Why Spice is Nice -- Get to Know Clove Essential Oil
This time of year pumpkin spice is all the rage. I see displays and posts and figure this was born out of the amazing benefits that spices do offer us especially during the fall and winter seasons.
Spices taste yummy, are warming, and are actually often great at protecting us from germs.
But that doesn't mean drinking pumpkin spice lattes is necessarily protective during cold and flu season.
However using "spicy" essential oils can be a great way to clear the air of germs.
Spices such as clove, cinnamon, and ginger can be pretty intense as most people know. So as you can imagine the essential oils derived from them need to be used with caution. In this blog I'll focus on the germ fighting and pain fighting powerhouse know as clove bud essential oil.
It's powerful and needs to be used carefully.
Clove bud oil is rich in the phenol eugenol. It's a great antimicrobial and analgesic among other things but can be irritating in large amounts.
Clove bud oil can potentially irritate the skin and mucous membranes and with my clients I've seen that people come to me in search of ways to kill germs after they've diffused a spice rich oil and find it quite irritating. How can I fight germs without the irritation?
Clove bud should be used at 0.5% or less topically and in small amounts in diffuser blends.
With studies that have used atomizers to kill mold and other germs I believe they did that in the when people were not present.
You may be able to add a drop of clove oil, along with orange or other citrus oils , and pine/tree oils to clear germs from a room. But for some people this is too much.
A dilution of 30 drops of pine/tree oil, 30 drops citrus oil, and 3 drops or clove, and 3 drops of another spice oil is best to clear the air of germs without causing irritation.
At Be Kekoa Apothecary I've created a Be Protected blend to help fight germs in a family where diffusing a typical germ fighting MLM blend was fine with one family member but caused irritation in another.
And this is what we do. If you'd like to use essential oils to help fight germs and the MLM brands help great! But if you need something different because you don't like the smell or it's irritating that is what we do.
We aim to create products to help without membership and educate how to purchase essential oils from reputable providers to create your own blends. If you like being locked in to month to month auto-purchases great. If you'd like to more thoughtfully decide what your essential oil needs are lets talk.
There are a lot of amazing essential oil companies that don't require membership, offer great learning tools, and of course at Be Kekoa Apothecary we have a certified aromatheapist on board to help you as well.
Yes spice is nice. Pumpkin lattes are not a great way to fight colds, but spicy essential oils can be a great asset to support fall and winter health.
Want to learn more? Join us for the September Sip and Sniff. Enjoy a glass of wine or herbal tea and learn about spicy essential oils, and create a DIY project to take home.
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