Physical Wellbeing - Using essential oils to protect your Hands

The Importance of Quality Hand Soap – Hand Washing Wellness

Whether you believe we’re in the midst of a global pandemic or not, nobody can deny that regular hand washing does stop the spread of germs. So, whilst you may be feeling totally powerless or mildly indifferent or somewhere in between, this is a crucial part of self-care and immunisation that’s under your control. Yey there is something – cue happy face of Light Worker.

Sore Hands

Now marry this important activity with all this cold weather and you probably have some very sore, dry and painful hands. Mind you, you if you’re using the wrong soap the weather won’t make much difference to how crap your hands feel!

Making Bliss

I wanted to share with you some tips on how to make your hand washing experience more effective, enjoyable and skin friendly. Yup, does sound a bit “jargony” but if you have to perform something unavoidable regularly then it becomes an opportunity for creating a bit of bliss, why not pimp up the experience and get some pleasure from the monotony?

 Enjoy Life

We’re all learning to appreciate the simple things in life, it’s one of the pertinent messages we’re receiving from this enormous shift.

 Germ Distinction

The first distinction I want to make is the difference between bacteria and viruses. A lot of products claim to antibacterial or antiviral and it’s super easy to become totally mystified about any difference betwixt the two. And yes, there is a difference that you need to be aware of when either buying or making hand soap.

 Bacteria Vs Viruses

Bacteria are alive, they live within us, on us and around us, they are independent, they don’t need us. We need them more than they need us, the good ones that is! Viruses on the other hand, are lifeless until they find a host, which is when they spring into life! They keep on mutating in order to fight to continue to exist. They are smaller than bacteria and deadlier, though both can kill if allowed to colonise and take over!

Code Red

You need hand soap which tackles both of these “mo fos”, but not at the expense of the integrity of your skin! Once you compromise your skin, you’ve breached your most important line of defence and should literally retreat and self-isolate until its healed over. Sounds crazy I know but completely true.

 Dangerous Liaisons

An open wound on the hand is an open invitation to germs, it’s the most dangerous part of the body to be injured because they come into contact with everything. I only found this out in my early twenties when I cut one of my hands open with a pair of scissors and the pharmacist ordered me off of to hospital for a tetanus jab!

Question Time

Secondly, I want to ask you some questions that you probably haven’t considered, because we’re not encouraged to…. Why did you choose your hand soap? What do you expect from your hand soap? How would you like your hands to feel? Are you confident is it delivering protection for you? Is your skin in good shape?

 Necessary Contemplation

Let’s go deeper, what ingredients are in your hand soap? Do you understand the ingredients and what role they play? Can you be certain that they are actually capable of destroying and removing harmful bacteria and viruses?

 What On, Goes In

Just a little point I love to continuously quote, did you know we absorb at least 60% of what we put on our skin directly into our bodies. Now, if you realise you didn’t know or understand the ingredients in your hand soap, you do now know they’re in your body! And, in terms of wellness, you need to know and understand everything that you put in your body.

 Take Control Back

The easiest way to understand the ingredients is to make your own, then you know exactly what you’re getting, what you want the experience to achieve and the outcome to be. And don’t get turned off, it really is quite simple, if it wasn’t I wouldn’t do it.

 Has to be Easy

 I am not a fan of making my life any more complicated than it already is…being a psychic empath, raising two kids, with an ongoing disability, managing a household and running my own business. Here is me demonstrating how quick and easy it is to make one of my DIY Cleaning Workshop recipes.

Costly Ignorance

There are plenty of recipes that you can easily tap into and many people do, successfully. It all depends on how crafty you are and how much you already know. Most of us aren’t, we haven’t even considered the seemingly microscopic importance of hand soap, aka giant faux pas, there has been too much other shit to worry about.

Life & Death

But given the fact that this rather banal activity could save you and your family’s health, it suddenly quickly comes into focus. Well I hope it does! When I worked for the nursing press (over 20 years ago) we spent a lot of money, effort and time creating guidance over correct hand washing procedures. It’s always been a thing in medical circles, only for about two hundred years mind.

Getting it Right

Frustratingly, because there is an overload of information out there, a lot of it is contradictory and confusing. And it’s easy to make a load of rookie mistakes and land up not in fact solving your problem but creating one. Given the importance of hand washing wellness, it’s crucial to know what you’re doing is safe, effective and working.

My Tips

Always go for warm water, this certainly encourages you to keep doing it for longer, and improves the chances of everything doing its job!

Keeping it Simple

You only need five ingredients, yup, check how many are on the shop bought ones…curious isn’t it. What is in that stuff???

Soap

Firstly, soap-wise, I always use authentic Liquid Castile Soap, its 100% plant and thus body friendly. Again, there are lots of cheap alternatives out there, always check the label for provenance.

Softener

Secondly, using a natural emollient is important in terms of keeping your skin moist and elastic, I favour fractionated coconut oil, it’s odourless, abundant and affordable. Plus, I always use high grade essential oils and I don’t want anything messing with their odour or therapeutic benefits.

Water

You need to add water and it needs to be de-ionised, this means striped of all life form so it has shelf-life and doesn’t create a mouldy potion. Don’t cheat with distilled or boiled, it’s not good enough.

Essential Oils

Next up, my favourite and always the last thing to add, essential oils. This is your bliss add in, because gorgeous, evocative smells make all the difference. What I use depends on my audience, their tastes and washing styles and most importantly where the wash station is! Never use more than eight and usually you only need one to three. My favourites are Lavender, Tea Tree, Rosemary or OnGuard.

Safety

*Real oils need to go into glass or PET 2 or else they destroy and burn through, they’re super potent so less is more.

Risk Assessing

The main entry and exit point in from the outside world hand washing soap has the toughest job of all, so I need an all-round blend for this one. And yes, you really need to put some thought these things.

Different Strokes

I know with my 7-year-old I have a matter of seconds in cold water to get his hands clean and safe. Whereas my husband typically likes to take his time and be thorough, my challenge with him is the foaming element, he just can’t live without some sort of bubble action to prove its working.

Making Foam

To overcome that particular problem, it’s all about the dispenser, you want one that helps to create hand soap foam.

Thickening Tip

Lastly, you add a little salt in boiled water to thicken, this has to be done super slowly to stop the soap from splitting.

Owning Your Own Health

Making up your own is super rewarding, saves you money, is better for the environment, means you are taking care of your body in the safest way possible but can be daunting. This is why I run courses on DIY recipes, it’s to prevent those rookie mistakes and explain how and why you want to do this for you and your family’s wellness. Let me give you faith.

FAQ Response

I wrote this blog in response to customer queries, it’s like a long response to a FAQ.

 Why I’m Worth it

Here’s a recent testimonial from my DIY Cleaning Course:

 I did not feel very comfortable or competent at first. All this messing about when I can get a perfectly good liquid soap from the supermarket. COVID sharpened my mind so I persevered. It’s actually really easy, takes little time, I know it’s safe and it works so now I enjoy making it and feel happy my family is at least washing their hands with a soap that will give them extra protection . E.Torres (Feb 21)

Next Steps

I hope you now feel confident that you understand how essential oils help give physical wellbeing by protecting your hands. Book yourself onto my Make your own essential oil cleaning products workshop to learn more with me directly or take my pre-recorded course.