A question about oil

[SacredWithin]

I went into a magical shop and the proprietor told me that they enver tell you on the bottles, but you're supposed to mix a little water in your oil.

Now that I think about it...why? Is that true? I've never seen such in any ritual books or anything that had to do with oils.

[cheddarsox]

What kind of oil?

cheddar

[SacredWithin]

Neither of us specified, so I assumed she was talking about oils in general.

[Ben Gruagach]

That's interesting. I've not heard that all oils must be mixed with water before they are used.

If you buy essential oils they are often very concentrated, so it is commonly recommended that you dilute them with a base of some sort before using them. Most of the time the base is described as another oil, such as olive oil, almond oil, or jojoba oil (or a mix of different organic oils.) Sometimes the base used to dilute the oils is an alcohol. I suspect that you could use water as a base too but oils tend to mix better with other oils or with alcohol than they do with water. They tend to just float on water.

The reason to add essential oils to a base is that the highly concentrated oils can produce allergic reactions, and diluting them reduces that risk while still keeping the strong scent of the essential oil. Using undiluted essential oils is like using a sledgehammer when you really just need a little tap with a hammer.

Some oils are sold already diluted in a base. When you're buying oils you might want to ask if they are diluted in a base or not. If they are already diluted then I'm not sure why you'd want to necessarily dilute them again by trying to mix them with water or some other oil.

Diluting essential oils (or premade magickal oils) also has the thrifty effect of making a little bit go a long way.

[SacredWithin]

Thanks Ben :)

[Verthandi]

What Ben G said. I don't see why they'd tell you to mix water with oil--the two separate out, so adding water won't do anything.

[Xander67]

that is what I was thinking too lol

[argento_occhi]

Oil and water can mix if you take all the gas out first. but that requires freezing or something, if i remember correctly. Then they mix.

I have actually read somewhere about mixing oils in water, but it was referring to room sprays or something like that, nothing magickal or anything. I suppose you could for some things, but mostly use oil or alcohol, as the others said.

Argent

[SacredWithin]

What Ben G said. I don't see why they'd tell you to mix water with oil--the two separate out, so adding water won't do anything.

That's what I was thinking too.

[Enozgirl]

The only time I ever use water with oils is if I'm using a simmer pot to release the scent of the oil. Then I fill the little bowl with water, and add drops of oil on the surface. That way I don't cook my bowl for my simmer pot! :)

But what Ben said is what I've always done. If the oil's too strong to use by itself, mix with a little carrier oil. Make sure to shake first, though, before using these, as the oils might separate out.

[Ruhiel]

If i'm using essential oils for work, I don't want to mix them with anything . I want full effect. Annointing oils I make myself already have a bit of carrier, or I use straight up essentials on non-delicate places. I'm a purist- sue me.

[Ben Gruagach]

If i'm using essential oils for work, I don't want to mix them with anything . I want full effect. Annointing oils I make myself already have a bit of carrier, or I use straight up essentials on non-delicate places. I'm a purist- sue me.

Using essential oils undiluted is perfectly fine for those who can afford it, both in money and if the oils they use don't produce allergic reactions.

As a general rule, though, I would advise people to start off with using the oils diluted in a carrier or base that they know they don't have allergic reactions to. You can always increase the strength (less base and more essential oil) as you experiment but it's not usually smart to jump in with undiluted oils if you don't know how your body will respond to it.

[Ruhiel]

True. I know my reactions, thus I have no problems with it :)

[SacredWithin]

Well, personally, I don't like just the straight-up oil because the scnet is too strong for me. I like it light. It's especially good if you want to scent your home when someone is coming over for a nice atmosphere and you're not sure if they'd like the scent or not. I mean, you don't want to go too strong. But everyone has their own preferences. :)