You
have already spent a lot of money to grow your collection of essential oils.
Now, you can’t wait to try making your own blends and other DIY recipes to
share with your family and friends. In order to do that, it is also equally
important that you are equipped with the right tools and accessories so that
you can better enjoy your essential oil journey.
Here
are the essential oil tools and accessories that you will need to get started.
1. Carrier Oils
We
already know the fact that one should not use undiluted essential oils for
topical application. Due to this, you need to use carrier oils to dilute
essential oils to a safe level. If you’re making your own essential oil blends,
then it is recommended to use lightweight carrier oils with neutral scents
(e.g. fractionated coconut oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil).
2. Rollerball Bottle Opener
Image Credit: Chocomoose (Shopee)
I
remember those days when my fingernails are all chipped from trying to remove
rollerball bottle caps. This little opener tool is truly indispensable as it
can easily remove rollerball caps of all sizes, even orifice reducer caps. They
are available in either plastic or metal variants (the metal ones are
sturdier).
3. Glass Rollerball Bottles
Image Credit: Chocomoose (Shopee)
The
most exciting part about aromatherapy is creating your own essential oil blends
for therapeutic purposes. That is why I always have stocks of glass rollerball
bottles in my DIY arsenal. I usually buy 5ml and 10ml amber or cobalt-blue
glass rollerball bottles. My special preference is ones that have metal roller
balls rather than plastic (metal roller balls are colder to the touch when
applied on skin).
4. Essential Oil Bottle Cleaning Brush
Image Credit: Of All Things Great and Small (Shopee)
It
hurts my heart to throw away my empty essential oil bottles so I normally clean
them up so I can reuse them on future DIY projects. The perfect tool for this
task is a cleaning brush (in various sizes) for essential oil bottles.
5. Mini Funnels
Image Credit: Teensy and Weensy (Shopee)
If
you’re buying essential oils in bulk sizes to save money or to sell them in
smaller quantities, then mini funnels make it a lot easier and mess-free to
transfer oils into smaller bottles.
6. Pipettes
Image Credit: Chocomoose (Shopee)
If
you happened to buy an essential oil bottle that doesn’t have a dripulator
(orifice reducer), then you can use a pipette in placed of dripulator so you
can still measure your essential oils in drops. I prefer to use disposable
plastic pipettes. It is never a good idea to reuse plastic pipettes as pure
essential oils will eventually break the plastic over time. I also make sure to
use a separate pipette for each essential oil to avoid cross-contamination.
7. Essential Oil Organizer
Image Credit: Handicrafts Atbp
Even
though essential oil bottles are small, it is still a good idea to organize
them for ease of access. The most popular one is a wooden storage box that has
multiple slots for each essential oil bottle. Each slot can hold 5ml, 10ml and
15ml essential oil bottles.
Image Credit: Chocomoose (Shopee)
If
you are always on-the-go, it is nice to buy a travel-sized essential oil hard
case pouch so you can bring your most commonly used essential oil vials and
roller blends with you.
8. Glass Stirring Rod and Glass Beakers
Image Credit: Beautynbottles (Shopee)
Image Credit: Beautynbottles (Shopee)
Undiluted
essential oils can cause plastic materials to melt. I learned this the hard way
when I used plastic medicine cups to pre-measure my essential oils (not yet
diluted in carrier oil) and to my horror the plastic cups just melted! Due to
this incident, I decided to invest on good quality glass stirring rod and glass
beakers (of various sizes) that are made from borosilicate glass (e.g. same
material used in Pyrex). Glass materials
are highly suitable for stirring and blending essential oils since they are
heat and chemical resistant. Also, it is a lot easier to remove oil residue
from glass materials compared to plastics.
9. Protective Gloves and Safety Goggles
When
working with essential oils, it is very important to protect our skin and eyes
from accidental spills which can cause chemical burns. You do this by wearing
protective gloves and safety goggles when handling essential oils.
10. Sticker Labels
To easily
identify your own essential oil roller blends, place sticker either on top of
the lid or on the body of the rollerball bottles. Make sure to use both
waterproof and oil-proof sticker labels.
11. Essential Oil Diffusers
The
most popular method of using essential oils is to diffuse them (release them
into the air). There are different types and sizes of essential oil diffusers
available in the market. Aside from the common table top essential oil air diffusers,
there are also what we called “wearable” (e.g. necklace diffuser) and
“portable” (e.g. USB-powered car diffuser) diffusers.
12. Notebook
Image Credit: Plant Therapy
I
find it really helpful to own a dedicated notebook where I can record all of my
essential oil blend and other DIY recipes. It’s like an essential oil diary. Nothing
can be more frustrating when you can’t recreate the perfect blend that you have
previously formulated. If you want to be fancier, you can even buy a journal
specially designed to track essential oil inventory, recipes and notes. One
example I saw on the Internet (which I’m not sure if already available in the
Philippines) is the Plant Therapy Organizer and Journal. It even has an essential oil dilution chart included
for quick reference during blending.
How
about you? What are your favorite tools and accessories related to essential
oils? Share them on the comment section below.
P.S.
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