Eucalyptus essential oil should be a staple in the well-stocked aromatherapy medicine cabinet. Although its highly medicinal odor makes it less used in perfumery applications, it is a specific remedy for a number of conditions, notably anything to do with the respiratory system, although it has other uses as well.
Originating in Australia, the eucalyptus is the koala bear's only food source. Now these plants are grown world-wide, making attractive pot-plant. Its use in gardens is limited by its tendency to overpower its neighbors. The leaves contain a very strong antiseptic, and can kill fleas and other parasites.
The essential oil is a powerful inhalant and is the ingredient in many commercial cold and sinus preparations. Just sniffing at the open bottle will serve to clear one's nasal passages. For a bad head cold with congestion, fill a large bowl with steaming hot water, and add 3-5 drops of eucalyptus essential oil. Make a tent for your head with a towel to catch the steam and hold your face over the bowl of water. Close your eyes and inhale deeply into your lungs. If you don't care for the scent of eucalyptus, add a few drops of lemon or sage oil, which are also good inhalant oils. Add more hot water if the bowl cools - you should continue for at least five minutes. If you have a particularly severe cold, repeat the therapy up to three times a day. Because it has also has germicidal properties, use eucalyptus oil in a sickroom vaporizer to kill bacteria in the air.
You can make a homemade chest rub with eucalyptus and white camphor essential oils. Use a small glass jar such as a baby food jar. Measure out a small amount of beeswax - you can purchase beeswax in ground 'beads' for easier melting. Add a carrier, or blending, oil such as grape seed, jojoba or apricot kernel oil. Add four or five times the amount of wax. That is, if you use one tablespoon of beeswax, add four or five tablespoons of oil - the more oil, the softer the resultant blend. Put the glass jar in a saucepan of hot water and keep the water hot until the beeswax melts, then remove the jar from the heat. As the mixture starts to cool, it will thicken or 'gel' - add the essential oils at this stage. (If you add the oil when the mixture is too hot, much of the active ingredients in the volatile oil will evaporate.) Use a small whisk or tiny seafood fork to blend in 5 drops eucalyptus and 5 drops camphor oil for each tablespoon of base. In the example above, there are six tablespoons of base, so you would add thirty drops of each ingredient. Whisk frequently while the blend cools. You can use this as a chest rub for colds, or on muscles sore from overexertion.
Eucalyptus is an uplifting, energizing scent, and can be used during the workday to provide a boost to concentration and spirits. Carry a Ziploc bag containing a cotton ball saturated with eucalyptus, lemon, and sweet orange or bergamot. Open the bag and help yourself to a few deep-lung sniffs during the day, particularly after lunch when energy and concentration is at its lowest. During the cold and flu season, this little ritual might even serve to protect you from your coworkers' germs.
