5 Tips for Avoiding Essential Oil Disasters

essential oil disasters

While essential oils are generally safe and doing any real harm is not a big concern, it is possible to have what is called an essential oil disaster. Nearly everyone who has used essential oils for any extended period of time, will experience an essential oil disaster, however, there are ways to limit and avoid them. Here are five tips on how to avoid essential oil disasters.

1. When using a hot oil, always dilute first with fractionated coconut oil or another carrier oil. The easiest way to do this is to use a roller bottle. An example of this is with cinnamon and cassia. When I got my first bottle of cassia essential oil, I opened it up and loved the smell so much, I wanted to use some right away. I knew that it was a hot oil so I mistakenly thought that if I added a few drops to some of the unscented lotion then I could rub it on my arms and legs and it would be fine. Well I did it and you can guess what happened. I almost caught on fire, my legs and arms turned bright red and burned a lot for about 2 hours. So I learned my lesson and I won’t do that again.

2. While you want to avoid analysis paralysis, it is still a good idea to spend a few minutes learning about each essential oil and the best ways to use it, before you use it or before you help anyone else learn how to use it.

3. When in doubt remember that less is more and that one drop can go a long way.

4. Avoid using citrus oils on the skin before going out into the sun. You can still take them internally and diffuse them however.

5. Before using an oil internally, make sure you are using an oil that is pure enough for internal use, and double check the list of oils that are considered by the FDA to be GRAS. If in doubt, don’t use it internally.


Did this help you? If so, I would greatly appreciate a share on Facebook, twitter, linkedin, or pinterest.

Recent Posts