Thyme

Thyme is the clearest case of one plant making many oils. The same species produces at least five forms, depending on altitude and climate, and they range from fierce to gentle. The thymol form is the common one, medicinal and strong, and roughly half thymol. Thymol breaks open bacterial membranes and stops them building the films that shield them.^[1] The linalool and geraniol forms carry no phenols at all, which makes them far kinder to skin.^[2]

Thyme ct. Geraniol

Thymus vulgaris ct. geraniol

Also Known As: Geraniol Thyme, Sweet Thyme
Family: Herbal
Perfumery Note: Middle
Intensity: Medium
Extraction: Steam Distillation
Plant Parts: Flowering tops
Origins: France, Spain
Effect: Sleep & Relaxation, Respiratory Support
Aroma: Floral, Sweet, Rosy, Herbal
Applications: Diffusing & Inhalation, Skincare, Massage & Body
Price: $$$$A rare chemotype occurring naturally in isolated microclimates; extremely limited production area and small-batch harvests make it the most expensive thyme chemotype by a wide margin

The geraniol thyme smells of roses more than herbs, which surprises people. Geraniol makes up about a quarter of the oil, in place of the thymol that defines the common form.^[3] Like the linalool form it carries no phenols, so it is gentle on skin. It still held back Gram-positive bacteria strongly, and Gram-negative about as well as the other forms.^[3] In brain immune cells the geraniol fraction also damped two inflammatory signals.^[4]

Thyme ct. Linalool

Thymus vulgaris ct. linalool

Also Known As: Linalool Thyme, Sweet Thyme, Mild Thyme
Family: Herbal
Perfumery Note: Middle
Intensity: Medium
Extraction: Steam Distillation
Plant Parts: Flowering tops
Origins: France, Spain
Effect: Sleep & Relaxation
Aroma: Floral, Sweet, Mild, Herbaceous
Applications: Diffusing & Inhalation, Skincare, Massage & Body
Price: $$$$Requires specific altitude and growing conditions found mainly in Spanish mountain regions; lower production volumes than thymol chemotype result in a moderate price premium

This is the gentle thyme, and it barely smells of thyme at all. Around three quarters of it is linalool, the same soft, floral compound that carries lavender.^[3] It contains none of the harsh phenols, which makes it the thyme to use on children and sensitive skin.^[3] In tests on brain immune cells, the linalool fraction cut two of the main inflammatory signals.^[4] That is a cell finding rather than a use, but it fits the oil's gentle reputation.

Thyme ct. Thymol

Thymus vulgaris ct. thymol

Also Known As: Red Thyme, Thymol Thyme, Common Thyme
Family: Herbal
Perfumery Note: Middle
Intensity: Strong
Extraction: Steam Distillation
Plant Parts: Flowering tops
Origins: Spain, France, Morocco
Effect: Respiratory Support, Energy & Uplifting
Aroma: Medicinal, Warm, Spicy, Herbaceous, Sharp
Applications: Diffusing & Inhalation, Cooking & Flavouring, Household & Cleaning
Price: $$$$The most widely grown commercial thyme chemotype, produced at large scale in Spain and Morocco; high yield and abundant cultivation make it the cheapest thyme oil on the market

This is the thyme most people are sold, and the strongest of the family. Getting on for half the oil is thymol, with the compounds the plant builds it from making up much of the rest.^[3] Thymol tears holes in bacterial membranes, and this form records the lowest doses needed of any thyme.^[5] It works on Candida and the fungi behind athlete's foot as well.^[5] Being a phenol, it is also the harshest on skin, so keep it well diluted.^[6]

Wild Thyme

Thymus serpyllum

Also Known As: Creeping Thyme, Breckland Thyme, Mother of Thyme
Family: Herbal
Perfumery Note: Middle
Intensity: Medium
Extraction: Steam Distillation
Plant Parts: Flowering tops
Origins: Northern Europe, Scotland, Scandinavia
Effect: Respiratory Support
Aroma: Herbal, Sweet, Slightly Floral, Mild
Applications: Diffusing & Inhalation, Cooking & Flavouring, Household & Cleaning
Price: $$$$Hand-harvested from uncultivated Mediterranean hillsides in small seasonal batches; the manual wild-collection process and variable yields push costs above commercially farmed thyme

Wild thyme is a different species, low-growing and creeping across northern European heath. Its oil carries thymol and carvacrol like common thyme, plus geraniol, but the proportions swing wildly with where and when it grew.^[7] That makes it less predictable than cultivated thyme. It killed Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella in tests, and its vapour alone held back a storage mould.^[7] Reviews credit the oil with mopping up the unstable molecules that damage cells, put down to the whole mixture rather than any one compound.^[8]

Thyme ct. Borneol

Thymus satureioides

Also Known As: Moroccan Thyme, Atlas Thyme, Sweet Thyme Borneol
Family: Herbal
Perfumery Note: Middle
Intensity: Medium
Extraction: Steam Distillation
Plant Parts: Flowering tops
Origins: Morocco
Effect: Sleep & Relaxation, Warming & Comforting, Respiratory Support
Aroma: Herbal, Woody, Camphoraceous, Warm
Applications: Diffusing & Inhalation, Massage & Body
Price: $$$$Wild-harvested from limited Moroccan mountain populations of Thymus satureioides, with low and variable yields that make it one of the rarer and costlier thyme chemotypes

Despite the name this is not Thymus vulgaris but a wild Moroccan species. Borneol leads at about three tenths of the oil, giving it a warm, woody, camphor-like character quite unlike common thyme. Carvacrol and beta-caryophyllene sit behind it, so it keeps some of thyme's bite.^[9] Testing found it active against bacteria and good at mopping up the unstable molecules that damage cells.^[9] A comparison of five Moroccan thymes tied the same borneol and carvacrol group to those effects.^[10]

Essential Nose