Everything You Need to Know About Storing Essential Oils

Have you ever wondered if you were storing your essential oils correctly? Or maybe wondered why your essential oils are smelling a little…funky? Storing essential oils properly is a great way to extend their shelf life and avoid oxidizing.

What is oxidizing? It’s when the essential oils react with oxygen and their chemical make-up is changed or altered. Basically they will not hold the same therapeutic benefits they once did or they might even be more irritating to the skin. While after a time all essential oils will go bad like this when stored for a long time there are some simple steps we can do to stretch this shelf life of our essential oils.

First thing is first, what is the shelf life of essential oils? There really isn’t a one size fits all answer to this. It really varies on the essential oil, and when it was distilled/bottled/purchased. But for some basics we can go off this handy little chart:

Citrus oils have shelf life of 1-2 years

Plants have a shelf life of 2-3 years 

Herbs/Spices are a shelf life of 3-4 years

Trees have a shelf life of 4-5 years 

HOWEVER this is not really a one size fits all chart (it’s really more of a generalization) because some trees have a much lower shelf life, some herbs have a much higher shelf life and this can also really depend on the brand of essential oil you buy as well. You can see Plant Therapy’s shelf life chart for individual oils and their shelf life (although this is still not extensive) and just remember that this is something that can honestly vary a lot. The most important thing is to store the oils correctly and check to make sure they still smell alright. 

Next, make sure the oils are in dark glass bottles. If you see essential oils in a plastic or clear bottle than do not buy them. Essential oils degrade plastic, and clear bottles let light in which can ruin or break down the essential oils. This also brings me into my next point. 

Avoid sunlight and heat. Keep your essential oils stored in a cool dark place. This can really look different for everyone. Some people keep them out on a shelf, which is actually fine if it’s not in direct sunlight or heat. I keep mine in an essential oil box in my basement or one of my colder rooms. Some people store their essential oils in a box in the fridge. All these are great choices, although I don’t recommend storing essential oils just in the fridge without another container (your food might taste funky otherwise) and I don’t recommend putting an essential oil shelf anywhere around sunlight.

If you want a nice essential oil box than check out this one from amazon that I use and love. You can also purchase a box from Simply Earth as well. But you don’t have to buy a box, I just find that it makes it easier when I have a larger collection. I also have an essential oil travel bag from Redemptive Living and a travel case from amazon which makes it easy to transport oils and ensure they stay safe/snug.

It’s important to keep essential oils out of the heat, since they are volatile plant substances they are prone to change when introduced to things like air/heat/light. To ensure that they stay good for their entire shelf life we need to keep them away from these things. I wouldn’t store essential oils above 70 degrees Fahrenheit but 65-40 Fahrenheit is probably best for essential oils. You don’t want them freezing though so keep them away from freezing temps. Also please note that some essential oils are thicker than others and will require some warmth to be able to get moving. Roll these oils between your palms in the bottle or dip into warm (not boiling) for a few seconds to get them flowing again.

Also, be sure to cap your essential oils after use and don’t leave the cap off exposing them to air. The more air that get’s into the bottle the more prone they are too oxidizing. This is also why most essential oil brands have the rubber dropper stopper in the bottle, this allows less air into the bottle. If an essential oil doesn’t have this dropper, I wouldn’t purchase them. Also make sure that those caps are on snugly, allowing for less air to be exposed to the oils. Do not open essential oil bottles (breaking the seal) until you need the oil. If you are going to break a bottle open just to have it sit for a few months then leave it until you need it. This will definitely lessen air exposure and lengthen shelf life.

Another good tip is to buy smaller bottles of essential oils, especially of more expensive or shorter shelf life essential oils. Unless you know that you are going to be using a 30ml bottle relatively quickly than it’s better to for a 10ml or a 5ml. That way you can use the oil more quickly and aren’t hanging onto a lot of essential oil just for it to go bad. The bigger the bottle, the more room for air and the higher the chance of it going bad. Consider transferring half empty essential oil bottles to smaller bottles if you aren’t using them up that quickly (keeping old 5ml bottles around can be helpful for this, or even sample size essential oil bottles which you can find on amazon).

Lastly I would like to end on some tips for your oily DIYs as well. You don’t have to keep DIYs in a glass bottle if they are mixed in with a carrier, and dark colors are not always required for them either. Although it does help, but please do keep these DIYs out of direct sun and heat. They don’t need quite the care of the actual essential oils but we should still take care. If a DIY smells or looks bad, throw it out. It is a little easier to see if a DIY is bad though, and if you get a natural preservative and/or emulsifier this will extend the shelf life of DIYs as well. As always happy oiling! I hope this little guide helped, storing essential oils isn’t super complicated and it definitely isn’t one size. Just find what works and make sure to preserve these amazing bits of natures.