Organic Oregano Essential Oil

Yes. It is 100% pure Origanum vulgare, steam distilled from the leaves and flowering tops, with nothing added and nothing diluted, and it is bottled here in the UK.

Worth being clear about what that means, because it cuts both ways. Pure oregano oil is dominated by carvacrol, which is what makes it effective and also what makes it hot. It is not blended into a carrier oil the way supplement “oil of oregano” is, so it must be diluted by you before it touches skin.

This is the most common mix-up on this product, and getting it wrong matters.

• Oregano essential oil, which is this: the neat, steam-distilled oil. Very concentrated, for diffusing and for heavily diluted topical use. Not to be swallowed.
• “Oil of oregano” sold as a supplement: usually the same oil already blended down into olive oil or another carrier, often to a few percent, and sold as drops or capsules to be taken by mouth. A different product with a different purpose.

If you came looking for drops to take internally, this is not that product and we would rather tell you now. If you want the neat oil to blend, diffuse or formulate with yourself, this is exactly it, and it is the stronger starting point of the two.

Carefully, and much more dilute than most oils. The ceiling is 0.5%, which is roughly 3 drops in 30ml of carrier oil such as sweet almond, jojoba or coconut. Patch test on the inner arm and wait 24 hours before going further.

The traditional application is the soles of the feet, and it also goes into back and chest rubs at the same strength. What it is never for is the face, the eyes, broken skin, or children. If you want a herb oil you can use freely on skin, sweet marjoram or lavender is the better choice and oregano is the wrong tool.

Carvacrol is the phenol that does the work in oregano, so sellers quote it as a quality figure, and you will see oils marketed as 70%, 80% or higher. A genuine Origanum vulgare distilled from flowering tops normally lands somewhere in the 60 to 80% range, and a very low figure usually means the oil is a different species or has been cut.

Two things worth knowing when comparing. First, the headline percentage on supplement bottles often refers to the oregano oil before it is blended into olive oil, not to what is in the bottle. Second, a number is only meaningful if there is a batch certificate behind it. We publish ours in the Specification tab rather than putting a figure on the label, and you can ask us for the paperwork for your batch at any time.

One or two, and always inside a blend rather than on its own. Oregano is loud, and a diffuser full of neat oregano is an unpleasant room.

A good winter blend is 1 oregano with 2 lemon and 2 eucalyptus, which keeps the sharp herbal character but rounds off the edge. Ventilate the room, run the diffuser in bursts rather than continuously, and do not diffuse it at all where there are pets, young children or anyone with breathing difficulties.

Oregano belongs to what you might call the working-oils club: thyme, tea tree, rosemary, lemon, lime, eucalyptus and pine. One drop gives any of them extra muscle without needing more of the others.

Three oregano blends

• Winter room: 1 oregano, 2 lemon, 2 eucalyptus.
• Sharp herbal: 1 oregano, 2 thyme, 2 tea tree.
• Clean and green: 1 oregano, 2 pine, 3 lime.

The rule with oregano is always the same: it goes in at the smallest number in the recipe. Treat it as seasoning rather than as the main ingredient.

Mostly yes. “Wild oregano” usually means Origanum vulgare harvested from uncultivated Mediterranean hillsides rather than a farmed crop, which is the same species as ours. “Greek oregano” normally refers to the subspecies Origanum vulgare ssp. hirtum, which tends to run higher in carvacrol.

The names that genuinely signal a different oil are marjoram and Spanish marjoram. Sweet marjoram is Origanum majorana, the same genus but warm, soft and mild enough for regular massage. Spanish marjoram is Thymus mastichina, a thyme rather than an oregano at all. If a label gives no botanical name, ask before you buy.

No, and this is the one oil we would ask you to be strict about. Oregano is among the harshest essential oils for animals. Do not diffuse it in a room a cat or dog shares, never apply it to an animal, and keep the bottle somewhere they cannot knock it over.

The same caution applies to young children. Oregano is not suitable for use on or around them, and the bottle should be stored out of reach. If you want something to diffuse in a family room, lavender, sweet orange or Roman chamomile are the oils for that job.