FAQs

What are essential oils?

Essential oils are concentrated oils extracted from botanicals, usually through cold pressing, resin tapping or steam distillation. Pure botanical essence maintains the fragrance of the botanical and is more potent and powerfully therapeutic than the botanical itself.

Since ancient times, essential oils have been used for strengthening, healing and wellness, physically, emotionally and even spiritually. They are used in cosmetics and household cleaners for their scent and other benefits, in religious ceremonies and more.

 

How do I use essential oils?

Essential oils are most commonly used with topical application – like by adding them to massage oil and massaging the oil into your body – and aromatherapy, where the oil is added to water and diffused like steam or mist into the air and then inhaled or enjoyed for the fragrance.

For topical use, you really only need a few drops of essential oil as it is very concentrated and potent. You are probably okay putting a drop or two on your skin, but then you can’t really spread it around or massage it in and it could be irritating as it’s so potent. But what you can do is dilute your essential oil by adding the drops to a carrier oil, such as our 100%-pure almond oil, and then massaging it in. You can also add essential oil to unscented massage oil, body oil, cream, water and more before putting it on your skin.

Another option for topical use is a premixed essential oil blend, which takes the hassle out of trying to get the right amount of essential oil into your carrier oil. A premixed blend does it for you and makes sure you don’t overdo it with the essential oil, yet still get the full, incredible therapeutic benefits of the essential oil. In fact, we carry a line of premixed roll-on essential oil blends for your convenience. This is one of our best-selling lines, especially the premixed essential oil roll-ons for kids.

For aromatherapy, add a few drops of essential oil to an essential oil diffuser. Essential oil diffusers come in many shapes and sizes, and they work in a variety of ways as well. For example, some essential oil diffusers heat up the oil with a flame, which some are electric and others ultrasonic. All diffusers create a mist and fragrance that can transform a room, refreshing, uplifting calming, changing the mood depending on the essential oil. This mist delivers the healing qualities of the oil into the air that you breathe and inhale. Another option is a nebulizing diffuser that lets you inhale the mist directly. You can also simply boil some water and add a few drops of your chosen essential oil for steam inhalation. These processes turn the essential oil into a near gas, making the microscopic particles of oil easier to absorb and smell.

As a cleaning product, you can add a few drops of your essential oil to water and spray on with a spray bottle. You can also add it to other products and benefit from the scent and other qualities.

For cosmetics, add the essential oil to an existing unscented crème, body oil or lotion for the wonderful, natural scent and other benefits.

There are many, many ways to use essential oils. Two more of our favorites are adding your essential oil to a bath or using it as an aromatic spritzer.

 

How much essential oil should I use?

You really only ever need a few drops of essential oil for each use. The right amount depends on the oil and you. As a rule of thumb, start with just a drop or two and see how it goes. Then add more to test if you like at the next use.

If you want to make it easy on yourself, you can buy essential oils already mixed and diluted with carrier oil, like almond oil. We carry a line of AROMATA roll-ons that are essential oils diluted with just the right amount of all-natural almond oil.

 

How can I do aromatherapy with essential oil?

Aromatherapy can freshen, brighten and change the spirit of a room. You can add your oil to a diffuser or make your own by boiling water and adding the oil.

Essential oil diffusers come in many shapes and sizes. Some work with a flame, some are electric and some ultrasonic. They all create a mist and fragrance that can transform a room, refreshing, uplifting calming, changing the mood depending on the essential oil and delivering the healing qualities of the oil. You can also use a nebulizing diffuser to inhale the mist or add drops to boiling water for steam inhalation. These processes turn the essential oil into a near gas, making the microscopic particles of oil easier to absorb and smell.

 

What are carrier oils?

Carrier oils are oils that are mixed with essential oils to dilute them and help “carry” them to your skin. With essential oils, you really just need a few drops which makes it difficult to rub into an area that needs the essential oil therapy. But when essential oils are mixed with a carrier oil, you have more oil to apply and massage into your skin.

Carrier oils come from the fatty part of plants, like seeds or nuts, and are often called base oils, fixed oils or vegetable oils. They usually don’t have a scent, which makes them perfect for the essential oils.

Almond oil, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil and coconut oil are some of our carrier oil favorites.

 

Can I use essential oils if I have sensitive skin? Some people’s skin can get slightly irritated by essential oils. Sometimes it depends on the oil.

On the flip side, some essential oils work wonders in healing and soothing irritated, sensitive or itchy skin, such as lavender, lemon and peppermint.

If you’d like to be on the extra safe side or you have extremely sensitive skin, simply roll a bit on your upper arm and wait 24 hours to be sure there’s no irritation.

 

Can my kids use essential oils?

Yes! Kids love essential oils! In fact, our kids are how we became hooked on essential oils and started Royal Green – because we want to share this wonderful, magical source of wellness with others. We started using the oils during cold and flu season when our kids were coming home from school sick time and time again. We were at the end of our rope and the essential oils changed everything. Then we started using essential oils to help our kids unwind before bed, applying a bit of lavender and massaging into tired legs. The essential oils worked wonders – easing runny noses, opening airways, relaxing hyper, tired munchkins. Soon, our kids were asking for the oils each night before bed. And we found many more uses and benefits and started using essential oils ourselves. If it works for the kids, why not us too?

When you use essential oils on kids, just be extra careful to only use a drop or two since the oils are so potent. What we found helpful was to get essential oils that were already premixed and diluted with a carrier oil, like our favorite almond oil. And so, we developed a line for kids of premixed roll-on blends. It makes your life a lot easier because you don’t have to worry about using too much essential oil. So it’s totally safe and hassle-free. Check out our Aromata mixed kids line. And see the new favorite essential oil blends we’ve added lately as roll-ons!

 

Is it safe to ingest essential oils?

While some say ingesting essential oils is safe, it’s our opinion that there is not enough scientific evidence to support this claim, especially over time. Ingesting essential oils is a new trend but no one knows the long-term effects. No one knows what happens if you ingest essential oils over a 20 to 30-year period, for example. The scientific data simply doesn’t exist. So, in our opinion, it’s better not to take the risk and to wait until research is conducted.

The good news is that you can get the benefits of essential oils by applying them directly onto your skin, which absorbs everything. So if there is an essential oil that boosts metabolism or helps digestion, you don’t have to ingest the oil, you can just apply it topically. You can also breathe in the essential oils through steam inhalation or a nebulizer or aromatherapy diffuser to reap the benefits.