Recorded live with our Thrive community in November 2023, and replayed in full as week three of Tea Time: The Oil Less Traveled.
📝 Heads-up: this is a replay of a members' class. Upcoming classes, workshops and member perks mentioned on air are from the original broadcast. It's for education only, not medical advice, so please talk with your doctor before using essential oils alongside any medical condition or medication.
Karen and Jenny make a warming diffuser blend with Nutmeg, Cardamom and Peppermint, open the fruit to show where nutmeg and mace each come from, remember a nutmeg distillery tour in Grenada, and read the GC/MS report for the one line, myristicin, that decides how much nutmeg a blend can carry. Then comes known safety, the drop math for a 0.5% dilution, and a topical blend in jojoba with Nutmeg, Ghandi Root and Jasmine, made at the table.
In this episode:
- Nutmeg and mace come from the same fruit: nutmeg oil is distilled from the seed, and mace from the red-orange covering wrapped around it.
- The ethers, myristicin above all, set how much nutmeg a blend can carry, and the amount varies a lot by country; Grenada is known for a low myristicin content. Read your batch's GC/MS report before you blend.
- A 0.5% dilution works out to 3 to 4 drops of nutmeg in an ounce of carrier. Nutmeg is strong, and even 1 drop tucked into a blend is noticeable.
- With pets, watch for sneezing: if a cat starts to sneeze, turn the diffuser off.
- Nutmeg keeps about 4 to 5 years, the shortest shelf life in the topical blend, and a blend keeps changing over its first 24 hours.
Chapters:
[0:00] Welcome, and what this class covers
[1:18] The diffuser blend: Nutmeg, Cardamom and Peppermint
[4:34] Bergamot Mint as a swap in the blend
[5:50] Meet the plant: the fruit, the seed and the mace
[6:59] Where nutmeg grows, and a distillery tour in Grenada
[8:38] The chemical families: monoterpenes and ethers
[9:19] Mace oil and nutmeg oil
[10:26] Reading the GC/MS report
[12:12] Myristicin, and why it sets how much nutmeg a blend can carry
[13:24] Nutmeg in the kitchen
[15:46] What the research looks at in nutmeg's components
[19:17] Safrole, sassafras and the original root beer
[22:50] The emotional side: inner strength, support and self-worth
[29:45] Nutmeg in Chinese medicine
[31:30] Known safety, and nutmeg around pets
[32:37] Methyl eugenol, and working out a safe dilution
[34:21] The drop math: 0.5% is 3 to 4 drops per ounce
[36:29] Making the topical blend in jojoba
[38:23] Shelf life, and finishing the blend with Ghandi Root and Jasmine
[40:35] How a blend changes over its first 24 hours
[41:09] Questions from the class
Links:
Recipes from this episode + 2,000 more in the Aromatherapy Recipes app: https://www.aromatherapy-recipes.com
Join the Natural Living Club — members get our Aromatherapy 101 course free: https://www.skool.com/natural-living
Watch the class replay: https://youtu.be/wfsErNKe7yQ
The Thriving Aromatherapist is now Thymely Premium, with monthly live classes like this one: https://askthymely.com/
