Essential Branch

Herbaceous essential oil

Rosemary

Salvia rosmarinus

A rosemary shrub covered in small pale blue flowers growing outdoors.
A rosemary shrub covered in small pale blue flowers growing outdoors. Photo: Petro Stelte, CC BY-SA 4.0

Rosemary oil is distilled from the leafy tops of the kitchen herb, now classed as Salvia rosmarinus and long known as Rosmarinus officinalis. Most of what is sold comes from North Africa and Spain and is rich in 1,8-cineole and camphor, which give it a sharp, clearing smell. It is a long-standing favourite in focus blends, in warming massage oils for tired muscles and in scalp and hair-care recipes. Its camphor and cineole are also why it needs care: keep it off children's faces, and skip it if you have epilepsy. A softer verbenone type exists, but it has a lower skin limit.

Safety at a glance

  • Pregnancy Use with caution
  • Children From age 10
  • Dogs Use with caution
  • Cats Avoid
  • Sunlight Not phototoxic
  • On skin Up to 16.5%

Reference

Botanical name Salvia rosmarinus
Plant family Lamiaceae
Plant part Leaves and flowering tops
Extraction steam distillation
Main origins Tunisia, Morocco and Spain
Aroma family Herbaceous
Note Middle note
Aroma Sharp, green herb with a camphor edge
Main constituents 1,8-cineole, camphor, alpha-pinene, borneol and camphene
Common uses focus, muscle rub, hair care and fresh air
Suggested maximum on skin 16.5% of the blend
Phototoxic No
Shelf life once opened 2 to 3 years
Pregnancy Use with caution
Children From age 10
Dogs Use with caution
Cats Avoid
Safety notes Camphor and 1,8-cineole make rosemary unsuitable on or near children's faces; we use age 10, as for eucalyptus, and people with epilepsy should avoid it. The 16.5% limit is for the camphor type; the verbenone type is lower at 6.5%. A Texas A&M veterinary toxicologist lists rosemary among oils harmful to cats.

Blends well with

Used in: Essential Oil Blends for Focus

Sources

  1. Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Health Care Professionals, 2nd edition (Tisserand & Young), Churchill Livingstone / Elsevier
  2. Rosmarinus officinalis L. (rosemary) as therapeutic and prophylactic agent (de Oliveira et al., 2019), PubMed Central (NIH)
  3. A scent-sitive subject: essential oil diffusers and your cat, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences