How many times have you brought home a product you recently purchased that needs to be assembled? I can admit that there have been many occasions where I would purchase a product that required assembly and just jump in and start putting it together without any care of following the instructions. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. You may be asking yourself what this has to do with essential oils. It has everything to do with them in the sense that instead of flipping through a booklet of instructions, you can turn an essential oil bottle around and read them right on the bottle. The biggest mistake an essential oil user can make is not being educated on how to properly use each essential oil.
Not all essential oils are the same
In the world of essential oils, there are many different vendors that sell essential oils and blends. My family has decided to use Young Living’s essential oils. You can read here why we chose Young Living. On every bottle of essential oil that we have from Young Living, the label tells us how to use the oil and how much to use. Some oils are referred to as “hot” oils. This doesn’t mean that they are literally hot, it means that they may cause higher skin sensitivity than others due to their constitutes.
Because of this, you would need to dilute those particular essentials oils. Some essential oils can be applied to your skin as “neat” (meaning without dilution) and it usually says so on the bottle. Some essential oils can also cause photo-sensitivity, which can last up to 12 hours. These are primarily the citrus-based essential oils. This means that if you use these essential oils and go out in the sun for extended lengths of time or in a tanning bed, it can result in serious burns. The oil itself will not burn you, but the combination of the citrus essential oils and the UV rays could.
How to know which essential oils can be taken internally
Many essential oils have a disclosure on the label, such as “not intended for internal use” or “not for ingestion”. I have had essential oils like this before that should be for ingestion but still had this on their label. This, of course, was before we learned more about the quality of essential oils and blends we were getting at low cost. I would never ingest these for the very fact that they may not be pure essential oils. Some may be synthetics or have other additives in them. It could even go all the way back to the way the raw sources were grown and harvested. Young Living has a line of essential oils distinctively labeled (Vitality) for use as a dietary supplement and safe for ingestion. Many of these have a great taste and I enjoy adding them to water on a daily basis (see “A Day in the Life of an Essential Oil User“).
When you pick up a bottle of Young Living’s essential oil, you can automatically assume its intended use by the color of the label. The solid color label (in the case of lemon essential oil as shown in this picture) is intended for topical and aromatic uses. The white label is what is known as a Vitality essential oil and has an intended use as a dietary supplement. It is important to understand that not all of Young Living’s essential oils have a Vitality essential oil counterpart;. This, however, doesn’t mean it is not generally regarded as safe (GRAS) according to the FDA.Check out the FDA’s GRAS list for essential oils
How to apply essential oils topically
As I mentioned earlier, some essential oils can be used “neat”. My favorite way to use essential oils topically is by using a roll-on bottle filled with a carrier oil and essential oil. This is a great way to have oils you can carry with you and have ready for use when needed. Another great benefit of doing this is to have the essential oils diluted for use with children. Their bodies are not the same as adults. Therefore, the dilution they need is a little different than an adult would use.
Young Living already has a KidsScents line of essential oil infused products just for kids. When it comes to kids, everything is different when it comes to doses and amounts of a product or essential oil.
Final thoughts
When you become educated about essential oils, you will gain a better knowledge of their uses and which ones you would want to use in different circumstances. Being a certified aromatherapist is not required to use essential oils. It is just simply all about learning how to use essential oils properly. Sometimes we mess up and make mistakes, but the most important thing is to read the labels of essential oils so you know you are using it correctly. This way you won’t be making the biggest mistake an essential oil user can make. Happy oily journeying!
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