Because of the rapid growth of aromatherapy practices since the internet has arrived, the use of undiluted essentials oils has increased dramatically – especially amongst holistic therapists and lay people who use oils without any safety training. Uninformed people at trade shows, fairs, and hundreds of entrepreneurial single trader businesses on the internet sell concoctions of essential oils without a thought about any possible risks.

Natural perfumers (‘botanical formulators’) , untrained therapists, even consumers are using undiluted oils on the skin without knowing they could be setting up setting up the conditions for sensitization to occur. Sensitization is becoming the principle problem of this profession, and the aromatherapy profession is largely in denial over it.

Aromatherapists are reported as applying undiluted essential oils to the skin in certain ‘minor emergency’ situations – tea tree oil for small skin traumas, lavender oil for very minor burn areas, cajuput or niaouli oils for insect bites, stings etc. etc.

Some people think if we have a question as to use an oil or not, to do a patch test (which few carry out), which now we know can actually set up a sensitization reaction. Some think since they have” never had a reaction”, it’s not a problem, or with “hundreds of clients we’ve not had any problems”. Yet how would they know? With many sensitization reactions it may be hard to determine the exact origin of the problem.

Undiluted oils should not normally be used topically especially on sensitive areas like the eyelids, on diseased skin, mucous membranes etc. due to the risk of inflammation. It is conceded that many essential oils will contain individual chemicals which have been separately shown to contain individual irritants and sensitizer chemicals.

Work is going on to establish when these chemicals naturally occur in essential oils, they are equivalently adversely active. It is fairly safely presumed in the meanwhile, that these substances may only show their adverse effects if applied at a concentration above the NOEL. So in other words, dilution is the safest method to proscribe.

Safety- armed with the forgoing information, we know that undiluted oils can be inflammatory; and the use of undiluted essential oils is not safe. Not only do they bring risks like burns and injury if undiluted, but also the risks of sensitizing both your subject and yourself. Remember the healer’s rule to first “do no harm”. Why risk it?

Efficacy- is neat really better? We know that ‘more’ is not always ‘better’, and that diluted oils work just as well. It is also true that some essential oils show one set of physiological properties at lower concentrations and another set of effects at higher levels – for example 1,8-cineol-containing oils can show this effect under certain conditions. It’s also true that essential oils can produce psycho-physiologica l effects at concentrations below odor threshold or odour recognition levels.

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