My 2 Cents On Essential Oils

Essential oils are highly potent medicine that deserve to be used with respect & care.

I’m an old school herbalist and I truly and deeply believe in the use of WHOLE unadulterated/unprocessed herbs when used as medicine  (especially for internal use)- the way mother nature created them.

AND in the same breath, I admit that by using essential oils I’m a hypocrite!

Why? Because essential oils are just one active (sometimes the most potent) part of a plant’s medicine that has been extracted out of the plant as a whole, for its singular use.

Essential oils act as the plant’s immune system, a defense from outside disease through its powerful anti-microbial, anti-viral & sometimes even anti-fungal properties and as a attractant for pollinators. This is the reason they’re so potent.

Because of this valuable medicine- we as humans can use essential oils in a similar way to keep microbes at bay and protect our immune system, as well as many other valuable benefits eo’s offer us~ the pollinator part not so much 🙂

Let’s quickly look at how incredibly powerful essential oils in their extracted form are::

It takes about 10-16 lbs. of fresh Lavender flowers  (depending on the variety) to produce just over an ounce of Lavender essential oil.

It takes 60,000 Roses to produce just 1 ounce of Rose otto essential oil- which means that (depending on the variety of Rose blossoms used) there is an approximately 30-40 Rose blossoms in a single drop of Rose otto essential oil.

Like I said potent medicine.

This leads me to the question::  How Should Essential Oils be Safely, Properly, and Respectfully used?

My answer?

**Less is more.**

Essential oils are SO STRONG. I know we just went over that.

BUT just like anything else we take into our body- it needs to be processed by our bodies & most importantly the liver- which already has a tough job on it’s hands. Even though essential oils are “natural” keeping in mind how much we take into our bodies & how, is so vitally important. Many essential oils can act as potent anti-biotics as well, and while this is an amazing thing- OVER USE and incorrect use can be detrimental to our gut health & overall health with uneducated long term use.

***External use only- or rarely internally used.***

I love using essential oils for products applied to the skin. Massage oils, face creams, deodorants, perfumes, chest rubs, foot scrubs, heal all salves… you name it- essential oils are so versatile and helpful for many ailments & needs.  And you know what’s so great about using them in a carrier on our skin? Essential oils are so very easily absorbed into our blood stream to start working their magic right away! Whether it’s for insomnia, aches & pains, chest colds or when you just need a mood boost- using essential oils topically ( and diluted of course) is a potent ally! Our pores absorb more quickly than you’d think. Don’t believe me? Rub a clove of garlic on your feet. I promise within 5-10 minutes you’ll taste the garlic on your tongue! You don’t need to ingest essential oils directly to receive their magic & medicine.

I’ve found myself using this “K-I-S-S” saying a lot lately: Keep It Simple, Silly.

When whole herbs have so much to offer our physical body’s health in a safe and effective way, with all of it’s whole constituents in tact for just about everything under the Sun- for colds, flus, viruses, infections, inflammation, pain, insomnia, stress, cancer, bone health, pregnancy support- You Name It- There’s A Whole Herb For It- why take out the “big guns” (essential oils) when we really don’t always need it?

There are skilled aromatherapists that I greatly admire, respect & have even had the privilege to study with, who do use essential oils internally~ AND they have had years upon years of experience, use them for specific situations, know that whole herbs on their own have enormous benefits & when using essential oils, know how to safely dose themselves and clients they work with safely & properly.

***My exceptions:: I will occasionally add minute amounts of essential oils to my mouth wash, a couple drops to my whole spool of floss, or a single drop to a large batch of cough drops I’m making. A little truly goes a long way.



***Almost NEVER use on pets (especially felines).***

Back to the liver again. Every creature has to process anything it takes into it’s body whether internally or externally. Animals included! And since (particularly house pets) are smaller than us- their livers are smaller and have to work harder to do that very important processing! I avoid essential oils with cats all together – especially Tea Tree which can actually KILL your kitty friend. And I very, VERY sparingly use essential oils on dogs at all.  My go- to ally for fleas, ticks and other pests on my animals is in fact Neem seed oil- not an essential oil, but a pressed oil that can be diluted and applied to the fur of your pets safely, or even rubbed into their collars when needed.

***Rarely  use neat (undiluted and directly on skin)- always dilute.***

When you buy true, pure therapeutic essential oils- you WILL get what you pay for. So, really if you’re not diluting your essential oils you’re throwing your $ away. Remember Rose? Do you really need 30 Roses on each wrist daily for a little perfume? I think not. Dilute a drop or two in an ounce of oil or alcohol and it will last a lot longer & still scent you beautifully!

Also, some essential oils can irritate the skin- quite a bit when not diluted.  So even if you’re taking a soak in your tub, make sure to add a splash of oil or even whole milk to the bath water, then add the essential oils to the oil or milk, allow it to mix it around a bit and then enjoy your soak. Essential oils are fat soluble, so without something to latch onto in your bath water, your groin would get all of the essential oil attention which mostly likely won’t feel so hot:).

***Neat exceptions:: Tea tree is well known to be used on athlete’s foot, or directly on pimples.  Lavender has been used neat on severe burns in acute situations.



Just recently another  very important point was brought to my attention by a dear student around the sustainability of growing essential oils. No matter how sustainable & fair trade some essential oil companies are, they are often still “mono cropping” for the specific oils they sell which is absolutely not sustainable for the beautiful planet we are lucky enough to live on.

After hearing concerns from my student this July and then reading this article, I felt heart broken and frustrated about essential oils. So… I reached out to some of my herbie friends on Facebook… cause you know, it’s good for stuff like that::

“Hey herb lovers….
Are there truly no sustainable/non-mono-cropping essential oil producers out there on the market to support? Is the increase of popularity/demand/misuse of the eo’s pushing us to make the decision to stop eo use all together? Say it ain’t so! Although I’m a lover of whole herb use predominately, eo’s have a special place in my heart especially for the subtle but powerful support for the mind & spirit! I’d love to hear your thoughts…”

After posting this I was connected to Jessica Ring an artisan distiller, owner of Ring Botanicals,  who gave me the most incredible, powerful response…just what I’d been hoping to hear:

“As a small scale artisan distiller, environmentalist, ethical farmer, and herbalist, I fully believe it is possible to grow aromatic crops and distill them into essential oil without it being a burden on the environment. However, just like any farming practice in today’s modern monoculture system, the majority of essential oils feeding product lines like Doterra and Young living are coming predominantly from a) huge monocultured stretches of land in third world countries and b)from small distillation operations feeding into larger operations in which the little guy (the farmer, the distiller, ect) makes almost no money, and the exporter or distributor turns most of the profit. Some crops are just straight up over-harvested and need to be allowed time to regrow and become sustainable again. Rosewood, white sandalwood and many others are on this list. As mentioned in the posted article, Crop Watch is a great organization that tracks the environmental status of essential oil crops. In my opinion, the argument of volume of plant material vs the amount of oil derived is kind of a silly argument when you consider the potency of these oils is intense – and this is part of the beauty of using them……one can condense down whole fields of medicine into little bottles which can then be saved and preserved. On a single belt I can carry over 200 vials of essential oil – which is a veritable apothecary capable of treating anything from chronic skin conditions or muscle pain to acute infections. When I distill a field of lavender I know that every drop of that oil expands back out into my community, creating a greater sense of health and well-being, which is more than I ever dreamed the land could offer. I know, without a doubt, that the aromatic medicines I make serve a role equal to that which growing whole herbs on the property could……but there is even more to it than that: perfume is undeniable medicine for the soul, and it does not follow the same rules as tinctures, capsules, and salves: it is it’s own creature which we have treasured since we became herbalists, since the beginnings of our medicine people roots. We made hydrosols with essential oils floating in them and used them for medicine for almost 2,000 years before we even knew how to isolate the alcohol we all use in our tinctures today. Essential oils are OLD medicine, not some scary scientific biproduct of the industrial age. (This is not to say they do not need to be treated with great respect as the concentrated chemicals they are, or that they haven’t been bastardized to some extent by industrial innovation) The planting of aromatic crops vastly improves the health and diversity of the intricate network of pollinators that live around our land, which in turn forms the base of a food chain that supports all kinds of birds and other wild creatures. As this traditionally secretive trade comes into the bright light of social networking, old traditions are meeting new innovations……distillers run on solar panels and companion planted crops are just a few of the changes on the horizon. The water I use for distilling is recycled back into my garden, and I am now cooking many of my infused honeys and oils on top of my larger distiller since it acts as a giant double boiler. The condenser water heats my outdoor garden bath tub. The spent plant material is composted and goes back to the ground. The agricultural tax credit we are allotted here in Oregon is better spent on roses, lavender, catnip, sage, artemisias, mints, and all the other plethora of aromatics that can be grown here as opposed to the general mono-culture of douglas fir trees for christmas decorations. Is a pillow case of rose petals better made into ziplock of tea or is it better made into a couple of gallons of hydrosol? Can you compare these two things? Is one more “valuable” or “worthwhile” or more “sustainable” than the other? No, no they are not…..it all comes down to the value and end use. Purchase essential oils, love them, use them, but buy them from source when you can, or from people who directly support ethical distillers. There are hundreds of herbalists in the USA taking up distillation – the trade is going through an exquisite, exciting renaissance that is worth being a part of. Also, hydrosols, which are vastly underestimated and underused by American herbalists, are produced in quantity, even from small plots of land. Supporting your local distiller by buying, sharing, writing about, and popularizing the many medicinal use of hydrosols opens up an entirely sustainable herbal product market place for all small-scale distillers. I guess at the heart of it, for me, I continue to distill and make perfume after ten years because again and again I see aromatics catalyzing healing in surprising and beautiful ways. How we choose to cherish and value it, whether we choose to waste it or treat it like a “thing” that will do “things” for us, is up to us……..just like with our food. We each much make our own case-by-case informed decisions about what and where and who we purchase from. But in my opinion, it would be a very very sad thing to boycott a medicine so finely woven into our herbal traditions. Distillers, Alchemists, perfume priestesses are here to teach about the preciousness of nature. We are here to awaken memories, to heal wounds that words wont touch, that other forms of medicine cant reach.” Jessica Ring of Ring Botanicals

This single response from Jessica, gave me hope again! I love essential oils and I bet you do too. Let’s make informed, mindful and intentional decisions about whose essential oils we support and how we can safely and respectfully use their potent magical medicine- Yay!

This post was inspired by the resurgence of multi level marketing essential oils companies & the number of folks I see around me promoting the use of essential oils for internal use, (and not always with a qualified, educated practitioner to guide them) without having a broader scope of knowledge needed to understand what they’re using, how to safely use eo’s & guide others to use them and not knowing that there are so many other herbal options (tinctures! teas! syrups! glycerites!) that may more gently & effectively serve them & others.

Coming round full circle, I LOVE the world of herbs and all that it entails, and even though I prefer to use herbs in a more traditional way doesn’t mean that I’m discounting the other 100’s of ways to use herbs as medicine internally & externally – including essential oils- heck I love them!

AND at the same time~ just as I’m going to offer a client  a cup of tea or tincture for insomnia before I’d offer them a drop of essential oil in glass of water, I’m also someone who will offer clients diet & life style change support for an acid reflux condition, before sending them to the store to buy papaya enzymes or  acid reducers.

We are so blessed that we have such a broad spectrum of options available to us in our integrative health world as well as modern medicine world! And yet, it doesn’t mean we always have to reach for the “big guns” first.

K-I-S-S~ Always keep it simple!

In my experience, more often than not, the gentlest, simplest method of serving the health of your mind, body & spirit is often the most potent & effective.

Please do use herbs in all of there amazing, magical forms, and PLEASE DO be educated in how to do so with care, love, respect and safety!


***Some Additional Essential oil use tips::***

First of all, know what you’re buying.

Essential oils are not all created equal.

As mentioned above, be sure you know who you are supporting!

When you can support artisan distillers who create small batches either from sustainably wild-crafted plants or organically grown plants is always the best- for your use and the health of the planet!  These companies will not have hundreds of essential oil choices, but they will often have the most unique options and they’ll be made with extra love!

Ring Botanicals (Northwest essential oils)

The Cascadia Terroir (Tree eo’s)

Mike Stills (Oregon )

Alembics Essential Oils

Agarwood Indonesia (Indonesian)

Runcato  (Amazonian eo’s)

Sequim Lavender Farm

OfficinaLessinia (Herbal variety.. Artemesia, Achillea…)

 As for larger companies,  (whether you buy them from health food store brands or not) they will often add chemical “extenders/ lengtheners” which are blended with the real essential oils to make them last longer- and so they can make more $ selling them.  Do your research, ask questions, look for chromatography reports that are easily accessible online that you can check out. Companies that say they can’t share their “trademarked blends/recipes” more often than not, have something to hide.  Some of my favorite tried & true companies to work with for not only their quality therapeutic grade essential oils, but also for their fair traded, sustainable minded practices as well are: Floracopia, Mountain Rose, Nature’s Gift, Anatolian Treasures, …. For in store shopping in a pinch- Oshadi, Wyndmere & Aura Cacia are pretty reliable as well. ~ Remember you get what you pay for.

***Important~ Safe Dilution Rates for EXTERNAL use only:***

Essential Oils Are NOT Typically recommended for Children Under 5.

If you are PREGNANT IN YOUR FIRST TRIMESTER DO NOT USE ESSENTIAL OILS.

*FOR INFANTS use 1 drop on a pillow in their crib, or on the collar of your shirt when tending to them.

*For Elders & Children 5+yrs.  & Pregnant Women In Their 2nd Trimester

7-10 drops TOTAL  per 1 ounce carrier

*For Adults & Children 5 +

***10-15 drops TOTAL per 1 ounce carrier



***Therapeutic Dilution~ External Use Only- ie. massage oil for trauma/acute injury***

15-20 drops TOTAL per ounce of carrier.


***Please take note that all eo’s also have different strengths. Cinnamon, Eucalyptus, Patchouli, Ginger, Rosemary, Rose & Jasmine are all good examples of essential oils with high blending factors- meaning 1 or 2 drops max. for an ounce of carrier will do!

****Repeat after me- less is more.:) Avoid these stronger oils (Cinnamon, Regular Eucalyptus, Rosemary, Camphor, Ginger, Peppermint, Lemongrass…)  with infants & women who are pregnant.****

*Carriers can be anything from your favorite unrefined oil, water, witch hazel, aloe, sheabutter….. Note that essential oils blend best with oils because of the fat content. When using alcohol or water to blend with essential oils, the oils will float on the top of the liquid- so be sure to shake well before using.

Here’s more awesome info for eo use for children & pregnant ladies.

By all means enjoy the therapeutics and magic of essential oils, but please do so with great care, education and attention! xoxoxo

Questions, concerns, curiosities? Please don’t ever hesitate. XO Amanda

All of the information shared on this site is offered for educational purposes only. Please use all herbs under the guidance of your healthcare practitioner if you are pregnant, nursing, taking pharmaceutical medications or have a serious health condition.