Essential Oils and Safety - Tips on diluting your essential oils for different applications

Pure essential oils are effective and efficient additions to your aromatherapy, home, and body care creations. However, these powerful plant extracts come with some responsibility to exercise restraint. A single drop of essential oil contains a concentration of herbal properties, which, in order to serve our health, must be dispersed to levels that are safe for our bodies to process.

Diluting Essential Oils for Safety

When first venturing into the world of essential oils and/ or DIY personal care products, the topics and terms of parts, percentages and ratios can be confusing and intimidating for those just starting out with their essential oil explorations. Here are a few tips and some simple guidelines to get new users off to an encouraging (and safe!) start.

DIY Roller Blends - For Specific Therapeutic Application

Whether it’s a tension headache, grumbly tummy, stuffy nose or my muscles are complaining after a gym session- nowadays a roller blend (or neat oil) is always my first line of relief- oils before medication for me!

(N.B I firmly believe each has it’s place)

Topical use of essential oils may induce a sensitivity response, especially on young or sensitive skin. To decrease the likelihood of developing a sensitivity, it is advisable to use a carrier oil to dilute the more potent oils and when trying an oil for the first time.

There are 3 main classifications of oils for topical use: Neat, Dilute, and Sensitive.

Neat. Essential oils categorized as “neat” can be applied topically without dilution on most people. These oils are considered mild and generally do not induce skin sensitivity. Examples of “neat” essential oils are frankincense, lavender, melaleuca, melissa, and sandalwood.

Dilute. If categorized as “dilute,” essential oils should be diluted with a carrier oil before topical application in every case. Oils that fall into this category are those with a high proportion of constituents that are especially potent, such a phenols. Examples of essential oils that require dilution are cassia, cinnamon, clove, oregano, and thyme.

Sensitive. “Sensitive” oils are those that should be diluted before use on young or sensitive skin. Examples of “sensitive” oils are peppermint, ginger, eucalyptus, wintergreen, and black pepper.

Dilution Ratios for DIY Personal Care- Body

Essential oils are strong and most are required to be diluted for safe use, whether you plan to use them on their own (usually in a neutral carrier oil) or as ingredients in a finished product such as a massage oil, lotion, or aroma spray. Whichever dilution method you choose, the essential oil content should only account for 0.5% to 2% of the total blend.

Dilution Ratios for DIY- “Purefume”

For most body care formulations, it is recommended that essential oils make up no more than 2% of your total end product volume. This dilution takes into consideration that creams, lotions, serums and other products are often applied liberally, to large parts of the body. Fragrance is usually a secondary concern to the formula's primary function (moisturising, smoothing, etc.).

Perfumes made with essential oils (generally referred to as “Purefume”) are a little different. Since these formulations are usually applied sparingly and to localised areas, you may choose to use a higher proportion, up to 5%, to allow your aroma blends to shine.

Tips for Diluting Essential Oils for DIY Personal Care Products

• Use proper measurement tools and be sure to accurately convert between different types of measurements- e.g. metric-imperial, volume-weight;

• Not all essential oils are equal in potency. It’s important to do your research about the nature of the oils you want to use, especially when formulating your own recipes;

• Make sure your essential oil(s) are appropriate for the end use of your recipe. For example, a few essential oils react poorly when exposed to sunlight, so these would not be ideal choices to include in a hair serum recipe. This is why it’s highly recommended to get to know the basic properties of the essential oils you want to use.