Table of Contents
Updated November 2026
The most important essential oil safety rules are simple: always dilute oils before putting them on your skin, keep them away from eyes and ears, don't swallow them, and take extra care with children, pets, and pregnancy. Below are my 7 must-know essential oil safety tips as a Certified Aromatherapist, plus a dilution chart and a drops-to-ml cheat sheet.
Essential oils are highly concentrated plant extracts. A single drop contains far more of the plant's aromatic compounds than a cup of herbal tea, so a little goes a long way. Learning a few basics up front lets you enjoy your oils with confidence.
New to essential oils? Read: Essential Oils for Beginners
7 Essential Oil Safety Tips and Guidelines
Before you use a new essential oil, take a minute to learn about it. Some oils have specific safety warnings, and knowing them ahead of time helps you avoid surprises. These essential oil safety tips cover the basics every beginner should know.
1. Use High-Quality, Pure Essential Oils
Choose 100% pure essential oils with no added fillers, synthetic fragrance, or carrier oils (unless the label says it's pre-diluted). A good brand will list the botanical (Latin) name, the part of the plant used, the country of origin, and how the oil was extracted.
Fresh oils matter too. Old, oxidized oils are more likely to irritate skin, so check out my guide to expired essential oils and shelf life.
Read more: How to Choose High Quality Essential Oils
2. Keep Oils Away From Sensitive Areas
Never put essential oils in your eyes, inside your ears or nose, on mucous membranes, or on broken skin and open wounds. Stop using an oil if you notice any skin, stomach, or breathing irritation.
Wash your hands after applying essential oils so you don't accidentally rub them into your eyes. If an oil gets in your eye, don't rub it. Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222, and they'll walk you through rinsing it out. Get medical care if the stinging doesn't ease.
3. Always Dilute Essential Oils
Dilute essential oils in a carrier oil before applying them to your skin. This helps prevent irritation and skin sensitization, an allergic reaction that can make you react to that oil for good. Use a carrier oil like fractionated coconut oil or jojoba oil (affiliate links).
Less is more! Diluting helps your oils spread over more skin and last longer, so you use less. Fractionated coconut oil is my favorite carrier oil for essential oils: it goes on evenly, absorbs quickly, and doesn't feel greasy.
Quick dilution chart (about 20 drops of essential oil = 1 ml). Under age 2, no essential oils at all.
| Dilution | Who it's for | Drops per 10 ml (2 tsp) carrier | Drops per 30 ml (2 Tbsp) carrier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5% | Kids 2 to 4, six starter oils only, after checking with your pediatrician | 1 | 3 |
| 0.5 to 1% | Face, sensitive skin, older adults, kids 5 to 11, pregnancy after 16 weeks | 1 to 2 | 3 to 6 |
| 1 to 2% | Full-body massage oils, body oils, lotions | 2 to 4 | 6 to 12 |
| 2 to 3% | Everyday use for ages 12+, hands, feet, smaller areas | 4 to 6 | 12 to 18 |
| Up to 5% | Ages 15+, short-term use on a small spot | Up to 10 | Up to 30 |
Some oils need much lower limits. "Hot" oils like cinnamon, clove, and oregano can burn or irritate skin even when diluted, so check their limits first. Here's what to do if an essential oil is burning your skin, and my maximum dilution list for 47 oils.
Trying a new oil? Do a skin patch test first: a little of the diluted blend on your inner forearm, covered, for 24 to 48 hours. For more detail, read my guide to diluting essential oils.
4. Don't Swallow Essential Oils
Some essential oils are sold as safe to ingest, but they're highly concentrated and can irritate or damage the mouth, throat, and stomach. I don't recommend swallowing essential oils, in water, tea, food, or capsules, no matter what the label says. If someone swallows an essential oil, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 and follow their instructions.
5. Know Which Oils Are Phototoxic
Some oils, mostly cold-pressed citrus oils like bergamot, lime, lemon, and grapefruit, can cause a painful sunburn-like reaction or dark patches when skin is exposed to sunlight after you apply them. Keep them below the safe limit for each oil on your skin, or avoid sun and tanning beds for at least 12 hours after using them.
Diffusing these oils is fine. The risk only comes from leaving them on your skin. Find out which oils to watch and which citrus oils are sun-safe in my guide to photosensitive essential oils.
6. Take Extra Care With Kids and Pets
Keep all essential oils out of reach of children. They can be poisonous if swallowed. Use child-resistant caps when you can.
- Babies under 2: No essential oils at all, including diffusing in a room they're in. Plain carrier oils and hydrosols are fine instead.
- Kids 2 to 4: Only six starter oils (lavender, cedarwood, frankincense, Roman chamomile, sweet orange, and tangerine or mandarin) at 0.5%, after checking with your pediatrician.
- Kids 5 to 11: Kid-friendly oils at 0.5 to 1%. Inhalers start at age 5, with half the adult drops. See my list of 50 kid-safe essential oils.
- Oils that wait longer: Peppermint is for ages 6 and up, and rosemary and eucalyptus (globulus and radiata) for ages 10 and up. These ages apply to diffusing too. My list of 150 essential oils shows the minimum age for every oil.
- Cats: Cats can't break down many essential oil compounds the way people can, so they're especially sensitive, including to tea tree, citrus, peppermint, eucalyptus, pine, wintergreen, cinnamon, clove, and ylang ylang. Only diffuse in a room your cat can leave.
- Dogs: Never put essential oils on your dog, including on a bandanna or collar. Tea tree oil in particular has caused poisonings in dogs and cats.
- Birds and small pets: Birds, rabbits, and other small animals have very sensitive airways. Don't diffuse in the same room as them.
- When diffusing: Diffuse for 30 to 60 minutes at a time in a ventilated room, and leave the door open so pets can leave. If you notice drooling, pawing at the face, coughing, trouble breathing, or wobbliness, turn the diffuser off, get your pet to fresh air, and call your vet.
7. Check With Your Doctor First
Talk to your doctor before using essential oils if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have epilepsy, asthma, diabetes, or high blood pressure, take blood thinners or other medications, are undergoing cancer treatment, or are under a doctor's care. Some oils aren't safe in these situations.
If you're expecting, many sources say to wait until after the first trimester; I wait until 16 weeks to give a little extra margin. For the first 16 weeks, I use only six oils, and only in a diffuser or inhaler: lavender, sweet orange, lemon, ginger, cedarwood (Virginian), and frankincense. After that, skin blends stay at 0.5 to 1%. See my essential oils for pregnancy post for my favorites.
More Essential Oil Safety Tips
- Use a personal inhaler around others. An aromatherapy inhaler lets you enjoy an oil without exposing small children, pets, or people who don't like the scent.
- Start with one oil. Lavender is a great first oil. Try it in your diffuser, bedtime routine, or homemade cleaners and notice how the aroma makes you feel.
- Store oils safely. Keep bottles tightly capped in a cool, dark place, up high and out of reach of children and pets. Write the date on each bottle when you open it.
- Take breaks. Using the same oil every day for months raises the chance of a skin reaction. Rotate your oils and take days off.
Common Essential Oil Measurements
These measurements are approximate. Drop size varies with the oil's thickness and the dropper.
- 20 drops = 1 ml
- 100 drops = 5 ml
- 200 drops = 10 ml
- 300 drops = 15 ml
- 600 drops = 30 ml
Bottle sizes vary by brand. Here are some bottle basics:
- 5 ml = 1 teaspoon
- 10 ml = 2 teaspoons
- 15 ml = 3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon
- 30 ml = 6 teaspoons = 2 tablespoons
Before You Buy Essential Oils
The FDA doesn't grade or certify essential oils for quality, so it's up to you to choose a trustworthy brand. Look for these three things:
- The right product: For skin care, aromatherapy, and DIY recipes, you want pure essential oils, not fragrance oils, perfume oils, or flavor oils. Here's the difference between fragrance oil and essential oil.
- Transparency: The brand should list the botanical name, country of origin, and extraction method, and ideally share GC/MS test results that show what's in each batch.
- Fair pricing: Quality oils aren't cheap, and prices should vary by oil. If rose and lemon cost the same, something is off.
Learn more in my guide on how to choose high quality essential oils.
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More Safety Guides
- Essential Oils for Beginners: 20 Questions Answered
- Diluting Essential Oils: Dilution Calculator and Chart
- 50 Kid Safe Essential Oils List
- Essential Oils for Pregnancy
- Photosensitive Essential Oils
- Can I Use Expired Essential Oils?
- 7 Common Essential Oil Mistakes
Ready to start blending? My Aromatherapy Supply Kits have the bottles and supplies you need, and my free essential oil guides are a great place to begin.
Essential Oil Guide for Beginners - Getting Started
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Beginner's Essential Oil Guide - Download/Printable Learn how to safely and effectively make essential oils a part of your everyday life. Everything you need to know about essential oils. If you have ever been around anyone who loves using essential… Read More
