EPISODE SUMMARY
Guest: Terri Arthur
Terri Arthur is the owner of the specialty store Fragrance of Heaven in Lubbock,TX. She has studied and sold essential oils for over 30 years. In this podcast interview, she is joined by her sister and best friend Toni Tillis. Among other topics our discussion cover these issues:
The story of Sisters Breaking Bad.
The purity and price points of different essential oils.
How to source and produce essential oils.
How to know which oil is right for you.
Contraindications for certain oils.
How and where to apply essential oils.
More is not better.
Essential oils for pets.
Some favorite stories.
Hormone balancing.
What is clean candle making?
Microgreens.
Complete recovery from a car wreck.
Contact Terri or Toni:
(806) 549-1679
info@fohcandles.com
3501 50th Street Suite 124 Lubbock, TX 79413
Transcript
Welcome, welcome, welcome to What Pain in the Neck. I am Ruth Elder, your host, and today I am really excited to have a dynamic duo across from me, and they are sisters. Welcome, Terri and Toni. Why don't you, Terri, why don't you introduce yourself and then introduce your sister?
Terri: My name is Terri Arthur, and I am the owner of Fragrance of Heaven candles and essential oils. And my sister is Toni Tillis, and she is just as smart as she can be. And she's my best friend.
Yeah, that's awesome. Toni, why don't you actually introduce yourself and talk a little bit about who you are and what you do? And I do plan on having you on as a capacity for your business at a later show. But today we'll mostly focus on the fragrance of heaven and the benefits of essential oils and what, how to know what's good quality, what to get, what not to get and which ones to choose and what's pure and all of that stuff. Cause I don't know anybody who's as expert in essential oils as you two.
Thank you.
Toni: I'm Toni Tillis, apparently Terri Arthur's sister and best friend. As she just said. I'm here today just to support her. I do a lot of research for ourselves. And, the family. I have been doing that for many years now. And, so we're in the alternative, natural type world for a while. And that's how Terri got interested in essential oils. So, a lot of what she knows, I know. And a lot of what I know. It goes both ways. So I'm a really a support system and here pretty soon we're going to open up a new, let me say, brand of some healthy alternatives and some education with microgreens and distillation of water and air purifiers and stuff like that. But we met you and your husband when we were doing the Sisters Breaking Bad show.
Thank you for bringing that up. I was actually planning to tell that story, but it's It's probably way more interesting to hear from your perspective.
Well, we were wanting to show people how we had made a conscious, intentional decision to live a better life. So we were doing healthier choices and learning how to flip unhealthy recipes into healthier recipes at that time. We were doing more of a ketone-style lifestyle. And it took off and people decided they really like the sisterly relationship and watching that just as much as the recipes and the information they were getting so we would have people like you and your husband on and Dr. Ben Edwards was on and just exposing and kind of making a little referral group going around with that.
So that's really how I fit in and we'll be going into more things besides essential oils, but Terri has become an expert on this. And she's created her own blends that I've not seen other great companies, but what she's put it together in blends and a new line that she's about to come out with essential oils. So we have a lot of people and Terri will explain that go to her for these sources but neither her nor I are doctors, but guess what? We know all the best. So we can always refer you where we got the information and who to go see.
Yeah. Okay. Well, you, you summed it all up, what we're going to talk about today. I think it's important to note that Terri, back to you, I want to hear how you got into essential oils. And also the fact that you create your own oils. That's what's so interesting to me. And so I want to hear how and why you got into it and why make your own and what the process has been like and what's the benefit for me to buy your oils.
Terri: Right. So, essential oils have been around forever and I've been involved with essential oils for about 30 years. There are a couple of multi level marketing companies that I was part of and they're great oils and I love them. But the pricing I just couldn't bring that into my shop. It was just too expensive and God opened a door and I started working with a lot of knowledge of the essential oil world.
So when you say knowledge, you had studied how the oils work, or you knew where to research or new people.
Terri: All of the above.
Okay. So talk to us about that.
So with the multi level marketing platform of essential oils, I learned a lot from their perspectives and their information and loved them. But like I was saying, they were too expensive to bring it into my shop and the Lord just opened this door for me to walk through. And now I have a company that we source essential oils literally from all over the world.
So how does that work? Like how, you're in Lubbock, Texas, so how can you find pure oils from all over the world?
Well, we source them. There's two main essential oil families from all over the world and they are the ones that we source from. All of our products are GC-MS tested, that is gas chromatography, mass spectrometry tested. This will test the purity of your oils.
Okay, so can you break that down to us mere mortals? Like myself?
So you always want to see that because it proves what I'm saying. So, if I'm telling you it is 100 percent certified pure, I've got the documentation to back that up. However, each one of our oils are GC-MS tested, so they're spun down and it shows the purity and everything of the oils. And I have a team that I work with and we go everywhere. So like my frankincense is the sacred cut and I get that out of India. We are fixing to source another frankincense somewhere else, that's not done yet. But for instance, my lavender is the maillet and I get that out of France. So they literally are all over the world. Albert Vieille and Linda Kern are some of the top families in the essential oil world, and that's where a lot of people source from. Like, I could bring in a ton of different oils, you know, and they'll all be certified pure, but I like to find the ones that are more cost effective, because a lot of essential oils will do the same thing. You know, like you could have basil and sage and thyme and oregano, those are all from the same family, and they will do a lot of the same things. But I don't want to overwhelm a lot of people with so many oils.
Okay, so I want to go a little bit more into detail later, but before that let's go back to something a little bit more basic. Like, why essential oils and what does it do for you? And then you're talking about all these different kinds, so if you can take it in.
We'll dial in to some of those. So essential oils are derived from your plants or from barks. That is what God has given us in nature, and so they can be extracted either steam, either a cool mist, or they can be solvent extracted. So there's different extractions for each type of plant.
So that's how the oil is produced, like how the plant turns into oil.
Exactly. Exactly. Okay. So, here's a great example. Hilchrysum. A lot of people always know Hilchrysum. Hilchrysum is one of the very best oils for skin, for bruising, for scarring. It's a great oil, but it's expensive. Okay, so everything I sell is by the 15 ml. I sell two versions of that. One, it's $190 for a 15 ml. But that is steam extracted. So the yield is less. So that's why it's so much more. But I have a Hilchrysum absolute, which is solvent extracted. So the yield is prolific. And that is really interesting.
Okay, so what does solvent extracted mean?
So they may use a…
They put a chemical in it or something?
No, like Alcohol, Everclear, those type of things. It just depends on the type of solvent that they're going to extract it from. Now then, the Absolute, whenever it's extracted, it's very thick. And so, it does take a little bit, so like, when you come in to get Hylchrysum Absolute, there are some steps to get it to where it becomes super flowable again. And then, you can actually make 8 ounces of hilchrysum with that 15 ml bottle.
So that's the less expensive version that you can still stretch…?
Yeah that’s solvent extracted. So the yield is prolific, right. That part is a no brainer, but then I have some people that don't want to mess with that part of it. And they just want the other bottle. So, different techniques for different oils.
Great. Okay. So, what does using oils do for your health?
So, when people come in to me, I like to know what their issues are. Let's say that they have migraine headaches. We know that that is typically brain and neurologically-driven. So, we have a blend called No Longer Dwell. It's got a bunch of different oils. One of them in that oil is an anti-inflammatory. Okay, so all of our organ endings are in our hands and feet, and I have charts to show you where those are, and when I explain how to use the essential oils, I always want it to be very clear where to apply.
I teach hand and foot therapy, inhalation, and belly button oiling. So, as we're saying, let's say you've got a migraine headache, so the tip of your thumbs are your brain receptors. So you would take a drop of No Longer Dwell, massage it into the tip of the thumbs, and then slide it right down the side of the hand because that's where the spinal system is. Then you always have it on the feet too. The tip of the toes are the brain and down the arch is the spinal system. So that's where you would apply and then you can breathe it in. That will stop a headache because that goes directly in.
Oregano. Oregano is a phenomenal oil. It's an anti parasitic, antimicrobial, antibiotic, antiviral. It is great for colds, flus. All of that stuff.
Yeah. Okay, Toni, do you want to add something?
I do, because I've noticed this with people, uh, even a friend of mine, is on essential oils can be used medicinally, and a lot of people come in to Terri's shop for that, but a lot of people think if it's good, then more is better. So I wanted to kind of put that out there, is if you're new to essential oils, you don't know that yet.
You don't want to take the whole, like, massive amount of it, is that what you're saying?
And here's the thing, all of my oils are FCC compliant. Meaning, you could ingest. But I have on my essential oils not to ingest because people do not understand purity of oil.
Okay, that actually was a question that I was going to ask you next. So you're totally prepared. So why don't you talk about that food grade oils and ingesting it? You mentioned the fingertips and you said belly button and you're breathing it, maybe swallowing it. But you said not to do that.
Right. I never encourage that because, like I said, when we say one drop is good, in our world we think more is better, it's not. So when you tell them one drop and they're going to put ten in there, that has to filter through the liver. It all becomes really toxic. So you've got to be very careful with ingesting essential oils. So my practice is always hand and foot therapy, inhalation and belly button oiling.
So inhalation is a diffuser?
you can diffuse it. So we have developed also probably one of my most popular blends is called Untroubled. That was developed.
I have that one.
I love it. We developed that for PTSD, ADD, ADHD, anxiety, stress, and insomnia. I do have seven teachers at six different schools that diffuse this in their classrooms. And it completely is a calmer. You can also use that on your pets. You know, especially like thunderstorms or firecrackers at 4th of July. They're just unnerved. You can take a drop of that and rub on the flap of their ear and do a swipe at the top of their chest.
You mean the dogs, right?
That's the dogs. Yeah. And it is phenomenal. For children, again, brain and neurologically, your receptors, so you would rub it on the thumb tips, down the side of the hands, tip of the toes, arch of the feet, and then breathe that in. And it is such a great calmer. Seems to really help a lot too with focus. So that is probably one of my, I mean, I go through that like all the time. And it just is a great oil, but all those oils have different functions.
So whenever they come in, I like to know. What the issue is and then I can direct them and then kind of educate them on the oil.
Okay. So talk about that process. So if we come to you in your store in Lubbock, do we have to come to your store or do you do something remotely as well?
I don't do remotely. It's, it's easier to get, you know, face to face.
Okay. So talk about the process of how it works.
So when they come in a lot of newbies, let's start with newbies, people that are not familiar with essential oils. They're just pointing out a whole bunch of different oils. So I usually like to stop them and ask them, is there a specific issue that you're trying to take care of? One is usually anxiety and stress. So we've just talked about that. Indigestion, stomach aches. Have some chemo patients that struggle. And so once they tell me what the issue is, so we'll go with stomach now, I would send you to taste and ease. It's got great essential oils that have things that are going to calm the digestive system down, stop the stomach ache, and even help with heartburn. So, on your hand, on your left hand, about where your thumb is, if you touch right there, is your stomach on the left hand.
Okay, you're showing me, but this is audio.
Yes. I have a diagram that'll help. It's on the left hand side. It's about the fleshy part of your thumb and you're going to massage in there. And that goes directly in and that will stop the stomach ache. If you're having indigestion, you can rub it straight up into the esophagus and it will stop the burning. Yeah, it's amazing.
So this is medicine that was given to us and I learn stuff new every single day. I don't think you're ever a master of your craft. You're always going to be learning.
The best ones always keep learning.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
Yeah. So, Terri, do you have a favorite story or two that you would like to share of something that you've seen because of your work? Or maybe something in your own life or your family?
I think one of the sweetest stories is we had a gentleman that really suffered from PTSD. Everything they always gave him would be like a trigger to him and it made it worse. So he and his wife came into the shop and we discussed what was going on and he's the reason we developed Untroubled. Because everything hasMint or peppermint and that is usually a trigger for PTSD.
Really?
That was very surprising to me. So when we developed that, he was the first one I called to come and try it. He was skeptical, but it has done amazing things for him and he tells everybody. And so that's how Untroubled has really become probably one of my biggest oils. To be able to help somebody without having to do other things just really makes you feel good.
So I don't want you to give away any trade secrets. Because I know that this is your living and you've invested your whole life in researching this. But when you're talking about Untroubled, can you give us some idea of what it actually is? It's not peppermint, you’re saying. So what is it?
It is phenomenal. It is a vetiver. I'll come back to vetiver because vetiver is a unique oil. It's got ho wood and ylang ylang and lavender and things and these are absolutely calmers.
Now vetiver is an amazing plant. When people smell that they're either going to smell chocolate, wood, or dirt it's so funny. I always love to listen to what they smell, but there was a story and it's been on the internet. There was a grandmother who ended up with her grandson and the grandson was super ADD, ADHD, to the point that the teachers couldn't even deal with him and basically wrote this kid off. Well, this grandmother started massaging vetiver on this young man. And this young man that people gave up on ended up going to college very early and graduated college and has researched and done all kinds of studies on vetiver and, so like he is a leading expert in vetiver. So there are things that help so you don't write people off. You don't have to put them on certain other type of things when you can do things naturally.
Okay, so this story t that you talked about some things could be triggers. Can you talk about the risks or side effects or you know, if you just randomly take some oil or you know.
Some people are truly allergic to certain things. Cinnamon, cedarwood and lavender are common issues that people can have. Prime example, I had a lady in the store the other day that her mother has her back fused and she gets migraines all the time. And so we put some No Longer Dwell on her, and it helped. And they came back in yesterday and said that it was giving them a worse headache. And I said, “are you allergic to anything?” And she said, “Oh, lavender. I can't do lavender.” And I said, “you always need to tell people that because I had no idea.” And it has lavender in it. So we've switched her to something else that is giving her relief. So lavender is also an allergy that some people have but cedarwood is usually one of the most common allergies. People that have asthma and stuff, it usually will trigger asthma or allergies and things like that. So cedarwood can be an issue.
All right. Well, thank you for explaining that. Toni, you look like you might have something you want to say.
I do. What she was saying about the vetiver and how we all smell something different. Something I did learn from Terri is like, if you're smelling an oil and you're like, “Oh, no, I don't like that,” or you're kind of iffy and kind of neutral on it, your body doesn't need it. So when you smell something, you're like, “Oh, that is amazing, I want to just like drench myself in that,” then your body's wanting it. So sometimes when you don't know exactly what you need, that can be a tell sign.
I created a very bad addictive habit called smoking. Okay. And I knew, I was like, what do you do? You, you inhale, you kind of hold it and you pause and then you exhale. That is the way you smoke. And I'm like, if I could create that same scenario of inhaling, pausing and exhaling, but using the essential oil as opposed to breathing in a puff of cigarette, right? Because you're looking for something to calm you down and that's just short fused and it's gone with the cigarette. But what could I do? I could. I could smell an essential oil all day long and it was, I thought I'd go with Untroubled, just like Terri had mentioned in the PTSD that the veterans and a lot of other people with PTSD, they just swear by that and so I thought that's going to be my thing.
It was not. I tried it for a long time. I tried another blend that she had called Happiness. That didn't work for me either. But then I smelt of Melissa. And Melissa to me, it's an essential oil, Melissa, and, it smells amazing. And to this day, I love it, but I would carry it with me. I had a little bracelet that you, is that lava rock? Yeah, it's lava rock. Bracelet that you put the essential oil on and then I'd feel like okay. I'm ready I need a cigarette break, you know and then I just put the bracelet up to my nose and I'd inhale it and then I would pause and then I'd exhale and I would just keep doing that and it just within a couple of deep breaths like that It would just I'd be calmed down. I'd be satisfied. I quit smoking with the use of - just like that, Melissa. So, I would suggest, come in and find the one that you just love. It might be Melissa, Untroubled, it might be something else, but whatever works for you, because it really does help.
Yeah, great, great advice, and we've been in, myself and with my some of my family members been in and gone through this this process and it's really interesting to listen to your body and find out what it needs.
You know Melissa oil is probably the second most requested oil that I have it is an instant anti-inflammatory. And it's so expensive in other places, like a little 5ml bottle is like $250. So a 15ml, take that times 3. Yeah. And mine is $18 and it is one of the very best oils. I've got a number of RA patients that were sent to me. and you put it in the belly button. Now anything in the belly button you definitely want a carrier because it's the thinnest layer of skin.
And so a carrier means you put oil…
You can do castor oil if it's hexane free or coconut oil. It literally helps the RA patients. Now if you have something in your hands or joint wise, you can rub that directly on and move your hands back and forth a couple of times and it takes that inflammation out. It is phenomenal.
Interesting. So you are a wealth of information and we could, you know, spend a long time going through all the different oils and I'm really glad that we got a sample of it. But your sister just said you have something new coming up.
Yes, super excited. So we will be launching, I'm going to let's safely say by the first of December, our very own hormone kit. This will be a hormone balancer. This will be a testosterone one, an estrogen, a progesterone, and then a thyroid adrenal combination. So what this is going to do is
So is it oil, still essential?
All essential oils, yes. So if you're high, it will bring you balanced. If it's low, it will bring you balanced. I am elated to get this going on because I'm - personally, I'm going to start using it too. So I had a hysterectomy many years ago and don't take anything. And of course my hormones are shot. I'm way excited to get that started and in and that is - I think that's one of the most things I'm excited about right now is that coming out because it's gonna help so many people and it's gonna be so affordable for people without the side effects.
Yeah, great. So I want to find out, people here in Lubbock can go to your store. So why don't you or maybe call you but then I know that a lot of my listeners are not in Lubbock. Do you have any advice for them?
Absolutely. They can call me. I literally will take every call. And the phone number is (806) 549-1679. We are located at 3501 50th Street. And that is suite 124. We are right behind or west of Market Street on 50th and Indiana and we're located inside Mission Plaza. But I just got a call this morning from a lady in Raton that she can't get here. I'll send her oils too, but I always like to know what's going on so I know what to send.
Okay. All right.
But absolutely, I always answer my phone. And I am, like, I'm going to clarify this, I am by no means an expert. I am somebody that studies a whole lot. I don't have a certificate or a document or anything such as that. There are world experts in this field, but I believe if you're going to do something, you need to educate yourself as much as possible.
So how many years have you been studying this now?
Well I've been doing essential oils for just about 30 years.
And you've been learning about it ever since.
Yes.
Yes. So yeah, in expert or not, I don't know what else you would call it.
Well, I just, I'm passionate about it. And so like with my candles, my candles are clean. They're not going to make you sick.
Let's talk about the candles.
Okay. So my candles are soy free, they are zinc free, they are Phthalates free, and they're Prop 65 ingredient list free. Those are all carcinogens. First of all, my oils are grade A uncut fragrance oils, and there is a difference. Fragrance oils are for candles and smells and perfumes. Essential oils are like medicine. And I do see a lot of candle companies saying that they use essential oils in their candles. That is not 100% correct because the flashpoint on a essential oil is very low. So they have to add things to it to get that flashpoint up. Well, when they do that, it is a synthetic, so there is zero essential oil benefit in a candle. Now then, the fragrance oils I use are uncut. Now, industry will use my type of fragrance oil, but they'll only use 25 percent of it. And then they will stretch it with 75 percent chemical. And that is usually what will trigger your headaches, allergies, and asthma. So my stuff is super clean. And you don't have the issues that you normally will with other candles. And I've been doing that now for 15 years.
Okay, so when you say it's like soy free and
Zinc free, Phthalate free.
And all of that free, so what is it?
So mine is a specialty blend. It is a double cleaned, so it's stripped, and a double cleansed, paraffinized blend.
All right, good to know.
And I use a cotton wick, not a zinc. And everybody's like, “Oh, can you do those wood wicks? You know the wood?” No, because if you only knew what they soaked those wood wicks in, it's just as carcinogenic as it can be.
This is always kind of funny, because people are like, “I don't want to use essential oils around my animals and my pets.” There's a lot of misnomers about pets and essential oils. And then I hear that they're plugging in the wall plug ins from Glade, or you know, the Bath and Body Works and that is as toxic as you can get. So it's always funny to me when they say that.
And I love there's a lady on Facebook. Her name is Janet Roark. She's known as the essential oil vet. Very, very knowledgeable. She is a very big doTERRA user, but I love her knowledge. Okay. And as a matter of fact, I'm signed up to take a cat class in essential oils starting right after.
Interesting. So I know if people come to see you at Fragrance of Heaven, they will see your dog probably.
Oh, they'll see Zoe, our boxer who loves everybody. So yes, she is amazing. And everybody loves Zoe. Yes.
All right. Now, is there something that you just can't wait to share that I haven't asked you?
Well, my sister is going to be starting a very unique business and she will be in my shop. She's not ready to release all that information yet, but it all falls in line with the health and wellness that we do at the shop.
Yes. I will, when that is up and going, I'm actually pretty excited about it myself. So we'll have you back and talk about is it too much of a spoiler alert if I say it has to do with nutrition?
Oh, that's fine. It doesn't, I don't, we don't care about the spoiler alerts. It'd be microgreens and sprouts and different lifestyle things, moves that I've made for my family. And I'm like, if I'm doing this for just expand and do a little bit more and just make it available. And if you're you and your husband remember about Terri and I, we just really like to share our education with people.
Yeah. That's kind of goes full circle. It's where your Facebook page that you interviewed us, sisters breaking bad, right?
Which is so funny because I didn't know anything about that. Sisters breaking bad. She said, “let's make a really significant name.” And I said, “okay, sisters breaking bad” because we're breaking bad habits. And she is just dying laughing. And apparently there's a show called Breaking Bad and it's all about drugs. And so she, because everybody knows Toni and I, and they're going to be like, “what, what are they doing?” So she was pretty sneaky on that.
So essentially, I think Toni, your superpower is just sharing what you're learning and what's working for you. You're spreading that to other people.
Right. We find a lot of people, when I cover Terri's shop, she has to run an errand or go out of town to market or just whatever. I see a lot of people, they're coming in for education. People want to know so many different things. And I think it's the essential oil that draws people in. Like, I want something better, I want to do something good for myself. But what I've been doing the last three, four years now, has been flipping everything around at our house and on our property to be more self sufficient. I've been studying on the land, the air.
Water.
What's in the food, what's in the water, and what can we do better? And so we're going to switch the Breaking Bad to probably a new name, because I don't want to get in trouble for using that. So it'll probably be like the new Old School, because Old School is like Little House on the Prairie. How did they take care of themselves? So why did we change, and what is everything now? We were just growing up and going with the flow, the way everybody else was doing things, and we're not shopping the perimeter of the grocery store. The grocery stores at Little House on the Prairie, it was the perimeter. We didn't have all the stuff on the inside. We didn't have all those things. And come to find out, most of the foods that people are hooked on and buy here are banned in other countries. Well, why is that? So, it's just that I started studying and learning, like, what can we do here and if we can grow our own food, well, that's been its own journey.
People come and ask all these questions and I thought, well, I think I need a schedule, a couple hours a day. Just so people know that I'm here and they're not coming in and taxing Terri with all these questions, although she could answer them. But so she could help focus on other things like the candles and the other vendors and the essential oils. And at the same time just expand what we're doing for ourselves. The vegetables, the microgreens, the sprouts. Why would you want to add that into your diet and make myself more available. And the distillation of why we need to - I was always against distillation, but now why would I want distillation now?
So there's a lot of different things that we could go into, but share the knowledge that I've used through all these past years. What we're doing in even castor oil. We started using that and we were recommending everybody to start using castor oil, but I couldn't find a source that I was happy with. So when I found it, I asked Terri to look into it. Sure enough she did find a source and she's actually.
Yeah, we found a source, so we're going to have our own Fragrance of Heaven hexane free castor oil, so.
That's another thing coming up soon. So, I think Fragrance of Heaven. It's not just going to be a gift shop, candle, essential oil place. It seems like it might be more like a Expo or a farmer's expo or something. I don't know, but it's all about natural health.
So that's great. I actually love that. I think that's a great place to end it, is what can I do better? That's the reason I'm doing this podcast is to get the word out on different solutions to suffering and specifically focusing on chronic complicated issues of people that have tried everything. There's always something more that we can do and so I like that question. What can I do better? And so I would encourage people that have listened this far to call Terri or call the shop and ask for Toni if you have particular questions for her or you can call me here at the Blair Clinic. And if you're, if you're in pain, call me and I'll connect you to a solution.
Well, and Dr. Elder, I mean, I was in a head on car wreck in ‘95 and suffered from a lot of headaches. And after we met you guys on Sisters Breaking Bad, I got in, went through the whole treatment, and I've never had an issue since. It is amazing what he has done for me.
And that’s been…?
Three years? Four years. It's been four years. Is it four?
Yeah, well, we've lived in Lubbock for six years, so it might have been five years.
Yeah. I mean, it's, it's amazing not to, to hurt and have a headache.
That's great.
And, Yeah. I was a mess. He fixed me.
Well, thank you for sharing that.
Yes. Well, thanks for having us.
You're welcome. Thank you for being here.
Yes. Yes. Yes. We look forward to more time.
And when you're expanded, Toni, I'll have you over again.
Sounds good.