Ultimate Guide To Rosemary Essential Oil & 20+ Uses

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Rosemary essential oil comes from the Rosmarinus Officinalis plant, which is a small, easy-to-grow herbaceous evergreen shrub that is part of the mint family.

A quality rosemary essential oil is created through steam distilling the leaves. and flower tops of the rosemary plant.

The information provided on this website is for educational purposes only. Nothing on this page has been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and is not intended to provide medical advice for any health condition, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Rosemary Essential Oil ORAC Value:

Rosemary has an ORAC value of 11,070 µTE/100g, showing rosemary has a high antioxidant level.

ORAC stands for “Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity,” developed by USDA researchers to tell you the antioxidant capacity of a food item.

Rosemary Essential Oil Health Benefits

Rosemary oil constituents include: carnosol, carnosic acid, ursolic acid, rosmarinic acid and caffeic acid.

Rosemary essential oil has been scientifically proven to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, increase brain function (including improving focus and memory), calm digestive problems, and provide anti-inflammatory properties.

Rosemary is also great to use to combat the harmful effects of EMFs.

** PLEASE NOTE ** Don't be fooled by clever marketing. Not all essential oils are created equally. Make sure you're not wasting your money on fake or altered essential oils (even if they're labeled as “pure essential oil”). Don't miss our explosive report outlining the dirty little secrets of the essential oil industry to ensure you're not wasting your money on brands of oils that legally mislead you through deceitful marketing practices.

Rosemary Essential Oil Scientific And Medical Studies

The International Journal of Neuroscience published a study in 2017 evaluating how rosemary aromatherapy affected the cognitive performance of 144 participants. Their results showed using rosemary oil produced a significant increase in the participants' quality of memory, mental alertness, and emotional contentment. (Source)

Rosemary is rich in carnosol, which has fascinating benefits on our physical wellness. According to an article published in the Cancer Letters journal, “Carnosol has been evaluated for anti-cancer properties in prostate, breast, skin, leukemia, and colon cancer with promising results.” Additionally, carnosol appears to have “a selective toxicity towards cancer cells versus non-tumorigenic cells and is well tolerated when administered to animals.”(Source)

In 2016, the journal Nutrients published an article discussing rosemary extract's ability to exhibit anti-cancer properties (in vitro) for colon, pancreatic, breast, prostate, ovarian, cervical, bladder, liver, and lung cancer. (Source)

Psychogeriatrics published a study documenting the effects of aromatherapy on 28 elderly people suffering from dementia (17 had Alzheimer’s). After inhaling rosemary essential oil and lemon oil in the morning, and lavender and orange oils in the evening, all patients showed significant improvements regarding personal orientation and cognitive function with no undesired side effects. The researchers concluded the study by stating “aromatherapy may have some potential for improving cognitive function, especially in AD patients.” (Source)

A study published in 2015 looked at the effectiveness of rosemary oil on hair loss due to male pattern baldness (androgenetic alopecia or AGA) compared to a common pharmaceutical form of treatment. For six months, 50 subjects suffering from AGA used rosemary oil while the other 50 used minoxidil. After six months, both groups experienced equally significant increases in hair follicles. This study proves rosemary oil performed just as well as a hair loss remedy as the conventional form of treatment, while also not causing scalp itching side effects or adverse reactions compared to the minoxidil.

Rosemary oil may outperform placebos for pain relief and management, serving as an anti-inflammatory, and proved to be effective in treating nociceptive pain issues (including rheumatoid arthritis). (Source)

Rosemary is also a fantastic liver cleanser and booster. It’s an herb known for its ability to increase bile secreted from the liver and its helpfulness in preventing liver damage. (Source)

Meikai University, School of Dentistry in Japan conducted a study showing five minutes of lavender and rosemary aromatherapy greatly reduced the 22 healthy volunteers' cortisol levels (the “stress” hormone), which protects the body from chronic disease due to oxidative stress. (Source)

Rosemary Essential Oil Uses

1. Make your own DIY Beard Oil
2. Use by itself or with a DIY essential oil diffuser blend to deodorize your home
3. Boost your energy by using a few drops of rosemary essential oil by itself or with a DIY diffuser blend
4. Use rosemary essential oil in your homemade Florida Water
5. Improve your focus and memory using rosemary essential oil in your own DIY diffuser blends
6. Make your own DIY Thieves Essential Oil Blend with rosemary essential oil to support your immune system
7. Make your own Thieves Spray to take with you to the store and cleanse your cart handle while you're shopping
8. Use as an ingredient in your homemade foaming hand soap recipe
9. Add to your DIY Sugar Scrup recipe
10. Create healthier hair growth (perfect for postpartum hair loss)
11. Inhale or diffuse to calm stressful emotions
12. Reduce head pressure and stress headaches
13. Use rosemary oil to help repel some species of mosquitos, flies, and moths.
14. Dilute a couple of drops of rosemary oil and apply it to your painful joints

Before any topical use of rosemary oil, be sure to dilute it with your favorite carrier oil. I encourage my clients to dilute one drop of rosemary essential oil to a pea-size amount or more of carrier oil. Typically, I'll dilute one drop of rosemary oil per ml of carrier oil. Before applying on a large area, do a small patch test first. If the results show irritated skin, you didn't dilute enough and should add more carrier oil. If you have sensitive skin, you may need to dilute rosemary oil more.

A carrier oil can be any cold-pressed, seed-based oil (ideally organic and unrefined). This includes most cooking oil, like coconut oil, avocado oil, and olive oil. Personally, we LOVE using sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil, and the V6 Carrier oil (made by Young Living). This is the best way to dilute your essential oils for topical use.

Essential Oils That Blend Well With Rosemary Essential Oil

Rosemary essential oil blends especially well with basil, cedarwood, eucalyptus, frankincense, lavender, marjoram, peppermint, pine, and rosewood essential oils. (Because rosewood is an endangered species, use this oil instead)

Member-Favorite DIY Rosemary Essential Oil Blends

• Perfect Balance Essential Oil Blend to help ease your mind during stressful life seasons
• Use rosemary in your favorite springtime diffuser blend
• Warm Home DIY Essential Oil Blend, perfect for fall and winter weather

Rosemary Essential Oil Substitute Ideas

“Help! What can I use as a substitute for rosemary essential oil???” – I actually receive that message quite a bit, telling me how useful rosemary oil truly is.

There are a few different ways to look for a rosemary essential oil substitute: similar aroma vs function.

A good substitute for rosemary essential oil with a similar aroma in DIY blends would include basil or sweet marjoram. These would also be good rosemary vitality essential oil replacements in culinary recipes.

There are also essential oils that are great to substitute rosemary essential oil that have similar benefits.

For hair benefits, the best substitutes for rosemary are cedarwood or thyme.

To help you with focus, basil, marjoram, peppermint, or spearmint are great substitutes to replace rosemary.

Good rosemary substitute oils for immune support in your blends include marjoram, thyme, or oregano.

Rosemary Vitality Essential Oil Culinary Recipes

Rosemary Vitality helps cleanse internal organs and offers the antioxidant action your body needs so that you can enjoy overall wellness and make the most of every day. It also happens to be a great substitute for fresh herbs in some of our favorite recipes.

For some tips on how to measure out using essential oils in recipes, check out our conversion chart!

• Use rosemary vitality essential oil in your favorite holiday dishes
• Make a quick bread dip using 1/2 cup of olive oil and 3 drops of rosemary vitality
• My favorite french bread dipping oil recipe calls for using 1/2 cup of olive oil, a drop each of oregano, thyme, basil, and rosemry vitality oils, a spoon of parmasean cheese, and a splash of balsamic vinegar
• Grilled Rosemary Portobellos: rub cleaned and destemmed mushrooms with 2 Tbsp olive oil and 1tsp sea salt, then trill 4-5 minutes on each side. Gently melt 2 Tbsp of ghee or coconut oil with a minced clove of garlic, remove from heat, then add 2 drops of rosemary vitality oil. Brush the ghee mix over your mushrooms and enjoy.
• Rosemary Lemon Hummus: blend together a can of drained organic garbanzo beans, 2 peeled garlic cloves, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 2 Tbsp tahini, 1/2 lemon's juice, 2 drops lemon vitality oil, 1 drop rosemary vitality oil, and 1 tsp of Himalayan salt. Chill for 30 mins before serving.

One thing I love about essential oils is that you can use them in place of their dried or fresh herb counterparts. This is especially helpful when you want the flavor and benefits, but have picky eaters (like my kids) in your home who won't eat “green things.” The flavorings are slightly different, a bit more rounded, but I personally love it.

We love taking our oils with us during those life seasons we have every couple of years when we move and full-time live in our RV. This allows me to attach my oils to a wall, and not have to worry about where to keep fresh or dried herbs, especially when the oil has so many different uses and lasts longer. Just swipe a toothpick or drip a drop and we are all good.

Frequently Asked Questions about Rosemary Essential Oil

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Where to Buy High Quality Rosemary Essential Oil

Don't be fooled into purchasing substandard essential oil brands using clever marketing and loose labeling laws. Be sure you know about the 10 Dirty Little Secrets of the essential oil industry so you can make the best choice for your needs.

Warning: DO NOT purchase your essential oils through Amazon or similar websites!

Any website that allows anyone to sell on, such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart… etc… are terrible places to purchase essential oils. While you may get a “good deal,” knowing who you're purchasing from is difficult. There are many counterfeit essential oils being sold that are causing health ailments, major skin reactions, and a lot of misery. These are NOT high-quality essential oils. They are fakes being sold purely for profit.

I highly encourage you to check out our How To Find Quality Essential Oils post for in-depth information about why quality matters, and what to look for in a quality brand.

Where we purchase our essential oils, and why

We purchase our rosemary oil from Young Living because they set a higher standard for essential oil production than what I've found throughout the rest of the industry. Their farm-to-table type of approach and testing at every phase of their farming, distillation, and bottling processes has proven to me time and time again to be the closest thing out there to buying from your local farmer or DIYing, only better with their 25+ years of continual improvement. They are completely transparent in everything they do, and even open their farms so you can see for yourself (or involve yourself in the process).

More articles including rosemary essential oil

Looking for more info about essential oils and adopting a healthier lifestyle? Be sure to check out our Healthy Home online course for tips on how to identify and replace common harmful products from your home.

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