Do you have an essential oil diffuser?

rmcfarron

Aromatherapy oils and supplies

Birch Hill have wonderful blends, fabulous quality and prices, and great deals on supplies. I've used them for years.
http://birchhillhappenings.com/
 

Barleywine

It's probably heresy in the modern world of essential oils, but all I have is a small carved stone basin that sits atop a similarly carved, ventilated chamber holding a tea candle. A little water, a drop or two of oil and some heat, and I get enough diffusion to satisfy me. I'm not far into essential oils, and only have some lavender and sandalwood. I've always preferred incense, but wife can't stand the smokiness.
 

Darkmage

I've got a bunch of the little ceramic ones. My fave, though, is made of aluminum with a removable top which makes it MUCH easier to clean. Over time, you can get a sticky residue from the oils in the lid. Dishwashing liquid and a scrubbie sponge are your friends here. I have hard water, so I'll also get mineral scale rings in the lid. These are bad because heat shock can make the ceramic ones break. So for this, I fill the top to the brim with white vinegar and let it sit for 2-3 hours. Then I rinse it out and dry it. Repeat until scale is gone.

They all run off tealight candles. Most of mine came in kits with a few sticks of incense and scented oils. You can get oil for these in pretty much any place that sells home fragrance. Michael's has a pretty decent selection.

You can also use magical oils in them, if you like. There used to be a company here in Phoenix called Midnight Starr. Okay, basically it was one guy. Christian'd formulate and make the oils at the appropriate times with the appropriate prayers. I have quite a few of them and DAYUM they smell good. 'Money Draw' is a nice cinnamon and patchouli blend, along with a few other things, and a drop or two in the heated water goes a long way.

I've never tried my Eye of the Cat oils in one. I probably should just to see what happens.

Cheap oils like Seven Sisters, Indio, and Anna Riva are machine oil and dye. They're fakes and they suck, so don't get these if you can help it.

I have bad allergies and asthma so I have to watch it with incense. Diffusers are a great way for me to enjoy perfume this time of year without coughing, wheezing, and sneezing blood. :/
 

Tanga

It's probably heresy
Is it? no one told me. :joke:

in the modern world of essential oils, but all I have is a small carved stone basin that sits atop a similarly carved, ventilated chamber holding a tea candle. A little water, a drop or two of oil and some heat, and I get enough diffusion to satisfy me. I'm not far into essential oils, and only have some lavender and sandalwood. I've always preferred incense, but wife can't stand the smokiness.

I have a ceramic tea-light powered one, with a removable bowl. I've always liked mine to have a LARGE bowl so that I can fill it up with water once, put drops of oil in - and leave it for quite a while. (the bowl maybe holds about a 2-shot glass amount of water). Shallow bowls run out quickly and one has to keep going back to add more.
(I always regret not buying a Kobashi burner when they were popular here. They had the largest bowls ever). I don't remember where my current burner came from... a tiny charity-like corner shop somewhere. Plus it didn't have a brand name either.

I tried a plug-in shallow bowl diffuser once... and gave it away the next week. :)
And I like the bowl to be separate from the stand - it's easier to clean ala Darkmage.
Plus I'm pretty sensitive to incense, can only tolerate a couple of brands for a short while.


I have a box of favourite essential oils and blend to my mood - usually not more than 3 scents. Often just one. Favourites are: Elemi, May Chang, Geranium, Sandalwood, Tangerine, Lavender and Sage.
(I have training in Clinical Aromatherapy. I used to buy from a specific supplier - but now I mostly get my oils from Neal's Yard shops when I'm passing by. London, UK here.).
 

violetdaisy

My husband got something by "PURE". I don't think it heats and it does have a mist but not one heavy enough to leave moisture in the surrounding area. It changes colors like some fiber optic things when it's on.....but I really enjoy it.
 

MandMaud

It's probably heresy in the modern world of essential oils, but all I have is a small carved stone basin that sits atop a similarly carved, ventilated chamber holding a tea candle.

I have a ceramic tea-light powered one, with a removable bowl. I've always liked mine to have a LARGE bowl so that I can fill it up with water once, put drops of oil in - and leave it for quite a while. (the bowl maybe holds about a 2-shot glass amount of water). Shallow bowls run out quickly and one has to keep going back to add more.
(I always regret not buying a Kobashi burner when they were popular here. They had the largest bowls ever). I don't remember where my current burner came from... a tiny charity-like corner shop somewhere. Plus it didn't have a brand name either.

These ceramic oil burners are all I've ever used - actually nope, not true, I do like joss sticks too but not for the same purpose. I only have one with a removable bowl, and it is very handy, but I don't have any trouble washing the rest of them - soaking for a while in soapy water helps. Once, in the deeper bowl, I found the water boiling, which I assumed was because of its depth so since then I use that one with the same little amount as the others. I fill them as full as possible, just a tiny space for expansion as the water heats up. I am always careful to have the burner on a heatproof surface, but pretty blasé about all other precautions, but of course I don't recommend or condone anyone following my example. :)

They tell you to burn them for a maximum of 20-30 minutes, which I assume is for safety reasons, though I have forgotten more than once and just found the candle burnt out, no harm done. If the water boils dry, and you've put a lot of drops of oil in, they do spit hot oil (though not very far) - but that too isn't supposed to happen either. ;) I usually put more than the maximum number of drops, and haven't had the house burn down yet; I think the maximum recommended is about 6? In fact I have a fear of fire, so I've cautious with the spent match, and dip it in the water before binning it, especially as I tend to use old cereal boxes and tissue boxes as table-top bins, which would be very flammable with a match smouldering unseen. It's more fun to dip the match "through" the oil on the water's surface, without blowing it out first... I am NOT recommending this, kiddies. })

I do find burning an oil for half an hour scents the room nicely and the scent does hang around. Bigger rooms would need more than one burner, of course, and it's different when the windows are open.

I use lots of different essential oils and have a couple of little reference books on their uses, eg rosemary for aches n pains, and headaches, and staying awake if needed; lavender is well-known for relaxing and sleep (and headaches too); clary sage for concentration and clear-headedness; sandalwood for meditation; orange to improve appetite; tea tree when you've got a cold or similar bug... just off the top of my head... and cedarwood is excellent for getting rid of unwanted smells as opposed to just masking them (cigarettes for example, and I used to use it every time I changed a nappy(!) and for any other pongs, eg I couldn't find out what was making the sink smell and had people about to visit, so cedarwood did the trick until I identified the cause). If we're tending to bicker, I use ylang ylang which improves mood and helps get us laid-back instead of niggling about petty things - it's touted as an aphrodisiac, which I suppose is the same features, feeling friendly towards people and inclined to be happy! :) I also use ylang ylang when feeling blue, not much use for full-blown depression, but if I have a day of being rather down without a reason - it really helps lift me. I recently found out that both clove leaf and peppermint are scents that spiders dislike so I fill the room with those to deter them - especially reassuring either side of the bed when one has been spotted in a corner of the bedroom! I witnessed a spider flee depart its own territory in quite a hurry after I sprayed with clove leaf essential oil (around the kitchen sink), so that definitely works.

The other way I like to use oils is in bathwater (most need some kind of carrier to be sure of not having a skin reaction, but a drop of bubble bath, or baby bath, or even shampoo under the running tap will do) - maximum about 8 drops in a full bath, if I remember right. Of course that scents the room beautifully too. The only oils that can be used neat, as far as I know, are tea tree - lavender, which I believe even fewer people react to - and geranium, which is handy for stopping bleeding. Its smell is too sweet for me to want to use it at any other time though! Lavender and tea tree are disinfectants and I always use a drop of lavender if a cut needs a sticky plaster. It's good for insect bites too, and eczema and that kind of thing. Rosemary is wonderful for aching muscles etc, but can be too fierce for sensitive skin so an oil burner would be better.

There you go, an info dump of my essential oil habits! :D
 

Emily

I use ceramic oil burners too - I have two brown terracotta ones, not very pretty but functional, and you can fill the bowls right to the top and use large 8 hour tealights with those without having to worry about topping the water up.

My other oil burners are just normal ones that only take the small tealights and last about 4 hours. I find that if I fill the bowls right up then the water will last for the full 4 hours. I have had oil burners crack before when they have boiled dry so I am careful now. I shop around for oils but do like lavender, lemon, cinnamon, sandalwood and rose. :)
 

Amsonia

Home today with a terrible cold. I'm enjoying my oil diffuser. I'm trying a custom blend I made for cold symptoms for the first time, I like it so I though I would share. I'm actually surprised how nice it smells, I usually don't like the smell of tea tree...but the others blend and cover it really nicely.

Tea tree
Lavender
Spearmint
Lime
 

ladybird

The oil diffuser i tend to use the most is this one:

http://rosariumblends.com/products/pentagram-essential-oil-diffuser/

i really like it and it also looks lovely on my altar. i use a lot of Catamara Rosarium's
products. [in addition to my own blends]. This diffuser is especially nice for ritual/meditation.

I have to second this. I love Catamara's products as well! I just got some Sage Resin from her last weekend at the NWTS. Amazing! And, even more potent then just a smudge stick. She is such a magical and wonderful lady. All of her products (oils, resins) are the real deal. My favorite oil from her being Hekate's blend.