Essential oil rollers are so handy for quick and easy aromatherapy at home!
They are a pre-diluted essential oils applicator that’s safe to use and can be customized to any ailment you need treated.
If you’re already an essential oil user, you are aware of how important essential oil roller bottles are.
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I personally couldn’t live without my headache roll-on. Or my “Farewell Scars” roller. Or Plant Therapy’s Loving Compassion heart chakra roller bottle, or, or, or… Roll-ons are amazing and I’d like to show you why.
Plus: I’ll show you how to easily make your own DIY essential oil roller bottles to suit YOUR preferences and needs.
Why A Roller Bottle?
High quality roller ball bottles are a must for your recipe success.
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Even though it’s possible to inhale an essential oil directly from the bottle, it is not the best approach to get your essential oils to do their job.
Trying to get therapeutic aromatherapy effects through the sense of smell alone is not as effective as applying the oils to your skin and letting your whole body absorb them.
One of the main benefits of essential oil rollers is that they help your essential oils work in as little as 20 minutes after application through the skin. This is why roller bottles are a beautiful and graceful way to gift your body the treatment of essential oils. Now: are you wondering how to make essential oil rollers?
General Dilution Rates in Roll-On Bottles
Essential oils should always be diluted. This means, they get added to a fatty carrier oil (such as coconut oil), to help them absorb safely into your skin.
General guidelines are:
- 0.5% for infants 6-24 months: 1 drop of essential oil to 10 mL (=2 tsp) of carrier oil
- 1% for elderly or facial application: 3 drops of essential oil to 10 mL (=2 tsp) of carrier oil
- 2% for daily use: 6 drops of essential oil to 10 mL (=2 tsp) of carrier oil
- 5% for short term use: 15 drops of essential oil to 10 mL (=2 tsp) of carrier oil
Please consult with an aromatherapist or medical professional before using essential oils on children under two years of age. Hot oils such as Cinnamon, Clove Bud, and Oregano should be diluted to 0.5% and should not be used on children under 10 years of age.
For a standard, 10 mL roll-on, we’ll be using 6 drops of essential oils (which equals a 2% dilution rate).
How to Make an Essential Oil Roller Bottle
You only need 3 things to make your own aromatherapy roll-ons:
1. Choose Your Roll-on Bottle
Use essential oils diluted in a roller bottle on your temples.
The first thing you’ll need when making a DIY roll-on, is a high quality glass bottle.
Look for stainless steel roller balls vs. plastic roller balls for the bottle topper. They apply nicer. I like these ones here.
Only use glass roller bottles as plastic ones can react with the essential oils in the blend.
2. Select Your Carrier Oil
A selection of my carrier oils from Plant Therapy
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Next comes the choice of carrier oil. Essential oils are very concentrated and can irritate the skin if not diluted.
A fantastic, high quality carrier oil helps dilute the essential oils to a safe percentage before topical application through your skin. It enables the essential oils to penetrate the skin and make their way into our bloodstream.
Fractionated Coconut Oil has an indefinite shelf life so it’s a great option to use. It’s also relatively thin and therefore works well in a roll-on with the roller ball topper.
Fractionated Coconut Oil is a top choice for carrier oil in a roll-on bottle.
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If you’re going after more specific skin care qualities of the carrier oil, you can also use other carrier oils of choice.
Then, fill your 10 mL glass roll-on with carrier oil, and stop at 90%-95% full so you’ll still have room for the essential oils.
3. Add Essential Oils
This is where the roller bottle DIY recipe fun really begins! Your options are endless.
You can use either single oils or an essential oil blend. You can create your own blend, or use ready-made blends of choice.
Always buy quality oils so you understand what you are using on your body.
Add 6 drops of any single oil or oil blend you have available at home. For example, if you like using Young Living Thieves® (or Thieves® alternatives) during cold and flu season, make a simple roll-on with 6 drops of your choice of “Thieves®”, and apply it to the insides of your wrists, the soles of your feet or behind your neck.
Roller Bottle Recipes
One of the simplest ways to enjoy your essential oils is by using a roller bottle.
But before you get started creating your own rollerball blends, decide what you would like your essential oil blend to do, and pay special attention to the needs of your family. Will this be for kids? Do you have pets around that may try to lick your hands, wrists, or areas close or around your face?
If there are special considerations, make sure you blend only with child safe or pet safe oils. Do a little investigating to figure out if the oil you’re considering comes with any special precautions or warnings.
And then, when you’re ready, start with one of my favorite essential oil recipes for roller bottles HERE.
Why Create Your Own Roller Bottle Blend?
Many popular essential oil brands sell fantastic ready-made blends crafted by aromatherapy experts. Almost any brand will have a headache blend or a stress blend or a sleep blend, and those are a great place to start to create your first roller bottle. I’ve certainly also used those in my roller balls. Of course, there is a huge number of other blends out there for different ailments as well.
Use ready-made essential oil synergies for your roll-on bottle; or blend your own!
Making your own essential oil blend bears the benefit of being able to think about the exact impact you need from your aromatherapy oils. You can think about the properties of the oils, and create a custom blend not just for therapeutic effect you’re after, but also for scent and smell preferences.
For example, I know that Vetiver is a beautiful oil for sleep, yet I personally can’t stand the smell of it. I avoid it in any blend possible!
Similarly, if a blend has even as much as just one drop of Patchouli, I’m likely not going to use it. I just have an aversion to the smell of Patchouli even though I know it’s an oil with fantastic properties!
Lucky for us, mother nature gifted us with plenty of plants to choose from so we don’t have to be stuck seeking certain therapeutic properties and only find them in certain plants.
When blending essential oils, I recommend to not use more than 3-5 oils in your blend. Essential oils work synergistically, in other words, they work to complement each other. After about 3-5 oils blended, you may likely see a plateau of “additional benefits added”, so I like to stop my blending there.
Roll-On Storage
Hard Top Carrying Case
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Now that you’ve made all your wonderful DIY rollers, you’ll certainly need a place to keep them.
I store my roller bottles in a hard top carrying case. It neatly fits 10 roller bottles, and it’s very handy for traveling. The case is sturdy enough to pack in luggage or a weekend bag without being scared of any spills or leaks.
Not only does it come in handy to keep your oils safe, it’s also great for staying organized. Roller bottles are somewhat small, and I tend to put them randomly across the house at times… After I got set-up with a storage case, I now always know where to find my rollers!
And once you’re done using your roll-on, clean your empty essential oil rollers can re-fill them to re-use again.
Final Thoughts
Roller bottles are among the easiest ways to use essential oils. Since it is recommended to use only diluted essential oils right on the skin, using roller bottles is a quick and easy way to apply essential oils at any point of time in the day. Make sure to shop for a glass bottle, and preferably also with stainless steel balls.
Start with Fractionated Coconut Oil (FCO) as your carrier oil. As you get comfortable, feel free to experiment with blending in other carrier oils as well. Just make sure the carrier oil consistency is not too thick to be rolling through the roller ball topper.
The most common roller bottle size is 10 mL. It’s small enough to carry with you in your purse, but big enough to last through a bunch of applications. Mine usually last 4-6 weeks, depending on which one it is!
Questions? Feel free to get in touch with me with any questions you’ve got! Use the comment section below or drop me a line.
Hi there! How does one determine how many drops of each oil to use when using multiple oils with differing dilution rates. Say, one oil should be diluted at a minimum of 2%, while another oil can be diluted at 5%. Does this mean I can used six drops of the one oil and 15 drops of the other?
I’m epileptic and can’t use rosemary. Is there a substitute oil I can use for the stress relief recipe? Thanks! I really appreciate this blog, since I’m new to learning about oils.
Hi Angela, thanks for your question. I would try Clary Sage instead of Rosemary, it’s also a very grounding and calming oil and a similar note to Rosemary. In cases with particular medical conditions like yours, I do need to recommend you seek out a Certified Aromatherapist in your area and book a consultation. You can find them listed on naha.org by clicking “Find an Aromatherapist”. He or she should be able to give you a custom action plan on how to best use essential oils in conjunction with a medical condition like epilepsy. My blog is for reference purposes only and while I try my best, it is not a substitute for advice from a licensed health-care professional. The content on this blog is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. Be well! ?
I love using the roller ball bottles for topical application, especially for pain relief. Thank you for the great blend recipes.