Using Aromatherapy to Relieve Stress

From the materials gathered, it’s not hard to see what needs to be done!

1. Pour the baby oil in the jar. If the opening is too small, don’t hesitate to use a funnel. The amount of baby oil to fragrance oil is 60% to 40%. However, this is not set in stone. Experiment a bit to find the right combination.
2. Pour the fragrance oil or essential oil into the jar.
3. Pour about a teaspoon to a tablespoon (depending on your bottle size) of vodka into the jar. You don’t need too much. The vodka is suppose to help thin out the baby oil so the reeds can soak it up better. If you find later that the reeds are not soaking the oil well enough, add more vodka.
4. Stir the liquid thoroughly with a reed stick.
5. Grab about 5-6 reed sticks. The amount to use depends on how heavy or light you want the scent to be and how big or small the area you’ll want the fragrance to travel. If you are using a small bottle like I am, cut the reeds with a scissor one at a time till they are about 3-4 inches above the opening. Dunk the reeds into the jar and wait for about a minute or so. Carefully remove the reeds and turn them upside down so that the dry side is now in the oil. Fan out the reeds in several different directions. Place your diffuser kit to your desired location.
6. Every couple of days or so (or whenever the scent starts to go faint), flip the reeds around. Heck you can even do this on a daily basis if you so wish to.

Tips and Advice

- Flipping the reeds occasionally will help if the scent starts to wear down. However, over time, the reeds themselves will be clogged and will no longer be useful. These reeds are very cheap (the eBay seller I linked to earlier gives you 100 reeds for less than $6 and that’s with shipping included) so rather than reusing them, simply insert new ones.

- Don’t forget that there isn’t a closing for your bottle! If you knock the bottle over, the oil will spill out and you’ll have a big mess to clean up! I put it close to my computer because that way, I will always see it and have a less chance of knocking it over. The disadvantage is that if it does get knocked over one day, it might get onto my electrical devices. If you have wild pets around, well, good luck.

- Be creative with your fragrance. You’re not limited to only one scent! In many instances, users can use multiple essential oils and combine them to get a unique smell. There are many combinations out there that works really well for certain scenarios. If you want your scent to help you achieve a certain mood or help with another problem, search it up online and I’m sure you’ll find something. Again, the problem with combining essential oils is that it could get expensive.

- A decent amount of oil should last a very long time. Therefore, if you’re like me and want to try different fragrances, create only a little at a time. If you have created too much but don’t want to throw it away, simply find a way to cover the bottle opening with a cap and store it in a dark place until you want to use it again. Or, simply place the unwanted diffuser system in another room. As long as the fragrance doesn’t interfere with your other diffuser systems throughout the house, I don’t see a problem with this. It might be weird at first as you smell vanilla in one room, walk over to another and smell peppermint.

- I have read many tutorials on how to make your own diffuser oils stating that you can substitute the rattan reeds with bamboo skewer sticks (the kind you use for BBQ grilling) or those wooden disposable chopsticks. From my limited testing, I find that the bamboo sticks simply do not work as the oil doesn’t travel up the stick. Your results may vary but again, the rattan reed sticks are so cheap that it doesn’t make sense to skimp on them. These rattan reeds are the official materials to use when using a diffuser system like ours.

- You don’t have to listen exactly to my instructions. If you want a stronger diffuser, feel free to add more fragrance oil to the mixture. I will note here that our custom created diffuser oil kit in many cases will not rival to that of professional quality one’s so some of you may find the mixture a bit weak. A lot of it also depends on the grade of fragrance oil purchased. The eBay fragrance seller I’ve listed earlier claims to sell undiluted oil, which is good as it’s not watered down. Whether it’s true or not I have no idea but from my judgement, the oil does smell super strong.

- There are definitely other methods to creating your own reed diffuser kit. However, they usually consist of using some type of scent free oil (the base) along with mixing in the fragrance or essential oil. Here, I’m only using baby oil as the base. Other recipes call for two or more different types of oil to the mixture. If you search online and find an even better way of making one, please share with us!

In the End…

I hope everyone can benefit from aromatherapy. By creating your own kit as shown here, you’ll not only save money but most importantly, you get to use your own fragrance of choice! If you find that you are constantly in stress, please take my advice and try this little project. You can even use this at work if you wish to but you’ll definitely want to consult with your co-workers first if you guys are work in a small enclosed space. Aromatherapy is not just a “girls” thing like what many men seem to believe. Do you not have to deal with stress? Do you not want to stay more focus and alert at work? Do you not want to sleep better at night after a long day? Whatever the case may be, I’m willing to bet you’ll enjoy this project. That is unless you purchase the wrong fragrance! Happy smelling!

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