Why Is This an Issue?

Essential oils have become a hot trend, of late.  There’s good reason for this, in my opinion.  Essentials are compact & simple to use, which makes them quite convenient.  And they’re pretty effective for a lot of things.

This popularity comes with a downside, though.  Direct sales essential oil representative get a bad rap — and understandably so.  Ive heard some pretty crazy claims and seen some pretty foolish “recipes.”  And it’s true that there isn’t typically any training required for those who are selling oils.  But don’t paint them all with a broad brush, either.  Just because there isn’t any training required to sell them, that doesn’t necessarily mean that no one selling oils has any training.

Which is all to say that balance and wisdom are called for in this area as in any other (especially those to do with health).  I don’t think there’s call for panic over the abuse or mis-education in this arena.  But I do believe there’s call for caution.  And it occurs to me that, although I use essential oils with care and caution, and teach it when I’m one-on-one with people, I’ve never directly talked about it here on the blog, and I definitely want you to have that context!  So here you have 6 keys to using essential oils safely:

1. Recognize Their Potency

Essential oils are very, very concentrated.  It takes hundreds of pounds of plant matter to distill just a few ounces of essential oil.  That’s part of their appeal: you only need a very little bit.  (We’re talking drops.)  But it also means that more is not better.  More is…overdoing it.

Essential oils don’t exactly equate to teas, because water-soluble and oil-soluble compounds are different, but to give you a general idea, a single drop of peppermint oil is roughly equivalent to twenty-five or more cups of peppermint tea!  Keep that in mind when considering an essential oil for use.  Five or ten drops of an oil may not seem like much, but would you drink 125-250 cups of tea at a sitting?

Moderation is important.

2. Choose a Trustworthy, High-Quality Source

I typically use & recommend certain brands and, obviously, I believe they’re good quality.  (Otherwise I wouldn’t use or recommend them!)  I don’t believe that nothing else is high-quality, though.  Of the two biggest-name direct sales companies I’m familiar with, I would personally be comfortable using one, but not the other.  There are other sources I’ve used, as well, prior to finding the brands I use.

Whatever you choose, be sure that the oils are of high quality (the biggest indicator will be that they work!) and that you trust the company to be telling you the truth.  That means they have to not be intentionally deceptive, of course.  It also means they have to be knowledgeable enough to recognize good oils and to give accurate information.

3. Let Dilution Be Your Default

It will always be safer to use your essential oils diluted.  (A good general guideline is 1-2% for children [less for babies/toddlers], 3-4% for adults, with the higher end of the range being for more strongly therapeutic purposes, and going even lower if you’ll be applying the oil over large portions of the body.)  Some essential oils may be used “neat” (undiluted), but the wisest, safest use of oils views this as the exception, rather than the rule.

The only oils I would personally use neat with any regularity would be lavender (useful for cuts, scrapes, and burns), tea tree (useful on fungus), and possibly frankincense (useful for a variety of things, including in tandem with lavender, and used by some as a treatment for migraine).  Even so, I use these diluted far more often.

Some oils are “hot” (think “spicy” hot — it’s kind of a similar concept) and can burn the skin if applied neat.  Others may safely be used neat on occasion, but will cause sensitization much more readily than if they’d been used diluted.

For all these reasons, it is safest to simply default to always diluting unless and until you know exactly what you’re doing using a given oil neat.

4. Ingest with Extreme Caution, or Not at All

Whether or not essential oils should ever be ingested is a matter of much debate and, to a large extent, personal choice.  However, I will unequivocally state that the approach some “oilers” have toward ingestion is irresponsible and dangerous.  If you choose to ingest at all, I recommend the following guidelines (in addition to the other safety recommendations throughout this post):

• Never, ever, ever ingest oils undiluted.  Ever.  The flesh in the mouth and throat is not the same as the skin on, say, your hands.  It’s much more tender, and can readily be burned.  Essential oils do not dissolve in water, so water is not a very effective carrier.  It’s better to use something fatty, like milk, or to use honey.
• Never, ever, ever ingest an oil you aren’t 100% certain is safe for ingestion.  Not only does your oil need to be of sufficient quality for ingestion, it’s imperative that you’re sure the variety is safe for ingestion.  Wintergreen oil, for instance, is highly toxic — as in, fatally toxic (even in rather minute quantities) — if ingested, despite being perfectly safe to apply topically.
• Consider ingestion a “last resort.”  Okay, maybe that’s not the most precise way to word that, but just don’t ingest if you don’t need to.  Most therapeutic ends can be accomplished just as readily by applying the oil to your skin as they can by consuming it, so it makes sense to use the more cautious route.  (Using a drop or two of oil — like orange or lemon — to flavor a full batch of a food is a whole different thing, in my opinion.  Although the other cautions still apply.)
• Be mindful that things like lip balm will end up in your mouth by virtue of going on your mouth and exercise the appropriate cautions.  (e.g. Don’t use wintergreen oil to flavor your lip gloss!)

5. Use Extra Care with Children, or While Pregnant or Nursing

When certain essential oils are recommended against for children, this is not just an arbitrary thing.  Of course there will be some flexibility on the age delineations because children are individuals, but it’s wise to stick fairly closely to those guidelines because they’re in place for a reason (or reasons).

Children’s bodies are, obviously, smaller.  Remember how potent we said essential oils are?  Well, consider that you’re applying that same potent substance to a much tinier body, and I’m sure you can understand how it’s possible for something to be too effective!

Children’s skin is also more permeable (as is “pregnant” skin).

The development of a young one’s body is at a different stage than an adult (of course), and the same is true of a pregnant woman’s body, of her unborn child’s body, and of the body of a nursing baby.  Certain compounds in certain essential oils interact with these developing bodies in ways that are harmful, even if they aren’t to the non-pregnant, non-nursing, and/or general population.

And some of these harmful interactions are pretty serious.  Did you know that certain oils can actually cause impaired breathing in young children?  It’s your body, or your child’s body, and you are ultimately responsible.  So once you know what you’re doing and why, there will probably be times when it’s okay to make an adjustment based on that knowledge.  But do be aware that these age recommendations are made to keep children safe, not to be obnoxious, and don’t just blithely disregard them!

(A couple really good, understandable resources for essential oil use and children are this page and this page at LearningAboutEOs.com.)

6. Be Careful Who You Trust

I don’t think someone has to be a certified aromatherapist to know her stuff.  I don’t think being “an MLM consultant” inherently makes someone untrustworthy.  (I know some amazingly knowledgeable people who sell for various oil companies.)  But I do think some wisdom and caution is in order.

If someone is recommending ingestion left and right, be wary.

If someone doesn’t show any concern for dilution, be wary.

If someone doesn’t seem to know anything about certain oils being contraindicated for children, be wary.

And most of all, if someone is not willing to acknowledge where her knowledge ends, be wary.

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Disclaimer: None of these statements have been evaluated or approved by the FDA.  I am not a doctor or health care provider.  I’m simply a mom like most of you, working to be educated in an area that is both useful to and fascinating to me.  [UPDATE: And now a trained aromatherapist.]

Updated Nov. 16, 2020.  Originally published Dec. 31, 2014.