Blend recipes
Essential Oil Blends for Focus
Focus blends lean on bright, sharp oils: rosemary, peppermint, lemon, grapefruit and lime, with frankincense or ginger to keep them from feeling thin. People often choose these scents for a desk or study corner, and small studies have looked at whether rosemary aroma affects performance on mental tasks, with modest and mixed results. Treat them as a pleasant cue to start work rather than a performance aid. Several of these oils need care: peppermint and rosemary are not for young children's skin, and nearly all the citrus and mint oils appear on veterinary lists of oils that harm cats, so read each note before you diffuse.
Diffuser
Rosemary, lemon and peppermint
| Oil | Note | Drops |
|---|---|---|
| Rosemary | 2 | |
| Lemon | 2 | |
| Peppermint | 1 |
Diffuse for 30 to 60 minutes, then take a break. Not for a room shared with children under 10, because of the cineole in rosemary and the menthol in peppermint. All three oils are flagged for cats, so keep cats out while it runs.
Diffuser
Grapefruit, juniper and ginger
| Oil | Note | Drops |
|---|---|---|
| Grapefruit | 3 | |
| Juniper berry | 1 | |
| Ginger | 1 |
A softer, warmer option with no mint, which suits shared spaces better. Grapefruit is a citrus oil, which pet poison lines list as toxic to cats, so give cats a way out of the room.
Roller bottle
Desk roller
| Oil | Note | Drops |
|---|---|---|
| Frankincense | 2 | |
| Peppermint | 1 | |
| Rosemary | 1 |
For adults only: rosemary and peppermint are not for children's skin. Apply to the wrists or the back of the neck, well away from the eyes, as peppermint feels very cold. About 2% in 10 ml of carrier oil. Peppermint and rosemary are flagged for cats, so do not let a cat lick treated skin.
Room spray
Lime and peppermint room spray
| Oil | Note | Drops |
|---|---|---|
| Lime | 5 | |
| Rosemary | 4 | |
| Peppermint | 3 |
Use 15 ml of high-proof alcohol topped up with 15 ml of water in a glass spray bottle, and shake before every use, because oils do not dissolve in plain water. Spray into the air, not onto skin or polished wood; pressed or distilled lime both work here because it is not for skin. Keep pets out of the room until the mist settles.
Sources
- Peppermint and eucalyptus for children, Tisserand Institute
- Safety guidelines, Tisserand Institute
- Plasma 1,8-cineole correlates with cognitive performance following exposure to rosemary essential oil aroma (Moss & Oliver, 2012), PubMed Central (NIH)
- Appropriate use of essential oils and their components in the management of upper respiratory tract symptoms in patients with COVID-19 (J Herb Med, 2021), safety table for Eucalyptus and Mentha x piperita, PubMed Central (NIH)
- Updates on essential oils, Pet Poison Helpline