Welcome to day one of our single blends in the A to Z series...Arborvitae.
Arborvitae is taking us all the way to the Pacific Northwest of North America, which touches our hearts because this is where we were married. We love this part of North America. Arborvitae is the giant western red cedar and can grow 100 to 200 feet tall. They are known as the "Tree of Life."
They can be upwards of 1,000 years old, and the beauty of these trees is when they fall and when they die, these trees do not rot. So they'll be down for decades, 100 years, and the tree will look like it fell yesterday. Because of this, the indigenous people of this region would create canoes, baskets, plates, utensils out of the wood that they would use in their daily lives because the wood doesn't rot.
Arborvitae is used extensively in the timber industry out in the Pacific Northwest. Before us partnering with the industry, they would harvest the tree, cut the wood, have all this leftover sawdust that they would burn. Once we started to look at the properties and the chemistry of the essential oil, we took the sawdust, and we distilled the essential oil from the sawdust. The waste from the distilled sawdust now, we give to the paper mills. What used to be a waste product now creates a beautiful, beautiful essential oil, and also makes paper.
I love this aroma so much that I make Jeff cologne and Arborvitae is the primary essential oil. Now I always tease him that I don't ever want him wearing it when I'm not around because it is a very sexy aroma. It's a very manly scent, so all you guys out there, if you are looking for a new fragrance, a fresh smell, throw away your cologne. You don't need it anymore. Start wearing Arborvitae. You can mix it with Bergamot, Sandalwood, Black Pepper or even Lime.
The primary molecule of Arborvitae, which makes it so unique is called thujone. Thujones have been recently studied to have tremendous benefits to our body. Whenever we have red, irritated, damaged skin, thujones have been analyzed to create a healthy inflammatory response and also responsible for aiding in tissue remodeling. So when we do have damaged skin cells, Arborvitae is a beautiful oil to use to help repair the damaged cells on our skin.
Secondly, it has a diverse, global gene expression properties to it. When we have cells that are replicating abnormally, it is because our genes are being affected negatively. When we use Arborvitae essential oil, our genes start to reproduce healthily, globally in our bodies. So it's a beautiful daily use essential oil for just overall health and wellness of our body.
Arborvitae is a fantastic natural bug repellent. So any time you're going outside, and there are bugs around, put a couple of drops of Arborvitae on topically where you have exposed skin, or make a spray out of it. Not only will you be free from the pesky bugs, but you will also smell incredible.
Emotionally, this oil creates feelings of being grounded, peace and calm, making it a great oil when we are feeling stressed or agitated.