Dilution Chart

Why is diluting essential oils important?

Undiluted, or also commonly known as “neat”, application of essential oils on skin is a topic with many divided opinions. Many blogs debate the issue, often offering a variety of personal anecdotes. The general consensus among professional aromatherapists is that you should not apply undiluted essential oils onto skin, unless professionally advised and guided to do so.

Safety and essential oil dilution are inextricably connected to one another. Using an essential oil directly out of the bottle, without diluting it first, can quickly become a one-way ticket to sensitized, irritated skin, or worse. According to world-renowned Essential Oil Safety Expert Robert Tisserand, essential oil dilution has two primary safety concerns. “One, to avoid skin reactions: irritation, sensitization, and phototoxicity. Two, to avoid systemic toxicity, such as fetotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, carcinogenicity, and neurotoxicity. Adverse skin reactions are obvious when they happen, but systemic toxicities may not be. Skin reactions are totally dilution-dependent, and safety guidelines exist to minimize the risk.”

Simply put, we dilute essential oils before applying to the skin to minimize adverse reactions and systemic toxicity. Applying undiluted essential oils to your skin can easily cause short term or long term adverse reactions, and there is no good reason to take the risk.

Diluting not only saves your skin, but your bank account will appreciate it, too. Diluting with a carrier oil before applying to your skin prevents the essential oil from evaporating as fast as it would if not used with a carrier oil. This reduction in volatility means that more of the essential oil’s therapeutic properties are able to absorb into your skin, it can be spread over a larger area, and you will use less essential oil overall.

Check out the sourced carrier oils that MrandMrsNurse have available.