Before we get into the specific safety issues that come with "breathe" blends, I'd like to remind you why purchasing pre-made blends is risky.
 
As someone who has reviewed over a thousand blends in the last dozen years, I can say with certainty how difficult it is to find a ready-made blend safe for the whole family.
 
Which puzzles me because I've created hundreds of family safe blends for my clients over the years, and this is why I encourage people to make their own blends.
 
Mixing two or three essential oils together yourself ensures you know exactly what you're getting in your blend, and you can avoid common issues by not including essential oils that aren't safe for your kids or pets.
 
So let's take a look at "breathe" blends.
 
These are intended by the company to help with congestion. So you'd think they'd contain only the best anti-congestant essential oils, right? Well, when I reviewed seven of these types of blends recently, I found four of them contained carcinogenic essential oils! All seven contained essential oils with a low topical max which makes them risky for topical application such as chest rubs. None of them were safe for kids under ten years old to use.

And that's a problem.
 
One of them formulated by a company who's name you'd recognize calls their blend "Breathe." Let's break this one down...
 
"Breathe" contains Laurel Leaf, Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Lemon, Cardamom, Ravintsara, and Ravensara.
 
Laurel Leaf, the first essential oil, and Ravensara, the last one, are both carcinogenic. This means it's not safe to inhale or use topically. They both have a topical max of less than 0.5% - that's how risky it is! In addition to being carcinogenic, Ravensara is also blood thinning.
 
Before I look at the rest of the essential oils in this blend, I can hear some of you asking, "Wait, what? How can they sell something if it's carcinogenic?" Simple: there's no regulation in the industry. Even though scientists and researchers have done their jobs of looking at the constituents in essential oils to discover not only their therapeutic benefits, but also their safety concerns, there's no regulation. So it's up to us to take responsibility when it comes to essential oils - especially when we have kids being exposed to this stuff!
 
OK, moving on to Peppermint - not safe for kids under six years old due to high menthol content. Peppermint essential oil can reduce milk supply in breastfeeding women, has contraindications with cardiac fibrillation, among other concerns.
 
Eucalyptus, Cardamom, and Ravintsara aren't safe for kids under ten years old due to the high content of 1,8-cineole that's naturally-occuring.
 
Tea Tree is great for killing germs, but doesn't do much for congestion.
 
Lemon is great, but not high in anti-congestant properties and has phototoxic potential when applied to the skin above its topical max.
 
Check your blends for any of the essential oils I've mentioned here so you can see if what you've been using is putting yourself and your kids at risk.

Instead, you want to use essential only oils high in anti-congestant properties that are safe for the whole family. I've worked for years to research the components that make up essential oils, and see what scientists and researchers have to say about their therapeutic benefits.
 
Using this knowledge, I've created Better Than Breathe - a powerful anti-congestant blend thousands of members inside Recipes Lab™ have used and love.
 
Effective and safe for the family - and you can download the recipe right now.

Making your own family-safe breathe blend doesn't have to be complicated! Download the recipe and I'll show the best ways to use it (and it's not rolling it on your feet!). You'll get instructions for a steam inhalation, adding to a personal inhaler, the number of drops to add to your diffuser and aroma jewelry, as well as my best chest rub recipe. Grab it here.

The next episode will cover "digestive" blends and the safety concerns with them when it comes to using them 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.