So, you’re getting into making your own body products and household cleaners. You’ve found a supplier, you’ve found their essential oils section… and whoa. There are hundreds. And they all sound amazing. The reviews rave about how this one cured their epilepsy and that one healed a 2′ long scar. The descriptions promise calming, healing, anti-bacterial cleansing, and to solve all your problems. And they come in such tiny bottles that you start filling up your cart with little $2ā$10 bottles… and before you know it, you’ve got $400 of essential oils sitting in an online shopping cart, and you have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.
I’ve been there, and I hope I can help. Here’s a quick guide to buying your first essential oils. The reasons you’re buying them, the things you’ll use them for, and which ones will give you the most bang for your buck.
There are three big reasons you add essential oils to things. We’ll cover each use as their own department and go from there.
- Scent
- Physical effects (pain killing, anti bacterial, etc.)
- Aromatherapy effects (calming, sleep inducing, etc.)
Some of the citrus essential oils. You can tell they’re pretty inexpensive by the size of the bottles.
Scent
To me, this category is the most important, because if you hate the scent of something you’ll likely never use it. The “effects” categories are secondary (in my opinion) because there are very few tasks that only one essential oil can accomplish. So, start by thinking about what you like, and go from there, keeping in mind that not everything botanical has an essential oil (coconut, for exampleāhow sad!).
This is pretty much my entire collection of floral essential oils. With the exception of lavender, they’re pretty pricey!
To help you make some decisions, we can break the scents down into a few categories:
CitrusāFairly self explanatory. Things like lemon, orange, lime, tangerine, grapefruit, and bergamot. Many citrus oils (unless marked berapaten(e) free) can cause photosensitivity in the skin, depending on usage rate, so be sure to take care with those. They’re great for soaps and cleaning products thanks to their fresh smell. They’re also quite cheap, thanks to the plentiful oils in the skins of these inexpensive and easily available fruits.
FloralāEverything from lavender to rose, this category contains some of the most expensive essential oils around (pure rose essential oil will cost you ~$100/5mL). These oils are easily identified as they always come from flowers.
MintyāPeppermint and spearmint. Mmmm. Wintergreen is also fresh and minty smelling, but its high salicin content makes it a bit harder to use.
WoodsyāThese oils come from trees. Cedarwood, fir, pine, spruce, rosewood, and sandalwood all hang out in here. Oils like cedarwood and pine and fairly inexpensive, whereas sandalwood is quite pricey (~$50/5mL) and true rosewood is almost impossible to buy as the tree it is from is endangered.
SpicyāThis fantastic category of essential oils is great for soaps since the prices are generally quite good. Think cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and turmeric. You can generally choose from a variety of plant types and plant parts as well, which is always neat. The prices in this category vary between oils and over the seasons; when I first started cinnamon bark essential oil was very affordable, and as of 2018 it’s crazy expensive.
HerbaceousāFor this category, think basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, and other leafy things you might add to your food (don’t cook with their essential oils, though). Don’t be surprised when the essential oils don’t smell much like their leafy counterparts.
There are, of course, more categories, but these are the big ones. I’d recommend dabbling in the citrus, spice, floral, and minty categories to get started, and then working your way out from there.
I love woodsy essential oils! I just wish the scent would hang around longer in soap.
Physical Effects
You won’t be hard pressed to find essential oils that make a wide variety of claims towards improving your physical health. For this category, I’d recommend brainstorming up a list of ailments you’d like to target (pain, antibacterial, etc.) and researching which essential oils are said to help. There are almost always multiple oils for any ailment. Choose some that you think you’ll enjoy the scent of. My favourite way to do this research is to use New Directions Aromatics “advanced search” function. Ensure “search descriptions” is checked, and then search for your ailment. Something will likely turn up.
Spicy essential oils! You’ll likely recognize most of these names from your spice drawer.
Aromatherapy Effects
Again, the aromatherapy effects for most essential oils are numerous. I’d do the same as with the physical ailmentsālook up the ailment, and then choose one of the (likely numerous) options. Read reviews, go through the scent description, look at what it blends well with, and go from there.
I have a few herb essential oils, but I generally find them to bit a bit too food-scented for most lotions and what not.
A Starter Shopping List
- Lavender (~$6/15mL)āthe quintessential essential oil, lavender is calming, anti-bacterial, and blends well
- Tea tree ($3/15mL)āanother essential oil with mainstream popularity, tea tree is a great anti-bacterial and anti-fungal oil
- Lemon, orange, lime, grapefruit (pick 2 based on preference)($2ā$5/15mL)āfantastic for cleaning products and soaps
- Peppermint or spearmint ($3ā6/15mL)āyou’ll love these for lip balms
- Eucalyptus Globulus ($3/15mL)āgreat for skin ailments, sore joints, and colds & flus
- Rosemary ($5/15mL)ābalancing, good for hair, antiseptic/antimicrobial
- A favourite scent or two, so you’ve got something for when you just want something to smell awesome
This is my suggested starter kit.
Optional add-ons
- Chamomile ($15+/15mL)ācalming and awesome smelling (in my opinion, at least)
- Cinnamon bark ($17/15mL)āgreat for soaps and anything you want with a holiday scent, it’s also topically warming (case in point on pricing varying with seasons and crops: I had this marked at $3/15mL when I wrote this post, it’s now closer to $20/15ml!)
- Patchouliā ($4/15mL) for your hippy at heart
- Ginger root ($3/15mL)āgreat spicy scent & topically warming. Be sure to get CO2 distilled as the steam distilled stuff does not smell like ginger.
Well, I hope that helps! I’d love to hear about your personal must-have essential oils, and feel free to comment with any more questions you might have š
My collection isn’t as impressive, but it’s definitely getting up there! Great info š
Thanks, Sarah!
I love using essential ! But I was wondering if the properties of it stays in the soap in the finished product. The smell doesn’t last very long!
I haven’t found much good information on if the aromatherapy type benefits stick around through saponification… I have a sneaking suspicion that they may not as saponification can get quite hot. How much EO are you using in your soap recipes, and which ones? And how long is “not very long”?
I’ve found that the only EO that sticks around in soap is lavender. I’ve had some luck with citrus EOs [orange and lemon mostly]. Luckily lavender happens to be one of my favorites. Of course, I’ve read that the scent continues to fade after the soap is cured…
Agreed, though I would like to add patchouli and lemongrass to your listāI’ve had great luck with those sticking around for ages š Do you buy the 5 fold citrus EOs? That helps a lot!
You said the “woodsy” scents don’t hold up in soap. Is the same to be said about shampoo bars?
Syndet shampoo bars are much more forgiving to essential oils thanks to no saponification š
I also have a hard time with scent in soaps ,it just never smells strong enough.I also get supplies at New Direction .
How much EO are you using in your soaps, Hazel? The rule of thumb is 30g EO per 500g oils (or 1oz [by weight, not fluid] per pound of oils), but some essential oils are more volatile than others and simply will not last (pine, fir, and spruce come to mind!). You might also want to look into some “anchoring” EOs to help your blends last longer.
Would that be about 30 ml?
Not necessarily, it varies quite a lot depending on the density of the specific essential oil. 30mL of an essential oil will usually weigh less than 30g, though, as most essential oils are lighter than water.
This was a great article, I’m just starting to use essential oils for making my own cleaning and body products, not just to make my space smell pretty, and it’s over whelming and I get to the point where I need everything but it’s so much money and I don’t know where to start so I stop. This is exactly what I needed – and the timing is perfect. Thanks!
Thanks so much, Jenāglad to help š Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!
I have found myself in the same 400 dollar NDA cart dilemma before… Mainly I bought the ingredients to make your White Tiger Balm, and I have a few more to buy. š I would also recommend to go to a real supplier to smell some of the oils before purchasing them via NDA, in order to familiarize oneself with the smell. Thanks for some ideas on more oils to buy. The other night I had a dream I went into my pantry and it was full of essential oils!!
Ah yes, a common problem… I continue to have it, despite seemingly owning every essential oil ever already :/ It’s not just EOs, of course, because there are always new carrier oils to try, but oh my, does it all add up fast. And yes, your tip on heading out and sniffing the EOs you can find is a good one š My collection is so large that I usually have everything the smaller shops have at this point, though, lol. I should probably stop… heh heh. Like that’ll happen š And I can totally relate to your dream, lol… right now I am having that dream about closets full of complete Edwardian era costumes instead of shelves of fabric.
Marie, hi, we can keep the essential oils in the refrigerator, there is a lot of investment and we have to protect it
Yup!
Thank you for this information.
Much appreciated,
Kim
Thanks for reading, Kim!
Hi Marie,
Wintergreen is a great EO for sore joints, muscle aches and all sort of body aches in general due to its content in methyl salicilate. And also for that reason I would no recommend it to use on lip balms. I make a muscle salve for muscles and joints with arnica + devil’s claw + st. John’s wort infused oil, and adding wintergreen + lemon eucalyptus EO for this with great results (my father used it when he made The Way of Saint James in Spain and he told me it saved his life).
But mint, OMG!!! I prefer spearmint because it reminds me the old chlorophyll chewing gums I eat when I was a child, LOL. I make an “eau de cologne” (sort of) for my fiancĆ© that absolutely adores mint, with a mix of peppermint and spearmint (I think spearmint has more powerful scent than peppermint), with a tiny amount of cypress and a little hint of sandalwood to fix the perfume, and he loves it.
I think your starter kit is very reasonable š
That’s great info, MariaāI always knew it was good for painkilling, but never thought not to use it in lip balm as my favourite childhood mints were wintergreen mints, and they were super tasty. In the end I didn’t end up liking wintergreen lip balm (probably because it wasn’t as sweet as those mints/candies, lol), so I only ever made the one batch. Anyhow, I’ve removed it from the list as I obviously don’t want anybody chowing down on their wintergreen lip balm & ODing on my account š
That is a fantastic guide, many thanks Marie! It is very generous of you to share recipes, experience and information… Be well š
Thanks so much, Dechen!
You are so right, Marie! How did you know what I was thinking? š It is overwhelming to know what to start out with first and as far as essential oils the best and purist brands.
This helps a lot. I am going to put it in favorites. I always knew I was going to start with lavender and something citrus. I love cinnamon and apple scents in the winter. Is there something out there like an apple oil? Don’t laugh, I really am new at this and would like to make cinnamon and apple essential oil soaps for now. Thank you so much, Dawn
Glad to help, Dawn š Sadly, there is no such thing as apple EO (or any fruit other than the citrus ones, sadly… at least none that I can think of!). Thankfully, though, the majority of our scent associations with apples do have EOsāthat is cinnamon, cloves, vanilla (as an absolute), and nutmeg. So, you can definitely make something that smells quite a lot like apple pie with EOs š Have fun & thanks for reading!
what is the difference between an essential oil and an absolute??
Hi River Rose! It’s basically extraction methodāessential oils are generally steam or CO2 distilled, whereas absolutes are solvent extracted. This is because the plant matter used for absolutes (mostly flowers) is too fragile for steam or CO2 distillation.
Great intro guide Marie. My foray into essential oils began after I wanted to start making my own body butters. I know what my favorite scents are and I purchased those first, then began to branch out once I saw what other EOs they combined well with. For me price was also a major factor…I’ve stared down too many $400+ shopping carts to mention! š
A great thing to do [and Marie mentioned this] is to write down your DIY adventures making sure to list all of the oils, butters and EOs that you currently own. Last night I noticed that I have at least two of the SAME essential and/or fragrance oils, but from different suppliers. o_0
Please don’t make my mistakes! š
Thanks, Kristen! And yes, your tip on keeping an inventory is invaluable, I have definitely double-purchased things before. DERP!
I wish I had this guide when I started out š
Thanks, CatherineāI was thinking exactly the same thing when I wrote it š
If you are using essential oils for “fragrance-ing” a soap or rinse on/ off product, then the quality of essential oil you use won’t matter as much. But if you are going to be applying essential oils to your skin and want to use them for their physiological or emotional effects, it is important to source your essential oils from companies that provide GC/MS testing. This proves that you are using a therapeutic quality essential oil, not a food or cosmetic grade essential oil. This will effect the outcome you are trying to achieve.
Cary Caster, CCA (clinically certified aromatherapist)
thank you Cary
Thanks for this, Cary, it is always great to hear from an expert š
I wouldn’t use Wintergreen on lip balms either. Just cause ingestion may be dangerous. I say that cause the lip balms I make are for my kids usually and they tend to eat it. However Wintergreen is fantastic for headaches! I find that May Chang really helps anchor fragrance from essential oils in cold process soap. Especially citrus. Love the combo of pink grapefruit and may Chang! Have you ever tried using Tussah silk to your soaps? What a difference! It makes soap so much silkier!
I’ve removed it from the listāI loved wintergreen mints as a kid, but who knows what those were actually flavoured with, right? Likely not the real thing, haha.
I’ve never seen May Chang! What’s it like? And ditto to Tussah silkāI have silk peptides, but I can’t say I’ve ever tried those in soap. It does sound downright luxurious, though.
Hi Marie!
May Chang is Litsea Cubeba – I think you already have it. I think I saw one of your recipes using it… Tussah Silk is the silk produced by silk worms. They look like cotton candy. It takes awhile to dissolve in lye water but so worth it!
And yes I agree lemongrass keeps its scent in soap. I use it four my Hubby’s Shave soap.
Can’t wait to try your perfume!!
Oh, ha! I guess I have both of your mysterious luxury ingredients then, haha š I will HAVE to try silk soap, that sounds AMAZING! I have silk peptides so they actually dissolve quite readily in water, which should help speed things along. How much do you usually use per pound of oils?
Hi Marie
I’ve never tried directly adding powderized silk to soap. Only the Tussah Silk which is a ‘pinch’ per batch, which usually anywhere from 36 oz – 48 oz. I got excited once and added a bigger pinch and ended up with undissolved silk in the lye solution. Which was still OK.
I found this thread http://www.talksoapforum.com/cold-process-and-hot-process-discussion/hydrolyzed-silk-powder/ and it says that silk powder is the same as the silk in raw form, just already processed into powder. So effectively, it would be better to add the powder at trace. As long as your powder is the micronized and not the grainier kind, I’m pretty sure the saponification process will take care of it. Either way, silk adds such a luxuriousness to soap! I add it everytime!
Fantastic! That’s more or less what I was planning on doing… I am now dreaming up an uber-luxurious soap š Thanks so much for the inspiration & a fantastic idea, stay tuned for the results š
Hello Marie, I am wondering if you might have experienced with Myrrh E.O.? I find the scent of Myrrh most intriguing and intoxicating…
I am yet to experiment with it.
Also the first time I smelled Frankincense I was not terribly excited about it until I smelled it combined with Myrrh- I can tell you that it was such an experience…! I have heard both Myrrh and Frankincense have so many healing properties as well. Thinking about preparing a facial serum with them- any ideas?…
Thanks for you amazing blog. Best one I have found in a long time! š
Best 2u!
I don’t think I have… and yes, it is ridiculous that I cannot remember if I have or not, lol š I know I have some of the resins of each, but they aren’t overly fragrant after 10+ years (they were a childhood gift). I know I have Frankincense, though, because I JUST made a healing facial serum with it š And it works like a treat!
Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me!
is there a true therapeutic grade eo?
Also does anyone know the shelf life of eo’s. I recently unpacked some from 2002 when I was making lotions and other things. or trying too. now I am interested again. they all smell the same to me
There’s a great article about “therapeutic” grade EOs here, and I would definitely give it a read. Basically, it’s an unregulated term like “green”, and anybody can use it.
As for shelf lives, I’ve never had an EO spoil on me (dramatically change in scent, that is). As long as EOs are kept in cool, dark places, they should last at least a year or two. Sources & suppliers say the therapeutic benefits start to decline after that. If it smells seriously funky I wouldn’t use it, but other than that your old ones should be fine, if not as potent as they were.
Thanks for the article. I am enjoying this website and your blog.
great resource. thank you so much!
Thanks so much, Lynn!
Hi Marie,
I was just wondering what essential oils you would suggest to put in a lotion to relieve osteoarthritis/rheumatoid arthritis. I would love to make a lotion for my grandma who has extremely sore and painful joints in her hands. I have looked online and so far I have a huge list of potential essential oils I could use… but I have no idea which essential oils would work best AND that might actually be useful again after to make lip balms, lotions and soaps. I have been trying to put together a list on NDA for weeks now and I think I am finally nearing the end! Can’t wait to get everything in the mail!
Thanks for your knowledge!!
Alecia
Hi Alecia! I’d definitely recommend tiger balm for your grandmaāit has been amazing for me with sore muscles and aches & pains from illnesses. Unfortunately, out of all those essential oils, only the peppermint/spearmint are particularly useful for other things. Peppermint and wintergreen and two more popular, versatile pain killing EOs. The effect from most of those EOs is closely tied to their strong, camphourous smells, and unfortunately those smells aren’t generally sought out in lotions and what not :/ But, on the plus side they aren’t very expensive, and you will never have to buy tiger balm again!
Thanks for reading & have fun!
Hi Marie,
Thanks for your article(s) Marie! Lots of great reading for my Sunday mornings, and work-day lunch breaks š
Just wondering.. Your oils are from New Directions – safe to assume it’s your supplier of choice (for EOs)? Have you purchased oils from Saffire Blue? I can’t find any information about their oils, and not sure of their quality, or if they are of a therapeutic grade. It’s tempting, because I purchase most of my supplies there, but I’m suspect because information is limited… (and prices feel too good to be true).
Anyhow, if you have had experience with their oils, I’d love to know how it went!
Thanks, and have a great Monday!
E*
NewDirections and SaffireBlue are my choice of suppliers too. I’m a fairly regular customer for NewDirections but shop a bit (for a hobbyist) for SaffireBlue too. I’ve purchased most of my EO’s from NDA, mostly because of the MSDS availability and broad description and user reviews. I’ve only purchased a few from SaffireBlue – but didn’t find anything different from NDA – although I always thought pricing is better from NDA. There is one oil that I bought from NDA then bought from Saffire because it was cheaper but I reacted to the Saffire oil. Maybe it was a bad batch. Overall, I use user reviews to help me decide about the quality of the oils.
I also think both suppliers only sell cosmetic grade oils, not therapeutic. I think the latter also means it’s safe to ingest. And products from both suppliers say for external use only.
I do wish Saffire Blue had MSDS sheets and better information on their products in general, as well as better product images. Of course that would be an awful lot of work, but it would boost confidence in their products to be sure.
Here’s an interesting article on “therapeutic” grade EOs asserting that such a thing doesn’t truly exist as there are no certifying bodies for such a thing. Also, I am not convinced that consuming EOs is ever a good idea, regardless of what the supplier saysāespecially if they are calling their EOs “therapeutic grade” when such a distinction doesn’t really exist.
I agree with your comments here Maria. I preach it to all my friends and many of them are not fond of what I say because they are selling MLM products and think it’s fine to drink them, ingest them, etc and I think they are getting really bad information to help sell products that are being used unsafely.
Well said! Your supplier should never be your sole source.
Hi Ellen! Yes, NDA is my supplier of choice for EOs and many other things. I have purchased a few things from Saffire Blue, though just one EO, which I haven’t worked with yet. Their prices are pretty much on par with NDA, so I wouldn’t use their prices as a reason to discredit them. I have had good experience with other ingredients from them, and their FAQ says their EOs are 100% pure, though it makes no mention of grade. I would get in touch with them and ask, honestly. I’ve had good experiences with their customer service on the phone.
Thanks for reading!
I’m a little late to the game, and had a pretty good starter stock in my cart at new directions when I noticed that the minimum order amount had gone up to $100. While that would be super easy to do, that was not what I was planning on spending today…do you have another source for EO’s that you trust?
What country do you live in?
Hey Marie, I’m in the states. I actually just moved to South Carolina
I recommend Brambleberry. Com, great quality, reasonable and fast shipping.
Thanks, Kat!
I’ve heard good things about Brambleberry, Mountain Rose Herbs, and Lotion Crafter from readers, though I’ve never tried any of them as cross border shipping is horrible š
You guys are great!
Thanks so much, I’ll check them out for sure!
š Enjoy your shopping š
Dear Marie,
I am compiling a list of essential oils to buy and wonder what size bottles to get? Clearly they are cheaper in bigger bottles.. From your soapmaking instructions I see it is 30 g EO/500 g oils for making soap. But roughly how much does 30 g equate to? Any insights would be wonderful, Michele
Hi Michele! 30g is generally more than a 30mL/1oz bottle. So, if you intend to soap with an EO much, go for the 100mL size. If that’s too expensive, I’d recommend not soaping with it š Also, if it’s a scent you’re not familiar with, I’d err on the side of smaller. I’ve been stuck with a few big bottles of something that ended up smelling gross, and even if it was cheaper by the mL, it was still a waste of money :/ Most of my bottles are 15mL. My 100mL bottles are mostly the cheaper oilsālavender, cinnamon, citruses, and some odds and sods like lemongrass and benzoin š
Thanks!
š
Most excellent post! Thank you!
Thanks š
Thanks for the info, I am just starting out. I have this whole list to start buying so thank you so much I will definitely help of where to start. Now it’s not so confusing. Sincerely, Zada.
Happy to help š Thanks for reading!
Hi Marie, stumbled across your site not too long ago and have been busy since. Wow! Thank you for all this awesome info and recipes.
If I were to follow your recipes minus the EOs, will the effect of the soaps be very different? I’ve tried lavendar, tangerine, peppermint, patoulli, frankiscence (all from SoapandMore) and had a break out each time. I also don’t really like smells too much.
Thank you in advance for your response š
Hi Mai! This will vary hugely on what the recipe was supposed to do. If the EOs are there for healing or aromatherapy reasons, you will obviously be missing out on those benefits. If they are just there for scent, the performance should be about the same. Each entry should give you a pretty good idea of why the EOs are there š
Marie, I am in love with your posts. Got myself some ingredients, cant wait to try your recipes.
Awesome! Have fun DIYing up a storm š
What is your opinion of DoTerra essential oils
Hi Miriam! I don’t have much experience with DoTerra oils. From my reading, observations, and limited experience I would say they are nice EOs, but not nice enough to justify the dramatically higher price point. I find the DoTerra marketing model to be irritating, and I’m concerned about their tendency to encourage people to eat EOs, which are not overseen by any food safety body. It seems like their higher prices support their higher marketing costs and their MLM commissions. Personally, I’m perfectly happy with my MLM free EOs.
Hi Marie, totally agree about not ingesting eo. I think DoTerra are being very irresponsible. I am a nurse, and I was horrified to see a colleague shaking essential oil into her drinking water!! She said it was a DoTerra oil and she had purchased a ‘kit’ of eo from them costing a few hundred dollars !!! Not good. I have a really nice book from the 70’s /80’s called The Fragrant Pharmacy. It also encourages adding eo to food. I think that as we dont really know the quality or how they were made, and the bottling conditions, I def would not eat them.. The book is a really cool read though.
There are a few essential oils that end up in food (peppermint being the first that comes to mind for most people), but you want food grade essential oils for that purpose. Here’s a supplier with more info š
I was wondering do you have a page for essential oil combination mixes.
I have a few but would like to know so other combinations to try.
I have:
Spearmint
Tea Tree
Lemon
Sweet Orange
Lavender
Rosemary
Roman Chamomile
Do you know of any good combinations with these along?
Thank you
I really find your site informative and fun.
I have subscribed.
Thanks
Christine
Hi Christine! I don’t, though I’ve thought about it. In the meantime, try lavender/rosemary/tea tree, lavender/lemon, and lavender/chamomile/sweet orange š
Great article Marie! Have you ever done one on EO scents that work well together or scent combining?
I haven’t! The idea has been sort of floating around in my head for a while but I haven’t settled on a way to actually do it. What sort of angle would you be interested in? I was thinking a series of “ways with lavender/citrus/vanilla” etc but worry I’ll start to encounter too much overlap. What do you think?
Hi Marie, I hope you had a wonderful European adventure!
Well, let’s see, you could do a table with key EOs like lavender, vanilla, rose, orange, woodsy scents, etc., going down a column (these are off the top of my head, but I’m sure you have a better handle on this than me). Then another column a scent family (ie fruity, woodsy, floral). That would take care of the typical pairings, but then you have so many fantastic scent combinations, it would be a great way to link to some of your blogs. Or you could add a surprise pairing or combinations column to the table. I’d love a handy reference.
And sorry, after I sent you the note, I saw your answer to another blogger. You are fabu, so whatever you do will be welcomed!
Thanks, Kathy! I do like this idea and I’m continuing to turn it around in my head and see what I can come up with for something that seems like the optimal execution method š I’m thinking posts grouped by similar EOs (citrus, coniferous trees, floral, camphoraceous, etc.) so I can talk about swaps within groups as well. Hmmmmm. Thanks again!
Love your site! I have pored over many recipes in anticipation of making Christmas gifts this year š
I would like to ask about cinnamon essential oil – you mention a couple times in this article and comments that it is inexpensive, but browsing New Directions it’s quite pricey. I wonder if you are using cinnamon leaf oil (not the bark oil), and if so, if you find it sufficiently “cinnamony” (I’m thinking holiday baking scents!) Thank you!
Hey Tam! When I wrote this over two years ago, cinnamon bark essential oil was quite inexpensive. Unfortunately, that has changed. I’ve never worked with the leaf oil, it’s always been the bark oil.
Whatever you do, do not buy from saffire blue.
I never got items that I ordered (I recieved a refund), and had the worst customer service I have ever had. I’m spreading the word in hopes it stops other people from making the same mistake. Try coopcoco.ca or newdirectionsaromatics.ca instead, much better customer service from both companies.
Major bummer! Ugh š I’ve also heard good things about Abby here in Canada for more obscure EOs š
I laughed out loud upon reading your first paragraph. I have a few essential oils and got excited about making Christmas gifts, so I drove an hour to this amazing store to buy supplies. Found so many well-priced little bottles of EO…bill was $400! But I do have an awesome collection of EOs now š
The struggle is real lol… at least it smells amazing!
Marie my supplier start to sell a sample of essential oil in a little 1.5 ml plastic tube and i’m planning to buy loads but obviously not gonna use it in one go, so wondering is it safe to store the oil in the original plastic container?
Thanks
I wouldn’t buy essential oils in plastic, but I would recommend asking your supplier for more details on the testing they’ve done to ensure the specific containers they’re using are compatible.
Hello, Marie!
I am always happy to visit your site.
Can you do Balm of Gilead?
This is a biblical balm with miraculous properties. Cleopatra herself used it – for beauty, as a perfume and as a medicine.
Regards from Bulgaria!