| The question is often asked, "How do I create my own essential oil blends?". The creation of an essential oil blend is really more of an art than a science (unless you have your own lab). Trial and error is usually the route taken, but this can lead to excessive waste of the essential oils. The following are some suggestions for minimizing any waste.
When initially deciding which oils you would like to include in your blend, don't sniff them while they are in their bottle, rather put a drop on a Q-tip and wave it under your nose. Sniffing straight from the bottle is likely to overload your olfactory senses and make sniffing the next oil more difficult. You will need to occasionally clear your nose, so we recommend that you step outside and take in a few fresh breaths of air through your nose.
There are seven basic scent "types". Examples are - FLORAL (Rose, Lavender etc.),
- Wood (Sandalwood, Frankincense, etc.),
- Citrus (Orange, Lime, etc.),
- Herb (Rosemary, Sage, etc.),
- Spice (Cinnamon, Clove, etc.),
- Mint (Spearmint, Peppermint, etc.) and
- Camphor (Eucalyptus Globulus, Pine, etc.).
There are also three basic scent "notes". A scent note is the feel of " aromatic weight" that an oil has. For example; - TOP note (lemon, peppermint, etc.) is light and airy,
- Base note (Sandalwood, Cedarwood, etc.) is heavy and will linger, and a
- Middle note (Hyssop, Tansy, etc.) is more difficult to detect as it falls somewhere between a top and base note.
To make a good blend, you will need to balance the strengths of the oils. Generally you will have smaller quantities of base note oils and larger quantities of middle and top note oils. Start out using the top and middle note oils. It takes just a small amount of base note oil to dramatically change the scent. If you start out with a base note oil, you will be surprised to find out how much top and middle note oil it takes to change the scent. We have found that using 3-5 oils in a blend provides the best result.
Your first oil, should be the one that you want to be the theme or characteristic of the blend. Start off with 10 drops of it in a bowl. Then add a drop of your next oil, blending it with a clean Q-tip. Wave the Q-tip 4-6 inches away from your nose and sniff. Move on to the next oil and add a drop to the blend and mix with the same Q-tip. Repeat the sniffing process. Keep a record of the drops of each oil that you add, so that you can duplicate the scent in a larger quantity when you are through. Pay attention to where in the first round of adding oils you liked the scent the most. This is the group of oils that you will want to add the most drops of to the blend. We use the following rule to determine if we are on the right path or not. If you have more than 20-25 drops in the blend and don't like it, throw it away and start over. The blend is probably getting too complicated to control.
Now that you have your sample blend, it is time to make it in a larger quantity. We typically make our next size in a 1/2-oz. bottle. A 1/2-oz bottle will hold 450-500 drops of oil (depending on the viscosity of each oil). So let’s say your blend contains 20 drops. Take 450 and divide by 20, this equals 22.5. Round down to 20 and then multiply the drops in your sample blend by 20. So if you didn't add more of the first oil, which was 10 drops, then 10 times 20 = 200 drops, and so on.
Following this process will help you create good blends, while minimizing the any waste of oil.
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