Accidents happen; so it’s a good idea to be prepared ahead of time. While some people have sensitive skin, everyone has sensitive eyes. So, what do you do if you get essential oils in your eyes?* Since essential oils and water don’t mix, you need a substance that is safe to use in your eyes and that will quickly emulsify the essential oil, allowing water to quickly flush it all away.

The easy answer is milk or cream. If you get essential oils in your eyes, quickly flush the eye with milk or cream until it stops burning. This should happen almost immediately. At that point, you can flush the eyes with fresh water to remove the milk.

Some aromatherapy authors advise using a carrier oil in the eye, but while this is good on the skin, it doesn’t remove the essential oil quickly enough from the eye. And while it may not hurt, it’s not fun to have olive oil in your eye either.

Don’t Panic!

We’ve had the opportunity to see this work many times! And each time, the milk helped almost immediately. When you’re frantic is not the time to look up what to do. Know what to do ahead of time! So consider writing down the following “cheat sheet” to remind the family how to deal with accidents:

Cheat Sheet

Eyes: Whole milk, cream, coconut milk, almond milk, or other nut milk (the more “cream” the better).

Sensitive Skin: Plain olive oil or any nut/coconut/vegetable oil.

Never try to use water to dilute essential oils.

See Young Living’s safety guidelines HERE.

What about My Skin?

Everyone’s skin type is different, and essential oils are powerful; so if you use an essential oil that seems to irritate or burn your skin, you should dilute the oil by rubbing a carrier oil (olive oil, almond oil…even vegetable oil) into the spot. This dilutes the oil.

Some oils are considered “spicier” than others and should be diluted for most people before applying to the skin (cinnamon, lemongrass, oregano, etc.)

Click HERE to find out why it’s so important to only use quality essential oils!