Your free Guide to Blending Essential Oils
You might want to make essential oil blends for several reasons. One of these is to make a therapeutic massage oil or other blend to be used for health promotion, whether physical, mental or emotional.
But there are many people who are interested aromatherapy oils not so much for therapy, but for the aroma part of the equation. Just because something smells nice, it doesn’t mean that it’s not good for you, but there’s no intrinsic link between a pleasant fragrance and therapeutic value.
Whatever type of blend you are making, it’s generally best to stick to no more than 3 or 4 oils. More than that, and you can end up with something that is a bit of a mishmash, and smells like it.
Safety Note:
Never use these oils in mixtures for use on skin
There are some oils which are dangerous and should never be used on the skin. These are: Armoise, Arnica, Bitter almond, Bitter fennel, Boldo, Brazilian sassafras, Brown camphor, Cade, Calamus, Caraway, Cassia, Chervil, Cinnamon bark, Comoran Basil, Costus, Deertongue, Dwarf pine, Elecampane, Horseradish, Jaborandi, Menthe pouliot, Mugwort, Mustard, Oregano, Parsley herbal, Pennyroyal (American and European), Rue, Sage, Sassafras, Savin, Savory (Summer and Winter), Southernwood, Spanish oregano, Sweet inula, Stinging nettle, St John’s Wort, Tansy, Thuja, White cedar, Wintergreen, Wormseed, Wormwood, Yellow Camphor (note that some of these are different names for the same thing).
Use these oils sparingly
These oils are very strong and should be used in low concentration (at most half the quantity compared to other oils): Aniseed, Basil, Black pepper, Caraway, Cinnamon leaf, Clove bud, Estragon, Ho leaf, Hyssop, Nutmeg, Peppermint, Tarragon, Thyme and White camphor.
Which oils go well together?
Obviously, when blending oil purely with fragrance in mind, you should follow your nose. But there are some oils which go well together and others which don’t go well at all, so a list of these is a good starting point.
Unfortunately, given the number of oils there are, there’s too much information for me to put in a single post – or even to spread over 2 or 3, so I’ve made an ebook that you can browse online at Scribd or download for free: Essential Oil Blending Guide.
