Which Cilantro Oil Size to Start With
Buy the smallest bottle. That is our honest answer for almost everyone, and the arithmetic below shows why even a 0.5 oz bottle holds far more cilantro oil than most people will use in a year. We sell one cilantro oil in ten sizes: 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 oz, then 5, 25, 100 and 400 lb.
Cilantro Essential Oil
Our own Cilantro Essential Oil, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.
From $13.99
Shop Now →Think in dilutions, not price per ounce
Size advice usually starts with cost per ounce, but for an oil you dilute heavily, the better question is how many finished products a bottle can serve. The answer is a lot. Cilantro oil is pungent and quick to dominate a blend, and we recommend starting with far less than you expect and buying the smallest size first, since the scent divides people.
What is in each bottle
These are calculations, not measurements. They assume fluid ounces (1 oz = 29.57 ml), use the relative density of 0.86719 from the Certificate of Analysis on our site for one batch, and count about 20 drops to the millilitre, which varies by dropper.
| Size | About ml | About grams | About drops |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 oz | 14.8 | 12.8 | 296 |
| 1 oz | 29.6 | 25.6 | 591 |
| 2 oz | 59.1 | 51.3 | 1,183 |
| 4 oz | 118.3 | 102.6 | 2,366 |
| 8 oz | 236.6 | 205.1 | 4,731 |
| 16 oz | 473.1 | 410.3 | 9,462 |
The pound sizes are in a different league: 5 lb is about 2.6 litres of oil, and 25 lb about 13 litres.
What dilution does to those numbers
We recommend diluting to 0.5% to 2% in a carrier oil and patch testing first, which works out at roughly 3 to 12 drops per ounce of carrier. The arithmetic matches: 1% of 29.57 ml is 0.296 ml, about 6 drops. A 0.5 oz bottle at the 1% midpoint covers around 49 ounces of finished body oil. If you plan a formulation beyond casual use, check the current limits for your product with a certified aromatherapist, the safety guide or the patch test post.
Which size, by what you are doing
You have never smelled it
0.5 oz. You are really deciding whether you like it, and the smallest bottle answers that. If you are unsure, the soap-smell post explains why some noses reject it.
A diffuser or a few blends for yourself
0.5 oz or 1 oz. A diffuser session uses a few drops, so even 300 drops is dozens of sessions. Blend maths are in the roller blend post.
A small soap or candle maker
Run your own sums. A 1 kg batch at an example 1% fragrance load needs 10 g, about 11.5 ml or 230 drops. A 1 oz bottle covers roughly two and a half of those batches, and a 4 oz bottle about ten. The load itself comes from your wax or soap supplier. The maker's guide goes through it.
Product development and resale
The 5 lb size and up are our bulk sizes, and we offer sample bottles, a free consultation, and private label and custom options through wholesale and bulk. Orders typically ship in 1 to 2 business days, and bulk can take longer. Start with a sample, and if you want a report for the lot you will receive, ask us in writing through the contact page.
Three worked examples
- Diffuser blends in 30 ml bottles, three a year, at 40 cilantro drops each: 120 drops in total, well under half of a 0.5 oz bottle.
- A body oil at 1%, an ounce at a time: about 6 drops an ounce, so a 0.5 oz bottle covers roughly 49 ounces.
- Ten small test candles or bars at an example 1% load, 100 g each: 10 g in total, about 11.5 ml, comfortably inside a 1 oz bottle.
A small bottle is a low-pressure bottle
There is something freeing about starting small. You do not have to plan a year of projects around a bottle, and you do not have to feel guilty if the scent turns out not to be yours. You open it, you try it on a strip, you try a drop in a diffuser, and you decide.
If you love it, the next order is easy. If you do not, you have not spent much, and the bottle makes a perfectly nice thing to hand to a friend who loves cilantro.
Shelf life is the real argument for staying small
Our product page says the oil typically keeps 1 to 2 years unopened, and every bottle carries a distillation date, a bottling date and a lot reference. Keep it capped in a cool, shaded spot. Reasoning from that window, a 16 oz bottle of about 9,000 drops is a poor match for someone using 20 drops a month, because it would outlast its shelf life several times over. See the storage post for more.
Lots can differ a little
Cilantro leaf oil is a natural mixture, and published analyses vary widely. Chung et al., 2012 reported decanal at 2.33% in a Korean leaf oil, while Foudah et al., 2021 reported 11.04% in a Saudi one. Those are different plants and places, not different lots of ours, but they are a reminder that a small first order is the cheaper way to check a scent before you commit to a drum.
If you want a cilantro flavour for cooking, the essential oil is the wrong product, since it is not for internal use, and anyone who swallows some should call a physician. Keep every bottle away from children and pets.
Smell the little bottle first, and let your real use decide the next size.
Cilantro Essential Oil
Cilantro Essential Oil from our own shop, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.
From $13.99
Shop Now →Sources & Further Reading
- Chung I-M. et al., 2012, composition of Korean coriander leaf and stem oil. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21692682
- Foudah A.I. et al., 2021, cilantro leaves cultivated in Saudi Arabia. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34121885
