Using essential oil topically is like drinking fruit  syrup. Normaly, nobody would have the idea to drink syrup pure. As a rule of thumb, you mix water with syrup. Would you?! 

The first step is to tell the total volume of the blend you want to prepare.

1/ Type the volume in ml expected to get directly or use the "+" and "-" signs.

Then, give the dilution ratio expected.

2/ You can enter the ratio directly or move the cursor to the right position.

Last and not mandatory, the number of drops per ml.

3/ As a rule, the calculator is set with 30 drops/ml. You can change these parameters if you think that it is more or less. 

(If you are asking "why 30" and not another number, you can read an article about this point here.)

Then you will get the number of drops of essential oil you have to pure in your container before filling it up with vegetable oil.

Et voilà!

Dilution in aromatherapy refers to the percentage of essential oil to a carrier oil within a specific overall volume.  When you mix an aromatic oil into a vegetable oil and the total end volume is 100 ml, the dilution will be "X"% which corresponds to the "X" ml of essential oil into the final recipient.

It is not always as straight as it sounds. For exemple, it is common to prepare mixture in bottle of 30ml.

To help you doing the calculation, you have the calculator above. 

It is the same idea when using essential oils topically.

Always use essential oils diluted in vegetable oil before applying them to your skin.

If you want to use aromatic oils straight, do it locally and for a short period.

After years of usage of essence across the world, this rule is the one recommended by practioners to get the best of the aromatic oils and limiting negative effects.

The truth is that sometimes it is difficult to do the calculation, so to help with to know how many drops of EO you need, down there, you will find a simple and easy-to-use calculator.

But, first, let's clarified the not always well-understood notion of dilution. 

The main parameters to choose the correct percentage of dilution are :

• which essential oils are concerned (some absolutely need to be used at very low concentration while others are less demanding)
• where they will be applied ( on your face, the dilution should not be more than 2 % for example, while in other parts this ratio could be higher)
• the age and condition of the person for whom they are blended (a dilution should be much lower and using any oils topically on a baby compared to an adult)
• the intended result of the blend (if you do a massage for pleasure or to help you to get rid of a fungus, the percentage of dilution will not be the same)

These are the main parameters to determine the right dilution percentage to use.

They are other factors that can be consider like 

• fluidity of the essential oil,
• ambient temperature
• the size of the dropper
• ec...

These extra factors can affect the number of drops per ml needed in the calculation, but can be minimized in our day to day practice.