Discover This Weekly Feature! What’s in the Mix? Blending Ideas and Prompts is a weekly exercise designed to spark your imagination, get your creative juices flowing and even provide some aromatic knowledge. Each week you’ll find a question, a suggestion or a prompt that will help you identify where you’re stuck, where you are flowing and where you need more education. Mostly, prompts are just fun!
About This Week’s Prompt: In the Northern Hemisphere where I live, we are slowly moving into spring (hurray!) while my friends in the Southern Hemisphere will soon be facing autumn. Both Spring and Autumn can bring respiratory problems like asthma and allergies, and turning to essential oils high in the component 1,8 cineole can be very beneficial. Making an inhaler with these oils is a fabulous delivery system! In case the concept is new to you, here’s a post on How to Make a Nasal Inhaler. You can get inhalers from your favorite supplier or check out the Aromatic Wisdom affiliate shop on Amazon where you can get 10 Colorful Inhalers with 10 Designer Labels. 
What’s the Big Deal About 1,8 Cineole? Essential oils high in the molecule 1,8 cineole, a component in the Oxide Chemical Family, can be of great help to improving all aspects of respiratory health. Here are just a few of the benefits of this rockstar chemical component:
- 1,8 cineole has antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial properties
- 1,8 cineole has mucolytic properties (thins the mucous)
- 1,8 cineole has expectorant properties (helps expel the mucous)
- 1,8 cineole stimulates mucus secreting cells and activates the cilia of the respiratory mucous membranes to help move that tough mucous out of the lungs.
- 1,8 cineole decreases coughing and shortness of breath as well as having an anti-inflammatory effect on bronchial asthma.
- 1,8 cineole has an analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties for both muscular and respiratory systems.
What are some essential oils high in 1,8 cineole? Lucky for us, there are many. Here are just a few:
- Eucalyptus – Eucalyptus globulus
- Ravintsara – Cinnamomum camphor ct 1,8 cineole
- Saro – Cinnamosma fragrans
- Fragonia – Agonis fragrans
- Laurel Leaf – Lauris nobilis
- Cardamom – Ellettaria cardamomum
To find more Oxide-rich essential oils, go to PompeiiOrganics.com/by-chemical-family/, look for OXIDE and do an easy search. It’s a fabulous tool!
Important Safety Note when Using 1,8 Cineole Essential Oils: Use care with asthmatics when using essential oils very high in 1,8 cineole as it is possible to set off an attack. This is an individual response to the oil, dose, application, and specific situation. Do not use with children under 10. If oxidized can cause skin irritation and sensitization.This week’s blending prompts is about using essential oils that are high in molecule 1,8 cineole to create a blend that can be used as an inhaler.
Respiratory Resources: To learn more about the molecule 1,8 cineole and how to use it to support all sorts of respiratory discomforts, check out my Aromatic Wisdom Podcast Episode 14. For more information about a healthy respiratory system, you want to have a listen to the Aromatic Wisdom Podcast Episode 005 on Six Essential Oils for a Healthy Respiratory System.
Share your answer in the comment section below! This is my favorite part of What’s in the Mix Wednesday. I love love love reading your blending ideas! By leaving your creative ideas in the comments sections below, you might give someone a great idea for a blend, and someone might give you a great idea.
Who knows, maybe you’ll become inspired to create a new product or an entire product line from something that is sparked by this exercise!
C’mon, let’s inspire each other!
7-10 drops of Jasmine onto an aromatherapy personal inhaler! Great for uplifting one’s spirit!
Gail, wow, Jasmine surely would be great for the spirit! Since we’re focused on lung support and essential oils with 1,8 cineole today, I would suggest adding a little less Jasmine and a few drops of Laurel Leaf and maybe one or two drops of Fragonia. It would smell amazing, be uplifting, not too stimulating and give lots of lung support! Thanks for sharing Gail 🙂 Come back next week! Liz
I make and use a blend I call Open Airways. It is good for allergies, and coughing from my bronchial congestion problems. I am 74 years old, and never go anywhere without my Open Airways Nasal Inhaler.
The basic recipe can be expanded for nasal inhaler or diffusing, by using more/fewer drops of essential oils.
6 drops Hyssop (Hyssopus decumbens)
4 drops Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia)
2 drops Peppermint (Mentha piperita)
Wow Eva, this blend is terrific! I like Hyssop to help reduce coughing as well, though it tends to keep me awake if I use it before bed! Thanks for sharing. I’d love to hear about more of your blends. Play again next week? Liz
And, I find it extremely helpful to record my Blends in my (your) book, “My Book of Blends”. Open Airways is one of the first blends I entered. Thanks for making that book available. 🙂
HI Eva, Oh I’m so glad you like the book! It really is a helpful blending tool, isn’t it?
If anyone else would like this blend journal, it is available on Amazon. Just click here–> My Book Of Blends: Where I keep all my favorite essential oils and hydrosol blend recipes safe.
Thanks for the tip about using Hyssop at night being detrimental for sleep. I may have noticed that. What blend would you recommend for good sleep and clearing congestion at night? Thanks, Eva
Hello Liz, I just made a nasal inhaler to help with breathing. I used 5 drops, equal of: Eucalyptus globulus,
Laurel Leaf – Lauris nobilis
Cardamom – Ellettaria cardamomum
I used a 100% Cotton cosmetic pad, which I prefer over the hard ‘wick’ that came with the inhaler.
The first inhalation was pretty strong, but I felt things open quickly. I have problems with allergies and am hoping this combination will help.
Thanks, for the educational Blog on some uses of the molecule 1,8 cineole .
Hi Eva, Your inhaler sounds amazing! I love those three 1,8 cineole oils together and especially in an inhaler, because the Laurel Leaf and Cardamom help offset the strong 1,8 cineole aroma of the Eucalyptus. You were so clever to use the cosmetic pad! There are lots of things you could use that are made of 100% organic cotton instead of a wick – cotton ball, cotton pad cut up, cotton thread, cotton upholstery, cotton fabric (buy an organic cotton shirt from a second hand shop and cut it up!).
How are the results with your allergies now that you’ve used this inhaler a few times Eva?
Hi Liz, That combination of EOs does very well keeping my allergy symptoms under control. In TN, there is a huge problem with pollen and mold, both of which cause my chronic bronchitis to act up. This inhaler is working even better than I had expected. It is a bit strong, so next time I will use less Eucalyptus globulus. It does not smell unpleasant at all. Thanks again, Eva
Hi I’m new to the site. My cousin helps me with a carrier salve & I use CBD to apply topically to my lower back. It has helped with pain. My question is this, I woke up one day three years ago and can no lo her smell anything. Don’t know why. Haven’t been to Dr. But can I still benefit from oils even if I can’t smell them? Any suggestions on what might help me? Thank you…
Yes, Janai, it is absolutely possible to benefit from the essential oils even if you cannot smell them. Their therapeutic properties work whether you can smell the oil or not!
Hi, I want to subscribe for this webpage to obtain most up-to-date updates, thus where can i do it please help.
Hello! Thanks so much for asking to stay in touch 🙂 You can do that right here: AromaticWisdomInstitute.com/newsletter Liz