How to apply essential oils
Applying oils to the skin is considered the English method. This is the way our family uses oils the most. You can find rollers on every night stand, every purse, in our car, all the important spots. Our bedtime routine includes nightly foot rubs to keep immune systems healthy and to get a good night's sleep. Lord knows we need it with five kids in the house.
Young Living oils are safe to apply on the skin, many brands are not. It must be a high grade therapeutic oil.
If you look on the bottle it will tell you if the oil needs to be diluted. It simply means to add a carrier oil to dilute the essential oils. Dilution can help spread the essential oil over the surface of your skin, it can help your body and skin to receive the oil at a slower rate, it lessens the sting of 'hot" oils like oregano and peppermint, and it can help you prolong your oils. Carrier oils can include any healthy oil like coconut, olive, almond, jojoba... I simply put about a tsp of carrier in my hand and a couple drops of each essential oil, rub my hands together and apply. If you are concerned and want to be precise on diluting there are some guides below and here is a great online dilution calculator. I also have a handy dilution chart FREEBIE you can grab at the bottom of this post. You can keep it on your phone. This chart has saved me over the years as my kids continue to grow.
Where do you apply?
There are some main places that work well including the wrists, back of neck, behind ears, and on the feet. I usually apply to my wrists, neck and then put my wrists to my nose and breathe deeply. Then I get the effects of both applying and inhaling. If it is something like a skin irritation, sore muscle, head tension, liver detox, sinuses, etc then I apply directly to the location.
One of the best places for absorption is the feet. The attached chart will help you decide where on your feet to apply. For things like sleep I apply to the big toe to help shut my brain down, for sinuses I put the oils under my toes. When applying to children it's easier to just cover the entire foot, but as our feet get bigger it's easier to apply to the area needed.
Safety
There are some important safety guidelines when applying oils. Please read those here
Watch this short video on how to apply essential oils and view the diagrams below to help you further. This video covers using roller bottles to apply oils. This is a convenient way to dilute your oils to use over and over without getting oils all over your hands. You can easily carry these pre-diluted rollers in your purse or leave on your nightstand. I recommend getting ones with metal rollers as they roll easier. See our supply page for all our favorites.
