How to make a smell training kit

essential oils, bottle, glass

Making your own kit is easy.  Just follow these simple steps. 

Here’s what you need: 

  • Four 30ml/1 oz. amber coloured glass jars with lids (find them on Amazon or eBay)
  • Some watercolour paper and scissors 
  • Essential oils. The original four are rose, lemon, clove and eucalyptus, but you can choose any you like. 
  • Adhesive labels 

Directions: 

Cut out four circles of watercolour paper that fit into the bottoms of the jars. 

Put one disc in each jar. 

Add some drops of the essential oils to each of the jars. You don’t need more than 7 or 8 drops. Any more is overkill and won’t make the scent stronger

Close your bottles of essential oils tightly and keep them in the refrigerator—they will stay fresher longer this way. 

Make sure you label both the jars and the lids. You want be careful about not mixing up the lemon lid with the rose jar for example. The lids will take on the odour of the essential oil in the jar. 

Keep your smell training jars somewhere convenient so that you remember to use them twice daily. A good place is by your bed. This way you will remember to use them right after you wake up and then just before you go to sleep. 

It’s great if you can keep some jars at your desk, or in the car, or anywhere else where you might use them during the day. 

Dos and Don’ts 

Do keep your essential oil bottles in the fridge. This keeps them fresh. 

Don’t smell train straight out of the bottle. Essential oils are expensive and have a limited shelf life—sunlight is their enemy. The tiny hole in the essential oil bottle won’t give you a very powerful smell experience, that’s why jars are always more preferable for beginners. Also, you risk touching the dispenser cap on an essential oil bottle to your nose, and this might be irritating for your skin. 

Do smell train at a quiet moment of the day, without distractions. Try to focus on your experience, and don’t be too judgemental about what’s happening. 

Don’t worry if the smell seems distorted, reassure yourself that it’s ok. Any experience is positive. 

Do experiment with what sort of sniffs work for you. Start with gentle and short sniffs. Do what feels comfortable and natural. 

Do change out your oils every 4-5 months. They should keep fresh during this time if you keep them tightly capped and out of the sun. 

Do give your jars a wash with plain boiling water (no soap) when you change them out. The lids will have absorbed the odour, so take a fresh jar if you are adding a new scent. 

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