Before we get into why Thieves is problematic for people, I'd like to take a moment to discuss pre-made blends in general.

As someone who has documented reviewing more than 800 blends from nearly 50 essential oil companies, I can tell you this: I've yet to find a brand who has formulated all their blends to be safe for the whole family!

And this puzzles me because I've created hundreds of blends with zero safety issues, so what this says to me is that companies need to put more trained formulators on staff who can create blends safe for the majority of people. There always seems to be at least one or two essential oils that spoil it for the whole blend.

This is why I encourage people to make their own blends - I'll share my thoughts on a solution for that later, but right now I'd like to share with you some concerns I have about pre-made blends based on what I've seen first hand. They tend to have one or more of the following issues:

    • botanical names, types, chemotypes, etc. not disclosed
    • contain potentially carcinogenic, toxic, or neurotoxic essential oils
    • contain blood thinners
    • contain phototoxic essential oils
    • contain essential oils with drug interactions
    • contain essential oils not safe for children (yet marketed as such)
    • contain essential oils not safe for pregnancy or breastfeeding (yet marketed as such)
    • contain essential oils not safe for anyone
    • dilution not provided when a carrier is already added

Additionally, it’s frustrating to look at the list of essential oils used in a blend and find half or more of them are not even useful for the issue the blend is marketed for! I’ve seen sedatives included in energy blends, energy-encouraging essential oils in sleep blends, and more.

So with all that, let's take a look at THIEVES blends.

First of all, let's define "thieves" blend. Hundreds of years ago "thieves" referred to an herbal blend used during the Bubonic Plague. It's now understood to be a blend of essential oils that contain Cinnamon Bark and/or Leaf, Clove, Eucalyptus, Rosemary, and Lemon or Orange essential oils.

Just about every brand selling essential oils has their own name for this blend, or they have a similar blend.

Based on the essential oils in "thieves" blend it has the following concerns:
    • It's safe for ages 10 and older to inhale and use topically (it's NOT safe to expose children younger than the age of 10 years old to this blend).
    • This blend isn't safe to use around pregnant or breastfeeding women
    • This blend is not safe to use around dogs

This means don't diffuse, apply topically, ingest, or otherwise inhale or be exposed in any way to this blend.

Topical concerns are skin irritation, redness, rashes, or breakouts due to three of the essential oils having a low topical max. 0.5% for Clove and 0.01% for Cinnamon Bark - very low dilutions.

If you're thinking to yourself "okay, I'm older than 10, not pregnant or breastfeeding, I don't have pets, and I don't apply topically - keep listening!

This blend is also blood thinning. Even with inhalation. So if you have blood, this affects you! Especially if you take aspirin or other blood thinners, and before and after surgery - this includes dental surgery or even a dental cleaning where someone is "poke the gums" happy. Will you bleed to death on the chair? Not likely. But with a major surgery, it can be a concern and take longer for your blood to clot.

Whenever I share this informationI get a few different responses:
    1. OK I give up on essential oils! It seems like nothing is safe!
    2. Yikes, I wonder what other blends I'm using aren't safe?
    3. Oh my gosh, I've been using this and I've permanently damaged myself or my kids! I feel so bad!

First of all: when we know better we do better. We can't change the past, we can only change what we do with the new information we've learned. Forgive yourself for not knowing better, and decide to choose safe options. Tea Tree and Lemon are a powerful dynamic duo when it comes to fighting germs, and they are safe for the whole family! Grab the recipe here.

Secondly: most essential oils are in fact safe, and can be used in safe ways to prevent or limit adverse reactions.

And finally, if you're wondering the safety of the other blends you're using you can access Blend Detective, a tool I created that allows you to select the essential oils in the blend, and it tells you the safety! "Safe for all to inhale," "not safe for dogs," drug interactions, and more. This took me several years to create, and it was well worth it! See for yourself!

Want to make your own, family safe blends? It doesn't have to be overwhelming. I'm thinking about putting together a "DIY EO Blends" resource so you can quickly and easily create your own blends using essential oils you probably already have. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, let me know! Edited to add: Better Than Thieves is now available!

The next episode will cover "breathe" blends and the safety concerns with them when it comes to using with children and what you can use instead.

If you found this helpful, share with a friend so we can use essential oils safely together.