Essential oil usage has been around for thousands of years but it’s really only in the last 15 that people have started to truly take control of what they put on and in their bodies, and become more ‘green’. The essential oil industry has flourished, however unfortunately there is a lot of misrepresentation and misinformation that circulates to the general public, and there have been instances where people have ultimately been injured with improper usage. I can even be honest and share with you that I have been interested in essential oils for a number of years and I had been introduced to a well-known MLM company. I never had any intentions to take on that business strategy full-on and use that as a primary source of income but there were definitely some perks with monthly orders. I never saw myself as a person to ‘trick’ people into getting together for coffee and then bombarding them with the company to get them to sign-up. All I wanted to do was be available to share that essential oils (when used properly) can be extremely helpful for many issues that an individual may be experiencing, and to open that door to natural products. And if somebody was not interested, great! You do you.

 

Because of incorrect usage being extremely common, I took it upon myself to complete a program in aromatherapy to further educate myself in order to help educate others.

 

Essential oils are organic compounds and may react to light, temperature, air and time. And to reiterate, just because something is ‘natural’, does not mean that it’s safe. The best example I can give for this specific topic is that even though an essential oil is derived from a plant, they can be up to 100 times more potent. So, you can innocently rub some Bitter Orange essential oil on your neck as a perfume, but that puts you at risk for UV damage and can suffer from third-degree burns (for real, I’ve seen it). Essential oils are insoluble in water and soluble in oil or alcohol. This is why when you use them topically, you need to use a carrier oil to decrease the potency of the essential oil, in order to safely benefit from those properties. A carrier oil is a natural base oil used to ‘carry’ the molecules of an essential oil that requires dilution before skin application, such as fractionated coconut, avocado, or olive oils.

 

I currently see and have heard a lot of people adding essential oils straight into their water to drink which is the fastest method of absorption, but unless see you are under the supervision of a Medical Doctor that has additional training with oil usage, this is very dangerous as essential oils can breakdown the mucous membrane within your body, especially affect the liver, with long-term usage.

 

Since the potency is so strong, it’s always best to start small just to get a better idea of how do you respond to that particular oil, then gradually increase as needed. This is where safe dilution for topical use comes into play. A great breakdown is shown below;

 

Facial Cosmetics – 0.2-1.5%

Body Massage – 1.5-3%

Bath & Body Products – 1-4%

Specific Problems – 4-10%

Pain/Wounds – 5-20%

 

Just because you add more, doesn’t mean it will work better. Always, everything in moderation. Carrots are good for you, but if I ate them all day every day, you bet my skin will develop an orange tint. Safety first!

 

 

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