Aromatherapy oils to avoid during pregnancy

The shelf life of essential oils will vary with the type of oil. Most good quality oils will have an expiry or use by date on the label. This is a good indicator but assumes the oils have been kept in optimum conditions.

The 2 enemies of essential oils are heat and light. That's why they are sold in dark glass bottles. Best to keep them in a dark cupboard or box away from any windows (sun) or other sources of heat. Unless you live in a very hot area they usually don't need to be refrigerated.

Shelf life can vary from as little as 12 months for some citrus oils (due to them being expressed rather than distilled) to many years for some oils such as patchouli or some wood oils. In fact there are some people who claim patchouli actually improves with age!

A few other things to consider-

• blends usually don't last as long as single oils
• essential oil dilutions will probably last only a few months (the vegetable oil will go rancid before the essential oils go off)
• as a bottle is used the air in the bottle can cause the oil to oxidise - so if you by essential oils in larger bottles it is a good idea to decant them into smaller ones as you use them to reduce the amount of airspace.

Hope this helps!