Friday, April 17, 2015

dilution is delightful

once you have your oils, it's logical to stare at them all pretty in their little bottles and think to yourself, "now how the heck do i use these things?"  at least, that's what i did!  so i started doing a little research and asked people in my EO network how best to use these beneficial oils!  two main ways are by applying them to your skin and by diffusing.  making up a little roller bottle of an oil blend sounded like so much fun (waaaay too much fun, by the way!  i could make these little roller bottles all day long!), so naturally i wanted to get right on that.

i had been reading up on essential oil safety and came to find that dilution is a very important step in oil use safety.  most oil companies, reps, etc will definitely advocate for dilution; however, some say that it is okay to apply "neat" or without a carrier oil.  and while i imagine that for the majority of the people, this would seem harmless, it seems to me (and reading where this was the case for some people) that prolonged use of an oil "neat" will lead to sensitization or other issues / irritations.  also, if someone happens to have a sensitivity to an oil,  applying it "neat" could cause damage to their skin.  therefore, the safest application would be diluted in a carrier oil.  carrier oils also help to get the oils into your body by slowing the evaporation process as they are absorbed into your body!  and there are so many options for carrier oils that can provide all sorts of different properties too!  but i'll get into that in a later post.

there are many dilution ratios out there on how many drops of oil to carrier oil.  with a little research (and i'm doing more and more every day!) i have found that you can get away with a far less amount of oil and that it is much safer to do so.  i found a great chart that shows the number of drops of oil per mL container used.  SO easy!  and it was created by a very reputable source in the essential oil community, Robert Tisserand.  so not only does diluting to these ratios make for a much safer usage, but it will also save you money because you will be using less oil!  YAY!




so after you are armed with your favorite blend of oils, some roller bottles, and carrier oil of choice, you can use this chart as a guideline to create safe and delicious smelling roller blends!  i know i'm already thinking of the next great blend to try!


i am in no way a medical practitioner or expert, so always be sure to do your research and make sure that you are using safe essential oil practices!  if you are interested in getting into essential oils, you can find out a bit more by clicking on my doTERRA link at the top of my blog or click contact me to find out how to try some out for yourself!



3 comments:

  1. Hi Avery, what do the 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 percentages mean along the left side of the chart? I'm guessing it has to do with oil strength, but I'm not positive. Thanks! Jen, fellow WA :)

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    1. hi jen! thanks for the question! the percentages along the left hand side of the chart indicate the percent dilution for the eo / carrier oil mixture. so, for example, if you are using a 10ml bottle, add 3 drops of your essential oils and fill the rest of the bottle up with your carrier oil of choice (such as fractionated coconut oil), your percent dilution would be 1%.

      this is relevant for various safety matters. babies / young children should have the lowest possible dilution percentage (.5%) for safety (while also being sure to only use oils safe for the child's age!). people with sensitive skin, etc, should also use a lower percent dilution as well. Robert Tisserand has some good resources to make sure your oil usage is safe. in my (non-medical) opinion, i say it is always best to err on the side of heavily diluted. :)

      i hope that helps!! and again, i am not a medical professional, so be sure to ask your doctor and do plenty of research before using oils to ensure safe practices! :) thanks again for the question! hope you are getting some of this beautiful washington sun today!!

      patricia

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    2. Got it - thank you! I'm soaking up the San Diego sun! :)

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