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Essential oils are everywhere lately, especially on social media and I have seen a lot of misinformation on how to use your essential oils so I thought it was time to start blogging about how to use your essential oils safely. Yes, safely! Even though essential oils come from plants which are as natural as you can get, you must remember that the concentraion level of an essential oil is much more potent than that of one plant.
I have seen so many people either using or recommending others to use essential oils directly on the skin without diluting them first. You must always dilute your essential oils uless you are a trained and qualified practitioner at the appropriate level. If you are reading this and thinking "well I haven't had any problems and I always use directly on the skin" then please continue reading.
It lowers the risk of skin irritation and sensitisation. Sensitisation is an immune reaction to what your body recognises as an invader. It is not caused by using an essential oil once, it is by repeatedly using an essential oil over a period of time in an unsafe manner, such as direct application. An aromatherapists described it as "Russian Roulette". It can happen with any essential oil no matter how "pure", "organic" or "pure therapeutic grade" an essential oil is.
If you are new to the wonderful world of essential oils you may be confused by the word dilution. All dilution is, is to add your essential oils to a vegatable oil, also known as a carrier oil such as grapeseed oil, sweet almond oil etc. This oil allows the essentail oils to disperse within the carrier oil so you can rub it into your skin allowing the essential oils to slowly work their way into your blood stream without causing any skin irritation or sensitation. Also the scent of the oils stay on you for longer so you are not only absorbing the oils through the skin but also through inhalation which is of great benefit to your health.
It's no good me telling you to dilute your oils and not tell you how to do it safely, otherwise you might be adding a whole bottle of essential oils into your carier oil.
General Use - 2%; this is the most common dilution
2% dilution blend means a TOTAL of 4-5 drops of essential oil per 10ml carrier oil. Again this is total, not per essential oil. Example 10ml grapeseed oil, 3 drops lavender, 2 drops frankincense.
If you wanted a larger amount of oil or even less you can scale this up or down. Example 100ml carrier oil and 40-50 drops total of essential oils.
Children, pregnant women, facial and anyone with sensitive skin - 1%
1% dilution blend means a TOTAL of 2 drops essential oils per 10ml carrier oil.
Sometimes we need a stronger blend for occasional use, short periods of time or for roller blends - 3%
3% means a TOTAL of 6 drops essential oil per 10ml carrier oil.
If you find yourself stuck on the amount of drops needed for a higher volume of carrier oil then I would recommend an App called Essential Oil Blending Tool (iPhone, Android) there is a dilution calculator on there plus much more.
Thank you for reading and if there is anything you would like me to discuss please let me know below.
Katie Rose x