Americans spend more than $2 billion a year on dental care, yet 75 percent still have some form of gum disease. More than 40 percent are completely unaware that they need to do a better job of taking care of their gums and teeth! Given the population, that is a large percentage of people—three out of four—who are unnecessarily walking around with bad breath and bleeding gums.

According to a study on twins in a two-week period of time, “flossing twice a day in addition to brushing reduced gum bleeding—a sign of gum disease—by about 40 percent more than brushing alone.” Although dentists and mothers have been saying it for years, the evidence clearly supports that flossing is critical to healthy gums!

With this in mind, Young Living formulated a newly improved floss to increase effectiveness and performance. Made with stronger fibers that resist fraying and breakage, Thieves Dental Floss will easily glide between your teeth and gives you the added bonus of two layers of essential oils as you floss. Our innovative process saturates the floss not once but twice, locking in double protection to freshen your breath and providing longer-lasting results to promote healthy gums.

To give you more reasons to smile, the new Thieves floss offers a greater value with a 33-foot increase in length. That is 25 percent more floss at no additional cost! This product is an optimal choice for the health-minded who demand effective and safe products at competitive prices, proving that good things do come in small Young Living packages.

—Gloria Russo, YL Product Marketing Manager

Items needed
• Distilled water
• Spray bottle
• Liquid dish soap (biodegradable)
• Spearmint essential oil
• Citronella essential oil
• Lavender essential oil
• Blue tansy essential oil
• Cedarwood essential oil

Preparation
• Fill an 8-oz. spray bottle with distilled water
• Add 1 ½ tablespoons of liquid dish soap
• Add 3–4 drops of each essential oil
• Mix and spray generously on plants, fruits, and vegetables

For fungus and mildew protection
• Add 4 drops of lemon or orange essential oil to 8 oz. of water and spray areas where fungi and mildew may grow.

Did you know?
• Spearmint essential oil can help deter ants and aphids
• Citronella essential oil can help deter gnats and mosquitos
• Lavender essential oil can help deter fleas, moths, and flies
• Blue tansy essential oil can help deter flies
• Cedarwood essential oil can help deter snails and slugs
• Lemon and orange essential oils can help reduce fungi from growing on plants

Please feel free to share other essential oils you like to use in your garden and any success stories you may have when using essential oils as the safer alternative to harsh chemicals found in pesticides.

—Marco Colindres III, YL Product Marketing Manager

Using Young Living essential oils in recipes uplifts the aroma and flavor and supports our lives. I usually add essential oils to cold recipes or at the very end of preparation. Young Living takes great care to properly distill these oils, so heating them as little as possible makes sense. I also use essential oils in conjunction with herbs and other fresh ingredients. The result is a fabulous marriage of taste and health-supporting meals, beverages, and delicious snacks!

Five Benefits for Using Essential Oils in Your Recipes
1. Essential oils are delicious in our foods and beverages!
2. They are stable and potent for years. Fresh and dried herbs have a short shelf life.
3. Using oils in the kitchen saves you time and money. Only tiny amounts need to be added to transform your kitchen creations.
4. Oils give you a variety of complex and delightful aromas and flavors.
5. You can travel easily with essential oils and even add them to foods and beverages while you are on the road!

Loquat Fruit Leather with Lemon and Lime Essential Oil

Recipe modified from Essential Gluten-Free Recipes by Tara Rayburn and Mary Vars

Loquats are sweet, tangy, and rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. These little jewels usually grow in moist climates and tend to produce large harvests, which makes them great for fruit leather recipes. Young Living citrus oils amplify not only taste but also the nutritional benefits of the loquat. Fruit leather is a great snack for lunches, grab-and-go lifestyles, and gifting to others.

Ingredients:
• 3 cups fresh loquats, seeds removed
• 1 fresh apple
• 3/4 cup organic, unsweetened fruit jelly (we loved apricot)
• 1–2 drops Young Living lime and lemon or tangerine and grapefruit essential oils

Preparation:
• Seed, peel, and puree loquats and apple until lumps are gone
• Add fruit jelly
• Mix well in food processor
• Pour into glass bowl
• Please Do Not put essential oils in the food processor or plastic containers. Oils draw toxins out of our bodies and will do the same with plastic bowls.
• Add your choice of Young Living essential oils.
• Mix well and spread thinly and evenly on parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet and put into your dehydrator for the recommended temperature and time. (Most dehydrators come with a guide sheet with basic temperatures and times for common recipes.)

Tips:
• My Excalibur dehydrator calls for a setting of 135–145 degrees Fahrenheit for about 5–8 hours. Just wait until the fruit leather is mostly dried and slightly tacky to the touch.

• Your climate and altitude may affect the cook time and how much jelly you add. The jelly helps the leather stick together. I live in a desert climate and need to add more jelly. If you live in a humid climate, you may require less.

• When the fruit leather is completely dried, slice pieces with a pizza cutter or cut with kitchen scissors.

• Roll and wrap the fruit leather in unbleached wax paper. You can wrap them individually or as a sheet to be peeled off later.

• Fruit leather makes a fabulous holiday gift. Just put the rolls or pieces in a decorative glass jar, add a ribbon, and voila!

Comment on this blog post for a chance to win one of three sets of Young Living lime and lemon essential oils.

—Tara Rayburn, YL Distributor

To give you an idea of how easy making a video can be, we have made an example of both a funny and a sweet video using an iPhone. Let these examples get your creative thoughts processing, and you may be one of the two winners to receive an A·R·T Skin Care System—valued at $160.53!

If you are unsure about sending your video, please e-mail grusso@youngliving.com, and I will help you. Otherwise, follow these instructions:

1. Video the live event, a reenactment, or scripted interpretation of the moment you gave an A·R·T Beauty Masque to an important woman in your life.
2. Submit your video by 11:59 p.m., MT, on May 17. You may submit a video for both the funny and sweet categories.
3. Use Internet Explorer as your browser.
4. In the address bar type ftp.youngliving.com.
5. Hit Enter and a login box will appear.
6. Log in using the username ylguest and the password YLoils123 (case sensitive).
7. You will be instructed “To view this FTP site in File Explorer: press Alt, click View, and then click OPEN FTP Site in File Explorer. These are separate actions.
8. First, press the Alt key and release.
9. A menu bar will appear with the following tabs—File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tools, Help.
10.  Click on the View tab.
11. Scroll down and click on “Open FTP Site in File Folder.”
12. A login box will appear.
13. Log in again with the same username and password.
14. Find your video file on your computer. Right click and copy.
15. Open the file “_Mother’s Day Video Contest,” right click on the empty page, and paste your video inside.

All submitted videos will be posted on our blog on Monday, May 20. Distributors who visit (or those you encourage to visit) our  product blog site may cast two votes as a comment. They will decide which video will be deemed the sweetest and which video is the funniest. The videos that receive the most votes in each category will win. Each winner will receive an A·R·T Skin Care System.

And just for those curious about who won the Thieves® Dentarome Toothpaste, here are the names of the 10 randomly selected winners. Congratulations!

1.       Brenda

2.       Missy

3.       Julee

4.       Janet

5.       Mandee

6.       Isabella

7.       Iris

8.       Kal Inc.

9.       Jan

10.   Alle

A big thanks to everyone who commented; we are all excited to see your videos!

Wishing you all a very memorable Mother’s Day,

—Gloria Russo, YL Product Marketing Manager

From May 6–16, you will receive a FREE eight-pack box of our A•R•T® Beauty Masque for every eight-pack box purchased—a retail savings of $118.09! At this buy-one-get-one-free price, you can remember all the women you love, including yourself. Just wrap a single mask with a bow, write a few lines of appreciation, and take a short video of the beaming response. That’s right, we want you to capture the moment and then share your video with us!

Of course, it will be well worth your time. We will give away two A•R•T® Skin Care Systems—$160.53 value! One will be awarded for the sweetest video; the other will be awarded for the funniest. Distributors who visit our blog will judge and choose the winners. We want this to be easy, fun, and memorable. Check the product blog on Thursday, May 9, for examples of both types of videos, and to find out the 10 Dentarome Original Toothpaste  winners.

Treat the women you love most with a home spa experience—and don’t forget yourself.

As always, we love your comments, and we look forward to hearing from you!

—Gloria Russo, YL Product Marketing Manager

Slique Gum
Linda C., Carol G., Donna M., Tiffany V., Rebekah S., John B., Suzanne K., Lori A., Sheila D.,  Rachel J.

This sounds like a great idea…can’t wait to try the gum, and love the benefits of Frankincense!
My doctor informed me I need to lose 70 pounds…so I need a boost, I have loss 12 pounds so far in 6 weeks…and I am getting the cravings again to return to starchy foods, this will be a bonus to my success story.
~Linda C.

Vitassage
Louise P., Karen N., Misty T.

Thanks for this great testimonial. Horses are so intuitive. I would love to win one a Vitassage massager. I’m sure it would help many of my clients! I’m a doula & a Qi Healer. I use the Young Living essential oils as support for all my clients. It is amazing how helpful they are. I had one mom who held a towel with essential oils on it by her nose throughout her 26 hours of labor! After helping her for 26 hours straight, I got home and I used the lavender essential oil all over to help me relax.
~Louise P.

As always, we would like to thank all of you who participate in our blog. We all learn so much from your great comments. Remember to congratulate the winners—the next one could be you!

—Ryan Seely, YL Product Marketing Manager

But despite improvements in oral-health education and superior products, one out of every 20 adults or 5 percent of baby boomers between the ages of 40–59 is still missing ALL of his or her teeth, requiring full dentures or implants. When considering the preventative cost of good dental hygiene in comparison to the therapeutic cost of implants or dentures, choosing and using the most effective oral-care products becomes a critical priority.

That is why Young Living offers a variety of toothpastes to meet individual needs, has improved Thieves® Dental Floss for more effective results, and provides Thieves Fresh Essence Plus Mouthwash, which thoroughly cleans teeth and gums while freshening your breath.

Young Living has a product for everyone at a price that is good for your mouth and your wallet. However, the fundamental issue that is easily missed when comparing pricing is quality. Remember: Commercial brands put in harmful fillers, synthetic ingredients, preservatives, and dyes. The old adage, “You get what you pay for” is applicable.

Here’s what Young Living distributors have to say about using Thieves toothpaste:

“A year ago, in addition to other things the dentist asked me to do, I added Thieves® Dentarome Ultra Toothpaste to my regular brushing, flossing, and six-month dental checkup regimen. This morning the results of my checkup amazed my dentist of over 30 years. Not only were my teeth cavity-free, but my gums were also healthy. Thank you!”

“I started using Thieves® Dentarome Plus Toothpaste a few weeks ago, and my teeth are noticeably whiter! The toothpaste started working within a few uses. I have whiteners from the dentist but didn’t feel comfortable using them because of the chemicals in them and the way my teeth felt so sensitive afterward. Now I brush longer and my teeth look great. I enjoy my smile in the mirror!”

Your smile is your best accessory, and to give you one more thing to smile about, we are giving away 10 free tubes of Dentarome Original Toothpaste to 10 randomly selected people who leave a comment on our blog.

Can’t wait to hear from you,

—Gloria Russo, YL Product Marketing Manager

TIP:  Once you have loaded your toothbrush with your favorite Young Living toothpaste, add a drop of lemon oil to further brighten your smile.

Don’t forget to share your thoughts about using Young Living oral-care products to beautify your best asset!

In August 2012, Cole Woolley, vice president of Global Science, gave me a Vitassage to use on horses after he saw a presentation of my work on these majestic animals. Having done emotional clearings and the Raindrop Technique® on many horses, I was excited to see what the Vitassage could do.

I first tried the Vitassage with thoroughbred racehorses. They can be quite flighty, and the first mare was excited to see and smell me as I approached. Based on her history, I decided that the best oils for her were Peace & Calming®, Release™, and Valor®.

At first I offered a couple of drops of Peace & Calming from my hand. As the mare smelled my hand, she decided to lick the essential oils. It’s truly amazing how horses are so attracted to these essential oils—it’s like a treat for them!

I massaged her shoulders in a circular motion until she became used to what I was doing. I proceeded to introduce the Vitassage in the “Off” position first. I then turned it on and massaged her in a circular motion along each side of the spine from withers (shoulders), to the dock (base of tail), over the rump, and down the shoulders and chest. Within a few minutes, her head lowered and she closed her eyes. She was asleep! I spent about 15 minutes with this horse, and there was a major change in her demeanor. She went from being an agitated and anxious horse to a quiet and settled horse.

Recently I used the Vitassage with a 26-year-old purebred Appaloosa named Legend County Saints Thunder, affectionately known to his friends as Hector. Hector was a much quieter horse—quieter than any horse I had worked on before. Because of this, I helped him “choose” his oils. I held out a selection of open bottles, and with each one I would observe if he would move his head away or near the bottle or whether he would step away or closer to the bottle. Horses will tell you a lot about their preferences for the oils if you let them. The essential oils Hector chose were geranium, Peace & Calming, and blue cypress. After a few minutes, Hector was completely relaxed and closing his eyes. I proceeded to use the Vitassage on some tight spots along his spine and was able to provide a wonderfully relaxing experience for him.

As warmer months are quickly approaching (at least for the northern hemisphere), I wanted to share a creative way I get my children excited for healthy eating. To the noncreative, they may be called “frozen NingXia Red^® on a stick,” but my imaginative children call them “Redsicles.” Okay, okay, maybe that name isn’t the most creative, but they sure taste great.

What you need:

• NingXia Red singles
• Popsicle sticks (I prefer skinny ones)
• Scissors
• Freezer

Instructions:

1. Shake packets well
2. Remove top of NingXia Red packet
3. Insert stick
4. Put in the freezer standing up (we like to leave them in overnight)
5. Remove packaging and enjoy

NingXia Redsicles are quick and easy to make, perfect on a warm day, and kids (and adults) love them. Let me know if you have other creative ways to use NingXia Red.

—Ryan Seely, YL Product Marketing Manager

Frankincense oleoresin was traditionally chewed by ancient Middle Eastern travelers during long journeys when days were long and food was scarce. These days, you will often see contestants on NBC’s The Biggest Loser chewing gum. In fact, according to the National Institutes of Health, the simple act of chewing distracts your mouth and prevents cravings. The effect that chewing gum has on cravings and hunger management is also the subject of many current studies.

So how does chewing gum improve oral health? As we eat, acids are created in the mouth as food is broken down. Over time these acids have the potential to break down tooth enamel, which can lead to additional oral issues. According to the American Dental Association (ADA), chewing gum triggers the production of saliva that washes away or dilutes these acids. Clinical studies show that after a minimum of 20 minutes of chewing, optimal oral benefits are reached.

Slique™ Gum combines pure, natural frankincense chewing resin, peppermint and spearmint essential oils, and xylitol into a one-of-a-kind chewing experience. The gum base is free of synthetic material and is cold pressed to preserve the benefits that ancient caravan travelers enjoyed. Personally, I like to spice my gum up a little by adding 1–2 drops of Slique Essence prior to chewing. This adds additional flavor and a hint of sweetness. It also adds additional Slique benefits. It should be noted, however, that adding any type of citrus oil to the gum modifies the gum consistency and may alter the chewing experience.

Suggestions for using Slique Gum

• Chew while cooking to prevent nibbling
• Use after a meal to improve oral health
• Keep a pack in your purse or briefcase to help resist high-calorie temptations
• Chew between meals to control cravings and avoid mindless snacking

Have you tried Slique Gum? Now is your opportunity! We will randomly select 10 people who leave a comment with their thoughts on this all-natural gum to receive a free three pack. Good luck!

—Ryan Seely, YL Product Marketing Manager