If you are new to using essential oils, you might be a little overwhelmed! It’s understandable – there are oh so many essential oils out there, plus tons of information and recommendations. It can be hard to find reliable information, so let’s fix that right up!
Essential Oils for Beginners
If you are just starting out, you probably want to know what essential oils to snag first. Here’s my list of the top ten recommended essential oils for beginners:
- Lavender Essential Oil
- Rosemary Essential Oil
- Folded Lemon Essential Oil
- Cedarwood Essential Oil
- Patchouli Essential Oil
- Clary Sage Essential Oil
- Folded Sweet Orange Essential Oil
- Peppermint Essential Oil
- Bergamot Essential Oil
- Tea Tree Essential Oil
I also asked a ton of my industry friends & colleagues as to what they would recommend for a beginner, and their answers can be found right over here.
It’s tricky business to find essential oil suppliers that you can trust. Find out what to look for when purchasing essential oils and get started with a list of essential oil suppliers from around the world.
Essential Oil Tools
The right tools can make all the difference! These are my go-to tools in my studio when using essential oils:
- Fragrance Test Strips for Perfume and Essential Oils – Fragrance strips allow you to create and test essential oil blends in small amounts to prevent wasting those precious essential oils.
- 3 mL Plastic Transfer Pipettes – While I tend to skip the disposables, cleaning glass pipettes is a pain in the read. Disposable pipettes make it easy to dispense essential oils when blending.
- 600 Gram Capacity Scale AWS-600 by American Weigh – A great starter scale for essential oils and other small amounts of ingredients with 0.1 gram increments.
- Powder Free Nitrile Gloves – I’m allergic to latex, so I snag nitrile gloves instead. Sometimes, you can find them at pharmacies and grocery stores in the pharmacy area.
- KD 8000 Digital Scale by My Weigh – My favorite formulating scale for larger batches of product, like soap, lotion, creams, and the like. 8,000 gram capacity.
- 200 Gram Calibration Weight – If you need to check your scale for accuracy, a non-classified calibration weight can give you a good idea if you need to replace your scale. (Calibrating your scale with a classified weight tends to be more expensive than replacing the scale itself for home formulators.)
Essential Oil Books
If you are looking to further extend your essential oil knowledge or dig deep into the world of botanical oils, one of these books is sure to hit the spot:
- SMELLGOODS: How to Use & Blend Essential Oils – Disclaimer: I totally wrote this book! My goal with this book was to give a new formulator everything they needed to know to safely and successfully use essential oils in their handmade creations.
- The Encyclopedia of Essential Oils: The Complete Guide – This book has been a staple in the library of many aromatherapists and home formulators for over a decade! It’s easy to read and understand, and features extensive information about most of the readily accessible essential oils.
- Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Healthcare Professionals – If you are looking for more in-depth information about essential oils, supported by science, this is the perfect book for you. Written by the father of modern aromatherapy, Robert Tisserand, this book is my go-to essential oil bible.