How to use
How to use them
From the diffuser to a blended body oil — the methods, the measures, and how to keep it all fresh.
Methods
Ways to use essential oils
In aromatherapy, essential oils are enjoyed through scent — diffused into the air or inhaled. These are the simplest and most reliable ways to use them at home.
Diffusion
An ultrasonic diffuser disperses a few drops of oil as a fine, cool mist. There is no heat, so the oil is not altered — the scent stays true. This is the everyday method, and the gentlest.
Direct inhalation
Add a drop or two to a tissue or cotton pad and breathe in the scent. Ideal on the move, or at a desk.
Steam bowl
Add a few drops to a bowl of steaming (not boiling) water, lean over, and breathe gently with eyes closed. Keep your face at a comfortable distance.
A scented bath
Because oil and water do not mix, always disperse the oil first — blend a few drops into a tablespoon of carrier oil, unscented base, or milk before adding to the bath, so the neat oil never sits on the skin.
For the skin? Concentrated essential oils are not applied undiluted to the skin. If you wish to use them on the body — in a massage oil or cream — they must first be diluted in a carrier. See
Building a blend.
Essential oils and hair
Rosemary is the most-searched essential oil in Australia, and hair is why. It has a long history in hair and scalp care, and it is the first oil most people add to a routine. It is not the only one, and for some hair it is not the right one.
How oils are used on hair
Essential oils are never applied neat. On hair and scalp they are used diluted — a few drops in a carrier oil for a pre-wash treatment, or added to an unscented base. 1–2% is the usual strength: about 6–12 drops in 30ml of carrier. Jojoba is the closest carrier to the scalp’s own oil; sweet almond and macadamia are both good and cost less.
A pre-wash oil treatment
Warm a tablespoon of jojoba, add six drops of oil, and work it into the scalp with the fingertips rather than the nails — those few minutes are the part that matters. Comb it through the lengths, leave twenty minutes, then shampoo. Twice through with shampoo is normal after an oil treatment. Once a week is plenty.
Which oils, by hair type
These are the oils aromatherapy has traditionally used on each kind of hair. They are also, formulation by formulation, the oils in our own hair care.
- Dry or damaged hair
- Patchouli Pogostemon cablin — earthy and long-lasting; one of the two classic oils for dry hair and scalp. Patchouli →
- Ylang Ylang Cananga odorata — sweet and floral; the other. Ylang Ylang →
- Sandalwood Santalum album — East Indian sandalwood: creamy, soft, expensive, and worth a single drop. East Indian Sandalwood →
- Oily scalp
- Rosalina Melaleuca ericifolia — the gentle melaleuca; where tea tree is too sharp for a scalp, this is the substitute.
- Lemongrass Cymbopogon citratus — sharp and green; the traditional astringent. Lemongrass →
- Tea Tree Melaleuca alternifolia — fresh and green, and stronger than both above. Use it at the lower end of the dilution. Tea Tree →
- Normal hair and general scalp care
- Rose Geranium Pelargonium graveolens — floral and green; the balancing oil. Rose Geranium →
- Cedarwood Cedrus atlantica — dry and woody; among the oldest oils in scalp care. Cedarwood →
- Frankincense Boswellia carteri — resinous and warm. Frankincense →
- Colour-treated or heat-treated hair
- Lavender Lavandula angustifolia — soft and floral; the gentlest of them, and the safest place to start. Certified Organic Lavender →
- Rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis — herbaceous and camphoraceous; the traditional choice for hair and scalp. Certified Organic Rosemary →
- Handle with care
- Lemon Citrus limon and the other citrus oils are photosensitive — see the safety guide. Peppermint tingles and is easy to overdo: two drops, not six. Rosemary and peppermint are both avoided in pregnancy.
If you would rather not blend your own
Our four hair care formulations carry these same oils, chosen by hair type: patchouli and ylang ylang in the dry; rosalina, lemongrass and sandalwood in the normal to oily; rose geranium, cedarwood and frankincense in the normal; lavender, rosemary and sandalwood in the colour treated. Twelve oils in all, ten of them certified organic, and shampoo and conditioner in each pair carry the same oils. Hair Care →
An oil treatment and a shampoo do different jobs, so they are usually used together — the treatment once a week, the shampoo the rest of the time.
This is general information about aromatherapy practice, not advice about any hair or scalp condition.
Using essential oils on the body
Essential oils are not applied undiluted to the skin. Everything else about using them on the body follows from that one sentence.
The dilution table
Start lower than you think. Follow the product directions and the safety guide.
Choosing a base
- Sweet almond — slow on the skin, which is what makes it the standard massage base. Sweet Almond 145ml →
- Apricot kernel — lighter and faster in; the one for the face. Apricot Kernel 145ml →
- Jojoba — a plant wax rather than an oil, closest to the skin’s own. Organic Jojoba →
- An unscented cream — for anyone who would rather not use oil. Unscented Jojoba Cream →
Three ways to use them
A massage or body oil. Mix in a small bottle: 30ml of base, 12 drops of oil. Enough for two or three uses, and mixed fresh each time it keeps better.
Into an unscented cream. Stir the drops through thoroughly — a cream takes more mixing than an oil. 100g takes 20 to 40 drops.
A bath. Use a product specifically formulated to disperse essential oils in bath water, following its directions. Oil and water do not mix; never add neat drops directly to a bath.
Which oils, by what you are after
- To wind down — lavender, patchouli, ylang ylang. Calm & Sleep →
- For tired muscles after exercise — rosemary, eucalyptus, peppermint, used at the lower end of the dilution. Focus & Energy →
- For dry skin — patchouli, sandalwood, geranium in jojoba or almond.
- Simply for the scent you want to wear — the florals: rose geranium, ylang ylang, palmarosa. Uplift & Joy →
Halve it, or leave it out
Pregnancy, breastfeeding, children and sensitive skin need individual guidance. Check with a qualified professional and follow the oil-specific limits and precautions in the safety guide. Read the safety guide →
Or start from something already made
Our body range is our own blends, already diluted: Relaxation → is the Sanctuary blend, Spirit of Woman → the rose blend, Sleepy Lavender → lavender on its own. Body care →
This is general information about aromatherapy practice, not advice about any skin condition.
Diffusing
Diffuser basics
A diffuser is the easiest way to enjoy essential oils, and the questions are always the same: how much, and how long.
How many drops
As a guide, 4–6 drops for a typical room. Add more for a large or open space, fewer for a small one. Start light — you can always add another drop.
How long
Run the diffuser for 30–60 minutes at a time, then let the room rest. Scent works best in waves; the nose quickly stops noticing a smell that is constant, so intervals keep it fresh.
Keeping it clean
- Empty any remaining water after each session — don't leave it standing.
- Wipe the reservoir now and then; a drop of our Vaporiser Cleaner, or a little white vinegar, clears any oily residue that can dull the mist.
- Use fresh water each time, and switch oils only in a clean tank so scents don't muddle.
To wind a room down at night, a single oil such as lavender, set going half an hour before bed, is often all you need.
How our blends were made
Springfields opened in 1989 with single oils. There were no blends at the start. They were added one at a time over the decades that followed, and the eighteen on this site are what is left of a much longer list.
Who formulated them
John Kerr, who founded Springfields with Jillian Kerr, spent his working life on these plants: an academic in botanical medicine working in essential-oil chemistry, a clinical aromatherapist who collaborated with hospitals on research, a lecturer at aromatherapy conferences internationally, and co-founder of two of the field’s journals — Aromatherapy Today and The International Journal of Clinical Aromatherapy.
He went on formulating the whole way through. One blend usually began with a purpose and often with a person — someone wanted something for the end of a long day, or for a treatment room, or for a child’s bedroom. He made it, they used it, he adjusted it, and they used it again. Most versions did not get past that. The ones that did were written down and then left alone. Sanctuary has been the same five oils in the same proportions for decades, and the people who buy it every year would know at once if it were not.
Why the proportions take a career
The ingredients are the easy part, and we list them: every blend on this site names what is in it, oil by oil, with the part each one plays. The difficulty is how much of each — and that judgement comes from knowing the oils themselves, which is what a working life in essential-oil chemistry and clinical aromatherapy is for.
Oils also behave very differently once they are out of the bottle. A drop of patchouli will still be in the room three hours later; a drop of lemon is gone in twenty minutes. Half a drop of Roman chamomile changes the character of a blend and a whole drop takes it over. Getting five oils to hold together at the right proportions is the work of many attempts, not one afternoon.
Reading a blend
Sanctuary is lavender at its centre, patchouli holding it down, ylang ylang for sweetness, sweet orange and geranium lifting the top. Once you can read a blend that way you can tell which one belongs in which room, and which single oils are worth buying alongside it.
The eighteen blends →
If you would rather work out your own, Building a blend sets out top, middle and base notes and the measures to start from.
How to read a blend’s ingredient list
Every blend on this site lists what is in it. The list is more useful than it looks, and reading one takes less than a minute.
The order is the information
An ingredient list is written in descending order of quantity. So the question is not whether an oil is in the blend — it is how far up the list it sits. An expensive oil at the bottom of a long list is in the bottle in a quantity you will never smell.
Look for the oils that cost something
Sandalwood, rose, jasmine, frankincense, Roman chamomile. These are the first to be thinned out of a blend that has to hit a price, and they are the ones worth checking the position of.
One line can hide the whole scent
A single line reading Fragrance or Parfum with nothing after it can stand for any number of synthetic aroma chemicals, and it is not required to say which. Where our own products carry that line it reads Perfume (100% Pure Essential Oils), and the oils are named separately.
What this is for
It is a way of judging any blend, from anyone. Open two bottles, read two labels, and the difference is usually visible before it is smelled.
Blending
Building a blend
A balanced blend usually pairs a top note (bright, citrus — orange, bergamot), a middle (floral or herb — lavender, geranium) and a base (deep, woody — cedarwood, patchouli). Begin with more top than base, and keep notes as you go.
Blends made for the diffuser are the easy ones — nothing is touching skin, so you can experiment freely. Four to six drops in total is enough for a room, whether that is one oil or four.
Taking a blend onto the skin is a different question. It has to be diluted into a carrier, some oils need far less than others, and a few belong in the diffuser only. The
safety guide sets out the strengths, the patch test and the oils that need particular care.
By need
Choosing oils by need
Most people come to aromatherapy with a moment in mind — winding down, waking up, freshening the house. Here is a scent-led map to point you to the right shelf. Think of these as moods and atmospheres rather than remedies.
Calm & Sleep
Soft, quiet scents for the evening: lavender, chamomile, bergamot, and blends such as Sanctuary and Sweet Dreams. A single oil in the diffuser half an hour before bed.
Focus & Energy
Bright, sharpening scents for the desk and the morning: peppermint, rosemary, lemon and other citrus.
Breathe & Clear
Fresh, cooling scents for the cooler months: eucalyptus, tea tree, and our Ezi-Breathe blend.
A fresh home
Clean, lifting scents for living spaces: lemongrass, citrus, eucalyptus, and the My House blend.
Mood & uplift
Warm, rounded, feel-good scents: sweet orange, geranium, ylang ylang.
You'll find these same groupings across the shop under Shop by benefit, so you can browse straight to the mood you're after.
