Amy Bye is a Holistic Therapist and Certified Aromatherapy Health Practitioner with over 14 years of experience in the health & wellness industry. She is frequently asked about the safety of essential oils and how to best apply them to our bodies.
If you're beginning to be interested in using essential oils therapeutically, and not just as natural fragrance, it is best to always consult a certified aromatherapist. Essential oils are the most potent part of any plant and while all plants hold benefits, you need to understand how to access those benefits (spoiler alert, it will never involve ingesting them!!).
So if this sounds like you, hop on over to Amy's blog to learn all about the safe ways you can us essential oils on yourself and on children.
All of The Olfactory Shop oils can be used in the ways she describes if you're interested in applying them topically, making for beautiful botanical perfume options.
I especially love the last question on Amy's post as I get asked this a lot:
Q. I’ve heard essential oils aren’t safe for kids so should I use synthetic products until they are older?
Essential oils are safe to use on children when applied in the correct way and for the correct age. Naturally derived scents are far better to use (for everyone, not just children!) than synthetic.
Synthetic fragrance is essentially ‘man made’ in a laboratory to smell like a natural fragrance. Their chemical continents are not the same as natural scents, they are mostly made from petroleum byproducts such as benzene derivatives, aldehydes and toluene which are all known toxic chemicals and some are even known carcinogenic.
The chemical make up of an essential oils is made up entirely of organic chemical compounds found in Mother Nature. The two main classes of chemical compounds isolated in essentials oils are Terpenes and Oxygenated compounds, all of which are safe, natural and non toxic when used correctly.
The short answer to this is no, do not use synthetic fragrance on your child (or your family). They are not good for our health or the environment . Use the information above for methods, dilution rates and child-safe products to use.
Whether you decide natural essential oil based fragrances and products are right for your home, or not, synthetics are never safe.
I hope you enjoyed this topic and thanks for reading!