Unlike perfume, essential oils are highly concentrated substances that need to be diluted prior to application to the skin. When buying essential oils it is always important to look at the label closely to see if it is pre-diluted or not. If the essential oil is pre-diluted you may be able to use it straight out of the bottle. Following instructions on the packaging is important. The con to pre-diluted oils is they are less potent and you will be getting less essential oil for your money. Many cheaper priced essential oils found in stores are pre-diluted. It is also important to see what carrier oil was used to dilute the essential oil as some will go rancid faster than others. You also want to make sure it isn't an oil that you are allergic to. When in doubt try to purchase pure, steam distilled essential oils. This way you will be able to customize the carrier oil to meet your specific needs.
The carrier oil (also known as the base oil) you use can make a great deal of difference in how well your blend works. Some base oils are healing to certain conditions in themselves and others may end up posing problems. Two easy to find carrier oils include ones probably sitting in your kitchen right now; vegetable and olive oil. If you need to quickly whip up a blend, those two can come in rather handy. Vegetable oil hasn't a scent and is fluid enough for the bath and the skin. It also contains vitamins such as E and B which can be very beneficial to your skin. Vegetable oil won't sink into your skin as nicely as other carriers (i.e. jojoba) so you may find yourself rubbing excess off. Olive oil on the other has a scent so it won't work well for perfumes of blends where scent is greatly important. It is wonderful for body treatments to soften the skin and masks to help ravaged hair. Along with the above, the following are commonly used as carrier oils:
- Sweet Almond
- Apricot kernel
- Carrot oil
- Avocado
- Coconut
- Grapeseed
- Jojoba
- Sunflower
- Wheatgerm
- Calendula
There are others of course including evening primrose and even vitamin E oil. A good dilution is 10 drops of essential oil for every 2 Tablespoons of carrier oil. When following recipes be sure to look carefully at the dilution rate. It is always a good idea to do a patch test prior to using new oils / recipes and to up the dilution when making blends for children and pregnant women.
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