Essential Oil Blending Basics

Creating your own fragrances is a playful art, requiring little more than intuition, imagination, a passion for aroma, and attention to a few simple guidelines. There are no absolute rules as to which oils blend well together, so feel free to experiment! But remember, your blend will be greatly enhanced by using the highest quality pure plant essential oils you can find.

Easy Aromatherapy Blends

Start small, mixing no more than 2 to 5 oils per blend and blending drop by drop. To get a feel for particular combinations of oils, put the bottle caps together and smell them, or use small strips of coffee filter or blotter paper. Working in a warm room will enhance the aromatic qualities of the oils. If your oil bottles are not equipped with dropper tops, measure oils with a glass dropper, rinsing it in isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) and wiping it off between each oil. Extremely thick oils, such as benzoin and vetiver, may need to be diluted with a little alcohol before blending.

Top Notes, Middle Notes and Base Notes

Most professional fragrances are composed of a balance of oils from these three different categories, which are based on oil evaporation rates. Once again, there are no hard and fast rules about which oils belong in which category or how much of each to use, so it is up to your nose and your intuition! This is the art of blending fragrant oils.

Top notes (5% to 20% of the blend) have the fastest evaporation rates. These are sharp, penetrating scents that you notice first when you smell a blend, and include citrus, needle oils, eucalyptus and mints. In general, top notes are considered stimulating and refreshing.

Middle notes (50% to 80%) are soft and balanced and usually make up the majority of a blend. They include oils like roman chamomile, lavender, geranium, and petitgrain. Middle notes are considered harmonizing.

Base notes (5% to 20%) Having the lowest evaporation rates, base notes are deep and heavy and are used in blends as fixatives (see glossary). Many are resins, gums or woods and may be quite viscous (thick). Base notes, which are considered relaxing, include angelica, benzoin, balsams, myrrh, spikenard, patchouli, vetiver, jasmine and ylang.

Aromatherapy Blending Tips

Allow blends to age a week or more before adding them to carrier oils. Usually, a 10% - 15% dilution of essential oil to carrier oil is appropriate for perfume applications and 5 - 15 drops of blend per ounce of carrier oil for healing massage blends. If you don’t immediately love your creation, be patient. Blends undergo great transformations as they age, and over time your ‘mistake’ could evolve into an aromatic treasure.

Storing Essential Oil Blends

Store your finished blend in as small a bottle as possible (amber or cobalt blue glass bottles are best). Aromatherapy blends (and all essential oils) should be kept cool, away from direct sun. To make a perfume, mix the blend with a small amount of carrier oil (jojoba is ideal), distilled grain or grape alcohol.

Be sure to keep detailed notes and label all of your blends so you can reproduce your successes or adjust blends that do not satisfy you. Keep in mind that essential oils tend to vary somewhat from crop to crop, so a reproduced blend may differ slightly from your original.