Q&A: Essential vs. Fragrance (synthetic) and Carrier Oils

Hey everyone,

With the addition of some new recipies to the blog, the following has been a more popular concern in the old inbox. 😉

Q: I have been experiencing some skin irritation using essential oils, and also, I like the scent of the fragrance oils better – AND the cost of several essential oils is prohibitively costly. Is there some “happy medium” here?

A: Of course there is. 🙂

Firstly, your essential oils may be diluted when using them in an anointing oil (especially if you chose to wear it on your skin as well.) Certain essential oils, such as clove essential oil, were, in the past, used as a topical anesthetic, so its actually quite normal to have certain oils create skin reactions with the “full strength” essential. 😉

Also, I hear you on the “fragrance” thing. 😉 I have a few oils of which I am incredibly fond of this or that company’s synthetic scent over the true essential scent. 😉 Azuregreen’s Cypress, for example, is a big favorite of mine…but I also have cypress essential oil because I want the full herbal properties in ritual use. First and foremost, condition oils were not always created with the idea of being aesthetically pleasing to the nose – I’d guess a strong majority were not, because they are, for the most part, intended for RITUAL use. 😉 When I’m stirring up a batch of Black Arts oil, I’m not usually wondering “Hmm, would people wear this as a purfume?” because I actually would hope you don’t. 😉

However, when making a Come to Me or a Follow Me Boy or a Love Me oil for someone else, I have a strong idea that the person may wish to wear this as a purfume or cologne (or as a compliment beneath their regular cologne.) Also, I have created some recipies wherein the scent itself is part of a psychological trigger (usually love oils,) in a target. For example, according to Draja Mickaharic, strawberry scent is good for drawing proposals of marriage (think of Mama Cat’s Marry Me Boy oil); according to more than one source (I can think of Mr. Mickaharic and Papa Jim and my friend’s Nana as mine,) sweeet pea scent draws love and friendships, or…vanilla is thought of as a good scent to draw men with.

The psychological value of the scent is an important factor if you know this may be used as a purfume because many people WANT a magic/kal purfume. 😉 Women especially (in my experience) tend to view several oils as needing to be able to work as such. Since several of the love style oils (and many luck oils,) carry a rather nice scent (IMHO,) without much – if any – effort on the creator to add in a synthetic scent aspect (for example, many love oils are already quite floral without the addition of any “smelly” oils,) this isn’t really a difficult problem. 😉

However, as the original concern of skin irritation and price has come up, that IS a concern. If you know someone is going to wear your anointing oil as a purfume/cologne (or can assume its likely,) you should take steps to ensure the oil can be safely handled by anyone smart enough not to eat it, and take steps to make it affordable (since rose attar was some absurd price in the hundreds for half an ounce last I checked.) 😉

There are a few options…

Dilute: You can dilute an essential oil a number of ways. The most common one is to add a bit of olive oil or another carrier oil (almond oil is another favorite,) to the essential. The less scent of the carrier oil, the better. Years ago, someone gave me a half ounce of “rose” oil which was about 1 drop rose attar to a half ounce of jojoba oil…it smelled like jojoba. 😉 I have had good results with olive, grapeseed, and almond oils as carriers – vitamin e should be added if you are using a carrier oil as well. Be sure that there is enough of the essential oil in ratio to your carrier oil to be able to still SMELL your essential in these cases.

You can also add a few drops of the true essential to your fragrance oil to dilute it if you are fond of the scent of the fragrance oil over the essential…

OR

Don’t use the essential oil at all… Either put your herbs in a carrier oil base and allow to sit a few days before use, or use a synthetic fragrance oil to which you have added real herbal matter (to allow herbal vibrations to enter the oil.)

Since I ALWAYS recommend adding real herbs to any ritual oil (regardless of your use of essentials, carriers, or fragrance oils,) to increase its power, your herbs in the oil base should be doing the work you want. 😉 The essential oil is pure distilled herb, so its powerful…and can be too powerful for some skin types. This skin-reaction problem could be helpful if your intent with the oil is to cause harm (mwahaahahahah,) but again, if you are seeking something to double as a “ritual purfume” of sorts, you normally will want to mildly dilute the essential – plus, diluting your essential oil will make it last longer and save $$. 😉

Some essentials (such as lemongrass,) are CHEAP and very non-irrating to skin. If you truly feel your role in life is to dilute these, so be it. I’ve found lemongrass essential as cheap as the fragrance version, and I feel that if you don’t have to dilute (for aesthetic, financial, or skin-irritation purposes,) you are better not diluting – but that’s just IMHO.

Well, I’ve rambled long enough. 😉

~Cat

PS- below is a banner to where I’ve been buying my essential oils and lots of bulk herbs lately… I highly recommend them to you! 🙂