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Our Aromatherapist Answers Frequently Asked Questions about Essential Oils
We work with many Customers daily, and get a lot of questions asked about Essential Oils.
These include: How to Use Essential Oils?, Which Essential Oils should I to Use?, Which Essential Oils are good for Headaches?, How to Dilute Essential Oils?, Can I Apply Essential Oils without Diluting?, How many drops of Essential Oils to add to an Essential Oil Diffuser? and many more.
Here are the Questions and Answers, but we also encourage you to to do your homework and research, even if it is just to have a basic, and independent, understanding of Essential Oils. Some of the Questions may sound "odd", but if they are here, they were asked.
There is a lot of information on the internet. It may be quite overwhelming to sift through the facts vs fallacies, but this is part of the learning and with time you will learn to differentiate between good and questionable information.
The earth laughs in flowers.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1) Which Essential Oil should I buy?
Choosing an Essential Oil depends on your purpose, and depends on how you will be using the Essential Oil. It is difficult to answer a general question as this, but some useful and versatile Essential Oils most homes may want to have around: Lavender, Peppermint, Lemon, Tea Tree, Eucalyptus.
2) How to use Essential Oils?
a) Diffuse >> with an Essential Oil Diffuser or Nebulizer
b) Inhale with an Aromatherapy Inhaler >>
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c) Dilute for Topical Application >>
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3) How much Essential Oil should I use?
a) Diffusion: depends on diffuser capacity
- Plant Therapy Aromafuse
(380ml ~500 sqft coverage): 6 - 10 drops*
- Plant Therapy Novafuse
(70ml ~269 sqft): 5 to 8 drops*
- Plant Therapy Forest Friends
(145ml ~484ml): 6 - 9 drops*
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*Adjust up or down a couple of drops depending on strength and intensity of scent, and your preference.
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b) Plant Therapy Aromatherapy Inhaler: 10 - 15 drops onto cotton wick. Top up when scent fades.
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c) Dilute for Topical Application: check the instructions on the back of Essential Oil bottle, then click here >> to calculate
4) Should I buy a Single or Synergy Essential Oil where both indicate properties for the same purpose?
There is no one answer to this. Different Essential Oils may work differently for different individuals.
For some, and for certain conditions, a Single Essential Oil may work effectively.
Essential Oil Synergies may sometimes work better because of the additional effects of the other Essential Oils.
An experienced Aromatherapist >> may be able to provide you with a better informed decision.
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PT Diffuser Specs
5) Which Plant Therapy Diffuser should I buy?
It depends on the size of your space. Please refer to (3) above for specifications, and details >> here.
6) Is the device / diffuser I bought from ABC shop/brand ok to use for diffusing Essential Oils?
It's not possible to answer this - the best is to refer to the instructions that comes with it or ask the merchant. Sending us a photo or the instructions will not help since that's asking us to validate someone else's product we have no knowledge of.
7) What is the difference between XYZ Brand and Plant Therapy Essential Oils?
It is unethical to compare Brands that way when there is an obvious conflict of interest - but we can say that Plant Therapy is recognised as one of the Top 10 Essential Oil companies, and it has transparent 3rd party test reports to certify the authenticity of its 100% Pure Essential Oils. These are available for every Essential Oil at planttherapy.com
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We also advise Customers to do their own research - there are a lot of independent reviews and opinions online which support the Quality, Reliability and Effectiveness of Plant Therapy Essential Oils.
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As many of Plant Therapy Customers have come to realise, Plant Therapy Essential Oils are superbly priced making them highly affordable for almost anyone to benefit from the natural goodness of Essential Oils.
8) Can I apply Essential Oils directly on my skin?
The simple answer is: NO. Absolutely Not.
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We get this question frequently enough to feel really concerned.
We have personally seen the consequences of individuals who went ahead and applied directly anyway - because the internet says it's ok, another essential oil brand says it's ok, my friends say it's ok. And even better - "it's only Lavender what...".
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We even get an occasional individual who try to persuade us to tell them it's ok to apply without dilution. Having seen cases ending up with bad skin reactions that required a doctor's visit and medication, we simply don't understand the resistance against something that is pretty much basic safety cautions.
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Just as we do not drink concentrated juice before diluting, we do not use undiluted Essential Oils (and which probably have worse consequences!).
9) The Plant Therapy Lavender Essential Oil I bought does not smell the same as the Lavender they use on me at spas and salons. Is your Lavender Essential Oil authentic?
Hmmm. We received that question once. Can't speak for the spa but Plant Therapy has GC/MS reports for all its Essential Oils certifying their authenticity and purity levels.
Also, to cover the question here as well on how the same Essential Oil can sometimes smell different:
Plant Therapy and many other sites have discussed this, and basically Essential Oils are extracted from plants and flowers - much depends on the soil, soil conditions, climate, etc and this will affect the scent of the resulting Essential Oils.
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This is similar to the fact that fruits and vegetables are all different, even from the same batch.
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If you are doubtful, check with the Essential Oil manufacturer. Most of the authentic and ethical ones will be able to provide reports.
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10) Can I apply Essential Oils directly on my skin?
The simple answer is: NO. Absolutely Not.
We get this question frequently to feel really concerned.
We have personally seen the consequences of folks who went ahead and applied without dilution - because the internet says it's okay, my friends say it's ok, another essential oil brand says it's ok... and "but it's only Lavender what...".
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We can't stop anyone doing what they want and we don't quite understand the resistance against something that is pretty much basic safety precautions.
But please, do have a thought about the fact that we have no idea what these extremely powerful Essential Oils are doing to our insides.
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Just as we don't drink concentrated juices before diluting, we don't use un-diluted Pure Essential Oils (which probably have worse consequences).
11) I had a bad reaction after I used Essential Oil directly on my skin - is it true that I cannot use the same Essential Oil in any way ever again?
Yes, it is true that you can't.
The reaction has caused a condition called Skin Sensitization >> this means that you can never use that same Essential Oil again in any way - diffuse, inhale, dilute to apply - without getting another bad reaction in some way or other.
"But the Essential Oil will be wasted!".
We had a customer who ended up in more visits to the doctor. It's really not worth it.
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12) I have been applying undiluted Pure Essential Oils on my skin for years with no problems.
There are cases of people who do not show any outward reactions from applying Essential Oils neat or without diluting first. However, the question is : how do we know that the Essential Oil absorbed into the blood stream is not creating some sort of effect on our tissues and blood?
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We have seen plastic bags melting from a drop of 100% Pure Essential Oil.
So whilst a person may not show any skin reactions,. we cannot be completely certain that there will be no effects internally or any other long term effects.
13) Can Essential Oils be ingested (consumed)?
This an extremely controversial subject which has different views. On our part, we would definitely take the opinions of experts such as Robert Tisserand who is globally acknowledged to be one of the foremost experts on Essential Oil safety.
Quoting Robert Tisserand from https://tisserandinstitute.org/safety/safety-guidelines/
Whilst it is indicated in the same article that "One or two drops of most essential oil can be safely taken in a day, but more than this is not recommended." ...
He also states that "Do not ingest essential oils unless advised to do so by a practitioner who is qualified/licensed to prescribe essential oils in this way."
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14) Are your Essential Oils Safe for my Kids?
How old are your kids? That's a question we often find ourselves asking in return. Yes, age does matter.
a) Firstly, Read the Product information on the website or Essential Oil bottle label you purchased the Essential Oil from.
b) Plant Therapy KidSafe Essential Oils are formulated for 2 - 10 years old.
c) Can you use Plant Therapy KidSafe Essential Oils for babies? Yes but with a lot of caution - the following Plant Therapy links have excellent information
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Infant and Toddlers : Usage Tips for using Essential Oils on Babies.
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Hydrosols : We love Hydrosols, which are gentle and effective for babies to adults, and a huge variety of uses.
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Infant Massage : How to use Essential Oils to massage babies.
15) Can I clean my baby's chair that he is chewing on with Plant Therapy KidSafe Essential Oils?
Yes you can, but you do need to ensure that the Essential Oil has been cleaned off thoroughly after it has done its job.
1) Dilute the Essential Oil (Plant Therapy KidSafe Germ Destroyer for instance) in a mix of Distilled Water and Isopropyl Alcohol or White Vinegar.
2) Spray and wipe the areas you want to clean with the blend - leave for a few hours.
3) Wipe down with a clean lightly moist cloth - let it air dry.
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16) Can I mix all the Essential Oils I want to benefit from all together?
We don't recommend this approach.
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This is because without knowing the exact proportions of the other Essential Oils in the synergy blend, it is not possible to know what effect the outcome may achieve. Additionally, you may end up with an undesirable scent.
Lastly, it is not advisable to attempt treating several different conditions by combining different Essential Oils this way. Just as it is unheard of for one medicinal tablet to treat for instance a combination of gastric, headache and insomnia issues, Essential Oils do not work that way either.
17) Is it a good idea to blend my own Essential Oils?
Absolutely! In fact, that is a good way to learn about Essential Oils.
For a start, do note that certain Essential Oils go well together to address certain conditions, and in fact may even strengthen the overall effect desired. But the same Essential Oils may not go well together scent-wise.
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Essential Oil Blends are usually created by Aromatherapists who are trained to understanding the synergistic value of different Essential Oils. But you can get many DIY recipes from Plant Therapy's website, and check each Essential Oil listing which states the Essential Oils that blend well together.
18) Can I mix one or more Plant Therapy Essential Oil Synergies together, or Singles to Synergies?
The same answer as (16) applies here.
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Plant Therapy Essential Oil Synergies have been specially formulated by its experienced Aromatherapists for specific conditions and purposes. We would not recommend adding any other Essential Oils to them, Singles or Synergies.
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However, if you need any advice on this, please contact aromatherapist@planttherapy.com. The best advice is always from the actual source.
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There are also different ways of using Essential Oils for different conditions to maximise their benefits.
Check out this page often. There are a lot more FAQs we will be adding.
If you are in need of immediate answers, you can consult our Aromatherapist.
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