Essential Oil Spotlight ~ InTune

Hello and welcome to August's Essential Oil Spotlight!

I am a huge fan of Essential Oils! I use them just about every day, and I love sharing them with others whenever I get the chance. So, each month I'll be posting a special article featuring an essential oil or two that I just can't live without!

This month, as many of us here in the United States find ourselves or our children headed back to school, I'm taking a look each of the oils contained in doTERRA's InTune Focus Blend.

Are you ready to explore this month's oils? Click below to get started!

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The doTERRA company website says this about the InTune blend:

InTune is a proprietary blend of amyris, patchouli, frankincense, lime, ylang ylang, sandalwood, and Roman chamomile essential oils, carefully selected for their ability to enhance focus and support healthy thought processes. This blend helps those who have difficulty paying attention to stay on task and sustain focus.

This essential oil blend was created with students and those struggling with the symptoms of ADD or ADHD in mind. It is a spicy, unisex fragrance intentionally blended not to be an overly floral scent in hopes that men and boys would be more willing to try it.

Let's take a look at the individual oils in this blend:

Amyris balsamifera

Amyris balsamifera, also known as West Indian Sandalwood, is made from the wood of a tropical evergreen tree found throughout the world, with its chief producers being Jamaica, South and Central America, and Haiti. It can take up to 30 years for the tree to reach full maturity and begin producing its sweet, woody, vanilla-like essential oil.

Amyris is a steam-distilled essential oil that is often used as a substitute for true Sandalwood essential oil in perfumery, soap making, and cosmetics due to its lower price. The scent of Amyris is noted to calm the mind and act as an aphrodisiac in small quantities. It is also an excellent oil for reducing  stress, frustration and irritability.

Spiritually, Amyris essential oil is connected to the heart chakra. It assists in opening the heart to love and in connecting us to our inner knowing and intuition. According to The Ananda Apothecary, Amyris "... is an excellent oil for dreamers, artists, musicians and poets as she supports them in connecting with creative source energy."

Amyris essential oil is generally considered safe with no known precautions [Robert Tisserand / Julia Lawless].

Pogostemon cablin

Pogostemon cablin, more commonly known as Patchouli, is made by steam distilling  leaves that have been hand-picked and dried for three days. It is most commonly found in India, but may also come from Sri Lanka or Indonesia. The fragrance of Patchouli oil is one that people tend to have very strong opinions about and is described as being earthy, smoky, or musty. Unlike most other essential oils, Patchouli is thought to improve with age like a fine wine. Many aromatherapists caution those who dislike the scent of Patchouli to try an older bottle, as the aging process may make the scent more tolerable to them.

Traditionally, patchouli has been used as an insect repellent and ingredient in perfumery, incense, soap, and cosmetics. Like Amyris, Patchouli has aphrodisiac properties when used in small doses and has been known to help calm the mind, reduce anxiety, enhance meditation and relaxation practices, reduce stress, and assist in reducing fatigue. 

Patchouli is an exceptionally grounding oil and can help those who "get stuck in their head" move back into their body, especially when combined with meditative movement like Yoga, Tai Chi, or other exercise practices that are designed to connect the spirit with the body. 

Patchouli essential oil is generally considered safe with no known precautions [Robert Tisserand].

Boswellia frereana

Boswellia frereana, also known as Frankincense, is made by steam distilling resin from the Boswellia frereana tree, which grows at a higher elevation than the more commonly used Boswellia carterii tree and is known as "The King of Frankincense."

The fragrance of Frankincense oil is described as earthy, sweet, and spicy with a fruity top note. It has traditionally been burned as incense, used in cosmetics and skin treatments, as a fixative prolonging the life of more volatile oils in perfumery, and as a calming, grounding agent in aromatherapy.

Frankincense is a highly prized oil because it improves focus and memory retention while reducing stress and anxiety without being overly sedating, making it a perfect oil for students or those who need help concentrating and remembering information. Breathing the fragrance of Frankincense essential oil slows and deepens the breath, making it a perfect oil for meditation or meditative movement exercises such as Yoga.

Frankincense resin and oil have long been prized in spiritual and religious practice. The Ananda Apothecary says, "Frankincense oil has the power to uplift human awareness to that "other" level by freeing the nerves from excessive tension, allowing us to focus on the underlying transcendental unity of our inner Self."

Frankincense essential oil is generally considered safe with no known precautions [Robert Tisserand].

Citrus aurantifolia

Citrus aurantifolia, or Lime essential oil, is created by cold pressing the rind of ripe lime fruits. This creates a strong, tart, spicy citrus oil strongly reminiscent of the fruit itself and is a favorite among essential oil users. The most common producers of this essential oil are Mexico, the USA, and Italy.

Lime essential oil has been credited with being an uplifting oil that cleanses the mind and the spirit. It is called "The Oil of Zest for Life" in Daniel MacDonald's "Emotional Healing with Essential Oils." It sharpens the mind while banishing apathy, grief, depression, and discouragement and replacing them with energy, passion, and joy.

Like all cold pressed citrus oils, Lime essential oil is phototoxic. Users should avoid exposure to sunlight for 24 hours after application to avoid severe sunburn. [Robert Tisserand].

Cananga odorata

Cananga odorata, or Ylang Ylang (pronounced Eee-lang Eee-lang) essential oil, is produced by steam distillation of the Ylang Ylang flower which grows on a small tree found in Indonesia, the Philippines, Madagascar and the Reunion Islands. Unlike most essential oils, Ylang Ylang may go through a complicated distillation process resulting in different grades or fractions of oil.

Ylang Ylang is typically distilled for a short period of time before the first batch of essential oil is collected. This first distillation is called Ylang Ylang Extra is said to contain approximately 30 chemical compounds or constituents with a high proportion of esters, ethers, and phenols.

After the first distillation is collected, the distillation process continues until three subsequent batches of oil are collected. These oils are called Ylang Ylang I, II, and III. The exact amount of time the flowers are processed and the details of distillation can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. These distillations are typically used only within the fragrance and perfumery industries.

In addition to Ylang Ylang I, II, III, and Extra, you will also find Ylang Ylang Complete available in from many essential oil distributors. This is the essential oil obtained from the complete, uninterrupted distillation of the Ylang Ylang flowers. Typically only the Extra or Complete distillations are used in therapeutic applications.

The rich, sweet, floral aroma of Ylang Ylang is prized as an aphrodisiac and sedative. It reduces stress, anxiety, depression, and anger while imparting feelings of joy and gratitude.

Ylang Ylang has been known to cause headache and nausea, and presents a possible sensitization risk. Do not use in high concentrations or without proper dilution. [Robert Tisserand / Julia Lawless].

Santalum paniculatum

As Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album) has become an endangered species, most responsible essential oils suppliers have begun sourcing their Sandalwood essential oil from either Australia (Santalum spicatum) or the Hawaiian Islands in the United States (Santalum paniculatum). These oils are steam distilled from the roots and heartwood of trees that are farmed in a sustainable, environmentally-responsible manner through ethically managed plantations, thus preserving this beautiful oil for generations to come.

The aroma of Sandalwood essential oil is described as a soft, sweet, woody fragrance that has been traditionally used in incense, cosmetics, soaps, and perfumes. Danial MacDonald calls it "The Oil of Sacred Devotion" in his book "Emotional Healing with Essential Oils." The scent of Sandalwood is both grounding and calming, aiding in the reduction of stress and depression. 

The rich, sweet, floral aroma of Ylang Ylang is prized as an aphrodisiac and sedative. It reduces stress, anxiety, depression, and anger while imparting feelings of joy and gratitude.

Sandalwood is generally considered to be safe with no special precautions. [Robert Tisserand].

Anthemis nobilis

The final oil we are going to take a look at in the InTune blend is Anthemis nobilis or Roman Chamomile. This oil is made by steam distilling the flowers of the chamomile plant, which is made mainly in the USA, Hungary, Italy, and France. I have fond memories of these beautiful plant growing wild outside my grandmother's home while I was growing up, and then outside of my own first home. The sweet, fruity, herbal scent was something magical, and is still one of my favorite scents.

In ancient times, Roman Chamomile was a sacred herb given as an offering to the Egyptian sun god, Ra. Daniel MacDonald calls Roman Chamomile "The Oil of Spiritual Purpose" and recommends it to those suffering from a feeling of purposelessness, those who are discouraged or who feel their work is a "drudgery," and to those who are frustrated in their current endeavors. It is also a wonderful oil for those suffering from anxiety, depression, loneliness, PTSD, anger, or irritability.

Roman Chamomile is one of just a handful of oils that is highly sought and recommended for use with children. It has a soothing, calming action much like Lavender, but is much more subtle and can work in smaller amounts. 

Roman Chamomile is generally considered to be safe, but has caused dermatitis or skin irritation in some people. [Julia Lawless].

As you can see after reading about all of the oils included in InTune, this is a wonderful calming, uplifting oil that can help one get over anxiety, release frustration and irritability, and aid in many emotional areas. If you would like to try InTune, it is currently featured as doTERRA's product of the month at a 10% discount.

Informational Sources: Mountain Rose Herbs; Eden Botanicals; Aroma Web; The Ananda Apothecary; Emotional Healing with Essential Oils by Daniel MacDonald

Disclosure: I am a doTERRA Wellness Advocate. Using the links in this article to access doTERRA International will lead you to my personal consultant website.