RE: oil carriers

You can get perfume oils for burning, but these are just chemical copies of various scents, with no therapeutic value. Real essential oils are very concentrated extracts from plants which can be put in a burner (a few drops in some water), or blended in a base product such as grapeseed oil, cream or lotion, or even put into the bath (maxium 8 drops).

There are varying qualities of oils and varying prices. The best thing would be for you to get yourself a basic aromatherapy book so that you can understand the principals. Bear in mind that some oils are contraindicated in certain conditions, eg. pregnancy, epilepsy, high blood pressure, etc.

Lesley

RE: oil carriers

Lesley makes some great observations. The majority of oils out there are synthetic. The quality varies drastically. My recomendation is to use 100% therapeutic grade oils, which are more expensive, and will influence your emotional centre at a much deeper level. They also have medicinal properties. Believe me, you only have to open the bottle to notice the difference. Again, depending on the quality, the oils I use can all be applied directly to the skin, no carrier oils needed. Also with the quality you do not need to use as much of the oil as with lower grades.When diffusing, ideally oils should not be heated, though if you do not have a diffuser, put a drop in warm water.

Whatever route you choose with them, enjoy it!

RE: oil carriers

yeh im mostly into burning them, i dont really care to wear them on my skin or to get aroma thearpy out of them, i just like the smell, but this could all change like i said im a begginer i have just been playing with it. So is it bad to burn the oils im burning, i read somewhere that some oils are harmfull and that 75% oils on the market are scams and not the real thearaputic natural safe oils and it kinda made me scared to burn oils, i burn them everyday as long as im in my room so i figure if there bad im probly picking up some bad health problems from this.

im gona go back to this shop tomarrow to get a refill on one of my oils and on the way home ill stop at borders books and see if i can find something.

thanks for the help

RE: oil carriers

To be honest, burning the oils is the least concentrated way of absorbing them, so you probably won't be doing yourself any harm.

I wouldn't recommend anyone using oils neat on the skin if they haven't been trained to do so.

Lesley

RE: oil carriers

ok i have another question, when i use a carrier oil like my grapeseed the guy told me to put 3 quarters of the bowl carrier oil and then use about 5 drops in that, and that seemed like alot of dillution to me so i have been useing like 1 quarter of the bowl grapeseed and like 3 drops and its been working out, but after the 3 drops burns up its gone, do i need to change the grapeseed oil before i add a new oil or can i just put my new oil in the same grapeseed, cuz it would seem like a waste, that grapeseed doesnt really evaporate so i could get alot of uses out of one bowl of it?

RE: oil carriers

Hi there, always nice to hear of someone getting into using oils. I understand why you don't want to waste grapeseed oil. I have always used water to dilute oils in a diffuser not oil. 3/4 fill the bowl with water and then add the essentialoils as before. I've never heard of using oil in a diffuser and just wondered if anybody who has noticed a difference between this and water. To be honest I don't think I would feel safe using pure oil so near a naked flame.

Amandas

RE: oil carriers

Please don't use carrier oil in a burner as it is dangerous - it would be like a frying pan!

Only use water in a burner withtwo or threedrops of essential oil. Grapeseed or other carrier oil is used when massaging the oil (5 drops per 10ml maximum).

Lesley

RE: oil carriers

Totally agree with Aromababe here, please don't use carrier or base oils it is dangerous and surely must make a sticky mess.

Just another thought, you said you were getting a refill for your essential oils. It is worth checking that the oils are being decanted from dark glass bottles. If possible check when the bottle was opened and if there is a sell by date, also ask to see the botantical and safety information as true essential oils shouldn't be sold without this. I'm sure your oils are fine, but I want to make sure you are not being ripped off and your retailer knows what they are selling (I was just a little concerned about some of their advice).

Any questions, we are always here to help out.

Have fun experimenting!

RE: oil carriers

Hey thanks alot, i have been looking for a good forum like this forever and im glad i found such great help.
yeh at first i thought it was overboard on how much these oils coast, you can buy 5 bottles of 5/8 dram for 20 bucks and these bottles are tiny, and then its 1 dram for 15, im sure if i look around i could find something better quailty for the same price or less, i have seen oils on the net for way cheaper then that and there 1/2 ounce, its just kinda hard cuz im finding out each supplier has its own kinda scent, like one nag champa will smell a little different from someone elses brand, from my experience, anyway i watch them refill my bottles and they pull the stuff out right under the desk and its in a clear plastic bottle, i read on the net to keep it away from heat and in dark places to keep its aroma, i would like to try to find a new supplier where i can try some new stuff, unless you think that im doing fine where im at, i just need a little help to get goin here.

thanks

RE: oil carriers

aright i just tryed the water and the oil like floated on top and i didint see any smoke coming out and i couldint really smell it, although they said thes oils were perfume oils not essential oils and if i remember right the internet said essential oils are the strongest and need to be diluted, im more for the pure strong smell that lasts a while, so idk if i can get much more power out of these oils as i would like, so should i try some pure essential oils or just burn these perfume oils straight with no dilution?

RE: oil carriers

Hi there loveforoils,

Am loving this thread - you've got some great questions here.

The pure organic essential oils are way more powerful than the perfume quality oils.
2-5 drops in water will last all day (dependent on the size of your room!)

In fact 1 drop in a mug of warm water will last for 2-3 hours minimum.

I would advise against burning any oils- this is similar to putting bread in a toaster - completely changes the properties.

Re: books:
There are 4 schools of thought within aromatherapy-
1.The French prescribe essential oils for therapy, apply therapeutic grade oils neat, and take them internally. Not recommended with the vast majority of oils available in the UK which are pre-diluted and synthetic, high in synthetic phenols, etc.
2.The Germans use oils for the aroma, which sounds like the style you may beinterested in.
3.The Brits (UK) for relaxing aroma massage - primarily by diluting synthetic oils with a carrier oil such as grapeseed, and adulterating them further by burning them.
4.The Americans, who tend to have a similar practice to the Brits, but with a wider range of quality to their oils. Many of their oils are 100% organic therapeutic grade, which they then use for therapy, and apply neat, however, like us they also have no regulation, and also have the cheaper non-organic, synthetic oils, which they use for relaxation with massage.

Most of the books available are geared towards the standard practices with oils dependent on the country of publication. UK books will therefore give a large amount of contra-indications to application of neat oils, etc - purely because the quality of oils is not widely available here, and therefore the research done in the UK is biased to synthetic oils.

Books by people such as Dr Jean Valnet - "Aromatherapie" will therefore be completely contradictory of books by people like Valerie Worwood or Shirley Price.

As with foods, Oils vary in price dependent on quality, and whether they are organic or not.
However, as you noted, the quality shows, and the better the quality, the longer the bottle will last, you need less oils for a more sustained, more powerfull exerience.

RE: oil carriers

that was alot to take in, it sounds like you know your stuff though.

so if i understood that right you say your against burning oils?

im confused what synthetic and neat and all thouse terms are?

my room is about 12 by 14.

im not really looking for the aromathearpy style burning i just like how it smells in my room so is there any sites you can hook me up with where i can get some quality oils, cuz your right this perfume oil isnt cut'n it, it dies quick and its not to strong?

Thanks

RE: oil carriers

Just wanted to say how interesting I'm finding this thread. Its really got me thinking about the different uses essential oils have.

Amandas

RE: oil carriers

Explaination ofthe jargon.

Yes I am absolutely against buring oils.

1-2 drops sholuld last you a good few hours in a 12x14 room.

Synthetic - Many commercially retailed oils are produced with the aid of chemical solvents, and as such are synthetic - not 100% natural. Personally I would tend to stay away from these oils, again, the solvents interfere with the actual oil. Alternatively they are pre-diluted, again greatly reducing the quality.

Neat - This is application of oils undilutedby a base or carrier oil - usually a vegetable oil such as grapeseed. Most UK aromatherapists will only advise diluting with a carrier oil, as I mentioned, due to the low grade of most oil brands available here.

RE: oil carriers

ORIGINAL: maceuk
Neat - >>>>> Most UK aromatherapists will only advise diluting with a carrier oil, as I mentioned, due to the low grade of most oil brands available here.

If an essential oil's chemical compounds include a dermal irritant, the oil should not be used neat, it is not an indication of low grade of most brands, it can be an indication of good quality essential oils. Oils such as thyme with it's high thymol content and oregano are dermal irritants and should not be used neat, yet it's quite common practice in Raindrop therapy,most commonly found in the US, where they say the burning sensation is an indication of toxins being released - but if you look at the chemistry of the essential oils the "heat" is actually a chemical burn.
Most American's think aromatherapy is about making bathrooms smell nice and supposedly therapeutic grade essential oils come from multi-level marketing companies targeted at the bible belt supplying books like Essential Oils of the Bible with the bottles so people don't think it's some pagan ritual because they don't understand the power of essential oils. Aromatherapy in the US is about 20 years behind the UK in recognition, qualifications and regulations, hardly any organic oils are readily available, and the most commonly found supposedly "therapeutic grade" oils are from multi-level marketing companies.