What Is an Essential Oil Inhaler? Learn How to Make Your Own

Essential Oil Inhaler

An essential oil inhaler is a compact plastic tube that contain a wick and a cotton ball soaked in an essential oil.

You use them by removing the cap and placing the inhaler close to your nose. This allows you to take in the oil without diffusing it into the air around you.

You may see essential oil inhalers offered under many other names, including aroma sticks, nasal inhalers, aromatherapy inhalers or even cute names like sniffy sticks.

You can buy these online and in some brick-and-mortar stores, but that doesn’t give you complete control over the ingredients, the concentration and the exact essential oil used.

That is why many people are now making their own essential oil inhalers. It may save you money if you use your inhaler daily, and you can ensure that the oils used are effective for your personal needs.

Why Do You Need an Essential Oil Inhaler?

There are many reasons that you may use an essential oil inhaler:

  • You live with someone who is sensitive to essential oils, so you can’t diffuse the oils into your air.
  • You want to keep a calming essential oil on hand at all times because you have anxiety.
  • You need essential oils while at work or otherwise away from home.
  • You want to take your favorite essential oils with you while traveling.
  • You want to quit smoking or correct other behaviors. A whiff of the right essential oil may help you go longer between meals or calm your nerves without lighting up a cigarette. If you experiment, you will find many other negative behaviors that are easily corrected with essential oil inhalers.

An inhaler is ideal if you use essential oils for any type of emotional support.

For instance, sniffing some essential oils can boost your mood on a bad day or deliver an energy pick-up when you hit a slump.

You can deal with everything from depression and anxiety to stress and lack of focus with natural essential oils, and inhalers allow you to receive the benefits instantly without a diffuser.

Who Can Use an Essential Oil Inhaler?

Essential oil inhalers are safe for most people because you aren’t consuming the oil or placing it directly on your skin.

Even children with anxiety and other issues can use these inhalers safely, but it’s important to consider the maturity level each child.

Talk to them about not licking the inhaler or trying to taste the oil. An adult can keep the inhaler and hold it for the child to ensure that it’s used responsibly and safely.

Some people are sensitive to the aroma of essential oils, so always start with a small smell when you start using a new oil.

Make sure that it has a positive impact without any side effects before you start smelling it more often or using it daily.

How to Make Your Own Essential Oil Inhaler

How to Make Your Own Essential Oil Inhaler

Inhaler tubes are used as the outer housing for essential oil inhalers. These plastic tubes have a cap for the bottom and a lid that goes over the top, and you can quickly slide the lid off when you want to inhale your essential oil.

You can find them in a variety of colors, which many people appreciate considering the white tubes look a bit like tampons and may draw some attention when you’re taking a sniff in public.

Once you have your tubes, follow these simple instructions from the New York Institute of Aromatic Studies:

  • Mix up to 35 drops of your chosen essential oils in a glass bowl. Most inhaler tubes can hold at least 25 drops, but you should check the packaging for your tubes to determine its capacity.
  • Take the cotton pad included with your inhaler tube and drop it into the oil.
  • Use tweezers to move the cotton pad around in the oil until it is fully saturated.
  • Use the tweezers to lift the cotton pad from the bowl and then place it in the tube. You can use your fingers to get it into the tube.
  • Place the bottom cap on the tube and cover with the lid.

If you’re creating multiple inhalers or you’re blending oils, you might want to list the ingredients or name of each oil on the tubes.

This will help you quickly determine which inhaler is needed at any given time.

What Essential Oils Should You Use?

This is your chance to personalize your essential oil inhaler!

You can choose oils based on your intended use of the inhaler. The following lists will help you decide which oils may work best for you.

Essential Oils for Anxiety:

  • Basil
  • Bergamot
  • Lavender
  • Geranium
  • Neroli
  • Valerian
  • Jasmine
  • Chamomile
  • Rose

Essential Oils for Stress Relief:

  • Sage
  • Bergamot
  • Ylang-Ylang
  • Lemon
  • Chamomile
  • Lavender
  • Neroli

Essential Oils to Boost Energy:

  • Rosemary
  • Lemon
  • Tangerine
  • Grapefruit
  • Peppermint
  • Spearmint
  • Orange
  • Cinnamon

Essential Oils for Mental Focus/Clarity:

  • Vetiver
  • Cedarwood
  • Rosemary
  • Peppermint
  • Cypress
  • Patchouli
  • Sage
  • Basil

An Alternative to Essential Oil Inhaler Tubes

Oil inhaler tubes are convenient because they can fit in your pocket and aren’t likely to leak, but some people find them messy and tedious to fill.

As an alternative, you can use small glass jars filled with pink Himalayan salt and drops of your chosen essential oils.

Small jars may still fit in your pocket, and you can remove the lid and sniff the oils just as you would with an inhaler tube.

These small jars often referred to as smelling salts because they use salt in addition to the essential oils.

There are health benefits of sniffing salts, so you can increase the impact of your essential oils when going with this method of delivery.

Look for chunky pieces of salt that will look pretty in your jars in addition to their benefits when sniffed.

Jars of Himalayan salt and essential oils are visually attractive, so you can use them as decorative items on your desk at work or on a countertop at home.

No one has to know that you sniff the aromas inside to soothe your mind, lift your spirits or calm your anxiety.

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