How to Get Rid of Mealybugs, Naturally

I've spent the summer battling a mealybug invasion, and it was definitely not fun. Apparently, a little hibiscus plant we brought home from the garden center had an infestation, and they just spread like wildfire.
Mealybugs are unarmored scale insects that feed on plant juices. They look like little white fuzzy creatures and can invade your greenhouse, house plants, and garden plants.
I quarantined the culprit, and moved it away from all the other plants, but by the time I realized what had been happening, it was too late. The mealybugs had spread to 4 other plants.
You'll generally find them all crowded around buds or new growth on your plants. they can be picked off by hand, but they feel kind of waxy, so you'd want to wear gloves.
We tried everything to get rid of them:
Ordered ladybugs not once, but twice. We bought an all natural pest spray from the garden center that was supposed to get rid of mealy bugs, but nothing seemed to work. They just kept multiplying.

After so many trials and errors, we FINALLY found something that has gotten rid of them.
Here's what we did:
Fill a spray bottle halfway with rubbing alcohol.
Add 15 drops peppermint essential oil
Add 10 drops citronella essential oil
Fill nearly to the top with water
Add one squirt of dish soap.
Put lid on and shake.
Spray those little buggers until they're saturated.
You may need to repeat in a few days to get the ones you missed and their babies, but this will actually get rid of them once and for all!

DIY Natural Flea Repellant

When we rescued our puppy, Albus (yes, like Dumbledore), he was completely covered in fleas. I could actually see them jumping around on the ride home - it was horrible.

We used the dish detergent method to rid him of them, and then also for a while afterward to keep them away, but the dish detergent was so harsh that it was stripping his skin of its natural oils. He would get greasy and s-t-i-n-k-y within a couple of days of having a bath.
We started to try other methods: the flea collar, the liquid that you squeeze down the spine, but wouldn't you know, the fleas came back.
So we took him to the vet, who told us that everything we were doing was basically useless in Florida, and he needed some chewable pills. Those definitely worked. No fleas at all the entire time he took them, but.....
Then we started our essential oil journey, and began learning about natural options.
We started to see how essential oils were actually working for US as an insect repellent, and wondered it they'd work for Albus too.

He'd been without his flea chewables for months without a flea in sight, but then, we spotted some. Crawling around on his hiney, so I did some research and mixed up a dropper of oils that repel fleas, and guess what? 2 days later, we gave him a thorough inspection, and there wasn't a flea to be found!!
Here's what we used:
5 drops Rosemary
5 drops Peppermint
5 drops Eucalyptus Radiata
Topped with sweet almond oil (you could sub FCO) in a 1 oz dropper bottle.
We just squeezed a dropper full down his spine the way you would with those flea tubes at the pet store.
Albus is around 60lbs so we used about a dropper and a half. Use less for smaller dogs.

DIY Natural Tooth Powder

We use Young Living’s aromabrite toothpase (definitely not the dentarome lol), and love it, but we ran out with a week to go until our monthly wellness box delivery. After few days of water brushing and mouthwash, we were all starting to really miss our minty mouths (ok, the kids couldn’t hav-= cared less, but Jon and I were missing it), so I made a little jar or toothpowder to tide us over.

Here’s what I used:
2 tbsps Baking Soda - for cleaning
1 tbsp Bentonite Clay - helps remove toxins
6 drops Peppermint Essential Oil - for fresh breath
3 drops Citrus Fresh (or orange) Essential Oil - for whitening
3 drops Clove Essential Oil - high antibacterial properties
Just combine the powders in a small glass jar, drop in the oils, pop the lid on and shake to mix the ingredients.
Voila!  Easy, affordable, natural way to keep your teeth clean!!
 Just wet your toothbrush, gently dip it in the powder and then brush away for pearly whites!

DIY Natural Garden Pest Spray

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” ~ Margaret Atwood
For many of us, Spring means gardening. Spending our days in the warmth of the sun, tilling our soil and nurturing our plant babies.
Unfortunately, it can also mean pests. There’s nothing worse than spending weeks (or months) of effort caring for our plants, only to have them ravaged by bugs.
Fortunately, there are ways to deter pests and protect your beloved plants - without using dangerous chemicals.

There are some budget friendly essential oils that are very effective at repelling bugs, slugs, and snails without being harmful to you or your plants.
Here are a few:
Peppermint: a natural insecticide, this oil will work on ants, beetles, flies, fleas, aphids, and squash bugs, as well as repel spiders.
Cedarwood: this oil is great for keeping slugs and snails away.
Orange: because of it’s high limonene content this oil is lethal to flies, fleas, and fire ants. It also repels silverfish, roaches, and mosquitos!
Simply add 5 drops of each oil into a 4 oz spray bottle, and fill with water. Spritz on plants as needed (shaking before each application).
No scary chemicals, just natural protection.
Do you use essentail oils in the garden? Tell us your favorite natural methods for keeping pests away from plants.

Essential Oils that Boost Your Immune System

Because essential oils are plants in their most potent form, they make wonderful tools for us to use in creating and maintaining wellness.
Some oils are well known for their powerful immune boosting properties, so let's go over a few that we recommend everyone have on hand.
Copaiba: This is one of the most powerful substances on the earth for reducing inflammation. The BCP in copaiba boosts immune and endocrine function. Mix a drop with honey or gargle a drop with warm water to sooth a sore throat.

Oregano: This is a total powerhouse for the immune system. Apply (always diluted) to the bottoms of the feet.
Frankincense: This is an amazing overall immune booster, as it not only decreases inflammation, but it also helps your body to produce more white blood cells.
Lemon: Rich in limonene - there are some amazing clinical studies about this - be sure to check them out. Lemon essential oil is wonderful for your lymphatic system, helping to flush out cellular waste.

And of course, one of Young Living's most well known blends - everyone's favorite - Thieves. Thieves essential oil is a blend of Clove, Lemon, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus, and Rosemary. Thieves oil has high anti-bacterial properties, fights harmful fungi, reduces inflammation, and helps to promote overall wellness. It also smells like the holiday season, with it warm, spicy scent, so that's also a huge bonus!
I make a roller that we use frequently to stay healthy using a few drops of Thieves mixed with a carrier oil.
If you happen to be feeling under the weather, try this Get Well Tea recipe (makes one pot of tea):

Essential oils are a powerful way to boost your immune system, but remember, the most important thing you can do to maintain a healthy immune system is to take care of your body. Get plenty of rest, drink lots of water, and eat nutritious foods.
If you'd like to learn more about essential oils and how they benefit your body, you're welcome to join our Facebook Group
and if you're ready to order some of these immune boosting essential oils, click here for the path to wellness.

Naturally Scented Bodywash

One of the items in the hub’s Essentail Rewards order this month was Young Living’s unscented Bath Gel. It is SO hard to find unscented, green (as opposed to green washed) products at the store, so we were pretty stoked Young Living offered this.
We’re also stoked that just about everything YL sells is concentrated, so we knew we would get 3 bottles of body wash out of this one bottle, so we decided to make a his and hers, and then still have one bottle left over for whoever runs out first.

Here’s how we did it:
Divide the unscented bath and shower gel into thirds (we used foaming pump bottles, because natural soaps don’t have the chemical in them that gives them all the lather of standard soaps)
Then we chose our scents. I chose Peace and Calming, Patchouli, and Orange. Patchouli and Orange are already in  the Peace and Calming blend, but I just wanted to enhance those notes.
Jon chose Cypress, Cedarwood, and Northern Lights Black Spruce. Woodsy and manly, without smelling too much like a forest.

I used 2 drops of Peace and Calming, 1 drop Patchouli, and 1 drop Orange in mine.
Jon used 2 drops Cypress, 2 drops Cedarwood, and 1 drop Northern Lights Black Spruce in his.
Then we just filled the rest of the bottle up with water, shook it around to mix, and voila!!  Naturally scented, toxin free bodywash - at 3 for 1 pricing!!

Have you made your own naturally scented bodywash? What oils did you use?

DIY Toxin-Free Perfume

Did you know that almost all modern perfumes use artificial fragrances? Not only that, but when "fragrance" is listed as the ingredient in a product, what it really means is "any combination of thousands of toxic chemicals?" People are even calling fragrance "the new second-hand smoke."There is a sign at my doctor's office asking patients to refrain from wearing perfumes or colognes to the office, as they can have harmful impact on others.
A 2001 study by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that synthetic fragrances were often shown to contain hormone disruptors linked to abnormal cell reproduction.
From NonToxicRevolution: EWG found that about 75 percent of products that list fragrance contain the hormone disrupting chemical, phthalates. Phthalates, used to make fragrances last longer, have been linked to many hazardous health conditions, such as reduced sperm count, liver and breast cancers, reproductive malformation and diabetes. This carcinogen has been banned in many countries (EU, Japan, South Korea, Canada, even China), but our government sets such an intense level of proven harm for these chemicals that some say it’s almost impossible to reach. 

The good news is, you don't have to wear chemical-laden perfumes. You can make your own and it's super easy - and much more affordable.
To show you how easy it can be, I thought I'd show you how I made my current perfume.  I like warm/woodsy scents, so if that's not your jam, I'll list some other oil combos you can sub out for the ones I used below.

Here's what you need:
A glass spray bottle
Witch Hazel
A pinch of salt
Water
Your favorite essential oils (I use Young Living because I trust their quality)

For this blend I used:
4 drops Patchouli
5 drops Cedarwood
1 drop Vetiver
3 drops Valor
3 drops Bergamot
 
Just drop your oils in, fill the bottle half way up with witch hazel, add in a dash of salt, then fill the rest with water, put the lid on, and shake it up.
That's it!! Told ya it was super easy.

Here are a few other combos to try if you're not a partial hippie like me and not into the earthy smells:
Daydream:
4 drops Lemon
6 drops Lavender
8 drops Valor

Take on the World
4 drops Joy
3 drops Orange
6 drops Valor

For the Fellas:
3 drops Pine
5 drops Northern Lights Black Spruce
6 drops Cedarwood

Give it a try - your body systems will than you!
If you try it, let me know what combo you used and how you like it. <3
Also, you should join our facebook group Well and Wild where you can connect with other natural living friends. We'd love to have you there! <3