Thyme CO2.

Thyme on a hot hillside, crushed underfoot, smells of sun and stone. This CO2 extract keeps that herb-garden warmth without the sharp medicinal edge of distilled thyme: it is woodier and more herbaceous, warming and stimulating to the mind on a gray afternoon.

It is Thymus vulgaris, extracted by CO2 Select from organically grown dried leaves. The reddish-brown extract holds between 60 and 90 percent thyme essential oil, rich in phenols: mostly thymol and para-cymene, with carvacrol, borneol, linalool and caryophyllene among others. If you find distilled thyme overpowering, this is the one to try. Author and educator Madeleine Kerkhof feels the extract is more intense, yet milder to the skin and mucosa.

Details

• Botanical name: Thymus vulgaris
• Method: CO2 Select extraction from organically grown dried leaves
• Thyme essential oil content: 60 to 90 percent
• Main components: thymol and para-cymene

How to use

Kerkhof recommends a 1 to 1.5 percent dilution for topical use in adults, reduced for older people. Never use it undiluted on the skin, and never take it internally; thyme can irritate mucous membranes. Avoid during pregnancy, do not use it with children, and take care if you are on any type of blood thinner, as Tisserand and Kerkhof both advise.

A warm, woody herb for the blending shelf, used sparingly and with respect.