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This section takes you beyond the simple use of essential oils to ways the oils are combined with each other and other ingredients to create aromatherapy products.

6.1 Blending and Formulating

Whether blending to achieve a synergistic health-enhancing effect or to create a personal fragrance, the combining of essential oils is an art that is both creative and rewarding. Although becoming a master blender can take years of practice, there is no reason you can't have some fun and start making blends as soon as you know the basic essential oils.

 Here are some steps that can help get anyone started.

1. Know your oils individually first. While a master blender may know hundreds of oils, you can start with a basic list of 15 to 20 and add more oils to your repertoire as you become familiar with them. Take your time and evaluate each essential oil. Place a few drops on a blotter and evaluate the aroma over several days (or until it completely evaporates). Note how the aroma of the oil changes as it evaporates and write down your impressions of both the aroma and how you feel about it. If blending for a health-enhancing effect, look up the oil in a good aromatherapy book after you complete your evaluation and add notes on the oils listed benefits.

2. Oil Volatility (rate of evaporation). Essential oils evaporate at different rates depending on their chemical components. The lighter oils (such as eucalyptus and the citrus oils) evaporate quickly, while the heavier oils (such as patchouli and myrrh) evaporate more slowly. A good blend of oils will use a combination of high, medium and low volatility oils in order to create a balanced fragrance from start to finish. The really slow evaporating oils can also be used as fixatives—that means they help fix, or hold, the scent (slow the evaporation) of the other oils in the blend and keep the fragrance from changing too much as it evaporates. Sandalwood is one of the best fixatives because it blends well with so many other scents. Other good fixative oils are patchouli, vetiver, myrrh and cedarwood.

3. Aroma notes. The fragrance of each essential oil is characterized by a top note, middle note and base or dry-out note. Essential oils are sometimes designated as top note oils, middle note oils and base note oils on the basis of their volatility rates. (More about essential oil volatility.) A good blend must have a balanced top, middle and bottom note. When blending, it's important to consider how well notes of different oils interact with each other.

4. Keep it simple. When starting out use no more than three to five essential oils per blend. Use one or two drops of each essential oil, that way if your blend doesn’t come out the way you want, you can start over with very little expense. As a rule of thumb, use one to two drops of low volatility oils, two to four drops medium and 5 to 6 drops of high.

5. Keep it fun. No need to worry about creating the perfect blend. Keep practicing and have fun.

6.2 Other Formulation Ingredients

When your aromatherapy customer buys high quality, pure essential oils, they will want to use them with other natural high-quality materials. Many of the materials commonly used with essential oils such as vegetable oils, salts and wax can be derived from non-natural sources or processes or contain preservatives or other additives. Your customers will be happy you offer natural alternatives, and it's a great opportunity to direct customers to other products in your store.

For lotions and massage blends use expeller pressed vegetable oils such as olive, apricot and avocado without chemical preservatives such as BHA and BHT that are added to most “mass grocery store” oils. For bath salts, unrefined, natural, Dead Sea and sea salts are a good choice. Salt should be free of chemical free-flowing agents. To make body sprays, poultices or steams, use natural spring water. For salves or lotions, natural beeswax, cocoa butter, coconut oil, shea butter or soy wax make good thickeners. When making natural aromatherapy cosmetics, massage oils and spritzers for more than a single use, store the leftovers in the refrigerator. Adding natural vitamin E or using vegetable oils such as wheat germ that are high in vitamin E can extend shelf life.

6.3 Carrier Oils

Expeller pressed (cold-pressed) vegetable oils are an excellent vehicle for diluting essential oils before applying them to the skin—they help soothe, soften and nourish the skin at the same time. Avoid using solvent extracted oils (except grapeseed, see below) or oils with preservatives such as BHA and BHT.

Some of the most commonly used carrier oils and their properties are listed below.

Sweet Almond Oil is cold-pressed from the same almonds we eat. It is neutral in color and aroma and is economical. It is also good for all skin types, rich in protein and very soothing and lubricating on dry, irritated or itchy skin. Massage therapists like it because it provides just the right amount of glide.

Apricot Kernel Oil is pressed from the pits of apricots. It is pale yellow in color and has a faint aroma. This nourishing oil is especially good for prematurely aged, sensitive or inflamed skin. Because it is a lighter oil than sweet almond, it is often used in body oils and lotions.

Avocado Oil is a thick, luscious, penetrating oil, rich in vitamins and pressed from the avocado fruit. It is dark green in color, has a pleasant aroma and is used on all types of skin. It is best when blended at 10 to 20% with lighter oils.

Cocoa Butter is made from the roasted cocoa bean (the same place we get chocolate) and is solid at room temperature. It is used in cosmetics and body lotions as a thickener. It is skin softening and lubricating and melts on contact with skin, making it ideal for use in salves and balms.

Coconut Oil is high in saturated fats and closely resembles the fat found under human skin. It is solid at room temperature so it's usually warmed on low heat until it melts and then blended with other oils at 10 to 50% concentration. Especially good on damaged, dry, itchy or sensitive skin.

Grapeseed Oil is solvent extracted from the seed of grapes. Since this is one oil that is not available expeller pressed, some people may prefer to avoid using it. However, it is preferred by a number of massage therapists because it is a light, odorless oil and works well for all skin types. It is very penetrating, and its slight astringency helps to tighten and tone the skin.

Jojoba Oil is actually a liquid wax rather than a fatty oil and is similar to the skin's own sebum. It forms a very thin, non-greasy protective layer upon application that rapidly penetrates the skin (without blocking pores), making it useful in nourishing formulas—but not by itself for massage. Jojoba is very healing and soothing when used on inflamed or irritated skin, and helpful in all sorts skin conditions. It is generally blended at levels of 10 to 20% with other oils. Because it's a wax, it is very stable when blended with other oils and helps extend their shelf life.

Olive Oil is a wonderfully soothing oil—great for dry or inflamed skin. Olive oil is often blended with other oils at 10 to 50%. It's also a great oil to use as a base for making herb-infused oils for use in salves or medicinal oils. Olive oil is loaded with vitamin E, and it has the longest shelf life of any of the natural vegetable oils.

Rosehip Seed Oil is very rich and often used on dry, scaly, burned or scarred skin. It should not be used on blemished, oily or acne-prone skin. Because of its high cost, it's generally blended with other oils at a rate of 10 to 20%.

Sesame Seed Oil is a thick oil used for softening and rejuvenating all types of skin. It's often blended with other oils at 10 to 20%. Long used in Ayurveda as a base for medicinal preparations, sesame seed oil contains a natural preservative that helps prevent rancidity.

 Shea Butter is a semi-solid fat obtained from the seed of the fruit of the karate tree that grows in Western Africa. It's used as a cosmetic on ageing, sensitive and damaged skin.

Vitamin E is a natural anti-oxidant. It's added to natural skin care products (1 to 2%) to help extend their shelf life and for its beneficial anti-oxidant effects on the skin. Vitamin E can be natural or synthetic. The natural forms are those that use a “d” as their prefix (as in d-alpha tocopherol), while the synthetic forms use a “dl” (dl-alpha tocopherol).

6.4 Fun Formulas

To get you started formulating your own aromatherapy products (and having some good aromatherapy formulas to pass on to customers), we've gathered here a number of Frontier trainer Tim Blakley's favorite formulas. We invite you to reinforce what you've learned in this chapter by choosing one to try (or adapt).

Review Questions Section 6

1. What is meant by essential oil volatility?  Why is it important?

2. What is meant by top, middle and base notes?

3. What is a carrier oil?

4. What make jojoba oil such a good carrier?

5. Why is vitamin E often added to natural body care products?

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