In today’s episode of The Whole Circle Podcast we not only talk about the amazing essential oil that is frankincense, but we also delve into the incredible work doTERRA, as a company, is doing around co-impact sourcing. So, grab your tissues as this could get emotional, and enjoy.

Frankincense

When we first got this oil, well we thought it stank – lol and we thought we’d never use it! Little did we know at that time that we had one of the most prized and precious essential oils in the history of mankind. As we often like to say, when you know better, you do better, and boy do we sure know now what frankincense can do for us. Now we would never EVER be without it!

doTERRA Frankincense conveniently either comes neat in a 15ml bottle or pre-diluted with Fractionated Coconut Oil in a 10ml ‘Touch’ roller bottle.

So what can frankincense do for us, well he is good for:

1. Relaxing, calming and soothing our mind and bodies.
2. Grounding our emotions.
3. Quieting our minds and drawing us back to focus.
4. Enhancing the properties of all the other oils he is blended with.
5. Being an all-rounder oil for the newbie essential oil users.

Yogi’s and those in search of more mindfulness love frankincense!

Essential oils aren’t just a ‘new-age fad’

It’s funny, we hear so many times that essential oils are just a ‘new-age fad’ but the reality is essential oils have been around since biblical times, certainly in the case of frankincense. Essential oils have long been used in perfumes, skin soothers, salves, and as natural medicines.

How you can use frankincense

1. Rub on your hands after a long day in the garden or on the tools to give your hands a nice soothing effect, just make sure you are diluting it on your skin for safe application either with a carrier oil of your choice or a nice natural moisturiser that’s not full of synthetic ingredients.

2. Rub on any skin irritations you may have to soothe and calm down the area. Our nan swears by using frankincense on her skin irritations.  She uses the ‘Touch’ roller bottle as it’s so convenient for her to use.

3. Add frankincense to your face serums as it’s really beneficial for the appearance of your skin and skin imperfections. Why not try Jo’s recipe for an amazing face serum that is so easy to make:

  • 30ml glass dropper bottle
  • 10 drops Frankincense
  • 5 drops Copaiba
  • 5 drops Blue Tansy
  • Top with Jojoba oil

4. To promote feelings of relaxation, rub diluted frankincense on the bottom of your feet or make up this great roller bottle to encourage a restful night’s sleep:

  • 10ml roller bottle
  • 10 drops Frankincense
  • 10 drops Lavender
  • Top with Fractionated Coconut Oil

5. Balance your moods with frankincense! Rub diluted frankincense to your pulse points such as wrists, back of neck or behind the ears. You can also make up the following recipe for extra support, especially for us ladies during that time of the month:

  • 10ml roller bottle
  • 10 drops Frankincense
  • 10 drops Clary Sage
  • 5 drops Ylang Ylang
  • Top with Fractionated Coconut Oil

6. Next time you are diffusing your favourite blend, add a drop or two of frankincense to it and see how it changes the smell profile and helps your mood.

When in doubt, use frankincense!

Co-impact Sourcing

What is frankincense? Frankincense is the resin from a tree and doTERRA sources it from its natural habitat in Somalia from wild Boswellia trees like Carterii and Frereana. The whole harvesting process of the resin takes about 5 months – it’s a long process.

You’ll find when you open up a bottle of doTERRA essential oil, the smell coming out of that bottle is strong and pungent, this is because it contains pure unadulterated essential oil. So yep, to start with some oils, like frankincense, were really unpleasant to our sense of smell because our bodies simply weren’t used to smelling the real stuff! It’s amazing how quickly your body gets used to, and craves, essential oils that are of the highest quality, such as doTERRA.

It absolutely scares us that we can go and buy a bottle of frankincense essential oil for as little as $10 when we now know that in order to produce high grade frankincense oil it should cost a lot more than that. So, it makes us think for those bottles of frankincense that cost $10, what other synthetic fillers are in that bottle?! Because it’s simply not possible to produce 100% pure frankincense for as little as $10 per bottle.

There are 4 grades of frankincense essential oil. doTERRA only buys Grade 1 as they want to ensure they have the best quality grade oil that money can buy and that will also provide the most benefits to our health.

Here’s what doTERRA’s website has to say about co-impact sourcing:

The doTERRA Co-Impact Sourcing Initiative in Somalia provides frankincense harvesters with greater opportunities for income, while providing doTERRA with access to skilled harvesters who help accomplish the intricate steps of frankincense resin harvesting.

Harvesting frankincense resin is a delicate process that requires careful planning and precise skill. Frankincense harvesters must travel long distances, leaving their families and communities behind. They often live in caves along the way as they harvest frankincense resins from remote locations. Once the tears are harvested, the resin is carefully cleaned, separated, and organized (by size and colour) typically by women.

Despite the lengthy and difficult harvesting process, harvesters are often unable to sell their frankincense resins for a fair price. Because of the intense harvesting process and the lack of adequate payment, a large portion of the available frankincense trees in Somalia have not been harvested.

The doTERRA Co-Impact Sourcing Initiative provides frankincense harvesters with fair wages and on-time payments (including food and cash prepayments spread out during the year) by working around the layers of middlemen and instead working directly with those who harvest and sort the frankincense. This arrangement provides a much more stable and reliable income to frankincense harvesters. doTERRA is also working with their partners to ensure that the cleaning and sorting of the frankincense resins takes place as close to the harvesting locations as possible so that these important jobs (typically held by women) remain in rural areas where they are most needed and benefit the harvesting families. Their initiative also ensures that these women receive fair wages and that they are able to work in more favourable working conditions. Along with these sustainable sourcing efforts, the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation™ has also funded the construction of two new schools for hundreds of students from harvester clans. These efforts are making a positive impact for improving the rural families’ livelihoods.

We would really love for you to watch these two videos on how doTERRA’s frankincense is sourced and harvested and the positive impact it is having on communities:

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2R58k83-bw
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg9mVE7-yPQ

So now knowing all that, we hope you look at frankincense in a whole new light, one where you see that for every bottle of doTERRA frankincense you buy, you are changing the lives of some beautiful people who really need it. It really is the gift of the earth that keeps on giving.

If you want to get pure essential oils into your life, then we encourage you to consider doTERRA. It’s the only brand we know and trust. To get frankincense the most cost-effective way, it’s best to buy a kit as they save you $$$ and make the frankincense way more cost effective PLUS you get all the other oils in the kit to use and enjoy. Check out our links below and head on over to our essential oils page on our Additive-Free Lifestyle website. Oh, and don’t forget you get so much support from us on your oily journey!

Links and Resources