In Part 1, I wrote about Lavender, the smartie pants of essential oils, seemingly good for everything, but especially burns and as a general antiseptic. This month I recommend you to chamomile, whose tea was given to Peter Rabbit when he "was not very well during the evening", and to ailing little sister Carrie in Little House on the Prairie. As a child, I wondered what chamomile tea was, and I was told that it was a weak kind of tea. I wondered if it was simply watered-down "regular" tea, or some special tea. Now I know chamomile to be a powerful medicine safe for even babies - cooling fevers, soothing colds and flus, and as an essential oil, reducing inflammations and treating bug bites and stings seemingly miraculously!

Anthemis nobilis or Chamaemelum nobile is referred to as Roman Chamomile. German chamomile is its powerful and precious cousin, dark blue with azulene and reserved for the most chronic and critical of inflammations, such as in treating acne rosacea. You may also see chamomile of the mixta variety, which has not been considered much in Western/European aromatherapy traditions.

I carry lots of chamomiles:

Chamomile German Essential Oil, 1mL

Chamomile German 5% in Jojoba Oil

Chamomile, Roman, Social Enterprise, UK

Chamomile Roman India

Chamomile Roman Social Enterprise India

Chamomile Roman 3% in Jojoba Oil

Hydrosol: Chamomile Roman, Certified Organic, Social Enterprise

Hydrosol: Chamomile German, Social Enterprise

Chamomile German Flowers

You can also enjoy chamomiles in my blends including:

SOLAR PLEXUS Balancing

Blend: Joy Essential Oil

Blend: Mental Fitness Intuit aka The Dreamscape

Blend: Un-Frazzle Essential Oil

Chamomile should be steam distilled from its daisy-like flowers, producing a yellowish, apple-scented oil. Since there is no such thing as an essential oil of apple, this is the oil to use when making a fall apple pie perfume, with ginger, clove, nutmeg and cinnamon essential oils in tiny doses. I personally did not like the smell until I acquired the Moroccan yellow chamomile that I now carry and smelled the apple over its strong herbaceous scents.

Chamomile has a long tradition in herbal medicine. During WWII, chamomile was used as a disinfectant. Chamomile treats all symptoms made worse by stress and tension, especially aches and pains. It is therefore very effective against insomnia, PMS, menstrual discomfort and fibromyalgia. In your first aid kit, apply one drop directly to cuts and scrapes, rashes, stings and bug bites. Use chamomile diluted in vegetable oil to soothe anything from an anxious mind to irritated skin and injuries.

Chamomile is non-toxic, and one of the few essential oils that can be applied directly on the skin, though this is usually overkill except in cases of injury. Because it is related to some plants that trigger allergies, high doses may trigger skin reactions in sensitive individuals. However, many aromatherapists say that it can be a cure for these allergies rather than a trigger. On a side note, all allergies to essential oil scents are said to be psychosomatic, as when an essential oil's scent reminds us so strongly of something that we are allergic to that we experience a reaction. But allergies to the essential oil applied to the body that corresponds to a food or spice, such as cardamon, coriander or citrus, are quite real and powerful... but I digress...

In addition, there are essential oils that are so high in azulene that they are blue!

Yarrow, Blue

Cypress, Australian Blue essential oil

Helichrysum aka Everlasting aka Immortelle

I am a Registered Aromatherapy Health Practitioner, among other things! I urge you to keep an essential oil that is high in azulene in your first aid kit to put a drop on a sting, bite or scrape, and dilute it with a vegetable oil or plain lotion to soothe the skin, sinews and soul. These little wonder flowers will grow on you! With 20 drops in a single ml, these costlier essential oils are still more affordable, and more useful, than a bandaid, a sleeping pill or PMS remedy.