[shriekingviolet]

I use them straight, but if your skin is senstive, you might dilute them with a carrier or a lotion. If it isn't, don't worry about it. I think the majority of the girls here wear at least some of the oils straight, so with the exception of the cinnamon blends, I don't think they get to most people. Mercury and Dove's Heart are the only ones that ever stung on me (and I've tried @ 125 oils), and neither left a mark and the sting was temporary. Only bothered me on my neck too, so it hasn't stopped me from wearing either on their own. I just avoid the neck area.

[any_old_actress]

i also put lotion on myself first, then slather on my oils straight from their bottles/imps. :P

[starrykitten]

There was a wee discussion about dilution here that might be of some help.

I think a lot of it depends if the scent will last on your skin when diluted or not. I don't tend to dilute really light scents that fade fast as it is. I like diluting because then I can justify covering myself from head to toe in scent and not feeling as wasteful!

I use apricot kernel oil in a dropper bottle, mostly because messing with amber dropper bottles and mixing scents and oils makes me feel like an alchemist. :P

[shining_crystal18]

I went through the FAQ, and some things mentioned carrier oils. But nothing said how they worked really (at least not that I found). I've seen the page at BPAL that sells them, but could someone explain them to me please?

[MilkAndSugar]

Essential oils, which Beth & Co. use to make their perfumes, do not mix with water, but they do mix with vegetable oils (olive, almond, sunflower, jojoba etc.). So you can use carrier oils to dilute BPAL blends and essential oils down.

This way they are more skin friendly and even the ones with cinnamon shouldn't burn. You can also make your blends last longer than you would using them straight up.

Basically, you just take carrier oil and pour into a clean bottle (if you want to make a bottle of diluted blend) and add a few drops of BPAL of choice. Put the cap on and twirl the contents every now and then before adding more scent.
When it's to your liking, put the cap on tightly (use an airtight bottle) and keep away from heat and sunlight just like any other precious :P
Use as perfume, bath oil etc.

The scent is going to be milder, but that could actually be a good thing with some stronger blends. It takes the "edge" off.

I haven't diluted any BPAL yet, but I do use a lot of carrier oil for my own blends, and personally I would recommend using Jojoba. It's nice and stable and won't go rancid like Almond oil etc.

Hope this helps!

Have fun blending :D

-Milk

[shining_crystal18]

So it's pretty much just a guess and check thing? Works for me, Thanks a bunch MilkAndSugar! Oh, and I gotta make a note of Jojoba oil before I forget...

[MilkAndSugar]

Yep. The amounts depend on how strong you want the scent to be. The good thing is, you can't get it wrong. If it's too mild, add more perfume. Too strong, add more jojoba (or whatever carrier you're using), though it's hard to make it too strong when mixing with carrier.

You could start by, say, 5-10 drops of scent per 5ml's of carrier. Work your way up from there.

And you're very welcome! :P

-Milk

[sheelanagig]

Does anyone know if using Vitamin E oil as a carrier would work? My husband suggested it; he says it will keep the oils from going rancid indefinitely. (he's a blacksmith and uses it all the time... for what, exactly, I have no clue)

[VelvetSky]

sheelanagig, I've heard of lots of people who break a Vitamin E capsule into their mixture (of fragrance oil and carrier oil) in order to help preserve the shelf life, but I've never heard of Vit E used alone as a carrier.

Of course, I'm sure if it can be, someone here will know.

[yellowrose]

So based on what some have suggested as optimal dilution ratios, one could expect an entire imp to be emptied into a 10 ml roller bottle with 10 ml of jojoba oil as a carrier. Yes?

Or would someone just offer ideas as to what they do in this regard ... OK, other than buy a 10 ml bottle of an oil they really, really like.

I would also love it if someone who might typically have allergic reactions to department store scents might comment on their experience with dilution in oils. Particularly, in regard to whether it minimizes or eliminates the reaction. Also, if you've tried various carriers, what seems to work best -- that is, what seems to pose less of an allergic reaction?

It would be hell to get this first order and have runny eyes, itchy everything, and restricted breathing. It's not that way for me with all scents, and I trust this line might be one of them.

Hoping for the best,

yr

[chai_girl]

My experience with the massage bars indicates that it all depends on the imp. Some of the stronger scents handle dilution easily...but diluting a lighter scent like Juliet is a delicate thing. I'd start off adding a little bit of carrier oil at a time until you got it to where you want it.

[kimberlygem]

Vitamin E by itself is really sticky. I would just place a drop of it in some jojoba oil though the jojoba has a long shelf life so you shouldn't really need it.





Kimberly

[hypothermya]

Just to put a heads up for those considering carrier oils, you should probably try the carrier oil on your skin before using it to dilute your BPAL oil. A while ago I got some scents that were diluted in apricot kernel oil, and for some reason or another my skin and my boyfriend's skin both really pick up that somewhat nutty scent. It made O smell like Cheerios on my boyfriend (think honey and nuts), and gave Snow White something of a slightly nutty fragrance (still smells great, but I suspect that the purer version would smell better).

So I'm a bit paranoid about diluting my oils in carrier oils (just cause of the Cheerios experience). It's a good idea and a great way to make a fragrance go further, but check with your skin chemistry first.

[lixolux]

heres another question - has anyone refridgerated jojoba-diluted oils? I read somewhere about how jojoba oil is a preservative - but how much longer does it make it last? Im freaking out because i have way too many oils more than i will ever use in my life and it gets pretty hot here, so i want to try to preserve them as much as possible!!!

[yellowrose]

Thanks for the responses!

I had to get something at the local health food store and lo and behold! YES! They have jojoba oil and offer take-home samples (huzzah!). Plus, they had the roll-on bottles for about 1.10USD less than the other source. And there's no shipping involved... just a little gas money.

I plan to try the oil as you suggested, hypothermya. That and to see if it causes any allergic reaction.

If all goes well, then I'm set for that first box o' goodies!

Hooray!

[fragrantgrasse]

Jojoba oil is your best bet for mixing the Bpal scents in - IMO. Jojoba, actually a liquid wax, does not go rancid and does not need additional amounts of vit e, which is unbelieveably heavy, oily and thick - way too thick to use alone as a carrier oil.

Also, jojoba oil is unscented and, as already mentioned, some carrier oils can have scents if they are seed or nut oils.....so you may get the cheerios syndrome! :D

I like using the roll-on bottles for perfume use, handy and easy to carry around for that emergency BPAL touch-up.....:P

P.S. you don't need to refrgerate jojoba diluted oils, but keep them away from extreme heat.

This post has been edited by fragrantgrasse: 26 September 2004 - 03:06 AM

[Larila]

All that iformation is great to know and also isn't it true that out of all the oil that jojoba oil is more like your skin then the others, I wander if a perfume oil was breaking you out could you dilute it with jojoba oil for that very reason.

This post has been edited by Larila: 30 September 2004 - 06:23 AM

[silverangel]

I know there's a thread about this somewhere but I can't find it right now. Are there any oils I could use to dilute an oil? I would think a general carrier oil would work for this but I want one with little to no scent and don't want to pay a fortune for it just so I can dilute a scent that's a bit too strong for me. Normally I'd just put less of it on, but it's the scent itself, it just kind of takes over and all I can smell is the scent which is good but it gets annoying. Any ideas/links?

[Morrig]

Here is the Lab's selection of carrier oils.

There is another thread about this, too...I'll see if I can dig it up.

[silverangel]

Thanks a lot Morrighana, I totally forgot the lab had these! I'm just wondering about how scented any of them may be.

[Morrig]

Pretty much not at all. I haven't tried Apricot or Peanut as carriers, but jojoba, avacado, coconut, etcetera don't have a scent that I am able to detect.

[silverangel]

Great! Thanks a lot hun! I think I'll be adding on some jojoba in my next order. :P

[SoapyRN]

AshtonRose and I are going to use some of them in solid perfume bases. They are made from oils and waxes, that will be carriers to the BPAL oil. Others will be used directly on the skin.

From a link here, we purchased the base base from Bramble Berry

[yellowrose]

There is a lot of grat information in the posts. Thanks everyone for shaing.

I couldn't find this where it had been and was panicking.

What I'd like to know, if anyone is game, is how much dilution might change a scent? Why? Because the SO keeps saying the scents I'm trying are too strong. I, for instance, have an imp of Mata Hari. I've got one on order. If I experiment using one imp per 10 ml ... think that will dilute it too much? There's always that second imp!

p.s. i can no longer find the thread that explained how to sterilize bottles. i think there was a specific type of alcohol mentioned, but i can't find the thread for the life of me -- yr

This post has been edited by yellowrose: 03 November 2004 - 08:42 PM

[magikfanfic]

I've read through a couple of threads about combining the BPAL oils with various things for lotion, soap, etc. I have a quick question about putting them in roller bottles, though.

It seems that the jojoba oil is the most highly recommended. However, if I use this in a roller bottle with the scent, will the roller still roll? I need it to since otherwise, I'd just leave the scent in its bottle or imp. Also, how much carrier oil/BPAL oil ratio should I use? And, do I have to put a carrier oil into the roller bottle or can I use the BPAL oil straight? I haven't had any reactions to anything I've tried yet so I don't know why they'd need to have a carrier oil when I put them in roller except for simple dilution so I don't smell like I just jumped in a pool of Libra or whatever scent I use.

Thanks. :P