Medicinal Essential Oil Recipe Blends for Cold and Flu Season

Essential oils smell wonderful, but they are more than just a pretty scent- many have very impressive medicinal benefits. Below are some suggestions of essential oil combinations that are particularly helpful during the winter months. 

The amounts below are appropriate for use in an essential oil diffuser, like those we have available at the store, though the same ratios could be used for making a therapeutic balm or an atomizing spray, though you may need to change the quantity of oil depending on how much you’re making.

 

Sinus Blend for Relieving Congestion

Eucalyptus is amazing for opening up the sinuses, and is also extremely effective at killing airborne microbes when used in a diffuser. Camphor is also a great antiviral and antibacterial oil, and its vapors are great at reducing cold symptoms. Peppermint is very soothing and can calm irritated respiratory passages, so it’s a nice addition to this blend. The optional addition of cedarwood can help with calming coughs if they are accompanied by sinus congestion. 

5 drops eucalyptus essential oil
3 drops camphor essential oil*
2 drops peppermint essential oil

For sinus congestion with a cough, add 3 drops of cedarwood essential oil to the above blend.

*Do not use camphor topically on children, or in a diffuser for very young children.

Respiratory Blend to aid in Relieving Coughing and Purify the Lungs

Hyssop is a very purifying oil and is used to help with reducing excess mucus in the respiratory tract. Cedarwood can help to quell coughs and helps to reduce and loosen phlegm in the lungs when inhaled. Frankincense is useful for breathing problems including bronchitis and asthma, and anise helps to calm a cough.

4 drops hyssop essential oil
3 drops cedarwood essential oil
3 drops frankincense essential oil
2 drops anise oil essential oil

Antibacterial Brightening Blend

This is a nice fresh smelling blend which also helps to kill bacteria in the air- bergamot, lemon, and lemongrass also have very potent antibacterial qualities and smell very nice together. It also helps to freshen stale air in a home.

4 drops bergamot essential oil
4 drops lemon essential oil
4 drops lemongrass essential oil

Winter Sleep Blend

Many of us are congested through the colder months of the year, so this blend combines the power of eucalyptus with soothing lavender oil, which has been shown in a number of studies to be a very effective sleep aid.

5 drops eucalyptus essential oil
5 drops lavender essential oil

“Thieves Oil” Purifying Blend  

These are the combination of oils traditionally as a purifying blend for illness and immunity.

We have also begun carrying a premixed blend based on the legend of the four thieves called Nature’s Shield at the store. You can read more about the blend here. 

5 drops clove bud essential oil
4 drops lemon essential oil
3 drops cinnamon bark essential oil
2 drops eucalyptus essential oil
1 drops rosemary essential oil

Also on our website:

Disinfecting the Air with Essential Oils

Essential Oil Research Studies and Benefits

Nature's Shield: Our "Thieves Oil" Blend

The Ultimate DIY Sore Throat Spray

This spray is absolutely fantastic for sore throats. Not only does it soothe an irritated throat, it helps to reduce inflammation and kill bacteria.  

¾ cup water  
2 tbs. Braggs raw apple cider vinegar
1 tbs. raw honey
1 tsp. sea salt
4 drops lemon essential oil
2 drops peppermint essential oil
2 drops eucalyptus essential oil
2 drops clove essential oil
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
2 bags Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat teabags (optional)

We have amber glass travel size spray bottles at the store which are perfect for this throat spray recipe.

Start by boiling your water.  After boiling, steep the tea bags in the water until it has cooled to slightly above room temperature.  Remove tea bags and mix in honey, sea salt, and cayenne pepper stirring until completely dissolved.  Depending on the type of raw honey you use, you may need to use a whisk to dissolve the honey (the Y.S. Organics Bee Farms raw honey I use is very thick, so I had to whisk it for a while).

Next, add the apple cider vinegar and essential oils, and then pour the mixture into a spray bottle.  

If using this recipe for children, I might recommend making it without the essential oils.  It will still be effective.

Give the bottle a shake each time before spraying.  Enjoy!  It’s fantastic for a sore throat, but is also great to use as a preventative measure.  I love it!  

NOTE: I’ve made two different batches of this recipe, this one, and one that is heavier on the essential oils.  I can’t decide which I prefer.  If you want to make the above throat spray recipe a little stronger, you can increase the essential oils in the recipe to 7 drops lemon oil, and 3 drops each of eucalyptus, peppermint, and clove oils. 

This recipe makes at least three full 2oz. spray bottles.

Nature's Shield Essential Oil Blend

We have a new essential oil blend in stock by NOW Solutions called Nature’s Shield.  It is NOW’s version of the popular “Thieves Oil” blend, which is a mixture of five different essential oils known for their antibacterial and disinfecting properties.  See here for more information on the oil. 

It is inspired by the legend of four 15th-Century thieves that survived the black plague by using a combination of oils to protect themselves against the highly contagious airborne bacteria.  Nature’s Shield is an aromatic mix of cloves, organic lemon oil, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and organic rosemary oil.

We also have a recipe for making your own “Thieves Oil” blend on our website here (it’s at the bottom of the page).
 

Fall Five Essential Oil Blend

These are my favorite smelling essential oils, and while I do use them in the diffuser all year long, they are very comforting and “fall smelling”, so I call them the “Fall Five”.  They are wonderful together (I usually do one part each) or in any combination.  I’ll post a few recipes below.
 

The Ultimate “Fall Five”

One Part Each of the NOW Foods Brand:

• Orange essential oil

• Clove essential oil

• Patchouli essential oil

• Cinnamon Bark essential oil (cinnamon cassia can be substituted if preferred it is less expensive, but it has less of a pure cinnamon scent)

• Vanilla essential oil (you can add more vanilla if desired- I usually do- since it our vanilla mixed with a carrier oil so is not as strong as the pure essential oils above)

 
Many people ask if we have premade blends, but we like to offer mostly individual oils so you can create your own blends.  Even using the “Fall Five” oils, you can make it a little different every day depending on how you feel.  If you want it to smell a little spicier, add more clove and cinnamon; for a creamier blend, add more patchouli and vanilla; for a brighter, cheery fall blend, add more orange oil.                              
 
A few other amazing blends using the “Fall Five” Oils

• Comfort Blend: orange, patchouli, and vanilla essential oils
• Spice Blend: cinnamon bark, clove, and vanilla oils
• Pomander Blend: orange and clove essential oils
• Peace blend: patchouli and vanilla essential oils
• Orange Spice: orange, cinnamon bark, and vanilla essential oils

I use this blend of oils primarily in my diffuser, but they are also fantastic as a part of a massage oil or added to unscented lotion or shampoo.

All our NOW Foods essential oils are 20% off this month.

Homemade Natural Deodorant with Essential Oils

This is a simple homemade deodorant recipe that uses basic ingredients (most of which you may even have in your pantry).  It's easy to make and works really well for controlling odor.

•    1/4 cup corn starch or arrowroot powder (we have non GMO cornstarch at the store)
•    1/4 cup baking soda
•    3 Tbs. coconut oil
•    ½ a 1 oz bar of beeswax
•    9 drops tea tree oil
•    9 drops of other essential oils*

This recipe uses tea tree oil, which is naturally antibacterial.  Feel free to use whichever oil you prefer for the second essential oil- lavender, sandalwood, bergamot, patchouli, or whichever oils you prefer.  I used patchouli (since I love it).  This is a lightly scented deodorant, so if you would like it to be stronger, increase the amounts of essential oils.  

The first thing to do is to prepare your materials (we sell empty deodorant containers at the health food store).  

Many deodorant recipes recommend grating beeswax before melting, but I feel like this is an unnecessary step, that just makes more of a mess to clean up.  Cut your bar in half and melt in a double boiler (or a bowl resting over a small pan of water).  I’m saving the other half of my beeswax bar to make another batch of lip balm.

Once melted, add the coconut oil and stir until it has melted and combined with the melted beeswax.

Combine the remaining ingredients except the essential oils and mix well.  Once the mixture has cooled somewhat, add the oils and stir to combine.

Spoon the melted mixture in your deodorant container and let cool.  I needed to spoon in a bit at a time, and then tap the deodorant container on the counter to make the mixture go all the way to the bottom so I was able to fill my container up all the way.

If you’re using one of the empty deodorant containers we sell at Pass Health Foods, be sure to put the seal in the bottom before you start filling the container.

Let your deodorant sit overnight before using so it has enough time to solidify and harden.

NOTE: This deodorant is thicker than conventional deodorant.  I found the best way to use it was to roll a bit on and then rub the excess in.  Since it is a little thicker than conventional deodorant it should also help with controlling wetness somewhat, due to the cornstarch.  

Homemade Lip Balm: Lavender Vanilla and Vanilla Rose

This recipe makes a LOT, and can be easily halved.  It made a total of seven lip balm tubes, seven small lip balm containers, and one full 1 oz jar.  We have all sorts of empty containers available at the store for doing DIY health and beauty.

Ingredients:

1 1oz. bar of beeswax
4 tbs. coconut oil
4 tbs. cocoa butter  
Essential oils 

Directions:

Prepare your ingredients and open all lip balm containers so the liquid beeswax mixture can be quickly poured and easily filled.

Melt beeswax in a double boiler.  If you don’t have a double boiler (like me!) you can use a small bowl in a pot of water.  Once the beeswax is melted, add the coconut oil and cocoa butter.

Pure cocoa butter is hard, so I found it easiest to scrape the cocoa butter with a spoon in its jar and then pouring the shavings it into my measuring spoon.

Stir ingredients with a metal spoon until melted.

Once all the ingredients were melted, I separated the recipe in two halves so I could try two different flavors.  This isn’t necessary, though I’m happy I did.  I would advise using a pyrex or something with a spout.  I tried using pipettes, but found that just pouring the beeswax mixture into the lip balm tubes was the easiest, since the mixture started solidifying in the pipette before I could fill all the containers.

For each recipe half I used the following amounts of oil:

I don't like very strongly flavored/scented lip balms, so if you do you may want to increase the amount of essential oils by a few drops each.

Vanilla Lavender
15 drops NOW vanilla blend
10 drops NOW lavender

Vanilla Rose
15 drops NOW vanilla blend
25 drops NOW rose blend

I wanted to make unique flavors that weren’t commercially available.  I really love them both!

Next time I will try adding lemongrass or bergamot oils, though I would reduce the amount of total drops since the NOW vanilla and rose blends are mixed with a carrier oil, so they isn’t as strong as a pure essential oil.  

I will absolutely be making this recipe again.  I am a lip balm fiend, and go through lip balm very quickly (partially since I’m always forgetting them in my pockets before I put them through the washer/dryer.  I would very much recommend trying it!

Disinfecting the Air with Essential Oils

There are a variety of essential oils that have antibacterial and antiviral properties, though most of the research that has been done on essential oils is on direct contact with bacteria or viruses, which doesn’t necessarily translate into true benefits for essential oil users.

In our research at the store, we have come across several essential oils which have been documented in scientific studies to reduce and kill airborne bacteria and viruses when diffused into the air.

Here is a study which found that tea tree and eucalyptus essential oils killed airborne influenza viruses when diffused into the air.

Here is a study which tested essential oils against 6 common respiratory pathogens. The findings reported that cinnamon bark oil and lemongrass oil significantly disinfected the air when diffused into the air. It’s a long article, so there’s a good table here which summarizes the results.

This is an impressive study on antibiotic resistant bacteria including MRSA and the results of diffusing essential oils of geranium and lemongrass into the air.

This is a study on the benefits of eucalyptus oil inhalation against airborne tuberculosis bacteria.

This is another study on eucalyptus oil which reports on its broad spectrum antimicrobial action, as well as its benefits for inhalation on respiratory problems like bronchitis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). 
 

Summary
So let me break it down. This isn’t to say that all the oils listed below don’t have both antibacterial and antiviral properties, but rather is a summary of the scientific research available on the disinfectant action of essential oils when used in a diffuser.

Cinnamon Bark Essential Oil: Antibacterial
Eucalyptus Essential Oil: Antiviral and Antibacterial
Geranium Essential Oil: Antibacterial
Lemongrass Essential Oil: Antibacterial
Tea tree Essential Oil: Antiviral

We carry several full lines of 100% pure essential oils, and testers of each so you can test what each of the different essential oils smells like. We also carry a large selection of different essential oil diffusers at the store. Our diffusers use nothing but tap water and essential oils and turn off automatically when all the water is used up. I can’t recommend them enough, they're a perfect way to use essential oils in the home in a way that lasts for many hours (most of our diffusers are able to run continuously for seven to eight hours without being refilled).

Suggested blends
Lemongrass is wonderful and fresh smelling and blends well with other oils. Tea tree is a potent medicinal aromatherapy oil, but I’m not in love with the scent (it’s not terrible, just not my favorite). Its scent mixes well with other oils which mask its medicinal odor, so it can be added to any of the blends below. I use the blends below in my home on a regular basis:

Lemongrass + Cinnamon Bark
Lemongrass + Eucalyptus + Tea Tree (this is the strongest antimicrobial combination)
Lemongrass + Geranium
Eucalyptus + Geranium
Eucalyptus + Tea Tree
Eucalyptus + Lavender (this is a fantastic blend for sleep)

In particular, we recommend the NOW brand of essential oils. NOW Foods is a local company in Illinois that has very reasonably priced essential oils while remaining of extremely high quality. Here is an article from our blog on the extensive research NOW conducts on its oils to ensure quality and potency.

Here are some other articles from our health blog on essential oils which you may find beneficial:

Essential Oil Research Studies and Benefits

Nature's Shield: Our "Thieves Oil" Blend

Medicinal Essential Oil Recipes for Cold and Flu Season

Holiday Essential Oil Recipes and DIY Gift Recipes using Essential Oils

We carry two ultrasonic essential oil diffusers by NOW Foods (here’s one, here’s the other) at the store and I love them.  We do sell some premade oil blends at the store, but my favorite thing to do is to mix essential oil blends to make a great room scent.

Here are some favorites (you can add more or less oil depending on your preference and how strong you want the scent to be).  Each can be used in a diffuser or a bath.

Gingerbread:
3 drops cinnamon bark  
2 drops clove  
2 drops ginger
2 drops vanilla
1 drop nutmeg oil

Holiday Cookies:
6 drops vanilla 
1 drop tangerine

Candy Cane:
3 drops peppermint
4 drops vanilla

Comfort and Relaxation:
4 drops vanilla 
4 drops lavender

Pomander:
4 drops orange
4 drops clove
2 drops vanilla

Peace and Harmony:
4 drops patchouli
4 drops vanilla
3 drops orange

Yuletide:
4 drops balsam fir needle
4 drops tangerine
2 drops pine
1 drops anise

Peace on Earth:
4 drops vanilla
3 drops sandalwood
3 drops frankincense
2 drops cedarwood

Holiday Spice:
4 drops cinnamon bark
3 drops clove
3 drops orange
1 drop lemongrass

Under the Mistletoe:
4 drops vanilla
3 drops balsam fir
2 drops juniper berry

Holiday Spirit:
4 drops anise
3 drops lemon
3 drops frankincense

Christmas Eve:
3 drops lavender
3 drops vanilla
3 drops balsam fir
1 drop spearmint

Christmas Tree 
This one is also great mixed in a spray bottle with water and sprayed on an artificial Christmas tree.
5 drops balsam fir
3 drops pine
2 drops cedarwood
2 drops juniper berry

I think of the above recipes my favorites are Peace on Earth, Pomander, Comfort and Relaxation, and Peace and Harmony.  I really can't recommend diffusing oils in your home enough!  

I also came across a webpage* with a DIY "Thieves Oil" Recipe (Antibacterial Oil Blend):
80 drops clove bud oil
70 drops lemon oil
40 drops cinnamon oil
30 drops eucalyptus oil  
20 drops rosemary oil
20 – 40 drops total other oils of choice, including melaleuca (tea tree), frankincense, lavender, etc. (optional)

The above recipe makes enough for an entire bottle, but could be put in a diffuser at the amounts below:

5 drops clove bud oil
4 drops lemon oil
3 drops cinnamon oil
2 drops eucalyptus oil  
1 drops rosemary oil

*In the webpage linked above, the author recommends drinking the above blend, which Pass Health Foods absolutely does not recommend.  No essential oils should be taken internally.  More more information on essential oil safety, read our blog post here.
 

Essential oil blends can make a variety of amazing homemade gifts; here are a few great ones:

Peppermint Citrus Sugar Scrub
 

Bath Fizzies
 

Homemade Bath Salts
 

Cinnamon Vanilla Sugar Scrub
 

Homemade Body Butter
 

DIY Hand Sanitizer
 

Also on our health blog:

Our Store's Essential Oil Availability List and Information on Diffusers

Essential Oil Safety and Benefits