
Buying Guide for Essential Oil Diffusers

Why buy an essential oil diffuser?
If you’re an essential oil fan, a diffuser will double-enhance your aromatic experience. It requires water and just a few drops of oil to disperse the scent evenly throughout a room or hallway. Using an essential oil diffuser to replace rituals like dabbing your kitchen cloth, your clothes, or pillow sheets in a scent can prevent overpowering spots you come into contact with. Buy a diffuser for the accompanying LED lights and aesthetic shape.
What should you look for in an essential oil diffuser?
- Design: There are almost too many options regarding the look and size of diffusers, so decide what features are most important to you. You’ll find LED light diffusers for low-light ambiance, salt rock diffusers for added natural benefits, and various shapes to fit into different room decor. Look for battery-powered diffusers if you are likely to move them from one room to another throughout the day. The longest-lasting diffusers will have the highest water capacity, so consider a tank with over 200 milliliters to create a fragrance that will last all day.
- Functions: Do you want a variety of mist options, or is one sufficient? Do you want to be able to sleep through the night with mist and scent running? Opt for larger diffusers with special controls for customized timing and mist settings to get your perfect dispersal method. If you want to leave the device on overnight, consider a diffuser that turns off automatically when it runs out of water to avoid internal damage. Maybe you prefer to choose between a simple light, humidifier, or aromatherapy set. Look for diffusers with color-changing lights to help create the right ambiance.
- Additional Items: Whether you are a diffuser novice or an expert, consider your current essential oil supply. Do you have your own, or do you need to buy them? You can begin with basic oils like eucalyptus, peppermint, and lavender oil. More experienced users will benefit from diffusers and oil sets that offer a wide variety of essential oils.
Are essential oil diffusers safe to use around pets?
The best rule of thumb to exercise is to use essential oil diffusers with caution if you have pets. For both dogs and cats, essential oils can be toxic if ingested or applied to the skin, so if you decide to have essential oils around the house, be sure to keep them out of sight from your furry friends. Otherwise, you should consult your vet to determine which essential oils are safe to use in your diffuser.
Our Picks for the Best Essential Oil Diffusers
InnoGear Essential Oil Diffuser
Create a moment of relaxation wherever you go with this palm-sized diffuser that is ideal for travel
Pros: The InnoGear Essential Oil Diffuser is an ultrasonic system that distributes mist, spreads vaporized scents of your choice, and doubles as a humidifier. Its compact size makes it easily transportable, so you can take it where you need it most. There are two misting settings: intermittent or continuous. When it’s intermittent, the diffuser pauses every 30 seconds and emits vapors for six to eight hours. The continuous setting allows the diffuser to run for up to four hours without pause. Just fill the basin with water, stopping at or before the max fill indicator. Add a few drops of the essential oil you prefer and select a setting. The diffuser will shut off once the device detects low water levels.
Cons: Some may be disappointed by the small size of the diffuser. The dimensions on the product page are 3.39 (L) and 5.5 (H) inches.
Bottom Line: Create an aromatic, colorful atmosphere to enhance the mood of any room with the InnoGear diffuser. Take advantage of its portability and compactness, but don’t forget to pop it in your bag before you leave.
artnaturals Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser
An essential diffuser that makes a lovely nightlight or uplifting decoration.
Pros: If au naturel is your groove, you may like this diffuser. The ultrasonic realistic plastic wood oil diffuser has a lovely round shape that measures 6.4 x 5.4 x 5.4 inches. It changes colors like other diffusers but in a unique, tasteful design. A thin strip of translucent plastic runs 360 degrees around the diffuser and illuminates, as does the lid, according to the colors you choose. The 5.0-fluid-ounce diffuser offers three timer settings; program it to run continuously or for just one or three hours.
Cons: Be aware that the ethically sourced, cruelty and paraben-free, et al. qualities described apply only to the essential oil, which you must purchase separately.
Bottom Line: The body of the diffuser is certified by Intertek, which is an impressive level of achievement. If you opt for this artnaturals diffuser, you must check out their healing essential oils.
Pure Enrichment® PureGlow™ Crystal
A halogen-bulb-lit crystal salt lamp with aromatherapy for the ultimate healing experience.
Pros: Salt therapy and aromatherapy all in one—who knew it was possible? This teardrop-shaped salt lamp is no thoughtless gadget but a healing tool adaptable to your needs with relaxing, cleansing, invigorating essential oils. The base warms the Himalayan salt crystals, mined in the Salt Range mountains of Pakistan, releasing negative ions, a process that “cleans” the air. How does it operate? Take off the top, fill the 5.4-ounce water tank, add a few drops of essential oil, put the lid back on, and sit back and relax.
Cons: It’s pricier and, at 20 pounds, much heavier than other salt lamps.
Bottom Line: You get a view from each side of the radiating salt crystal bed. The marble-style body gives an elegant touch to your home, whether activated or not. When you’re ready, pour a few drops of essential oil, turn it on, and relax.
Pure Daily Care Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser
This aromatherapy gift set has a lot to give: twenty oils and an ultrasonic diffuser.
Pros: Typically, when you shop for a lovely essential oil diffuser, you have to buy the oils separately, which is truly an excellent package. The oils are sourced from high-quality plants worldwide, then processed through steam distillation or cold press. The ultrasonic diffuser uses water to atomize the oils rather than heat, retaining the essential qualities of the plant. Choose one of seven light colors and two intensity settings to match your preferred essential oils. Yet another feature to play with is mist and time settings.
Cons: The downside to this all-inclusive diffuser and essential oil package is that you may not like the oils.
Bottom Line: Keep the ambient light on as long as you like. Turn it into a humidifier or diffuser; make it mist for four or eight hours. The possibilities are endless here, and you’re the chemist.
ASAKUKI Premium Essential Oil Diffuser
An ultrasonic essential oil diffuser is operable with the included remote control.
Pros: The ASAKUKI has all the qualities you want in an aromatherapy diffuser plus remote control. It works as far from the diffuser as 16.5 feet, so you can relax as you change the seven-color LED lighting and misting modes. The fully translucent PP cylindrical body makes a color lamp. With the remote, you can also select among 60-, 120-, and 180-minute timers or intermittent. The 500-milliliter water tank sits inside a baffle, which prevents moisture from escaping to places it shouldn’t and keeps it quiet at less than 23dB. It’s powered by a 2.4 MHz vibrating plate that produces ultrasonic waves. These waves break up the essential oil into microscopic particles, which spread into the air around the diffuser. Just pour five to ten drops of your preferred essential oil, fill it with water, and let the light and aromatic experience unfold.
Cons: If you need a humidifier to reduce flu-like symptoms, you’d be better off with a humidifier-only product.
Bottom Line: This aromatherapy diffuser is multipurpose, even within its numerous features. Use it as a glow lamp, humidifier (no oils), or essential oil diffuser with or without light. You can’t go wrong with a diffuser that does so much more.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, you feel more knowledgeable now about essential oil diffusers, how they work, and the many ways to use them. If you feel enticed to try one out, we hope you do. Chances are strong that you’ll fall in love with how well your diffuser uplifts your spirits.