Clear and accurate labelling

• Storage life of essential oil is commonly regarded as 6-12 months (under ideal storage). Label the bottle with the essential oil name, source, date of purchase, dilution and carrier oil. Keep a record of how old the oil is and when it was first opened.

• You will have to have a collection SDSs for each of the products you have on hand. Suppliers are legally required to make these available. Failure to do so may void your insurance indemnity.

Decanting and resealing

• Never store a small quantity of essential oil in a large bottle - decant into a small bottle in order to reduce the air volume in contact with the essential oil to cut down oxidation.

• Keep the lids on. Oxygen will attack the molecules and lipid peroxides will be formed.

• Don't shake the bottles as this mixes air and oxygen with the essential oil and speeds up oxidation attack.

Protection from light

• Keep essential oils out of the light (including fluorescent light) as much as possible and away from heat.

Temperature control

• Store essential oils in small dark glass bottles in a cool dark cupboard. The lids must be tight fitting with a seal on the inside and clean screw threads. A small mouth opening is ideal as it reduces the exchange of air and reduces the chances of fresh oxygen entering the bottle.

• Should the oil solidify in cold storage, warm it gently back to liquid.

Storage of essential oils

Essential oils can be spoiled if incorrectly stored, and this can lead to evaporation causing loss of therapeutic properties, fragrance and colour.

Essential oils are organic chemicals and as such are prone to oxidation attack - they will evaporate and go rancid, which is when the chemical compostion changes over time. The therapeutic properties of the oil change, which is evident if there is a noticeable alteration in colour and aroma.