One of the best things about aromatherapy is, you can create your own blends and experiment with several essential oils, absolutes, CO2s and carrier oils at a time. Blending of essential oils is done to enhance the effect of oils by bringing them together. A good blend of essential oils demands creativity and knowledge about aromatic blending, aroma profiles of oils and therapeutic effect of each and every oil. You can blend essentials for the sheer pleasure of mixing aromas and also for the delight of inventing your own therapy for your problems and ailments – acne, bladder infection, arthritic pain, fatigue, tension, stress, depression, muscle problems or other issues. By combining anti-viral oils you can make essential oil blends that are effective in treating injuries, cuts and scrapes on account of their antimicrobial properties.

Therapeutic blending tips: Therapeutic blending of essential oils is a bit different from aromatic blending. In an aromatic blend, you look only into the aroma of the blend. Only the end-aroma is important, not the therapeutic effect behind aroma. But in a therapeutic blend, both the healing and aromatic properties of  blend are important. In fact, both aroma and healing are so intertwined that just a whiff of the oil tunes you out of depression or anger or yields the desired effect.

There are several things you need to know before you start your own blending experiment. Below are a list of points to be noted:

1. Know aroma profiles: Essential oils have aroma profiles. That is, a particular oil maybe a top note, middle note or a base note. You need to know the notes of oils to understand them fully and use them appropriately. A delicate, highly volatile oil like Bergamot is a top note; a tenacious, less-volatile oil like Clary Sage is a middle note, while a deep and rich oil like Patchouli is of base note. While creating a good blend, you need to achieve balance between top, middle and base notes.

2. Test your oils’ aroma: To learn more about aromas of essential oils, you can test the aromas on a blotted paper or unscented tissue. Concentrate, inhale the notes of the oils and record the impressions you get of the aromas in the top, middle and base/dry-out stages. This would be useful in preparing blends because good blends have to carry a pleasant and likable aroma to work. Listen to yourself and note how you feel when you inhale a particular fragrance – energetic, relaxed, uplifting or sensual. If you like a particular aroma, find out which part of the oil you want to work with – top, middle or base –  and gather how you much of this aroma you want in your blend recipe.

3. Start with a small amount: Start making a small amount of the blend you want to make. Better to try with 5, 10 or 20 drops. Though large amount of essential oil blends do good, you can end up making a huge waste of time and money if the blend does not turn out to be therapeutic as expected.

4. Work with pure essential oils: Work with pure, therapeutic grade oils – essential oils, CO2s and absolutes. Do not complicate things by adding carrier or other oils in the beginning of the blend preparation. This would save a lot if you do not like the aroma of the blend you created.

5. Maintain a record: Keep a notebook on the number of oils you used, amount of oils used, which blends are of top notes, which are middle/base or which are to your liking etc. When you maintain a record, you will be able to repeat your favorite blends in large scale and store them for future. You will also avoid wasting time on blends that suck.