Every week on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest I get questions about blending:

“Liz, how strong a blend should I make for my husband’s sprained ankle?”  

“Liz, I want to use essential oils on my children but don’t know how much is safe.” 

“Liz, how many drops of essential oils should I add to cream for my face?”

These are all great questions, and I’m so happy when I get asked!   It tells me that people understand the potency of essential oils and that they need to be used with care and respect.  There can be uncomfortable, even dangerous, consequences when used incorrectly.

Diluting essential oils is the best practice to follow when applying your oils topically. A few drops really can go a long way when diluted. Using undiluted essential oils is a quick way to get sensitized or irritated skin.

Essential oils are extremely concentrated therefore, understanding dilution is key to safely and effectively using your essential oils.

To dilute essential oils, choose the best carrier oil and dilution that’s appropriate for the issue you are addressing.

Why Dilute Essential Oils?

Here are 4 reasons to dilute essential oils with a carrier oil:

1. To reduce the possibility of unpleasant reactions, skin irritation or sensitization
2.  A more sustainably responsible way to use essential oil
3. A more economical way to use essential oils
4. To get the added benefit offered by the specific carrier you choose.

Common Carrier Oils for Essential Oils

Fractionated Coconut Oil: This is my personal favorite as both an aromatherapist and massage therapist. It is completely odorless so it doesn’t interfere with the aroma of essential oils and is colorless which is nice when you want to feature the color of something like pink Himalayan salt or blue essential oils.  It is very stable with an almost indefinite shelf life.

Jojoba Oil (Wax): Jojoba is actually a liquid plant wax. It’s a favorite among aromatherapists because it is similar to our skin’s natural sebum making it popular in skin care. It has no aroma and a long long shelf life. It’s a popular carrier for skin massage blends and roll-on recipes as well as for making salves and ointments. Being a wax, it will get hard if left in a cold location.

Avocado Oil: This carrier is gorgeous and high in vitamin A and vitamin D. I love it for dry or irritated skin or simply for a heavier carrier in the winter. It is fairly stable and has a shelf life of 1-2 years.

Sweet Almond Oil: A wonderful carrier oil that has emollient, softening and nourishing properties on the skin. Perfect for all ages, including children and babies. Avoid if you have nut allergies.

Rosehip Oil: This is a more costly carrier, but worth every penny. Rosehip oil has properties that are amazing for mature skin and scarring (especially nice with Helichrysum essential oil)

When NOT to Use a Carrier with Essential Oils

1. Diffusion: Do not add a carrier oil to your diffusion apparatus as the heavy oil will damage your diffuser.
2. Nasal Inhaler:  When adding drops of essential oil to the cotton wick that slips inside the inhaler, it is not necessary to use a carrier, though many people do that.
3. Aromatically: When you’re simply sniffing from the bottle.

Essential Oil Safe Dilution Guidelines

Here is a general guideline to go by for diluting essential oils. Keep in mind that some essential oils have maximum dermal levels for safe use so that would need to be considered. You can always check the Essential Oil Safety book by Robert Tisserand for the dermal level.

Phototoxic essential oils should be given extra attention with topical application. I have a podcast episode all about using phototoxic essential oils. You can listen here: AWP 036: Phototoxic Essential Oils

There are also some essential oils that should be avoided, regardless of dilution when blending for pregnant or breastfeeding women, children, and people who have special medical conditions and illnesses.

Below I’ve made a simple chart you can print out and keep at your blending table for easy reference.   These are the dilutions we use in the classroom at the Aromatic Wisdom Institute. When in doubt, use less! 

Weight of Carrier	1% dilution	2% dilution	3% dilution
1 ounce	5-6 drops	10-12 drops	15-18 drops
2 ounce	10-12 drops	20-24 drops	30-36 drops
4 ounce	20-24 drops	40-48 drops	60-72 drops

2% DILUTION — This dilution is used on adults in good health for blends that support skin care, natural perfumes, bath oils, and blends you use every day or long-term.

3% DILUTION — This dilution is used when creating a blend for an acute injury, pain relief, or getting through a cold or flu.  Blends made at this dilution are used only for a week or two.

Neat:  Using essential oils  “neat” (meaning undiluted – essential oil without any carrier) is inadvisable except in very specific situations.  There are two reasons for this:  1) you can develop a sensitivity to the oils, and 2) many essential oils are too irritating to use without dilution.   Oils can be used neat as follows: In small specific areas, in acute situations (cut or wound, bee sting, bug bite and burn), and for short-term use.  These must be the highest quality, non-oxidized oils.

Essential Oil Dilutions

Below you will see the drop count you need for each common-size bottle used with essential oils. It includes 5 mL, 10 mL, and 15 mL bottles. These sizes are usually for roller bottles and smaller single oils or blends with an orifice reducer in the bottle to count out drops. The larger-sized bottles are 1 oz, 2 oz, and 4 oz and are frequently used when creating massage oil blends, beard oil, and body and facial oils.

1/6 oz (5 mL) Carrier Oil

5 ml = 1 teaspoon 1% Dilution: 1 drops total 2% Dilution: 2 drops total 3% Dilution: 3 drops total 4% Dilution: 4 drops total 5% Dilution: 5 drops total 10% Dilution: 10 drops total

1/3 oz (10 mL) of Carrier Oil

10 ml = 2 teaspoons 0.5% Dilution: 1 drops total 1% Dilution: 2 drops total 2% Dilution: 4 drops total 3% Dilution: 6 drops total 4% Dilution: 8 drops total 5% Dilution: 10 drops total 10% Dilution: 20 drops total

1/2 oz (15 mL) Carrier Oil

15 ml = 3 teaspoons or 1 tablespoon 1% Dilution: 3 drops total 2% Dilution: 6 drops total 3% Dilution: 9 drops total 4% Dilution: 12 drops total 5% Dilution: 15 drops total 10% Dilution: 30 drops total

1 oz (30 mL) of Carrier Oil

1 oz = 6 teaspoons or 2 tablespoons 0.5% Dilution: 3 drops total 1% Dilution: 6 drops total 2% Dilution: 12 drops total 3% Dilution: 18 drops total 4% Dilution: 24 drops total 5% Dilution: 30 drops total

2 oz (60 mL) Carrier Oil

2 oz = 4 tablespoons or 1/4 cup 0.5% Dilution: 6 drops total 1% Dilution: 12 drops total 2% Dilution: 24 drops total 3% Dilution: 36 drops total 4% Dilution: 48 drops total 5% Dilution: 60 drops total

4 oz (120 mL) Carrier Oil

4 oz = 8 tablespoons or 1/2 cup 0.5% Dilution: 12 drops total 1% Dilution: 24 drops total 2% Dilution: 48 drops total 3% Dilution: 72 drops total 4% Dilution: 96 drops total 5% Dilution: 120 drops total

Don’t worry if your blend doesn’t have the exact number of drops the chart is recommending. That’s why it’s called a “guideline.” It can be a challenge to get a precise measurement because of the varying viscosity of essential oils. Further, not all orifice reducers (the plug inside the essential oil bottle) are the exact same, meaning drops are not uniform.

Does this answer your blending guideline questions?

Do you have something specific you’d like to ask?  Please do!

Just put your question in the comments section below!  

Related Posts:

• Mistadventures with Essential Oils (aka Dumb Things I’ve Done with Essential Oils!)
• Essential Oil Safety Guidelines (or “Dumb Mistakes I’ve Made with Essential Oils”)
• Essential Oil Sensitization Reaction. Would You Know If You Had it?
• AWP 043: Essential Oil Blending for Acute vs. Chronic Health Issues
• AWP 037: Essential Oil Sensitization: Are You at Risk?