There are people who, after using vape for a long time, are tired of having to constantly spend money on bottles of e-liquid , some people even have creative ideas for brand new and unique flavors. If that person is you, then maybe it is time for you to learn about the art of mixing to create your own unique bottles of e-liquid.
Making your own essential oils can be both fun and frustrating, depending on the knowledge required and the patience you have. Whether this is your first time trying it, or you’ve tried it many times without success, this detailed guide can be a useful reference. Trust me, you’ll find the process of making essential oils quite interesting, and who knows, you might even save yourself a pretty penny.
I. Important things you need to know
Make sure you have all the necessary tools and materials for the mixing process. Although the chemicals and reactions involved are fairly simple and will not cause an explosion, it is still best to have safety measures in place.
II. It's actually much easier than you think.
You must be wondering about the process of blending essential oils, and imagining an old doctor like Einstein mixing a bunch of substances in a dark laboratory, surrounded by piles of experimental tools and machines with the sound of something boiling in the background, right?
Sounds like a great idea, right? But it’s not, because essential oil blending is actually pretty easy. The results, however, can range from something gooey and you’ll want to flush down the drain, to the most amazing essential oil you’ve ever used, or somewhere in between.
Depending on how much essential oil you want to make, you can start anywhere, in your kitchen or garage, but you will still need specialized ingredients and tools. And most of the essentials listed in this article can be found in brick-and-mortar stores or online.
III. Ingredients for essential oil blending
There are five main ingredients to make e-liquid: VG , PG , flavoring, diluted nicotine , and distilled water or vodka. Vodka and nicotine are just extras, because you often won't need them. At the very least, you can make e-liquid with just PG or VG as a solvent and flavoring.
1. Propylene Glycol (PG)
Most people who mix their own essential oils often use PG as a solvent, however, some people are allergic to it. PG is a colorless, odorless organic compound that has been recognized as safe and is used in many products, including tobacco, food, etc. It is also used in some drugs that are absorbed through the respiratory tract, injected or taken orally.
2. Vegetable Glycerol (VG)
Like PG, VG is a natural liquid extracted from plants. VG is thicker and has a slightly sweet taste. While PG doesn’t affect the taste of your e-liquid, VG can, for better or worse. Most e-liquids use both PG and VG, as each gives the e-liquid its own unique characteristics. We’ll talk about how they affect your finished e-liquid later.
3. Distilled water or Vodka
These two ingredients are not really necessary, they are often used to dilute e-liquids that use 100% VG. Vodka can also create a throat hit without adding nicotine. If you don’t want to use vodka, you can substitute distilled water.
4. Flavoring
There are many types of fragrances available, but to create essential oils that are delicious and easy to use, you should choose fragrances that are used for inhalation instead of food fragrances. In a typical blend, you need about 10-20% of the total volume of fragrance, if the fragrance is too strong, you only need about 5%. So the advice is, when using a certain type of fragrance, you should read the label of that fragrance to understand how it will affect your essential oil blend.
5. Diluted nicotine
You will use diluted nicotine to add to PG or VG solvent, nicotine is available in different concentrations. For beginners, you can choose a concentration between 6-24mg and keep experimenting until you find the concentration that you are most comfortable with. If you want the most complete comparison to the amount of nicotine in regular cigarettes, you can refer to the table below.
Nicotine concentration in cigarettes |
Nicotine concentration for essential oils (mg) |
No nicotine |
0 |
Extremely light |
1-3 |
Light |
6-8 |
Normal |
12-16 |
Heavy |
24 |
Extremely heavy |
36 |
IV. Mixing tools:
1. Empty plastic bottle with dropper
For beginners, plastic bottles are the best choice. You should not use large containers or expensive bottles, they are quite an investment. Moreover, you need to use clean tools for each blending, otherwise you will be likely to spoil the new batch of essential oils by mixing with the previous blend.
A cheap new plastic bottle will definitely be more economical than an expensive but difficult to clean container.
2. Cylinder
To get accurate measurements, you should use a separate syringe for each ingredient, remembering to mark which syringe is for which ingredient. Syringes are also quite handy if you are using a small-mouth bottle. Counting the number of drops you put in is helpful, but when using small amounts, even a small difference can have a big impact on your finished product.
3. Paper towels or napkins
You need to use a paper towel to wipe up any spills while mixing. Accidentally spilling or leaking a little solution is a common occurrence no matter how good you are, so it’s best to be prepared.
4. Gloves
Since you are dealing with nicotine, a pair of gloves is essential. When it comes into contact with your skin, nicotine can be absorbed into your body, which can cause rashes and other negative reactions in your body.
You should use good quality rubber gloves to avoid damaging the essential oils.
5. Safety glasses
In addition to gloves, safety glasses are also a necessary tool if you intend to make essential oils regularly. Because prolonged exposure to nicotine is not good for your eyes, but you should have safety glasses if you are really serious about making essential oils.
V. How to make essential oils in five steps:
Step 1: Prepare nicotine
You’ll need to do a little math to figure out how much nicotine you need for your e-liquid to produce the desired concentration. Since the nicotine you’re using is already diluted, calculate its concentration in milligrams and the overall concentration of your e-liquid to get the required amount of nicotine. You can use an online calculator or a smartphone app to make this easier.
Adding too much nicotine will ruin the solution, so you should add less nicotine than you calculated or the amount listed in the e-liquid recipe. If the nicotine concentration is moderate, but you still want an extra throat hit, you can add a few drops of vodka. You don’t need too much, about 1-5% is enough.
Step 2: Prepare the spices
This is where you need skills and a little luck, especially if you intend to create a new flavor. At this step, you should consider carefully before doing it because there are definitely two possibilities, one is that you successfully create the finished product, the other is that you throw it in the trash. You can use only one flavor, or combine many other flavors together. If you are just a beginner, I recommend you only use one or two flavors, don't be too greedy and ruin the rice.
Trial and error is the only way to get used to blending essential oils, as a rule of thumb, you should add less fragrance than you calculated or the recipe says. It’s better to start with less than you can possibly ruin your batch by adding too much. After it has steeped for a while, take a puff and add more fragrance as needed. Unless you know what you’re doing, never add more than 10% of the total volume of your final product.
Step 3: Prepare the solvent
You can choose your own VG/PG ratio, but the ratio of this solution is usually around 50/50 and 80/20. Remember that diluted nicotine also contains a certain amount of PG and VG, so don't forget to pay attention to this ratio.
Step 4: Mix the mixtures
Once you have everything ready, pour it all into a small jar and shake it well, and I mean shake it as hard as you can, because most e-liquids (especially high VG ones) are very thick, and need to be shaken vigorously to mix the ingredients together.
Step 5: Incubate
Whether or not to incubate essential oils depends on your preference, most essential oils will taste better after being incubated, like a bottle of wine that has been aged for a long time. You can try your batch of essential oils, if you find that the taste is as you expected, then you can skip this step. Incubating essential oils is not difficult, you just need to leave your bottle of essential oils in a cool, dark place, the incubation time can last for a few days or a few months, depending on your preference. Some ingredients will settle to the bottom of the bottle, so while incubating, occasionally shake your bottle of essential oils.
After aging, not only the flavor but also the color of the e-liquid will change because of the oxidation of nicotine. Instead of being colorless or very pale, you will see an attractive yellow or brown color. In fact, this color change is a sign that your e-liquid has been aging long enough. With aging, nothing is certain, to have a good batch of e-liquid, you need two things: patience and experimentation. The process will be long and tedious, but the results will definitely be worth your expectations.
VI. Tips in the process of making essential oils
- If you only read one tip in this guide, remember this: write down all the steps and ingredients you used to make your essential oils. Many people have said that they have created a perfect recipe but could not replicate it because they did not write down the ingredients and quantities.
- Search online, there are several online forums that share essential oil recipes where you can learn and share your recipes.
- Use inhaled flavorings instead of food flavorings.
- If you are just starting out with essential oil blending, don't make too much or too little. Too much will cost you a lot of money while experimenting, and too little will mean you won't learn anything, because even changing the proportions of one ingredient during blending will have a big impact on the finished product.
- If you want more throat hits, add more PG.
- If you want more smoke and a decent throat hit, add more VG.
- E-liquids with high VG are suitable for use with sub ohm tanks, not only because they produce a lot of vapor, but also because VG is thicker, so it requires more heat.
- Store nicotine carefully. Make sure children and pets do not enter the area where you mix your essential oils, as nicotine is toxic if accidentally ingested.
VII. Conclusion
The process as you think would be like this: Mix essential oil -> Incubate -> Use -> Repeat
But in reality, blending your own essential oils is time-consuming, but also very enjoyable. You will have to experiment a lot to get the perfect result, and once you have mixed and documented it, it is easy to make another batch. It is also much less expensive than constantly buying new bottles of essential oils.
But of course, things don’t always go smoothly, and the process of experimenting and remixing is long and boring. Not every vaper has the talent and patience to mix their own e-liquid. If you can, do it yourself, otherwise it’s best to buy e-liquid from reputable companies with a wide range of flavors to choose from.
