Oil Substitutes

Occasionally formulas for essential oil blends call for a particular oil that you may not have. Well instead of running out to the store to get those essential oils, which can be expensive, there are some acceptable substitutes that you can use instead. We will discuss them here.

If you don’t have some of the more expensive flower based essential oils, all of which just happened to be used in a variety of romance inspiring and female balancing blends you can try these.

Instead of jasmine, you can use ylang ylang.

If you don’t have neroli, which is the bitter orange blossom, you can use equal parts of mandarin orange and petitgrain to reach the required amount. So if you need 4 drops of neroli, just use 2 of mandarin and 2 of petitgrain.

Instead of chamomile, you can use lavender. Lavender can still be a bit pricy, but it is one essential oil no one should ever be without. It’s like a first aid kit in a bottle.

Rose is among the most expensive and sought after essential oils in the world. At well over 100 dollars for an ounce, you can substitute bois de rose instead. Bois de rose is also more commonly known as Rosewood.

In the event that you don’t have bergamot, try using grapefruit instead.

Tea tree is another oil that you should keep around frequently, but if you happen to run out you can use equal parts of cajeput and lavender to achieve the desired measurement.

Equal parts of cajeput and petitgrain can be substituted for Melissa, which can be a bit hard to find.

Sandalwood oil is one of the most well known aphrodisiacs in the world; it can also be pretty pricy. But you can substitute benzoin and cedarwood in equal parts.

Clary sage is used for balance in both men and women, but if you don’t happen to have it, you can use sage (yes there is a difference) and nutmeg in equal parts.

If you don’t happen to have frankinsense or myrrh essential oils, here’s what you can do. These two are derived from resins of the tree from which they originate. Those resins are then dried, into something that resembles small rocks and they are most often used as incense. You can take these resin rocks, and grind them up in a spice grinder (which is basically a coffee grinder, but not the one you use for coffee) and grind them into as fine a powder as you can. Put the powder into a glass jar (baby food jars or small jelly jars work well, as do small glass bottles) then fill with a carrier oil. Remember that the more powder that you add to the oil, the stronger your oil will be. I like to fill the jar as full as possible, and then add the oil. Heat the jar of oil in a pan of simmering water for 30 minutes and remove from the water. Let it sit for one week and then filter it through coffee filters to remove the grit. Now you have your own frankincense or myrrh oil, perfectly acceptable for substitution.