Welcome to the road less traveled?

Couple things for tonight and the last may explain the post title. 

I was in Sprouts the other day and got a free sample of Aura Cacia Chill Pill Body Oil. Amazon is listing it as both an essential oil (as a room spray or for a diffuser) and a body oil. Most of the versions are seemingly from third parties for this smell, so it is a matter of what your preference is. 

This explains (possibly) why Sprouts was handing out freebies. I don't know if they're getting it from Aura Cacia itself, or another place, because I didn't see it on the shelves anywhere, unless I completely missed it. This might be such a new product, that it's hiding in plain sight in an aisle. 

But I got a 0.1 Fluid ounce square of the body oil. There's so much liquid in it, I didn't realize there'd be extra for days. 

I had so much on my hands, that my palms were shiny. I should have taken a picture of that because it was comical. 

I do have to note about the link above for the oil before I go on. 

Please be forewarned, if this is something you are going to purchase as skin care, the suggestion with the straight essential oil would be (per Google):

• To use essential oils on the skin, it is crucial to dilute them with a carrier oil, such as coconut oil or jojoba oil. 
• The recommended dilution ratio is typically 1-3 drops of essential oil to 10 ml of carrier oil. 
• Apply the diluted mixture directly to the skin or add it to a moisturizer or serum. 

Because there's no carrier agent (coconut oil or jojoba oil) in the straight essential version on Amazon, unless you're buying the body oil from one of the third parties. The straight oil is missing a lot of extras, which makes the body oil smell pretty good (freshly clean like a dirty hippy). I didn't sample the regular oil because they weren't giving it out at the time.

The full list of ingredients of the body version are:

Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Citrus Sinensis (Sweet Orange) Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Pogostemon Cablin (Patchouli) Oil, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Ocimum Basilicum (Sweet Basil) Oil, Chamaemelum Nobile (Roman Chamomile) Oil, Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E) Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Oil.

Where as the basic essential oil is:

Citrus Sinensis (Sweet Orange) Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Pogostemon Cablin (Patchouli) Oil, Mentha x Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Ocimum Basilicum (Sweet Basil) Oil, Chamaemelum Nobile (Roman Chamomile) Oil.

Therefore, this last list would be your diffuser level smell. 

Even the diffuser link says for a "Calming Massage Oil:

1. Combine Aura Cacia Chill Pill and Sweet Almond Oil in a bottle.
2. Apply as a massage."

Again, please read carefully on which you're going to buy, but as I was writing before I got squirreled, the sample had a lot of oil in it. I almost made a huge mess in my room last night because I wanted to try it as a regular skin care item and not massage item. 

My knuckles have been cracking lately and not feeling so well because I've been washing my hands a lot (and using the Bath and Body Works Cleansing Gel Hand Soap in Eucalyptus Spearmint, so I think that's been taking a toll on my skin. My fingers have been drying out and rough around the edges after this soap. I'm hoping it's not a sign that I'm allergic to yet another type of "essentials" on my skin (much like the armpit fiascos with lemongrass and Arm & Hammer / Tom's). 

So it was a new thing to try, this calming oil. I wanted to use it before bed so I could sleep all night. I'm not getting enough rest due to back issues, so it's been a rough couple months. I'm willing to try anything within reason, so lavender scents mixed with the last of the Barker Wellness night time gummies, what the hell... right? 

Both products taken together seemed to work, as I slept for a little over 9 hours with no interruption. I'll have to try just the oil tonight and see what happens. 

The oil itself, again, is messy. However, the smell brings back memories from my youth, due to the patchouli. It's like when I was wearing the (now discontinued) Tom's of Maine Natural Strength Fresh Coconut Deodorant. I loved that product because it was (not totally) cheap, easy, lasted all day, and smelled amazing. I didn't get the "ew" stinks from it. In fact, it smelled like patchouli for some reason, and every time I got a whiff of my pits, I smelled the perennial herb instead of coconut. It was the weirdest thing. 

Therefore having the plant in this oil, is great. It's not a bad funk of a smell. I actually smelled more of the citrus than the lavender, but didn't get a sniff of the mints in the calming balm. It was strange because this morning and through out the day, I smelled the patchouli more than anything else. Even my watch smells like patchouli, as I write this, a mere 24 hours later. 

Yes, I wore my watch to bed last night, after putting the oil on my arms. You can see my watch and mismatched band in one of the pictures above (the watch is a Series 3 which isn't sold online anymore because it's old as dirt, apparently). 

Anyway, when I had told my mother about trying the oil as a lotion, I told her to take some off of my hands because I had too much. She did, and immediately smelled the lavender and patchouli. What was the first thing she says? "It smells like the 1960s. Hippies". 

Thanks, Ma. Just what I need. 

She then said she loves the smell. 

Great, because I got enough for the both of us, in this little sample.

She used some more and than realized she better not put any on her feet (heels) because she didn't want to get up in the middle of the night and fall on the tiles in her room, as this would be a tripping hazard. 

Duh? Much like anything you put on your feet, including regular lotion? That's what socks are for, especially white cotton, which is what people usually suggest with Vaseline on your heels to help heal your feetsies. 

I guess that means we'll have to look into maybe buying a small bottle in Sprouts, if I find it. I don't want to pay out the butt for it. That's my problem, because I know it's not something I would use every day. I like the smell, I like how the product soaked right in to my skin (outside of my hands because I had a lot that I was working with), but this really might not be an every night routine. If they had a roll on, which would be cleaner, maybe I would think about it. It did help me sleep and my elbows in particular aren't as scratchy today, but my knuckles need some more help. I've got a few weeks of wear and tear of washing on them. So the oil would probably be better than the roll on, but that's also what regular lotion is for.

I've probably gone in such circles right now, that none of this makes sense, so I'll go on to my next topic. 

I was in a store today and saw a shopping bag for purchase. 

It's one medium reusable bags to go shopping with. I had such a laugh at it because UFOs and drones are out in the news again this past week.

I meant to share the image with one of my alien loving friends. Cat, if you're reading this, I forgot to text it to you earlier. I got wrapped up in things today. 

However, I can't find the image online. A Google Image search led me to Stupell Industries Welcome Roswell New Mexico UFO Canvas Wall Art, Design by Ziwei Li art piece, which as as close to this bag as you're going to get. Minus the "Welcome to the road less traveled" and adding "Roswell New Mexico" instead. 

Whoever is marketing the bag has taken a little advantage of this picture. I don't know who owned it first, but I did try to find the background image and then the wording, but only came up with the Stupell version. 

Which means there's someone out there who likes a little Robert Frost, a little bit of the southwest, and a little bit of extraterrestrial beings / UFOs. 

I can't explain it; I didn't nick it. I found two completely different things that look highly similar. I just wanted to share what I found. 

If anyone cares to try to guess at this, please go right ahead.

Until then, I need to do some laundry and figure out how to keep my room smelling like a few people from my youth while I dream about my back not hurting. 

Cheers;