Blending Essential Oils
The blending of essential oils is done for two reasons – to create unique and highly aromatic perfumes and to create essential oil mixes with strong therapeutic benefits which can help treat a wide variety of conditions.
Although blending essential oils is great fun, it is a science and you should only blend essential oils if you are confident that you have a good understanding of essential oils and their properties. Remember that some essential oils are hazardous and others may cause a negative reaction if you suffer from any allergies, respiratory conditions or you are pregnant, so check with your GP first. No essential oils should be applied directly to the skin unless they have been diluted with a carrier oil such as one of our vegetable oils.
If you are unsure about which essential oil blend well together, click on any one of our essential oils and you’ll find a recommendation for other essential oils that blend well with it. Alternatively, try a pre-mix first, such as one of our Essential Oil Blends and blend with a carrier oil. You’ll soon begin to work out which oils blend well together and then you can start experimenting yourself.
Aromatic Blending
There are two key factors you should consider when blending to create a unique scent:
- The ‘perfume note’ of the essential oils being blended
- The ‘aroma family’ to which the essential oils belong
Perfume Note
The 19th century perfumer G.W.Septimus Piesse is credited with creating the ‘odaphone’ – a scent scale, based on a musical scale - which he used to attribute the strength of odour to essential oils used in the creation of commercial perfumes. Today three notes are used to describe the perfume of essential oils – Top, Middle and Base.
Top note perfumes generally evaporate the quickest, usually within 1-2 hours. Middle notes usually last for 2-4 hours and base notes tend to last longest, some for up to a few days. Blending in a small amount of a middle note will make a top note last longer and founding the blend off with just a drop or two of a base note anchors it still more. Generally, the lower notes will dominate an essential oil blend if used in equal amounts so it’s important to make certain you blend the essential oils carefully to ensure a complementary fusion of perfumes. Absolute oils have a much stronger perfume than others so unless you want that perfume to dominate your essential oil blend, be sure to use smaller quantities than normal.
Aroma Family
Essential oils can be grouped together based on their aroma. Broadly speaking they fall under the following categories:
Floral Essential Oils | Earthy Essential Oils | |||
 |  |  |  | |
| Lavender | Jasmine | Vetiver | Patchouli | |
Woody Essential Oils | Herby Essential Oils | |||
 |  |  |  | |
| Pine | Cedar | Marjoram | Basil | |
Minty Essential Oils | Medicinal Essential Oils | |||
 |  |  |  | |
| Peppermint | Spearmint | Eucalyptus | Tea Tree | |
Spicy Essential Oils | Oriental Essential Oils | |||
 |  |  | | |
| Nutmeg | Clove | Ginger | Patchouli | |
Citrus Essential Oils | ||||
 |  |  | ||
| Orange | Lemon | Tangerine | ||
Essential oils in the same essential oil category generally blend well together and some groups blend well with others, as follows:
Floral essential oils blend well with spicy, citrus and woody essential oils.
Woody essential oils generally blend well with all categories.
Spicy and oriental essential oils blend well with floral and citrus essential oils.
Minty essential oils blend well with citrus, woody, herby and earthy essential oils.
Therapeutic blending
When blend essential oils for therapeutic purposes it is important to note two facts:
- Essential oils can have differing therapeutic effects depending on the time of day and quantity used. For example, peppermint and cypress oils can help relieve menstrual cramps but they are also energising essential oils so you wouldn’t want to use these just before going to bed. When used in small quantities, lavender has a calming effect, but in larger quantities it is a stimulant.
- Whilst some essential oils may be good for one condition they may have an adverse affect on another, so you must study each one carefully for any possible adverse reactions before blending the essential oils.
Once mixed, therapeutic essential oil blends work particularly well when used in electric nebulising diffusers where the essential oils’ molecular composition remains intact and true, not having been subjected to heat. As a result, the molecules remain in air suspension for a much longer period of time, meaning the therapeutic benefits last longer. For more information about electric nebulising diffusers or other ways of diffusing essential oils view our information page on diffusing essential oils.
Blending Tips
Start with a small quantity of organic essential oil so you don’t waste too much organic essential oil if your experiment isn’t successful. A good rule of thumb is to start with a maximum of 6 drops – 3 drops of a top note, 2 of a middle note and 1 of a base note oil and then alter to suit. If using a glass dropper to extricate the organic essential oils from their bottles, make sure you clean it before each use to ensure that the pure organic essential oils in their bottles are not contaminated.
Place the blended essential oil mix in a dark glass bottle, keep in a cool place away from sunlight and leave the essential oil blend to mature for a couple of days to see how it evolves. If you still like the aroma then mix larger quantities which can be blended with carrier oils if you want to use on the skin. For an adult body massage, essential oils should be used at a dilution ratio of 2% essential oil to carrier oil. For the face, essential oils should be used as a ratio of 1% dilution.
Label your essential oil blends clearly, keep written notes of the essential oil blends you create and keep exact records detailing the quantities of organic essential oils used so you can easily recreate essential oil blends you particularly like. It may also be useful to keep a note of whom you bought the essential oils from and any batch number as the quality and perfume of oils can vary greatly depending on the supplier/manufacturer.
To help inform you about essential oil perfume strengths, try experimenting with 1 drop of a selected essential oil to 5 drops of a carrier oil to get a 20% dilution. Once you have studied the aroma, add another 5 drops of carrier oil to get a 10% dilution so you can smell the difference and then repeat as desired. This can help educate you about the characteristics and strengths of each essential oil at various dilution ratios.
Storage
If stored correctly with the lids tightly screwed on, some essential oils can last up to 2 years. Citrus essential oils generally last for 6 months to a year, but some essential oils, particularly base oils such as Patchouli and frankincense, can improve with age. Make sure you date mark when you open the bottles so you know when you need to use them by.
Do not store organic essential oils next to homeopathic medicines as this can affect their properties.
Organic essential oils purchased from a reputable dealer should have an expiry date stamped on the label. The label should also show the botanical as well as the common name, and a batch number.
Organic essential oils that have been blended in carrier oil and kept cool and sealed should last up to 3 months before deterioration.
If you add the contents of a vitamin E capsule, this will help slow down the oxidation process and preserve your essential oil blends for longer.