedarwood which can be used for relaxation before bed and luxurious hair. So what is the method I used? Playing around on Pinterest! Not exactly patent-worthy.

I suggest, if you haven't already, to start poking around on Pinterest. And don't stress yourself out too much! Remember that by enrolling in Essential Rewards, you're going to get 10% back on the Product Value, or PV, of your orders. In many cases the PV and the Wholesale Cost is the same, with the exception of the Starter Kits. The Premium Starter Kit is $160 and you will earn $100PV. Add in the $55PV from your ER order means that you'll earn 10% back against $155, or $15.50 to use on your next quick order.

Obviously these prices are subject to change, but here's a quick snapshot of the oils available for less than $15.50. You could choose one, sometimes two, for free and add it to your next Quick Order! Oregano, Sage and Ginger are all available for less than $15.50, and those oils are perfect for helping stomach issues.






How to dilute your oils

"How many drops of oil should I use?" Unfortunately, that's not an easy question to answer. I found this blog provided a very helpful explanation about dilution rates: Mountain Rose Herbs

I used the information in Mountain Rose Herbs and made my own dilution chart in Excel. It is below; feel free to use it if you're into Excel formulas like I am. If you prefer something more simple that you don't have to update, I found the dilution chart on this blog very easy to use: Mommypotamus

I have not found a definitive source or guideline as far as dilution rates for children. Try Googling "essential oil dilution chart" and you'll see what I mean. Some sources seem overly conservative, recommending not more than a 3% dilution for children 6 years and under, which in a 10-ml roller bottle means 6 drops of oil or less. Other sources practically advocate taking a bath in undiluted essential oil (yes, that's an exaggeration, but you get my point).

My personal opinion based on observation is that the inconsistency is due to the quality of the products themselves. Obviously, if one is using a lesser-quality product full of synthetics or manipulated oils, this would not be a good idea to apply in any quantity on a child or an infirm person. That is not a concern when you're talking about pure, authentic Young Living oils. Please use your best judgement, watch for irritation, and stop immediately if your child appears to have a reaction. I do know people who have applied Young Living oils to their infants with no ill-effects, however I am a more cautious person and I personally wouldn't apply any essential oil neat (or undiluted) to a child less than 3 years old.

Here is what I use when calculating out dilution.