Essential Oils Safety
Essential Oils are very concentrated plant oils. They are obtained through steam distillation of plants, trees and flowers, or cold pressed from citrus fruit peels. Not all essential oils are appropriate for everyone and caution must be taken when using with young children and babies. Never ingest essential oils as this can be very damaging to your body and may also kill off the good bacteria in your gut. I’m aware there a few companies that advise this on a daily basis. But, I advise against it as it is not within the medical scope of an aromatherapist or the independent sales persons involved with large MLM companies to be advising this. I have read that some people believe it is unsafe to ingest essential oils because of potential pesticides – although this is an important point, this is not the reasoning as stated above.
Below I have listed some of the essential oils in categories that were organized in this way by one of the worlds leading essential oil educators.
Please be sure to ALWAYS dilute your essential oil before applying it directly to your skin. Diluting can be done in a carrier such as oil. Essential oils do not mix with water, so will need to be added to a carrier such as oil, salt, baking soda and etc before adding to your bath water.
Avoid During Pregnancy:
-Anise Star -Carrot Seed -Clary Sage (ok during labor) -Eucalyptus (All) -Fennel -Frankincense (ok in low doses) -Lemongrass (Nursing ok) -May Chang (Nursing ok) -Myrrh -Rosemary
Pregnant / Nursing Safe (Approximately 5-6 drops per 30 mls of carrier. Although I recommend avoiding most essential oils while pregnant):
-Bergamont* -Black Pepper -Chamomile -Copaiba -Coriander -Frankincense -Geranium -Ginger -Grapefruit -Juniper -Lavender -Lemon -Sweet Marjoram -Neroli -Sweet Orange
-Patchouli -Sandalwood -Tangerine -Thyme -Tea Tree Ylang Ylang
Babies 3 + Months ( Very very low dose of approximately 1-2 drops per 30 mls of carrier):
-Lavender -Chamomile
Babies 6+ months ( Low dose of approximately 3 drops per 30 mls of carrier):
-Bergamot (FCF)* -Carrot Seed -Cedarwood -Cinnamon Leaf -Citronella -Coriander -Geranium -Grapefruit -Lemon -Mandarin -Neroli -Palmarosa -Sweet Orange -Tangerine -Tea Tree
Children 2 year+ (Approximately 5-6 drops per 30 mls of carrier):
-Basil -Black Pepper -Clary Sage -Clove Bud -Copiaba Balsam -Frankincense -Ginger -Juniper -Lemongrass -Sweet Marjoram -Patchouli -Spearmint -Thyme -Vetiver -Ylang Ylang
Children 6 year+ (Approximately 6 drops per 30 mls of carrier):
-Anise Star -Cajuput -Cardomom -Fennel -Bay Laurel -Marjoram (Spanish) -Niaouli -Nutmeg -Sage
Children 10 year+ (Approximately 10-12 drops per 30 mls of carrier):
-Peppermint -Eucalyptus (All) -Rosemary
Phototoxic Essential Oils (if using these essential oils, please avoid direct sunlight, or tanning beds for approximately 10-12 hours):
-Grapefruit -Lime -Orange -Lemon -May Chang (Litsea) -Bergamot (this is not referring to the Bergamot FCF *see note below) -Please caution any other citrus essential not mentioned
*FCF refers to the FCF being removed from the bergamot essential oil. Removing this component makes this essential non photo toxic (although this doesn’t guarantee that the oil will not be photo toxic, but the chance is much much lower)
Please take dilution ratios seriously. As mentioned above, essential oils are very concentrated and their strength is often underestimated.
For more essential oil information and education please visit Robert Tisserand’s website