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Guide to Essential Oil Dilution
Using pure essential oils on your skin is a time-tested model but you should also ensure you are taking into account some basic essential oil safety when applying them to your skin.
Generally you will be applying your essential oils where you are needing them for a localized effect.
For instance, after a long day of holding a precious little baby … you may want to apply some directly to your arm for some sore muscle relief. Or you use them for body care, skin care or facial applications.
Regardless of how you plan to use your oils topically, the resources in this guide will help you get started. This is your central place for common questions and most importantly a handy essential oil dilution calculator to help you with your dilution ratios!
It will guide you in knowing how much of your essential oil to add to your blend to get to the desired dilution percentage.
Select the use for the blend
Select the bottle size you are using.
You will want to use:
total drops of essential oil
This is a blend to be used in a bottle for . Be sure to fill the remainder of your bottle off with a carrier oil.
TPS is an abbreviation for Toothpick Swirl.
Essential Oil Name |
% of total |
# of drops |
|---|---|---|
Do you need to dilute?
When using essential oils for topical applications it is important to follow the dilution guidelines when applying directly or creating your essential oil blend. We always recommend starting with a higher dilution% to be on the safe side to avoid any potential sensitivities.
While some oils are okay to apply neat, undiluted, for safe practice we typically recommend against this unless specifically advised to do so.
Diluting your oils before application not only ensures the safety of the application but it also has added benefits of allowing you to cover a greater surface area for absorption.
Performing a patch test on your skin for sensitivity.
To determine the most optimal dilution rate for your skin, you can use our recommended dilution calculator as a starting point.
Then apply to a small portion of your skin and monitor to ensure you have no sensitivities to the oil(s) you are applying. This will be apparent after no more than 10 minutes of applying to your skin.
Photosensitivity
Certain oils are photosensitive (citrus oils for example) and you will want to use caution when applying these to your skin. Always apply these oils to areas of the skin that will not have direct exposure to the sun.
Absorption rate of essential oils with carrier oils
Using carrier oils, like coconut oil, has been shown to help the absorption rate on the area you are targeting. Carrier oils allow the oil to be dispersed to a greater area and not experience evaporation prior to application to the target area.
Because essential oils are volatile (they evaporate quickly) using drops of each oil in an undiluted state will cause absorption to happen on your hands prior to applying. Using carrier oils decreases this as well as allowing you to apply them to a greater surface area.
Using essential oils on children
You will always want to dilute essential oils when using on children, the elderly or anyone with skin sensitivities. The younger the children's age, the greater the dilution should be.
Be careful not to use hot oils, such as Oregano, Clove or Cinnamon
The calculator below will help you determine a starting point for the dilution rates to use in your blends.
Understanding maximum recommendations
The general rule of thumb when applying essential oils is that “more is not better”. We generally recommend to apply the amount you initially like to use and if you're not getting the benefit you hoped for, rather than to increase a dilution ratio we typically recommend to apply again after a short time. Apply more often with the same dilution and not to increase the dilution.
Essential oil dilution chart
