When blending essential oils, it is important to consider their volatility or high rate of evaporation. Some oils have a much higher rate of volatility that others. Top notes are fastest acting, the quickest to evaporate and the most stimulating and uplifting. Middle notes are not as volatile and primarily affect the functions of the body eg digestion, menstruation etc, while the base notes are slow to evaporate and are most sedating and relaxing. As referred to earlier, essential oils can assist the body in more than one way.
Essential oils enter our body in a number of ways.
Most methods of using the oils will result in them entering the body in a number of ways. Small quantities can be added to a bath or sauna, used in hot or cold compresses, in room sprays, evaporated in burners or vaporizes, in inhalations, gargles and mouth washers, perfumes, cooking and massages. The most effective method is via inhalations. The oils vapours are inhaled, warmed by the body temperature and mixed with water vapours from our mucous membranes. The cilia in the olfactory organ located at the base of the nose are stimulated and send nerve impulses to the olfactory bulb, and on to the hypothalamus and limbic portions of the brain.