I strongly advise when working with aroma energy to NOT count the pennies.

To the uninitiated it seems that some essential oils are very expensive, but you know, "expensive" compared to what or whom?

What does a single session with a psychologist in New York cost these days? $100? $200?

A small bottle of Britney Spears perfume? $100?

And how much fun do you get from 25 applications of one drop of even the very most expensive of oils?

So this isn’t about saving money or making one oil more “precious” than another; it’s just a little exercise to compare prices as the different sizes and dilutions in which essential oils are sold make it quite difficult to get a real grasp of what costs what.

How Many Drops Are In A Milliliter?

0.05ml = 1 drop
1 ml = 20 drops
5 ml = 100 drops
10ml = 200 drops

This is approximate as one man’s drop is not necessarily another man’s drop but it’s a guideline.

I’ve taken some current prices from a midrange supplier; these are all the basic versions, so not the “doubly organic hand picked sun blessed sang to sleep at night” higher price specialist essential oils.

I’ve worked out how many ml, how many drops, and divided the price by this to arrive at a measurement unit for costing aromatherapy essential oils, “penny per drop” or ppd.

* These are UK pennies – double it if you are from the US to get cents per drop instead.

• Citronella – 0.8 ppd
• Basil – 2 ppd
• Bergamot – 1.5 ppd
• Black Pepper – 1 ppd
• Eucalyptus – 1 ppd
• Frankincense – 3 ppd
• Marjoram – 1.75 ppd
• Neroli – 22 ppd
• Lavender – 1 ppd
• Lemongrass – 0.7 ppd
• Lime – 0.9 ppd
• Orange – 0.675 ppd
• Patchouli – 1.5 ppd
• Rose – 20 ppd
• Jasmine – 25 ppd

You can pay much, much more for connoisseur versions of even the cheapest oils, and some ultra expensive rare and precious oils.

But still, it’s a bargain in my opinion.

I have a small cloth with one drop of osmanthus and 3 drops of hyssop on it which I’ve been sniffing on all day to keep me focused and working well.

Apart from that, it gave me a small delight on many occasions, even remembering it now makes me smile.

What is that worth in practical terms?

Priceless!