How much is too much?

I’ve been watching some videos from companies teaching massage and essential oil usage. Not only was I gobsmacked at what I was seeing, but appalled at the lack of safety shown, taught or considered.

In one part of the video, the therapist poured 8 drops of oil into her hand directly, then added a smidge of a carrier, before proceeding to give a hand massage.

8 drops.

So, let’s work out what kind of dilution this could be at best. How much oil could she have held without any dropping out. Let’s say 1ml. We know that 1ml is approximately 20 drops. 8 drops of essential oil to 20 drops of carrier oil.

That makes it like a 40% dilution.

The recommended safe and effective levels are around 2% for such a massage, so this example, shown to NEW students, is a gross overuse of the essential oils.

The therapist then gave a leg and foot massage, using the same method of dropping essential oils into the hand, then adding the carrier. It was done several times for the leg component. The essential oils used on the leg area were different from the ones used in the hand massage.

The therapist also placed a number of drops in her hands, and cupped them over the mouth of the client on the table for ‘simple’ inhalation. Again these were a different blend of oils. She also had her diffuser running throughout the duration of the massage demonstration. I felt bad for the client. They received far too many oils in one sitting. Far too much.

I felt bad for the therapist. She is exposing herself to a lot of oil that will affect her body, and not in a good way.

But mostly, I felt bad for the students who had paid their hard earned money to received such poor training. And, the thing is, these students don’t know any better, and will follow what they’ve been ‘taught’ and continue these poor practices, and unsafe methods.

All I can say is keep doing your due diligence when it comes to all things essential oils. Ask questions before committing your cash to oils, training or accessories.

Ok, Natty rant over.

Keep learning, keep asking questions, and do better.