The Art of Roller Bottle Blending

Blending essential oils is definitely an art that takes practice to master, but even beginners can create some great blends. In this article, we will discuss the basics of blending so you have a better idea about where to begin. Our focus today will be on creating blends in roll-on bottles.

Why use roll-on bottles?

Roll-on bottles, often called roller bottles, are useful for the following reasons:

1. You can use them to create blends customized to your needs.
2. Your blends can be pre-diluted and ready for use.
3. They make it easy to apply blends without creating a mess.
4. They can be conveniently carried on your person or in a bag to use whenever you need them.

What carrier oil should I use to dilute the essential oil in a roll-on bottle?

Some of the most common carrier oils to use for diluting essential oils are Fractionated Coconut Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, and Jojoba Oil.

What are recommended dilution ratios?

Dilution amounts can vary based on many factors, including a person’s weight, skin sensitivity, health issues, oils being used, or the length of time they are used. It is important to note that these recommendations are simply guidelines, not absolute rules, and are fairly conservative. It is always better to start out with a greater dilution and increase the essential oil drops as needed.

What oils should I use?

You will want to use oils that are of therapeutic quality and safe to apply topically to the skin. The specific oils that you choose should be based on what you want to accomplish with the roll-on blend. For example, if you want to create a relaxing essential oil blend, you will want to choose essential oils that help relax or promote calmness.

How do I create my own blends?

Because this may seem a little complicated, we’ll break it down into a few different steps.

Step 1: Look Up Essential Oils for Desired Result

First, you will need to figure out what you want the essential oil blend to do. Once you figure that out, look up those properties in Modern Essentials^®. For example, let’s say you want to create a relaxing blend to help promote sleep. You could look up “Relaxation,” “Calming—Sedative,” and “Sleep” in Modern Essentials^® and come up with these lists of essential oils:

Note: The oils in red are the primary recommendations, the oils in orange are the secondary recommendations, and the oils in green are other recommendations. When creating our blend, we may want to choose from the oils in red first, but it is still a good idea to do the next step with the orange and green recommendations too in case we decide to use some of them in order to create a more balanced blend.

Step 2: Figure Out The Essential Oils’ Classifications and Notes

This is the hardest part, especially for beginners. Now that we have our list of essential oils, we need to organize them based on their classifications and notes. “It is important to understand that the order with which the oils are blended is key to maintaining the desired therapeutic properties in a synergistic blend. An alteration in the sequence of adding selected oils to a blend may change the chemical properties, the fragrance, and thus, the desired results” (Modern Essentials^®). In general, oils that are from the same botanical family usually blend well, and oils with similar constituents also mix well.

Using the Single Essential Oils section of Modern Essentials^®, you can look up the oils in the lists above and write down their “Blend Classification” and “Odor” (or note type).

The above list of essential oils can be divided into the following classifications (and should be added to the blend in the order described):

• 1st—The personifier (1–5% of blend) oils have very sharp, strong, and long-lasting fragrances. They also have dominant properties with strong therapeutic action. (ylang ylang, Roman chamomile, clary sage, orange, rose)
• 2nd—The enhancer (50–80% of blend) oil should be the predominant oil, as it serves to enhance the properties of the other oils in the blend. Its fragrance is not as sharp as the personifier’s and is usually of shorter duration. (lavender, lemon, bergamot, geranium, cedarwood, marjoram, frankincense, sandalwood, orange, rose, lemongrass)
• 3rd—The equalizer (10–15% of blend) oils create balance and synergy among the oils contained in the blend. Their fragrance is also not as sharp as the personifier’s and is of a shorter duration. (lavender, bergamot, geranium, cedarwood, marjoram, frankincense, juniper berry, rose, lemongrass)
• 4th—The modifier (4–8% of blend) oils have a mild and short fragrance. These oils add harmony to the blend. (lavender, ylang ylang, lemon, bergamot, sandalwood, rose)

You will also want to categorize the essential oils according to their note:

• Top note essential oils are the fastest evaporating oils and the most immediately noticeable scents in a perfume. They diffuse quickly and tend to be light, crisp, and penetrating. (lemon, bergamot, orange, lemongrass)
• Middle note essential oils, also called heart notes, should make up the main body of the blend. They soften and round out the fragrance to harmonize the mixture. (lavender, ylang ylang, Roman chamomile, geranium, marjoram, juniper berry, clary sage, rose)
• Base note essential oils are usually not recognized until several minutes after application. Base note fragrances tend to become more pleasant over time and, when used in proper proportions, can give depth to the blend. (ylang ylang, cedarwood, frankincense, vetiver, sandalwood, clary sage, rose)

Step 3: Choose Your Essential Oils and Amounts to Use

It is recommended for beginners to start out with only 3–4 oils including a top note, a middle note, and a base note. As you get more comfortable with blending, you can experiment with adding more essential oils to your blends.

So, for your relaxing blend, you could use lemon for your top note; Roman chamomile and lavender for your middle notes; and cedarwood for your base note. This will also give you a personifier (Roman chamomile), an enhancer (lavender), an equalizer (cedarwood), and a modifier (lemon).

This roll-on recipe uses a 10% dilution, which is 20 drops of essential oil for a 10 ml roll-on bottle. This is a possible formula:

Relax to Sleep Roll-on Blend

Servings: Yield ml Roll-on | Time: 5 minutes active | Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients & Supplies:

• 1 drop Roman chamomile essential oil (personifier: 5%)
• 14 drops lavender essential oil (enhancer: 70%)
• 3 drops cedarwood essential oil (equalizer: 15%)
• 2 drops lemon essential oil (modifier: 10%)
• 2 tsp. carrier oil such as Fractionated Coconut Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, or Jojoba Oil
• 10 ml (1/3 oz.) Roll-on Bottle

Instructions:

1. Add essential oils in order to the roll-on bottle. Fill the rest of the bottle up with carrier oil. Insert the roller ball, and screw on lid.
2. To use, roll oil on feet, neck, or wrists to help promote relaxation and sleep.

Of course, you don’t have to be really strict with these formulas or ratios since they are just a guideline. Besides, there are many differing opinions on how to blend and the correct ratios to use, and you may not have all the essential oils needed to fill each of the above categories. Your intuition and nose may prove to be most useful in learning how to create your own blends. As you experiment, start out with smaller quantities (such as 10–20 drops total) so you aren’t wasting a lot of oil if you end up not liking the result.

6 Roll-on Blend Recipes

These recipes are all designed to be a 10% dilution ratio in a 10 ml roll-on bottle, so adjust the recipes for lesser or greater dilution as needed. If you are using a 5 ml roll-on bottle, cut the recipes in half or make the recipe in a separate bottle and only put 10 drops in the roll-on bottle.

Instructions:

Add the drops in order to a 10 ml roll-on bottle. Fill the rest of the bottle up with a carrier oil. Let sit overnight, if possible, to allow the oils to blend fully.

Note: We included some adjustments to recipes in parentheses. If adjustments aren’t noted for every oil, just include the recommended drops. You can also make the blend in a separate bottle (such as these sample bottles) and then place the number of drops needed to achieve the desired dilution.

Recipes:

Please comment below and share with us any roll-on recipes that you have tried and enjoyed! We would love to learn from your experiences!