Assess your clients. With individuals, one needs to ask a lot of questions. Determine the person s past reactions to substances. A very high percentage of people with close blood relatives who have allergies also have or develop them. It is not necessary for the other family members to be sensitive to essential oils.
Any allergy increases the risk.
In all cases, we need to use the smallest level of each essential oil which will achieve the desired results. Often this level is unknown but we are all free to begin using less than we have used in the past. We can contribute to the body of knowledge available by trying mixtures with smaller amounts of essential oils and sharing our results. These efforts may not constitute a scientific study but may point the way for future studies. Massage therapists may want to consider using plain carrier oils for the actual massage and putting the scented oil mixture on a cotton ball for the client to smell.