Thyme essential oil is created through steam distilling the leaves, stems, and flowers of the thymus vulgaris plant (red thyme) from the lamiaceae family. It originates from the Mediterranean area, and has a middle note, minty-herbaceous aroma with a moderate (4) intensity.
Historically, thyme essential oil was used by Egyptians for embalming, and by the Ancient Greece for supporting immune functioning.
Thyme essential oil is greatly beneficial in supporting respiration, immune functioning, digestive wellness, and keeping gut flora in balance. It is also known for helping with naturally enhancing your energy and concentration levels, along with uplifting your mood.

Thyme Essential Oil Constituents
Thyme essential oil consists of:
- Phenols: thymol and carvacrol
- Monoterpenes: p-cymene, y-terpinene, terpinolene; α-pinene, and mycrene
- Oxides: 1,8 cinole
- Alcohols: linalol, borneol, thujanol, and geraniol
- Sesquiterpenes: ß-caryophylene
- Carboxylic acids: rosmaric acid, triterpenic acids
- Ethers: methyl thymol, methyl carvacrol
- Ketone” camphor
- And trace elements of menthone
Best Uses and Benefits for Thyme Essential Oil
- Thyme Vitality Essential Oil is packed full with antioxidant benefits when used in cooking or in supplement form
- Supports your immune functioning
- Supports your digestive functioning and natural detoxifying processes
- Add to your favorite skincare products to support healthy, youthful looking skin
- Reduce blemishes by diluting with grapeseed oil and applying thyme essential oil to your face
- Support healthy hair growth
- Supports your breathing
- Great to deter and repel pests in your garden: ticks, beetles
- Sore, Tight Muscle Soother: Mix 5 drops each: thyme, helichrysum, lavender, chamomile, and cardamom essential oils and add to a 10ml roller bottle filled the rest of the way with your favorite carrier oil – apply topically to soothe tight, sore muscles
- Helps naturally increase energy, especially in times of physical weakness
- Helps support your body when battling a candida imbalance
**** PLEASE NOTE ****** Thyme essential oil is a HOT oil. This means you MUST dilute thyme essential oil before applying it to your skin.
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.
Best Essential Oils To Blend With Thyme Essential Oil
Thyme essential oil blends well with:
- Bergamot Oil
- Cedarwood Essential Oil
- Juniper Essential Oil
- Oregano Essential Oil
- Rosemary Essential Oil
- Tea Tree Essential Oil
DIY Diffuser Blends Featuring Thyme Essential Oil
- Anger Buster – 3 drops each thyme and bergamot with 1 drop ylang ylang essential oil
- Fresh Air Diffuser Blend – 3 drops each lime and thyme with 2 drops eucalyptus essential oil
- Herb Garden Diffuser Blend – 3 drops each: thyme, rosemary, spearmint, and lemongrass essential oils
- Italia Diffuser Blend – 4 drops lemon, 3 drops lavender, 1 drop thyme
- Let Good Thymes Roll – 2 drops thyme, 4 drops lemon essential oil
- Never Enough Thyme – 5 drops thyme, 4 drops grapefruit, 3 drops lemongrass essential oils
- Night on the Patio – 3 drops lemongrass, 3 drops citronella, 2 drops peppermint, and 2 drops thyme essential oils
- Stop The Throat Tickle – 4 drops eucalyptus, 3 drops lime, 2 drops thyme essential oils
- Summer Herb Garden Diffuser Blend – 3 drops rosemary, 2 drops thyme, 1 drop oregano, 1 drop black pepper
- Thyme to Breathe – 2 drops each of tea tree, lavender, peppermint, and 1 drop of thyme essential oil
- Thyme to Uplift – 1 drop thyme, 2 drops eucalyptus, 3 drops lime essential oils
Best Recipes Featuring Thyme Vitality Essential Oil
Thyme Vitality essential oil is a great alternative to the dried or fresh herb in many flavorful dishes that you will LOVE!
- Roast Chicken with Lemon and Thyme Recipe (pictured below)
- Ultimate Gravy Recipe (pictured below)
- Southern Cornbread Recipe (pictured below)
- Turkey Injection Sauce (pictured below)
- Dipping Oil – (great for Italian bread) – 1/2 cup virgin olive oil, 1-3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 drop Taste of Italy essential oil blend, 1 drop each of Thyme, Clove, and Rosemary Vitality essential oils, 1 clove of crushed garlic, and optional red pepper flakes. Garnish with 1 Tbsp of parmesan cheese.
- Thyme Garlic Butter – 1 garlic clove, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup softened butter, 3 drops thyme vitality essential oil, 4 drops lemon vitality essential oil, opt 1/2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest, 2 drops black pepper vitality essential oil
- Add 3 drops to a veggie capsule to take internally filled the rest of the way with olive oil and take to support your digestive system
- Make a thyme infused oil by adding a 5ml bottle of thyme vitality essential oil to a 16+oz bottle of avocado oil or olive oil for marinades, salads, scrambled eggs, or for some kitchen fun with new recipes.
Personally, I love replacing thyme dried and fresh herbs in recipes for the vitality essential oil version (especially when my family is out traveling in the RV). It offers the same bright flavors as the herb counterpart, but flavors dishes in a manner that the “green stuff” my picky eating kids will still eat. We do have a conversion chart to help you see how to swap herbs and spices for their vitality essential oil counterparts too.
Frequently Asked Questions about Thyme Essential Oil
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References if you decide to use thyme essential oil with or around animals:
If you're using essential oils around your family pets, be sure to allow them access out of the room and into a room where you're not diffusing. This way they're able to escape when they feel they've had enough. Please also consider picking up a reference guide specific to using essential oils with animals.
If you’re using essential oils around your family pets, be sure to allow them to access out of the room and into a room where you’re not diffusing. This way they’re able to escape when they feel they’ve had enough.
Please also consider picking up a reference guide specific to using essential oils with animals. There are also reference guides specific to Young Living’s oils too.
Where to Buy Quality Thyme Essential Oil
We purchase our thyme and thyme vitality essential oils through Young Living because they set a higher standard for essential oils than what the rest of the industry expects. Their Seed to Seal guarantee is unmatched, and shows their dedication to a farm-to-table type of approach.
Warning: DO NOT purchase your 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 also do NOT recommend purchasing from grocery stores, Walmart, Target, department stores, or drug stores. Many of the brands found at those stores have been proven to not actually contain any essential oil (which is perfectly legal to do).
I STRONGLY suggest you know the company that makes your oils, how the plants are cared for, what they do for distilling, how and how many times each batch is tested (and when), and their bottling processes. Many companies throw out fancy language for marketing purposes, but actually have no clue how their oils are made because the oils come from a broker (which are almost always diluted in solvents). Transparency is key.
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.
Non-DIY Essential Oil Blends Featuring Thyme:
- Longevity Essential Oil Blend
- Essential Beauty Serum (great for acne-prone skin)
Products Featuring Thyme Essential Oil
- Ortho Ease Massage Oil
- Ortho Sport Massage Oil
Supplements Featuring Thyme Vitality Essential Oil
- Inner Defense
- Longevity
- ParaFree
- Thieves Dentarome Ultra Toothpaste
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Nicole
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