The blending of essential oils is an art that goes way back to ancient times. There are few things to consider when creating a good blend that is well rounded and balanced.
You must first consider whether the oil is a top, middle or a base note and what the odour intensity of the oil is. As a guideline you could use 3-5 drops of top note, 10-13 drops of middle note and 15-18 drops of the base note. It will take some time to experiment with different formulas to find out what works best for you. It is important to record how many drops of oil you use and it is best to start with the base notes, than middle and working your way up to the top notes. Once you have finished creating your blend place in a dark bottle and label it with a name and date.
Guidelines for top, middle and base notes of a blend:
Top Notes – most volatile and are the first thing we smell, they are fresh, light and dissipate quickly like lemon, bergamot, orange, eucalyptus and basil.
Middle Notes – once the top notes start to fade you begin to smell the middle notes which are the heart of the blend and they tend to linger for a while like geranium, lavender, rosemary and rosewood.
Base Notes – last a long time and are rich and heavy which holds the blend together like patchouli and ylang ylang.
It is also helpful to know the evaporation rate and odour intensity of an essential oil when creating a blend. Evaporation rates are determined on a scale of 1 to 100 like eucalyptus 5, bergamot 55, ylang ylang 91 and patchouli 100. The odour intensity of an essential oil is rated on a scale of 1 to 10 like lavender 4, rosemary 6, basil 7 and peppermint 7.
Please check out our Clearly Essentials’ website to see our list of essential oils and carrier oils we supply.