Hitting a Roadblock with Essential Oil Blending?
Make the best-smelling essential oil blends with an essential oil blending wheel. Use this ultimate essential oil blending guide to make rollers and more.
When you’ve got a dozen or more essential oils, the fun really starts! But, when we start essential oil blending, we often come up with mixed results. Pun intended!
If you are hitting this roadblock, know you’re not alone.
It’s a fact that some essential oils just don’t blend well with others, and the scents they create
Luckily for us, there is an easy solution to this problem. And I’m excited to share it with you!
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What’s the solution? You can make the best-smelling essential oil blends with success every time by using an essential oil blending wheel!
It was developed by understanding how our brain processes aroma.
Let me explain,
The hypothalamus is the part of our brain where aroma, emotion, and memory are processed, and instinct is formed.
Similar to a color wheel, an essential oil blending wheel helps us understand the relationships between different aromas and, in this case, essential oils. Pretty awesome, right?
Essential Oil Blending Wheel Aromas
You can create essential oil blends you’ll want to use again and again by using an essential oil blending wheel! Start by reviewing each aroma category on the wheel.
For example, the woodland aroma category contains essential oils that our brain processes as a woodland aroma. Each is
But other aroma categories, like exotic aromas, contain a mix of essential oils extracted from flowers, trees, and more.
Keep in mind some essentials reside under more than one category. I think you’ll understand why when you smell each.
Under each category top, essential oils for that aroma are listed as a starting point. As you begin to familiarize yourself with the seven categories, you will learn how to add essential oils to a category when your collection grows!
Let’s take a look at these aroma categories now before we start blending.
Citrus:
- Citronella
- Lemon Myrtle
- Grapefruit
- Lemon
- Tangerine
- Lime
- Bergamot
- Lemongrass
- Verbena
- Orange
Herbal:
- Basil
- Carrot Seed
- Clary Sage
- Rosemary
- Celery Seed
- Thyme
- Peppermint
- Lavender
- Oregano
- Fennel
- Sage
- Wintergreen
- Eucalyptus
- Caraway Seed
- Lemongrass
- Angelica
- Dill
Resin:
- Frankincense
- Myrrh
- Balsam Fir Needle
- Camphor
Woodland:
- Cedarwood
- Pine
- Spruce
- Cypress
- Eucalyptus
- Tea Tree
- Juniper
- Palo Santo
- Balsam Fir
Spice:
- Clove
- Cinnamon Bark
- Nutmeg
- Ginger
- Fennel
- Vanilla
- Black Pepper
- Coriander
- Cardamom
Floral:
- Geranium
- Lavender
- Rose
- Neroli
- Chamomile
- Jasmine
- Ylang Ylang
Exotic:
- Sandalwood
- Patchouli
- Frankincense
- Vetiver
- Jasmine
- Cinnamon
- Palo Santo
- Vanilla
- Ylang Ylang
- Palmarosa
How to Blend Essential Oils with an Essential Oil Blending Wheel:
Combine essential oils close to each other on the wheel to create smooth, complimentary essential oil blends.
For example, floral essential oil aromas can be paired with either floral, citrus, or exotic essential oils. Woodland essential oil aromas can be paired with either woodland, spice, or herbal oils.
Select essential oils of your choice from an aroma category and pair them together if their aroma categories touch. They can also be blended if they are within the same category. It’s as easy as that!
Print this Essential Oil Blending Wheel and blank blending worksheets from Oily Chic Library or pin for later.
Create an Essential Oil Blending Guide of Your Own
Start an essential oil blends journal or use the blank essential oil blending worksheets from the Oily Chic Library.
- Select essential oils to blend from aroma categories on the wheel that touch.
- Open the essential oil bottle of each you selected to include in your essential oil blend.
- Place the bottles next to each other and take a sniff to get an idea of the aromatherapy blend you could create.
- If you like that first sniff, a drop or two of each to a cotton ball. Let stand for 30 minutes to an hour. Record your essential oils and drops of each in your journal on the worksheet.
- Then, return the aroma cotton ball and sniff again to see if you still like the aromatherapy blend.
- If you feel like it needs more of one essential oil or less than the other. Add to it, or start recording each drop again.
- Continue the process until you have an essential oil blend you love! Use in your diffuser, dilute in a roller bottle with a carrier oil, or combine with vodka for a perfume.
Using an essential oil blending wheel, you can quickly gain confidence in making essential oil blends. Don’t forget to grab your printable blending wheel above and hang it up by your diffuser for easy reference.
Do you have any capsules recipes?
Sorry Kristen, I do not. And not sure who does, or I would share a link for you.
Hello, I found this very helpful. However, I have some oils that aren’t listed in your categories above. Could you please help me classify Spruce, Bergamot, Turmeric (I’m guessing spice?), Spearmint, Peppermint? Thanks.
Thanks Jude, You’re right Tumeric would be in the spice category. Spearmint and Peppermint are herbal. Spruce is woodland and Bergamot is Citrus.
I’ve made a blend that I really like, but the cinnamon is a bit heavy smelling (7 out of 115 EO drops).
When a soup / oriental dish I’ve made is too spicy for me, I squeeze in a bit of lime or lemon, and it makes the food less spicy to me, and I can enjoy my meal.
Is there any such EO you can think of to “offset” the slightly strong cinnamon scent in my blend?
Thanks for any suggestions.
Cinnamon is a bold scent alright! Have your tried using lime or lemon essential oil? I like add caraway seed or spearmint to sweeten up cinnamon.