everyBODY Beauty Blog by Voyageur Soap & Candle Co.: Aromatherapy Blending Tips

Aromatherapy is a holistic therapy using therapeutic essential oils, extracted from plants, flowers, leaves, roots, barks, resins and rinds of some fruits, to aid in the healing and enhancing of the body, mind and spirit. It is considered both an art and a science. It is an art with the blending of a pleasant aromatic mixture, and it is a science in the knowledge of the therapeutic properties, chemical constituents and contraindications of the essential oils used.

Essential oils, if used correctly, can help one combat the daily stresses of life, providing relief from ailments, stress, and increasing the feeling of well-being. One way to reap the benefits of essential oils is to custom blend them yourself according to your health concerns and scent preferences. Blending essential oils is all about synergy - which is when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. For example, when we choose an essential oil for a specific condition, it will be effective. If we add two more essential oils that have similar properties for that condition, we create a more powerful blend!

In Aromatherapy, one of the keys to blending successfully is having a lovely smell that flows. To obtain this it’s helpful to understand the classifications of notes in your blend. Notes are the different components of a scent and determine the order in which we smell them. Top notes are the smell that will hit your senses first, and make up about 45 - 50% of the blend. They give the first impression of a blend, the scent doesn't stick around for very long as they are usually very volatile, and can be sharp, fresh and penetrating. Middle notes make up about 35 - 40% of the blend. These smells are the body of the blend, coming in right after the top notes, and act as blend enhancers; often warm, mellow scents that round off the blend. Base notes make up about 10 - 20 % of the blend. These smells are longer lasting and deepen the fragrance, and are warm, rich, and intense; completing the blend. Use your base notes sparingly as they can overpower your blends. The ratio of what notes comprise your blend is as follows: top:mid:base = 4:3:1 This means that you want to have the greatest part of the scent be made of top notes, then mid notes, then only a little bit of base notes. If you're not sure what note the essential oil is, take a look at our website in our Aromatherapy Section.

Here at Voyageur we have had a few certified aromatherapists on staff over the years, and they have given us some incredibly valuable information about essential oils and blending them. Here is a list of health conditions and the essential oils used to help them:

Respiratory

CONDITIONS	TOP NOTES	MIDDLE NOTES	BASE NOTES
Asthma	Basil Lemon Thyme Eucalyptus Bergamot Tea Tree Peppermint Cajeput Clary Sage	Cypress Marjoram Rosemary Chamomile Lavender Pine	Benzoin Rose Frankincense Myrrh Neroli
Bronchitis	Basil Bergamot Lemon Eucalyptus Tea tree Thyme Orange Peppermint	Lavender Rosemary Marjoram Pine Cypress	Benzoin Cedarwood Sandalwood Frankincense Myrrh Clove
Colds	Basil Lemon Eucalyptus Tea tree Thyme Orange Peppermint	Black Pepper Rosemary Marjoram Pine	Benzoin Cedarwood Clove Myrrh Ginger
Coughs	Eucalyptus Thyme Clary Sage Tea tree Lavandin Peppermint Lime	Black Pepper Lavender Pine Rosemary Marjoram Cypress	Sandalwood Cedarwood Myrrh Ginger Benzoin
Sinusitis	Basil Lemon Eucalyptus Thyme Tea tree Cajaput Peppermint Lime	Lavender Juniper Pine	Benzoin Clove
Throat soreness	Bergamot Clary Sage Eucalyptus Lemon Thyme Tea tree Peppermint Cajeput	Geranium Pine Rosewood Lavender	Ginger Sandalwood Myrrh Frankincense

Skin

CONDITIONS	TOP NOTES	MIDDLE NOTES	BASE NOTES
Acne	Orange Petitgrain Tea tree Bergamot Peppermint Cajeput Lemongrass Thyme	Blue Chamomile Geranium Juniper Rosemary Lavender	Benzoin Cedarwood Patchouli Vetiver Neroli Rose Clove
Athlete’s foot	Tea Tree Peppermint Thyme	Lavender Marjoram Pine Blue Chamomile	Myrrh
Broken Capillaries	Lemon Peppermint	Chamomile Lavender Geranium Cypress	Neroli Frankincense Rose
Cellulite	Grapefruit Sage Lemon Thyme Basil Lemongrass	Juniper Cypress Lavender Fennel Rosemary Geranium	Cedarwood Sandalwood Patchouli
Cuts/Wounds	Bergamot Lemon Orange Sage Tea tree Palmarosa	Blue Chamomile Cypress Geranium Lavender Rosemary	Benzoin Rose Cedarwood Clove Frankincense Myrrh
Eczema	Bergamot	Chamomile Lavender Geranium Juniper Carrot Seed	Rose Cedarwood Sandalwood Patchouli Myrrh

Emotional/Psychological/Nervous System

CONDITIONS	TOP NOTES	MIDDLE NOTES	BASE NOTES
Anxiety + Tension	Basil Clary Sage Orange Yarrow Bergamot Petitgrain Thyme	Chamomile Lavender Geranium Rosewood Juniper	Rose Benzoin Neroli Sandalwood Ylang Ylang Cedarwood Frankincense Jasmine Vetiver
Depression	Basil Clary Sage Orange Tea Tree Bergamot Thyme Petitgrain	Roman Chamomile Geranium Lavender Pine Rosemary Rosewood Juniper	Frankincense Sandalwood Ylang Ylang Patchouli Rose Neroli Vetiver
Epilepsy	Basil Clary Sage	Lavender Marjoram
Headaches (general)	Basil Lemon Eucalyptus Cajeput Clary Sage Grapefruit Thyme Peppermint	Chamomile Lavender Marjoram Rosemary Black Pepper Rosewood	Rose Neroli
Insomnia	Basil Lemon Thyme Petitgrain Bergamot Clary Sage	Chamomile Juniper Marjoram Lavender Cypress Geranium	Neroli Ylang Ylang Sandalwood Rose Vetiver
Stress - Sudden	Basil Peppermint	Juniper Marjoram Lavender	Neroli Cedarwood Rose
Panic	Bergamot Clary Sage Petitgrain Thyme	Roman Chamomile Lavender Marjoram Rosemary	Frankincense Myrrh Neroli Sandalwood Ylang Ylang
Balancing - Emotional	Lemon Orange	Lavender	Cedarwood Rose
Grief	Bergamot Clary Sage Eucalyptus Petitgrain Thyme	Roman Chamomile Juniper Lavender Rosewood Peppermint Cypress	Frankincense Neroli Ylang Ylang Vetiver Rose Sandalwood Benzoin
Grounding	Clary Sage	Black Pepper	Ginger Patchouli Vetiver Cedarwood
Self Esteem -Need to increase	Bergamot	Geranium	Sandalwood Vetiver Ylang Ylang Rose Jasmine Cedarwood

Hair

CONDITIONS	TOP NOTES	MIDDLE NOTES	BASE NOTES
Normal Hair	Lemon Eucalyptus Lemon	Lavender Geranium Rosemary Carrot Chamomile	Neroli Rose
Dry Hair		Lavender Geranium Rosemary Carrot Yarrow Chamomile	Sandalwood Rose Ylang Ylang
Greasy Hair	Lemon Basil Eucalyptus Lemon Thyme Yarrow Bergamot	Rosemary Lavender Cypress	Cedarwood Ylang Ylang Patchouli
Fragile Hair	Thyme Clary Sage	Lavender Chamomile Carrot	Sandalwood
Alopecia	Thyme Sage Lemon	Rosemary Lavender Carrot Chamomile Cypress Thyme	Cedarwood Patchouli
Dandruff	Lemon Lime Basil Thyme Eucalyptus Peppermint Sage Tea Tree	Carrot Rosemary Cypress Lavender Geranium	Patchouli
Bleached Hair	Lemon Eucalyptus Lemon	Carrot

To blend your aromatherapy scent choose one or two top note oils, a middle note oil, and a base note oil. You might want to drop them onto a fragrance paddle tester first to see if the scents work well together, some flow better than others! You can pre-mix your own blends and package them into amber essential oil bottles. Your new essential oil blend can be diluted into a carrier oil or lotion and applied topically, put onto a tissue and inhaled, put into a diffuser, or dropped right into the bath. As a general rule of thumb, if you're making a topical application of aromatherapy for adults in good health you should use 1 drop of essential oil per 2 ml of carrier oil. For the elderly it should be decreased to 1 drop per 4 ml of carrier oil, and for children (depending on their age) it should be 1 drop per 10 ml of carrier oil. Keep in mind that essential oils are very concentrated plant matter and can have certain situations where they're not recommended, called contraindications. Look up the contraindications of your oils here before blending them to make sure they're safe to use for your purpose! Also, we always recommend talking to your doctor and/or certified aromatherapist before using essential oils as treatments.