I’ve given some quicky tips above as to combining oils to create different vibes and feelings. I have found that the best way to start blending oils is to do so drop by drop. Maybe start by just buying three small bottles of oils – one from each family as described last time – and familiarizing yourself with the complexity of each scent. You can do this by placing a drop of each oil on its own strip of cotton nad paying special attention to the top note or the first noticeable impression of the smell followed by the middle note or the smell of the same oil a few hours later (this is often referred to as the heart of the scent) and the base note which reveals itself the next day. A great oil combination has a strong top note and a strong middle note, an excellent oil combination has all three.

• When choosing your first three oils, ask yourself some questions first like 1. Do I like any specific herb or spice already or am I drawn to one more than the rest? 2. Do I have a favorite flower and does its scent match? and 3. What “green” aroma do I like? If you had a solid answer for each of these questions, those are the oils for you!
• Place a drop of each onto its own cotton strip and do a smell test. Put it in between your hands and rub your hands together to warm up the oil, then rest your nose and mouth in your hands and take several deep breaths innnnnnn and ouuutttt. This is a very centering activity that you may want to practice even outside of your new candle-making hobby. Make any notes about what you like about the scent, what you maybe don’t like so much about it, and any adjectives that come to mind. Wash your hands really between each oil and do this several times. You will start to realize you’re training your nose/brain to pick up and identify more and more scents.
• Assign each oil a strength number: 1 – it’s gentle, barely noticeable – like lavender maybe? And 10 – it’s strong, you can smell it from afar, it’s aggressive – like a chamomile. The notations of these strengths will come into play once we start mixing because obviously, in this case, if you want a 50/50 blend, you’ll need about 4 drops of lavender to every drop of chamomile. It’s like chemistry – for new age hippies!
• Let the oils evaporate for an hour or so while you get outside and do something productive – like maybe taking a walk or going for a run or jumping up and down.
• Go back to your strips of cotton and do your breathing exercise again comparing the adjectives and notes you wrote down last time to those observed this time. Close your eyes, picture the scents, write down what you picture, observe its personality, try to assign non-scent related words to each scent: round, sharp, shallow, etc.
• Again, assign a strength number to each oil.
• Now, for each list of adjectives, try to observe any changes in your physicality – are you calmer, more anxious? Are you feeling friendlier, more stand-offish? Does the scent affect your nose and mouth and eyes or is it having more of an effect on your lungs and chest? Make notes on where and how you feel each scent.