Taobao Finds: Essential Oil Stuff

I try hard to make this blog only about food. But since I often share Taobao things I'm going to go a little off the food finds on Taobao and share some essential oil and homemade beauty product type stuff. When I've pinned these stores over on my Taobao Pinterest board they have been popular.

I don't really jump full on onto fad trains. I'm usually more like that person standing on the back of the red songtao truck in Thailand. So I'm just kind of dabbling in essential oils. Am I going to say they are the end-all, be-all, best thing I've done for my family's health? No. Do they help? Yes, I think so. Have we lessened medicine and doctor visits? I don't know, we didn't really use a lot of medicine or see doctors a lot before. But lavender for a bug bite works way better than anything else I've tried. And it seems to help my littles sleep better when I diffuse it in their room. I think my headaches lessen a little with peppermint. I like the rub I've made for sore muscles. Diffusing different ones certainly makes my house smell nice and hopefully it helps a little, too. And I still have a medicine cabinet with plenty of drugs. I'm really an everything in moderation kind of girl.

All that said, I have found a few Taobao sellers with useful things for essential oil use--for those full-on riding the train and for those just hanging on the rails.

• I have bought a few different ones that are all fine, but this is a nice ultrasonic diffuser that has standard 2-prong plug and can be used on 110V or 220V. Its good for a standard room size. 

• This seller has good prices on the things you'd need to create some of your own lotions, rubs, etc. He has beeswax, shea butter, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, coconut oil (Seeing this, I wouldn't use it for baking), and others like jojoba oil, avocado oil, and Vitamin E. He also carries things like empty chapstick tubes and jars for salves or rubs (I think they are plastic though).

• Roller balls that you don't have to buy in bulk. Only Y2.50 each. 

• I have bought small 30g, 50g, and 100g jars for storing different salves from this seller. He also has dropper and spritz bottles. Very quick and professional service and well packaged for shipping glass. 

• This seller has fractionated coconut oil for a reasonable price. Meaning that the oil will not solidify in cooler temperatures--like many of the roller balls I made in summer have done. 

• A lot of Aura Cacia oils are available on Taobao. Some blends, but mostly just single origin things. They don't seem as strong as some other leading brands, but they work fine in a diffuser, have a much lower price tag, and still have a reputable name. (They say do not ingest their oils. But we aren't going there in my family anyway.)

Any of you have good online China finds related to all this? Please share with the rest of us!