About
Why Call Me Oil exists, who writes it, what it covers, and how we research essential oil guides, wellness claims and brand reviews.
Call Me Oil exists because the most common essential oil questions are practical ones, and they deserve careful, practical answers. How many drops of tea tree oil go into a teaspoon of jojoba? Is it safe to diffuse eucalyptus with a cat in the house? Does peppermint oil actually help a tension headache, or is that just something that gets repeated? Too often the answers online are either vague, written to sell a kit, or missing the one safety detail that matters. We want to be the place you check before you open the bottle.
Who writes here
The guides on Call Me Oil are written under the name Sarah Nakamura, the site’s editorial persona. Sarah’s point of view is skeptical and curious: she wants to know why a claim should be true before repeating it, and she would rather show the dilution math than wave at it. Her backstory, including the eleven years at an herb and apothecary counter near Asheville and the raised herb beds, is fictional, and it exists to give the site one consistent, recognizable voice. The portrait you see of her is a generated image, not a photograph of a real reviewer. Nothing on this site depends on Sarah having owned a shop, handled a product or tested an oil. Our evidence is the research we cite and the method described on this page.
Our mission
We help people in the United States use essential oils at home well and safely. That means exact numbers instead of guesswork, safety limits stated before benefits, and honest answers about what the evidence does and does not support. It also means telling readers when an oil is the wrong tool and a doctor or veterinarian is the right one.
What we cover
The site is organized into four sections. Basics covers what essential oils are, carrier oils and dilution, safety and toxicity, pets, topical use, diffusers, shelf life and single-oil profiles. Wellness covers aromatherapy for sleep, stress, mood, pain, colds, digestion and oral health, always framed by the evidence. Blends covers blending theory and DIY recipes for diffusers, rollers, sprays, cleaning, bug repellents, perfume and bath products. Brands covers buying oils in the US, including brand reviews, comparisons, purity checks and kits. We do not sell oils, and essential oils do not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.
How we work
Every guide starts with the task a reader is trying to complete and answers it near the top. We check safety limits first, then weigh claims by the strength of the evidence behind them, from human clinical trials down to laboratory studies and tradition. Brand and product coverage is research-based, drawing on manufacturer information, published GC/MS reports where brands share them, labels, sourcing details and patterns in owner reports. We do not conduct our own lab tests or hands-on product trials.
Why you can trust what you read
The site carries no ads, no analytics and no affiliate links, and no brand pays us or sends us free products. When we get something wrong, we want to hear about it, and we correct guides when the evidence shows an error. You can reach us through the Contact page, and the Disclosure page explains how the site is funded and what would change if that ever changed.
What are you looking for?
Basics
How to use essential oils safely at home: what they are, carrier oils and dilution, safety and pets, topical use, diffusers, shelf life and single-oil profiles.
Wellness
Evidence-checked guides to essential oils and aromatherapy for sleep, stress, mood, pain, colds, digestion and oral health, with clear signs to see a doctor.
Blends
Essential oil blending basics and DIY recipes: notes and ratios, diffuser blends, roller bottles, room and linen sprays, cleaning, bug repellents, perfume and bath products.
Brands
Research-based essential oil brand reviews, comparisons and roundups for US buyers, with guidance on purity, labels, organic claims, kits and gifts.
Who writes here
Sarah Nakamura
I grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, where half the neighbors seemed to keep rosemary by the front steps and a jar of something steeping on the kitchen counter. I was the kid who wanted to know why the jar was supposed to work, and I still am.
For eleven years I worked behind the counter of a small herb and apothecary shop in a mountain town outside Asheville. Most days brought the same handful of questions in different clothes. Which carrier oil should I put this in? How many drops is too many? Can I use this around my baby, my dog or my cat? I kept a dog-eared notebook under the register and did dilution math on the backs of receipts, because people deserved a real number instead of a shrug.
The counter also taught me to be skeptical. I met people with red, angry patches of skin where they had dabbed undiluted oregano oil, and people holding printouts that promised one oil could fix nearly anything. So I started asking one question about every claim: why should this be true? Sometimes the answer was a decent clinical trial. Sometimes it was a single study in a petri dish, and sometimes there was nothing behind it at all.
These days my favorite place is out among my raised herb beds, where the lavender, lemon balm and rosemary make the case for plants better than any label could. Call Me Oil is where I write down the answers I used to give across the counter, with the drop counts spelled out, the safety limits up front and the evidence weighed honestly. If an oil is not the right answer for what you are dealing with, I would rather tell you that plainly.
More about Sarah Nakamura →How we work
We start from the real question
Every guide begins with the specific job a reader is trying to do, such as diluting tea tree oil for a spot on the skin, freshening a room or keeping ants off a windowsill. We answer that question near the top, then explain the reasoning, the variations and the exceptions underneath it.
Safety limits come first
Before we share a benefit or a recipe, we check the limits that apply: dilution, phototoxicity, swallowing, pregnancy, babies and children, and cats, dogs and other pets. Those cautions appear before the instructions, not in a footnote, and we say clearly when an oil should be avoided entirely.
Claims are weighed against evidence
We separate human clinical trials from laboratory and animal studies, and both from tradition and marketing. When the evidence is thin, mixed or missing, we say so, and health guides explain which symptoms call for a doctor or veterinarian rather than an oil.
Reviews are research-based
Brand reviews, comparisons and roundups draw on manufacturer information, published GC/MS test reports where brands share them, label and sourcing details, and patterns in owner reports. We do not run our own lab tests or hands-on product trials, and each review states how it was researched.
What you can expect
No affiliate links or sponsors
No affiliate program is configured on Call Me Oil, and no brand sponsors the site or sends us free products. If that ever changes, the Disclosure page will be updated before any affiliate link appears.
No ads and no tracking
There is no advertising network and no analytics script on the site, and the site sets no cookies of its own. We have no commercial reason to keep you on a page longer than the answer takes.
Honest about who writes here
Sarah Nakamura is our editorial persona, and her backstory is fictional. Her portrait is a generated image, and nothing on the site relies on her having handled, owned or tested a product.
Corrections are welcome
If you spot an error in a dilution, a safety note or a source, email hello@callmeoil.com or use the contact form. We check the report against the evidence and correct the guide when it is wrong.