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
- Roller bottles (tinted glass): like this amber 24-pack on Amazon, although any color will do
- 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.
- Reference Books: e.g., Essential Oils Pocket Reference 7th Edition (optional)
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.