| Pure Essential Oils are a natural product and contain | | | | good wine. |
| no preservatives oradditives. A few of them can also | | | | The shortest shelf life have all citrus oils with |
| be quite dangerous if not handled correctly. | | | | grapefruit generally being thefirst to deteriorate. |
| Some basic procedures should therefore be observed | | | | Once these oils start to turn cloudy or smell rancid |
| in order to ensure safetybut also the quality of the | | | | theyshould be disposed of. |
| oils in storage. | | | | Handling and using essential oils: |
| Storing essential oils: | | | | When taking essential oils from the bottle, avoid |
| Many Essential Oils are flammable and/or act as | | | | contaminating the oil. Don'ttouch the top of the |
| strong solvents. Eucalyptus Oilfor example can be | | | | bottle or the inside of the lid. If you are using |
| used to remove glue from old stickers or to strip | | | | pipettes totransfer the oils, try to obtain disposable |
| paint. | | | | ones that you can throw away afteruse. Never use |
| Essential Oils are best stored in amber glass bottles | | | | the same pipette for different oils. Used pipettes can |
| with a tight lid. It is alsoadvisable to fit bottles that | | | | also bestored for a short time in clip-seal plastic bags |
| don't have a dripolator (orifice reducer) with a | | | | to use again later. |
| childproof cap for safety reasons. | | | | Avoid contact of essential oils with the skin as they |
| Sun light (UV) and high temperatures are the main | | | | can cause irritation. Usinglatex gloves and wearing |
| enemies of essential oils. | | | | protective glasses is recommended when |
| Amber glass bottles offer good protection from UV. | | | | handlingessential oils. |
| Essential Oil containers arebest kept in a dark, cool | | | | Essential oils must never be used internally. For |
| place with temperature fluctuations kept to | | | | application to the skin, dilutethe essential oil with a |
| aminimum. | | | | good quality carrier oil e.g. jojoba, almond or olive oil. |
| Keep essential oils safely locked away from children | | | | 3% essential oil with 97% carrier oil is a safe ratio. |
| at all times. | | | | Diffusers and oil lamps need only 2-3 drops of |
| Stored at low temperatures, some oils will tend to | | | | essential oil to scent a room formany hours. The cup |
| solidify. This is no cause foralarm as they will turn | | | | on the oil lamp should be 3/4 filled with clean water, |
| liquid again once they reach room or in some cases | | | | addto it the 2-3 drops of essential oil. Only then light |
| bodytemperature. Most likely to solidify are the | | | | the candle in the burner. |
| absolutes, vanilla, rose otto andfennel. | | | | Remember some essential oils are highly flammable, |
| Under good conditions essential oils can be stored for | | | | so be careful when usingan essential oil lamp. |
| periods of 6 months toseveral years. Some oils like | | | | Observe these points and you will get a lot of |
| myrrh, sandalwood, frankincense and patchouliwill | | | | enjoyment out of your essentialoils. |
| even improve or "mature" with age, very similar to a | | | | |