1920's fashion is one of my favourite things, so when it came time to host a celebration, I knew exactly what I wanted... Gatsby inspired Hollywood Glamour of the 1920's please! I'm sure alot of you can tell, due to my crazy "pinning on a theme" that once I have an idea in my head, I can get a little obsessive over it... 

I started by sending out these cute "save the date" invites via text message, as this event is coming around rather quickly, so decisions have to be made pretty much on the fly. When I asked my cousin how long she took to plan her vow renewal and birthday, she said two years. Oops. Here I am, trying to plan something wonderful two months out... (We're all mad here!)

I discovered a great online shop (in Australia-yay) that just sells Flapper Dresses..  Enter the Flapper Boutique! *** stars in eyes*** They stock a beautiful range of gatsby styled dresses.

I will be pairing my flapper dress with gloves, beautiful jewellery and a hairpiece. Many costume shops sell the specific replica version of the Gatsby headpiece and gloves that Daisy Buchanan wore from the movie. I could try and find some lovely Mary Janes style shoes too... JJ's House stocks some cute varieties, and reasonably priced too. Although it probably wont be cold enough, I'd love a faux fur stole to throw over my shoulders! 
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I decided on an easy colour theme of black, gold, white and just a touch of red. Gatsby to me is simply sparkles, glitz and glam. Ensure you include Hollywood glamour and Art Deco elements.

​We discussed venues, and are still deciding between a beautiful vintage hall, in the Byron Bay hinterland, or an elegant poolside party closer to the Coast. This ties into the decision of figuring out whether to have a grand but relaxed shindig with all the kids included, or a standup cocktail affair for adults. Decisions, decisions! Haven't even begun to think about food! More on that in another post I suppose.

If you want to see Gatsby inspired party ideas, that many creatives have come up with, including Gatsby costumes, 1920's accessories, 1920's makeup, head over to my Party Planners Paradise page on Pinterest- which feeds my obsession! You'll also find ideas for decorating a Gatsby party, costumes for the "support" staff (or friends) including "cigarette" girls who hand out chocolate cigars, or fun vintage lollies like "Fads", invitation ideas including fonts, favour ideas, food and drink ideas including a champagne tower. I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off, thinking 1920's music as I fall exhausted to bed at night! 
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Got any great Gatsby inspired party ideas you'd like to share? What would you wear to a Gatsby party?
We'd love to hear from you!

Feel free to browse our range of all natural lippies, for your favourite "Gatsby" Lipstick colour for a classic vintage 1920's look, and pair with black mineral mascara, full of essential oil ingredients for lush lashes.
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#2 Thieves Cleaning Range
Need help getting "guest ready"? Motivate yourself to clean, with the fragrance coming from our every day cleaners as part of our Thieves cleaning range. The Thieves Household Cleaner is very popular, with its multipurpose, highly concentrated, plant based formula. Use for all your cleaning requirements- simply dilute before using for most cleaning tasks, unless heavy duty cleaning is needed... (Im looking at you, coffee stain.) Suitable for pet areas, floors, surface cleaning, carpets, you name it. This is the "do-it-all" product. Try our Thieves Laundry Soap, or Thieves Dish Soap to keep your place sparkling clean and fresh during the holiday season.

#3. Soap
There's soap, and there's SOAP. Enjoy freshening every bathroom and kitchen sink at your place with our essential oil infused foaming hand soaps. In pure Lavender or Thieves, these foaming hand washes will help keep everyone germ-free whilst the house is busy, with all natural ingredients in incredible fragrances you and your family will love. Available in a bulk buy set of three, whether you use one for each space, or pack away to cover the rest of the holidays, these essential oil hand soaps are not your typical foaming hand soap.

Speaking of soap, it's always nice to have fresh soap for those guests when they land at your place. Thrill them (or yourselves!) with these essential oil fragrances that will infuse your skin with scent. We stock luxury soap bars for every body. Shutran is a masculine scent for men, or try Valor with its aroma that inspires confidence and courage. Our Charcoal Soap is good for teens, try it out on acne prone skin, whilst Thieves will leave you feeling pumped and ready for anything. Our Lavender and Oatmeal bar is just the ticket after a long day out with the family, when relaxing and calming is called for. Take a long bath and enjoy.

#4 Citrusy and Fresh 
Freshen up walls, clean floors, bathrooms, and kitchens with our citrus essential oils range. Try Tangerine (Mandarin) or Bergamot, Lime, Lemon, Orange, Grapefruit.. whatever your favourite citrus fruit! Dilute a few drops into a spray bottle, or mop bucket, or wall wash. Make your own surface spray with any of these oils and your home will smell AMAZING and fresh. Grab a cheap reed diffuser, switch out the chemical fragrance, and add in your citrus essential oil. The difference will blow you away- there is nothing like a pure, natural fragrance! These oils are so pure, you can even use them in your cooking- which can't be said for many oils on the market today. (Seriously. Do not ingest oils without proper research.) Not sure which of these to choose? We have a citrus fresh blend that is perfect for you- a blend of citrus and mint, ready to go, or our Stress Away blend which is based on Lime is another favourite among citrus lovers...

#5 Spiritual Fragrances
Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh are said to be the gifts given to baby Jesus by the wise men. We can't give you gold bars, but we can give you the experience of pure Frankincense and Myrrh. Made from tree resin, these little bottles pack a powerful scent that just can't be described. Widely used since Biblical times, Frankincense and Myrrh help you find grounding, and promote a beautiful complexion for dry skin. They are part of an incredible collection of oils of Ancient Scripture, along with Hyssop, Rose of Sharon, Aloes, and Cassia. Experience the fragrances highly regarded in the Eastern world. 

#6 Blessed Blends
​Blends are the easiest way to start with essential oils if you've never tried them before. Blends are simply a mix of premium oils that have been chosen to go together to enhance their unique properties, so they are ready to go for massages, diffusing, bath or bedtime.  Blends are for beginners, to help you to experience a mix of oil fragrances, much like a perfume. Speaking of perfume, these oils can also be worn as a natural perfume or hair oil fragrance. You'll soon discover your favourite. We have a few blends that are great go-to recipes for the holidays. Your family and friends will be asking "what is that delicious smell?" - without any effort on your part to slave away in the kitchen. Like this Wise Men blend, blended with Frankincense, Myrrh, and Sandalwood to promote feelings of connection.

We hope you find time to chill out with friends, staying calm and relaxed during the frenzied end to the year. Thanks for reading, we'd love it if you followed us on Pinterest, IG or Facebook. What are you doing to stay chilled out during the end of year madness?

This PDF is FREE to download at the bottom of the page. It is printable on an A4 page, and you'll need a decent ink cartridge, but they are ready to go for all your end of year gift giving. Pair with some beautiful brown paper & string, or bright cellophane. Good for neighbours, teachers, family members and friends. Feel free to share this PDF around, just please give us a shout out or share on social media. We love making new friends!

Here at The Oil House, we've been working like ducks... It looks like nothing is going on, on the surface, but underneath? We are paddling like crazy. Behind the scenes we have launched on Facebook and more recently on Instagram, so follow along on your favourite social media. We are also working towards a new Pinterest shop... among other new developments. Watch this space! 

Mothers deserve to be rewarded. Let's face it though, sometimes this means rewarding ourselves. Don't get me wrong, I love getting macaroni necklaces, handmade cards, quirky mugs, fantastical strangely coloured makeup and nail polish, and candles I will probably never use, but I love to be spoilt. My kids, and husband are usually at a loss as to what to get me! (I don't think I'm that difficult to buy for!) I guess its time to write a Mothers Day shopping list. 

​One massage voucher please, a spa day? Just a Mani-Pedi? Sometimes, life happens and this just may be a little much to ask for. So, after Mothers Day is over, take some time out for yourself, and enjoy our favourite things for mum. {Well, besides our beautiful children, husband, and their random acts of kindness.}

Let's face it, life is sometimes too busy for a luxurious soak. That's why we also have Beautiful Shower Steamers. These little pods of goodness release pure essential oils into your shower stall as you shower. Simply place one in the base of the shower or soap dish, and let the steam do its work...

Pure Perfume Oils that Roll On. What could be easier than popping one of these little roller bottles into your purse for on the go natural perfume? We have essential oil roll ons for relaxation for applying just before bed or your day off, one for inspiring your confident side, and one for refreshing your morning after the gym, all with pure ingredients and scents that you'll love.

​Massage Oil for Me. Finding your in house masseuse will be the hard part, but this pure massage oil collection has something for every mum. For the sporty mum, Ortho Sport or Ortho Ease Massage Oil blends for after your exercise for those tired muscles. Relaxation and Sensation are favourites for those who just need to unwind. Dragon Time and Cel-Lite are Massage Oils that we all could use at one time or another. Dragon Time is helpful for abdomen and lower back massage every month that Aunt Flo comes to visit. Cel-Lite for those areas that need a little toning & tightening assistance! V6 Oil is for you if you want to DIY your own custom massage oil... just add essential oils of your choice. 

Essential Oil Boxed Set. Get started with essential oils with one of our boxed set collections. Essential oils are favourites of the DIY, homemade, make-it-youself crowd, and for those interested in aromatherapy. We have a Feelings Boxed Set, Essential Oils for Every Day Set, and Seven Essential Oils for Beginners.

Our Mirah Collection is has a few goodies for mum. An amazing Argan hair oil for heat protection from styling, a facial cleansing oil for those into one of the latest crazes in the natural scene of cleansing your face with oil. The pure essential oils in these natural products make them hard to resist! Last but not least we have a luxurious shave oil for natural shaving.

If youre a mum like me, you love the gifts that keep on giving. An oil diffuser is just that. It mists natural scents around your home for a unique experience every time, and even every day if you like! I’m misting spearmint at the moment, and its so minty fresh and divine! Naturally fresh air with the aroma of your choice from our extensive oil collection.

New makeup is always a welcome gift. Choose from the best vegan mineral makeup collection. Citrus oil infused lipstick, vegan eyeshadow, or a natural ingredient primer to base your natural look on.

If youre a natural mumma, maybe you’d like to start an essential oils journey this Mothers Day with the purchase of a starter collection. These collections are a variety of our favourite essential oils and oil products, including a diffuser. This entitles you to our ongoing wholesale membership discount of 24%. It also gives you access to our auto-ship option, if you'd like, so once a month you’ll have a lovely gift for yourself and your family on your doorstep. Change it up every month for your new favourite natural products. Give yourself or your mum a lovely gift this Mothers Day and every day with all natural goodness. Got any great plans for Mothers Day? Traditions you like to keep? What's your favourite Mothers Day gift?

Thieves was so named after the legend of fifteenth century thieves who used a mixture of herbs and spices whilst they robbed the dead and dying. It was known that these four French thieves used a mixture of Clove, Rosemary and other aromatic botanicals.
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Which brings us to our modern day era... ​This legend inspired this modern day mix of herbs and spices, and distilled and blended together, Thieves Essential Oil was born. The founders of Young Living created a unique blend of cloves, rosemary, lemon, and cinnamon essential oils into their popular "Thieves Oil Blend."

This Thieves Oil has become so popular, that they have created a natural cleaning collection based entirely on this oil blend. In my opinion it's popularity belongs to a few things. First, it smells divine. {No, really. It does}  Second, cloves, rosemary, lemon and cinnamon pack a punch... whether it be for their aromatic benefits or their cleaning power, you're on a winner with this one.
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​You can find DIY recipes all over the internet (hello pinterest!) for incorporating this blend. So, if youre a DIYer, it is the perfect essential oil to start your oils collection. Add to your own natural recipes for green cleaning, homemade soap, surface spray, laundry powder, hand soap, floor cleaner, bathroom cleaners... you get the idea, the only limit is your imagination! If you've never smelt it, you really should try it. It smells like holiday baking and delicious spices, and is a favourite for those who use a diffuser for that "freshly baked" aroma without the hard work of baking!

You can even find versions of DIY Thieves Oil "recipe hacks" to make your own Thieves Oil but once you buy all the individual essential oils in these recipes, in our opinion, you may as well have bought "the real thing" in the bottle. The quality of the original Thieves is hard to beat- your nose knows.
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Have you ever heard of Thieves? What do you use your Thieves for?

There are a few problems with these medical claims however. A lot are unsubstantiated, as the scientific data isn't there for the wealth and variety of human experience throughout the ages. Although herbs and oils have been used for centuries, as yet, not alot of scientific data exists governing the use of such.

​ Sometimes we rely on the witness of another, but when it comes to it, our personal experience may be competely the opposite to what someone else thought, saw, or felt. Right now I'm thinking of a particular movie my sister recommended.... that I recommended to others, and then took them to, and absolutely hated. Zuh. That's the last time I'm recommending something sight unseen! This is especially true when it comes to healing modalities... I like to sit quietly, journal, and pray, and this helps my healing process, but for you, maybe journalling and prayer is not the same experience at all, maybe a soothing massage, or talking things out with a friend is more beneficial to you.

So why is there so much controversy and confusion surrounding essential oils? It is because my own personal experience, your experience, knowledge, country of origin rules and scientific data, is completely different to the next persons'! It is easy enough to debate both sides of an argument. 

​At times these claims can also be made by those without knowledge or enough experience and the risk is that people can (and do) get hurt. How simple it is to have too much of a good thing, or a reaction to a particular substance! 

Our government through the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia has put checks in place to stop these unsubstantiated and sometimes downright dangerous claims. This is why you will read or see words like: may promote, might help, or "invites." It is also why treatments are not mentioned.

This means that in Australia, our pure essential oils are marketed as "cosmetics", and because of this fact, you will not see any medical claims made in terms of pure essential oils on this website. This is not to say we do not believe in the usefulness and benefits of essential oils for many purposes, it is just that it is unethical (and illegal) to do so.

​ One product may benefit someone greatly, but be dangerous for another. We are not your health care provider, and we cannot give individual advice. It is against the policy of the company that we choose to stock to make any such medical claims. You may, however, discover that there are many bloggers and websites listing these benefits, but this just means that they are either; not under Australian law due to being in a different country, governed by different laws due to the nature of the product they market, or "running the gauntlet" and disregarding the rules. This is why you will read, by those who are compliant, words like: may promote, might help, or "invites." It is also why treatments to particular body ailments are not mentioned.

All that being said, we do, wholeheartedly, believe in the wonderful benefits of essential oils for your every day life! Do we have any scientific papers to show facts that speak to the power of essential oils? No... we don't. (They are out there though, if you are willing to look.) We do however have a good ol’ fashioned personal recommendations from many a satisfied customer.

You won’t know the difference you can make to the youthfulness of your skin or dry hair until you give it a whirl. You won’t believe the pure concentrated scent of floral sweetness, or warm spice and the feeling it brings wafting through your home. Ever had a massage with some of these oils? The warming, or the cooling effect, and then they transport you to another place... a far off spice market, or warm summer day in a field of wildflowers. {no joke. it happens}

With essential oils, its important to use common sense. Read the label. Check with your healthcare provider if you are on medication, pregnant or breast feeding. Keep out of reach of children and pets. Essential oils are highly concentrated, so use only a drop or two- seriously- just a drop or two at a time. They last a long time! {well, unless you use them all day, every day, like some!}

Our essential oils also keep indefinitely if stored in a cool dark spot. (We have a few cases in our essential oil accessories collection like the one below) I've had some essential oils for a few years in the cupboard, opened them again yesterday- still perfect! Thats when you know you've purchased a quality grade oil. Our oils keep indefinitely when stored correctly.

I hope you enjoy your essential oils, understand how to use them safely, and you find them effective for you and your family. Have you ever tried herbs or oils for therapeutic use? What have your experiences been like?

There can be fear when trying something new - especially when there seems to be so much conflicting information. Who do you believe? Are essential oils really safe to use? How do I use my essential oil safely? I hope to clear up some of the confusion for you, so hopefully, by the end of this post, you will know the key information to understand about using essential oils safely.

First, lets look over my disclaimer: 
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The information contained on this website should be considered as general in nature, and is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease or condition.  We recommend doing your own research before using essential oils. Some essential oils are not suitable for those on medication, with medical conditions, pregnant or breastfeeding women. Some essential oils can make you sun sensitive. Please consult your healthcare professional for advice that is relevant to you personally. We do not take any responsibility for the misuse of essential oils. Please keep essential oils out of the reach of children and pets. We recommend you always dilute your essential oils before use. 

You will see in this disclaimer a few reasons why some might think that essential oils are unsafe. Lets go through and touch on the most important things to know about using essential oils, and address them here.

SNAKE OIL SALESMEN: The cure-all statements, unsubstanciated medical claims, and downright dangerous suggestions on the internet means we should all be aware of the source of information, as well as the source of a product these days. If you do your own research, you won't be deceived by second-rate products or false and misleading information. 

DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH: As with much in this information age, it's important to do your own research. Essential oils are wonderful for restoring skin tone, to balance emotions, to make homemade, chemical-free natural products, and much more. For me, the little bit of research required to use these beneficial oils in my life is well worth it. The danger comes in when using a sub-standard product, in an inappropriate way.

ON MEDICATION / MEDICAL CONDITIONS: What about the use of essential oils if I have a medical condition? Can essential oils interact with prescription medications? ​ If you have a disease or medical condition, or if you are using a prescription medication, it is recommended that you consult with a health advisor who has experience with Essential Oils prior to using an Essential Oil. Seek the advice of the prescribing physician and a pharmacist about ​potential interactions between the medication(s) and the essential oil(s). Consult a health professional about your personal situation, especially about any serious disease or injury. DO NOT attempt to self-diagnose or prescribe any natural substances for conditions that require professional attention.

Pure citrus oils may compound the effects of sun exposure. Limit prolonged exposure to direct sunlight for up to 12 hours (up to 24 hours for angelica and lime; up to 48 hours for bergamot)

ABOUT DILUTION/MISUSE: Pure essential oils come in a highly concentrated form. This means use "a drop at a time." (These oils last for a long time due to this concentration!) If you understand that these oils are a concentrate, you can avoid the usual mistakes, such as the misuse of "hot oils." These hot oils are concentrates that feel like burning to sensitive skin if applied undiluted. All that is required is to dilute, dilute, dilute. One drop is really all you need, to a half a cup of carrier oil (vegetable, olive, coconut etc..) before use in massage for example. If this whole topic scares you, and you are wanting to start slow with essential oils to see whether it is for you or not, we recommend essential oils diffusers that mist the diluted oils into the air.

FOR PETS: High quality essential oils, of the correct variety, in the correct dose, are good to use for pets. It is important, however, to know which oils for which pets. Some essential oils are unsuitable for use for cats, for example, as they lack an enzyme in their liver to eliminate these particular oil varieties from their system, and so this can cause poisoning. If in doubt, use essential oil products that have been especially created for your fur baby, such as this Natural for Animals range, or use oils around your home in a diffuser. Do not apply essential oils undiluted directly to your pets skin. 

ABOUT QUALITY: Not all essential oils are created equal. We do not recommend using sub-standard essential oils, as they are not the same product, and will not produce the same results. You want a pure essential oil, from a sustainable source. Check your sources. It is our personal recommendation to avoid synthetic essential oils, and cheap essential oils as they can be unsafe to use on skin. Our essential oils are pure, from sustainable sources, and safe to use on skin and we even have products that are good enough to eat!

I hope this clears up a few questions you may have had about the safety of essential oils. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it covers the main points of using essential oils safely. If you have any questions regarding essential oils and their use, feel free to ask via our contact page.