Cinnamon Leaf Essential Oil

Due to the high levels of the chemical constituent Eugenol, cinnamon leaf essential oil should not be used by anyone who is currently on blood thinning medications, including over-the-counter or supplements such as Nattokinase. It also should not be used prior to surgery or following surgery - just as your doctor will tell you to stop taking your aspirin. This oil is also a strong skin irritant, meaning that it should never be put directly on the skin unless properly diluted.

Please see our Disclaimer, our Essential Oil Database and our Safety and Caution statements.

Carrot Seed Essential Oil

An easy do-it-yourself way to incorporate the antiwrinkle, cell-renewing properties of this essential oil is mix the following blend into any of your favorite unscented cream (our unscented hand & body cream would be good for this purpose.)

Add to 8 oz of cream or your favorite carrier oil. See our carrier oil benefits page to help you decide which one to use for your skin type.

5 drops Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) essential oil
5 drops Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin) essential oil
5 drops Carrot Seed (Daucus carota) essential oil
5 drops Rosemary, ct Verbenone (Rosmarinus officinalis)
5 drops Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
5 drops Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea)

Safety or Cautions: Carrot seed essential oil is considered to be non-toxic, and non skin-sensitizing. As with all oils, this oil must be diluted with a carrier prior to use. Please check the link to the individual essential oils noted in the recipe for safety/usage information. See our Essential Oil Database for more information.

Cajeput (Melaleuca cajeput), also known as Melaleuca leucadendron

For an in-depth discussion of the properties and benefits of this Cajeput essential oil, please visit our growing Essential Oil Database.

Cajeput was not one of the oils in my original aromatherapy certification class, so it was a few years before I actually became acquainted with it. I love it now for so many reasons. It has the same familiar aroma to me as our Stay Awake Blend, which is a blend of Rosemary, Eucalyptus, and Peppermint. I could have just used Cajeput! It has been described as penetrating, camphorous and medicinal. I don't think medicinal, but that is such a subjective term. I will be making a soap with it after testing a little bit more. 

Cajeput essential oil is distilled from the fresh leaves and twigs of the paperbark tree according to most sources. It has a long history of being used successfully to combat colds, flu and chronic arthritis. It was apparently also prescribed for cholera. It has been said that this particular oil would be the one to grab for immediately at the onset of any respiratory infections accompanied with aches, pains, chills and congestion. I usually know when my immune system is fighting off a "bug" when I get a sore, scratchy throat. I've found that our Cold & Flu blend with some raw honey has always, and I do seriously mean always, stopped it in its tracks. I would imagine that cajeput alone would do the same thing. It contains a high percentage (although in the literature there was a wide range of "typical" chemical constituents for this essential oil, particularly in the amount of 1,8-cineole.) We can assume though that it consists mainly of 1,8-cineole, followed by a-pinene  and b-pinene. 

The other amazing property of this Cajeput essential oil is it's ability to clear the mind and, therefore, I think would be a wonderful oil to put in your diffuser or your nasal inhalers (coming soon to Wingsets). 

Safety/Cautions: From my research, it appears that this oil is non-toxic and nonsensitizing; however, may irritate skin if used in high concentrations. One should use care and caution during pregnancy.

IMPORTANT: All of our products are for external use only.

We also suggest you have a good working knowledge of the use of essential oils or consult with an aromatherapy professional prior to use. In addition, Essential Oils must be properly diluted before use in order to avoid any damages to property or adverse physical effects (including injury or bodily harm). Please read our Disclaimer before using our products.

 We offer already made and easy to use Bugz Off products,both for people and pets. However, for those of you who want to make your own, this is a great option. The oils in this blend have many beneficial properties besides just being insect repellents, so take a look at our essential oil data base for additional information. We like to use approximately 2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) per 8 oz of liquid for a safe and effective blend. You can put this in a spray bottle and use it for a variety of purposes. I like to put it in our trigger bottle and spray around the baseboards of the house to deter any and all unwanted guests. Peppermint is known to repel mice - I haven't seen any in our house, so I'm guessing it works. We have had some ants this year due to the very wet spring - IF I continue to spray the baseboards, the door threshholds and around the sink - they stay away. If I forget - they do come back. For effective deliverance from these pests long term I would recommend Diatomaceous Earth. For the other insects that are more than a nuisance due to their ability to carry disease, such as ticks and mosquitoes, our Bugz Off! blend has proven itself to be effective from Africa to Minnesota to Louisiana. It is DEET free, it smells good and feels good on your skin.

The name of this blend says it all. Use this blend when you need to breathe, when your chest feels tight, inflamed and irritated, as simply as opening the bottle and breathing in the therapeutic oils. This blend is a powerful synergy of oils - some of the essential oils in this blend are antispasmodic to help relieve tension and anxiety that happens when you feel you just can't breath and allows you to relax and take a deep, cleansing breath. The oils also provide anti-inflammatory properties to immediately relieve that tight uncomfortable feeling and the dry, hacky cough. This oil works great as an oil added to our ultrasonic nebulizer for chronic tight-chest or periods of illness when you have that dry cough. Just adding a few drops to a tissue and breathing deeply, or simply opening the bottle and breathing in the fresh, clean, bronchial opening oils can provide instant relief. Take this convenient 10 ml bottle with you always if you have chronic problems with the anxiety that comes from not being able to breathe or use our individual inhaler sticks. 

Black pepper (Piper nigrum)

See more indepth information in our Essential Oil Database and a blog about it's anti-tumoral properties.

Safety/Cautions: The literature shows black pepper essential oil to be non-toxic and generally non-sensitizing, but could be a skin irritant in high concentrations due to its ability to increase blood circulation to the skin. We've found this property to be of special benefit for inclusion in our Spicey Muscle Oil.

Bergamot (Citrus bergamia) essential oil

Bergamot is by far one of my favorite essential oils. If I feel anxious or pushed to meet a deadline, but need to focus - I reach for bergamot and/or geranium, but I particularly like the bergamot if I'm feeling "hot" either mentally or physically. It has so many amazing qualities that you can find detailed in our expanding essential oil database. 

In particular the chemical constituents in this oil attribute to it's calming and sedative properties. Predominately you will find the monoterpene (d-limonene), monoterpenol (linalol) and the ester (linalyl acetate). The percentages of each of these constituents will differ from batch to batch due to the many variables involved in growing and distilling the plants. These three, however, should be the predominant features in any Bergamot essential oil.  Linalool (you'll see it spelled linalol also) provides the antibacterial as well as the sedating, relaxing properties to this oil. Linalyl acetate is also known to provide very relaxing properties, which is also one of the constituents seen in Lavender essential oil and why high altitude lavender has the most relaxing properties. The monoterpene, d-limonene, according to Kurt Schnaubelt in his book, Advanced Aromatherapy, has anti-viral properties. Other sources recommend Bergamot for issues related to the herpes virus. The d-limonene also contributes significant anti-inflammatory properties to this oil. Buyer beware - according to Kurt Schnaubelt, this is one oil that is often adulterated in the marketplace, which is why we so carefully source ours.

Highly phototoxic if not used according to guidelines. Bergamot is one of those oils that the IFRA recommends to not exceed 0.4% in "stay-on" products, which would include a massage oil or a body cream. Bergamot is a particularly nice perfume as a stand-alone oil and, therefore, should be diluted prior to use. This percentage would equate to approximately one drop of the oil to one ounce of a carrier oil. When used in a diffuser, 2 to 4 drops would suffice. The safety issues are more related to the skin and direct UV light. We previously carried a bergapten-free oil which is rectified to remove the phototoxic qualities, but the last sample we received just didn't hit the mark that we strive for. I recently received the sample of the oil we have now which is not bergapten-free and does carry the issues of phototoxicity, but it smells truly wonderful.

A few of our favorite uses for this oil:

Can be added to a face mask for acne due to its antiseptic and astringent properties or add to your regular bottle of shampoo and conditioner if you have oily hair. The literature also recommends this essential oil for eczema. I'm having my daughter test this new shipment to see how her eczema responds to it.

Body powder (deodorizing and refreshing)

2 parts tapioca starch (or cornstarch, organic preferred)
1/2 part orrisroot (fragrance fixative, easily found at health food stores)
1 part baking soda
1 part zinc oxide (deodorizing due to antibacterial properties)
Bergamot essential oil - using the dilution of 0.4%, which would be approximately 1 drop per 1 ounce of powder.
Lovely and uplifting, refreshing powder. Can be placed in a shaker bottle (we will be carrying these) or just a glass jar with a tight lid.

Perfume: (Put in a 2 oz sprayer bottle if using vodka, a roller ball if using a carrier oil)

1 tsp vodka or 1 tsp carrier oil (such as almond oil or olive oil)
8 drops of lavender essential oil
2 drops of rose absolute or rose otto
4 drops of bergamot essential oil
8 drops of vanilla essential oil
1 drop of ylang-ylang essential oil

Safety/Cautions: Bergamot contains furocoumarins, notably bergapten, which causes skin sensitization and skin pigmentation when exposed to direct UV light for up to 12 hours. It can and has caused severe burns when used on sensitive skin that is subsequently exposed to sunlight or sunbed rays. The maximum concentration for most oils in concentration with a carrier is somewhere around 5%, but the IFRA recommends Bergamot to not exceed 0.4% in products that will not be washed off. We follow those guidelines in our products that contain Bergamot.
Avoid in cases of liver problems. Not for use when pregnant or nursing. Possible skin irritant – dilute well.

Bay Rum Essential Oil

Synergistic recipe for Back Pain: (from Aromatherapy Solutions by Veronica Sibley)

Bay Rum 2 drops
Clove 1 drop
Lemon 2 drops

Sunflower oil 15 mls (1/2 ounce)
Hypericum oil 15 drops

According to Veronica Sibley in her excellent book, Aromatherapy Solutions, she notes that this synergy works because of the following properties of each of these oils:

Bay Rum - Helps nerve-end pain with a warming effect where there is "coldness within the muscles."
Clove - Has "pain relieving properties affecting the nerve end pathways."
Lemon - Is a "superb tonic to the circulatory system, cleansing the body of waste, and works well with neuralgic pain."

Now, she doesn't state specifically the botanical names for the oils in this recipe which would be helpful. The lemon is not a problem, but there are different types of "bay" essential oil. We believe since she profiles Bay Rum (Pimenta racemosa) later in the book that's the one she is referring to. Also clove is available as the oil from the bud, bark and leaf. We are assuming she means clove bud. Both clove and bay rum can be very irritating to the skin if not diluted properly so test this recipe as you go and possibly do a patch test prior to applying over a large area such as your back. I think it sounds like a winner though and will try it on my foot where I had a neuroma surgically removed that has left me with a high degree of nerve pain. CAUTION: Both Bay Rum and Clove Bud are anticoagulants and should not be used by anyone who is taking blood thinning medication such as Coumadin.

For additional in-depth information about Bay Rum essential oil look at our Essential Oil Database. We would also recommend our Spicey Muscle Oil for any nerve pain or back pain issues - already blended and ready to go. And for additional recipes using essential oils, take a look at our Aromatherapy Recipes section. We will be adding to that almost daily.

Safety/Cautions: Bay Rum should be used in moderation due to the high levels of eugenol content, as mentioned above, and can be a mucous membrane irritant. We repeat, use caution if taking any anticoagulant drugs such as aspirin, heparin or Coumadin. We have been using this particular essential oil more and more as we discover new and practical ways to use it other than just the fact it smells so wonderful and is a favorite for many. Bay Rum should never be taken orally.