By Jeanne Rose ~ January MMXX
BLUE OILS ~ PART I OF 2
Synopsis ~ the blue oils are nine or more essential oils from two botanical groups that when distilled produce a blue-colored oil. They are all anti-inflammatory and very helpful to skin health.
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Three things to learn
1. the blue oils are blue in color
2. there is no blue in the plant itself
3. if the color of the EO is turning — brown to yellow it is oxidized, don’t use it.
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WHY DO WE CALL THEM THE ‘BLUE OILS ~ We call them ‘blue oils’ because they are blue in color. Yes, essential oils have color. These colors include a pale sky blue such as in Roman Chamomile (although it seems to quickly lose that color), the azure-colored Blue Sage (Artemisia douglasiana) or the royal blue-colored oils such as Blue Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) and cobalt-blue Blue Tansy (Tanacetum annuum) and the viscous indigo-colored oil from Blue Artemis (Artemisia arborescens) and sapphire-Blue Cypress (Callitris intratropica). Some of these plants are related and some are not.
The molecule called azulene is a dark blue color. It is composed of two terpenoids; vetivazulene a derivative of Vetivert and guaiazulene (also called azulon) mainly from guaiac and chamomile oil. This molecule is also found in some of the pigments of mushrooms, plants like guaiac wood oil and also in marine invertebrates, and corals. Azulenes, although usually a shade of blue, can also be green, violet, blue/violet and red/violet. It is a brilliant rainbow of color due to its chemical structure. 12
The blue Chamazulene itself does not occur in the plant but forms during the distillation process from a sesquiterpene lactone called matricine. Usually, the flowers of these plants are yellow sometimes white.
Azulene has a long history, dating back to the 15th century as the azure-blue chromophore obtained by steam distillation of German Chamomile. The chromophore was discovered in Yarrow and Wormwood and named in 1863 by Septimus Piesse. See article at my website http://www.aromaticplantproject.com/articles_archive/azulene_chamomile.html
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INTRODUCTION ~ Since 1970, when I first started teaching my Aromatherapy & Herbal Studies Courses and giving seminars, I was much intrigued by the blue color and navy-blue color of some essential oils. Since that time, I have studied and collected them and in (1990) I also became aware of an oil called Ormenis sold as Chamomile OR Cladanthus mixtus or Moroccan Chamomile. I had purchased it several times and sometimes it was blue and sometimes yellow. This was very interesting, and I knew that there was definitely confusion amongst sellers and buyers of essential oils. I now wonder if even some of the producers know what they are picking and distilling.
In 1994, a detailed article (“Chamomile”, from The Aromatic “Thymes”. (Spring 1994) 2:2) describing some of the oils labeled or sold as Chamomile was written. The author discussed the Chamomile oils, various blue-colored oils, their healing properties as well as specific applications, safety, and perfumery usage. The article refers to many popular texts but lacks true taxonomic reference. It states “that depending on which book or article you read Blue Chamomile can mean two or more different plants entirely. Therefore, when I see something labeled or described simply Blue Chamomile, I am not amused”1. After reading this article, it was apparent that there was much confusion regarding the common names of some of the blue-colored oils.
For instance, the genus Ormenis/Ormensis is one I undertook to investigate and have studied it to this day. I found that it is an old out-of-date name and Chamaemelum was the genus name although I have found recently that it is now named Cladanthus mixtus. There were and are also several very prominent essential oil companies selling Blue Tansy (Tanacetum annuum) as Blue Chamomile, which it is not – as well as confusing Moroccan Chamomile (Cladanthus mixtus) with several of the blue-colored oil even though this particular plant usually produces a yellow to mustard-colored oil.
The same plant botanically will always have the same botanical name all over the world but may have different common names depending on the country or area of the country. This is why you should learn the correct botanical (taxonomic) name of every plant and essential oil that you use.
You will find that there are no hard and fast rules to giving common names to plants. Classifying and naming plant essential oils can also be a mess. And though many of the blue oils with their vivid blue-colored azulene have similar uses as an anti-inflammatory because of this azulene content, there are cases where it is important to know EXACTLY which oil you have or need. As with anything, the best way to clarify confusion is to research and experiment using valid informative texts. Do not purchase these expensive blue oils until you truly know which one that you want.
Especially, do talk your source and get complete information about the oils you are purchasing, the Latin binomial, the part of the plant used, the country of origin and color one should expect in the oil. Hopefully they will know that essential oils do have color and that sometimes it is very specific to the oil. Buy a small quantity of the same oil from 2 different sources and compare color and scent. Also purchase a good book from an author who is not invested in an essential oil company. Several excellent aromatherapy books exist, The Aromatherapy Book – Applications & Inhalations by this author is a good start.
Remember for each terroir that each year of growth, each harvest, each separate distillation will result in an oil with slightly different amounts of chemical components and possibly slightly different color. The terroir or environment and individual ecology of a plant is important in the resultant essential oil. A year or two of great drought may result in a lower yield of essential oil but with improved or “stronger” components. A GC/MS is good but is only one aspect of ‘knowing’ an essential oil. The fragrance of any particular essential oil varies slightly from year to year and is totally dependent on the vagaries of “Mother Nature”7 and even the skill of the distiller. One study confirms that the Cladanthus mixtus species has different oil compositions depending on the area in which the plant is grown and thus the EO can sometimes be a darker yellow or a blue depending upon the (person) distiller. And this is probably true of many other plants and their essential oils. Always know what part of the plant is being harvested for the oil.
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NAMING ~ The plants we are discussing are Chamaemelum and Cladanthus (Ormenis), Matricaria, Artemisia arborescens and A. douglasiana, Tanacetum annuum, Achillea and Callitris. See my book, 375 Essential Oils & Hydrosols, chapter 2, Plant Names Mean Something7.
Chamaemelum nobile or Roman Chamomile comes from words meaning low-growing and from mel which means honey and nobile means nobile that is, a noble and low-growing and honey -smelling plant. Yes, Latin names mean something.
Cladanthus mixtus, the Moroccan Chamomile, both the blue-colored and yellow one, the name is from Greek words meaning flower (anthos) and branching or shoot (clad) [branching flower] and mixtus from the Latin word meaning blended as the plant looks like a combination of other plants.
Matricaria chamomilla, the German Chamomile, from words meaning a low-growing plant (chamo) and mother or uterus (matri) named for the uses that this plant had for women.
Artemisia (the goddess of the hunt) and arborescens (tree-like),is the tree-like Mugwort, a large plant that can be difficult to grow and does not respond well to pruning.
Artemisia douglasiana, also called Douglas’s sagewort; the genus name after the Greek goddess of the hunt and David Douglas who was a Scottish botanist who collected plants in Hawaii and apparently fell into a pit on Mauna Kea in Hawaii and was crushed by a bull who had also fallen in.
Tanacetum annuum, a plant with a sapphire-blue oil and the name means simply a tansy plant that is an annual. The oil has become known as an anti-asthmatic which is used by ingestion rather than inhalation or application.
Achillea millefolium, the common Yarrow is named after Achilles and refers to the fact that this plant was used to heal his wounds, and millefolium or a thousand flowers because of the look of the flowers.
Callitris intratropica is from the Greek word calli or beautiful and treis or three, alluding to the beautiful 3-fold arrangements of its parts, leaves i.e. scales and intratropica within the tropics. See the post for more information. https://jeanne-blog.com/cypress-and-blue-cypress/
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FAMILY of Asteraceae and Cupressaceae.
The Asteraceae family includes the Chamaemelum, Matricaria, Artemisia, Tanacetum and Achillea; while the Cupressaceae family of Class Coniferae includes only the Callitris Intratropica of the family Cupressaceae.
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FAMILY CHART OF THE BLUE OILS
Most of the Blue-colored oils occur in the Asteraceae (Compositae) family. Seven genera are represented. There is one Cupressaceae (woody Conifer) type.
The blue oils are anti-inflammatory, generally because of the azulene content, although there are other factors such as bisabolol that is also inflammatory. Also, one of the blue oils is best taken internally for various reasons. (See properties in part 2 of this article). Callitris is a great first-aid oil to apply externally; it can be mixed with Plai or Tea Tree.
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COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN: Native to Europe, North Africa and Siberia naturalized worldwide.
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GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF PLANT, HABITAT & GROWTH ~ Even experts are confused by the variety of looks that each of the various species of these groups attains and the physical descriptions have been described in greater detail in more scholarly texts and also more simply in an article I wrote for the Aromatic Plant Project in 1994. See especially the references at the end of the article numbered 8, 9, 10, and 11.
A plant grown near water will often be more luxuriant than the same exact plant grown without water. Be aware of the terroir in which a plant does best and if growing it on your own try to imitate the best environment. Rich soil and abundant water may not be what makes a plant grow to its best.
These descriptions of plants may not be the most interesting to read but they are very important in order to know the plant. Get a good ID book — these are available in your local arboretum or botanical garden store, in any national park store as well as a general bookstore. The Peterson Field Guides are especially valuable.
Botany ~ Blue Oils Botany
“Cladanthus mixtus (L.) All., loc. Cit. (1785), Moroccan chamomile, is described as a somewhat pubescent annual 10-60 cm, often much-branched, with divaricate branches…in cultivated fields, roadsides, and maritime sands. Mediterranean region and S.W. Europe, extending northwards to France.”8 It is a good-looking plant, 90-125 cm high with very hairy leaves and tubular yellow flowers. The plant is probably a native of northwest Africa and evolved from a very common Ormenis species which grows all over the Mediterranean countries. The essential oil was not described. The herbarium sample I saw shows a plant to be a close look-alike to the annual Matricaria recutita and almost identical to Chamæmelum nobile. It has a mixed look of both.
“Chamaemelum nobile (L.) All., F. Pedem. 1:185 (1785) (aka Anthemis nobilis L.), Roman Chamomile, short perennial; more or less pubescent, decumbent, aromatic perennial (5-)10-30 c. Leaves 2- to 3-pinnatisect. Roadsides and damp grassland. W. Europe northwards to N. Ireland; formerly frequently cultivated for lawns, for ornament and for infusions and locally naturalized. Different from the above-mentioned C. mixtus which has most of the cauline leaves 1-pinnatisect while C. nobile has most of the cauline leaves 2- to 3-pinnatisect.”8 Also called Roman Chamomile oil. [see also Matricaria recutita.]. Can be used in lawns for fragrance.
“Matricaria chamomilla, Sweet Chamomile, Sweet False Chamomile. Sweet-scented, much-branched, glabrous annual, to 2 ½ feet; leaves to 2-3/8-inch-long, 2-pinnatifid into linear segments; heads 1 inch across, receptacle conical; disc flowers yellow, 5-lobed, ray flowers 10-20, white, reflexed, achenes 5-ribbed. Europe to west Asia; naturalized in North America.”11
. “Artemisia arborescens L., Tree Mugwort, Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1188 (1763). White-tomentose, aromatic perennial to 7 feet high; stems 50-100 cm, woody below. Leaves 1- to 2-pinnatisect or the upper sometimes simple, petiolate; capitula 6-7 mm across, in a large, paniculate inflorescence. Receptacle hairy. Corolla glabrous. Mediterranean region, S. Portugal.8
This is a plant that I have grown for 20-years in my garden until a gardener decided to prune it and thus killed it by slow death over the next three years.
A. douglasiana Besser, Douglas Mugwort, a perennial that grows from 5 to 25 dm (2-7 feet) high from a rhizome. There are many stems that are erect and brown to gray-green. The leaves are evenly spaced, 1-11 (15) cm, and are narrowly elliptic to widely oblanceolate at and entirely or coarsely 3-5 lobed near the tip, sparsely tomentose above and densely white-tomentose below. Fruit 14
I am unable to grow this plant in my yard because of the lack of sun from two huge trees, a redwood to the east and a Eucalyptus to the west.
Artemisia arborescens is 6-feet hight — Artemisia douglasiana stems are 15 inches long.
• Annual Tansy, Tanacetum annuum. L., “Sp. Pl 844 (1753). Ligules yellow or absent (T. parthenium has white ligules.) Greenish-pubescent annual to 3-feet high. Stems 20-80 cm, branched. Leaves pinnatisect, the cauline 1-3 cm; segments linear, acute or acuminate, sparsely pubescent to glabrous. All florets hermaphrodite, tubular, 5-toothed. Achenes 5-ribbed. Cultivated ground and waste places. S.W. Europe.”8
Achillea millefolium, Yarrow, commonly called common yarrow, is a rhizomatous, spreading, upright to mat-forming perennial that is considered by many to be an aggressive weed. Common yarrow from Europe and Asia was originally introduced to America in colonial times and has since naturalized throughout the U. S. primarily along roadsides, fields, waste areas and lawns. These species plants are noted for producing deeply-dissected, fern-like, aromatic, medium green foliage and tiny, long-lasting, white flowers that appear in dense, flattened, compound corymbs (to 2-4” across) throughout the summer on stems typically rising 2-3 feet or more tall.—Missouri Botanical Garden
• Callitris intratropica, Cypress-Pine, the blue-colored oil from the wood and the bark and an old tree for comparison. For the description of the tree and the oil, please refer to my blog https://jeanne-blog.com/cypress-and-blue-cypress-eo/
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PORTION OF PLANT USED IN DISTILLATION, HOW DISTILLED, EXTRACTION METHODS ~ Chamazulene itself does not occur in the plant but is formed from a sesquiterpene lactone called matricine during the steam distillation process. So, don’t expect to make herbal remedies with plants that produce blue oils and have a blue product. These plants should be carefully distilled mainly from the flower, and the hydrosol immediately frozen (to preserve the blue color) and the essential oil collected and stored in the freezer to preserve it from oxidation.
In the plants that produce blue-colored oil, the flowers are the best part to distill whether by steam or hydro-distillation. They should be picked early in the day for the most abundant matricine and distilled immediately. As an example, for the best Yarrow EO or hydrosol, only the top flowering parts are harvested. The same is true for each of the eight species mentioned except for Blue Cypress for which the inner bark and wood is distilled.
• The Magic of Distillation is being able to observe and watch something colorless change into something gorgeous blue. There is pure magic to distillation with the plants that contain matricine – that magical alchemical moment when you are distilling that the matricine dies and becomes something new. It changes within the blink of an eye from the plants’ colorless clear essential oil liquid and turns the perfect blue of the azulene. A different blue for each of the plants. Best observed via a glass receiver or Florentine style filtering flask.
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SUSTAINABILITY ~ Blue Tansy ( is Native to the Mediterranean area, but this plant has gradually disappeared due to excessive harvesting of wild plants. Albert Vieille Company has reintroduced this plant called blue Tansy (it actually has yellow flowers) to Morocco to produce the blue essential oil.
It is important that you examine each of the plants for their ability to reproduce before you choose to harvest or wild-craft them. Many plants are in dire straits because of human incursion into their environment. Best to learn to grow what you want to harvest.
In my 30 years with these plants, I have seen a half dozen farmers learn to grow several of the blue-oiled plants and then pull them from the soil because it took so long for consumers to learn and know them. You cannot expect farmers to grow plants that cannot be sold due to consumer ignorance.
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STORAGE ~ All the blue-colored oils are likely to oxidize in time due to the azulenes and they should be stored in the freezer. Since Blue Cypress is a somewhat viscous oil and comes from the bark and wood, do not freeze but keep in the fridge, probably in the door section. It will get more viscous, but the colder air of the fridge will delay any deterioration and the essential oil will last longer. Just remember to bring it out of the fridge several hours before you are going to use the oil so that it warms up some. With the blue oils, you must be very careful and conscious of their color. If it is oxidizing, it will go from a beautiful blue to a green, greenish-black and eventually to brown. If brown put it down and do not use for therapy or medicinal use. The scent will also change and become what can only be described as ‘nasty’ — the scent impossible to wash off your hands. This is why you must always check the organoleptic qualities of your essential oils – there is much to be learned by their color, clarity, viscosity, and intensity.
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• ODOR DESCRIPTION ~ Left nostril smells the scent AND Right nostril smells the intensity
Left side nostril smells the scent;
right side nostril smells the intensity. So,
smell on the left side, then smell on the right and then waft back and forth
under the nose to get the entire scent experience.
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•Blue Chamomile, Matricaria chamomilla, has a deep blue color and an aroma of fruit and toasted nuts.
•Roman Chamomile, Chamaemelum nobile, is pale blue to colorless and fruity, herbaceous and oily-aldehydic.
•Cladanthus mixtus, the yellow Moroccan Chamomile has a spicy-fruity odor.
•Blue Tansy, Tanacetum annuum, that most helpful plant for the respiratory system odor is toasty, green-conifer and warm.
•Yarrow, Achillea millefolium, the odor is unmistakable herbaceous and woody with an airy undernote.
•Blue Artemis, Artemisia arborescens, can be camphorous (no thujone) and herbaceous when it is distilled from plants grown on the west coast of the United States and very much like wormwood when distilled from plants grown in Morocco or Tunisia because of the high thujone content.
•Blue Sage also called Douglas Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana, is herbaceous, clean and coniferous.
•Blue Cypress, Callitris intratropica, the odor is a low-intensity wood and somewhat cypress-like and camphoraceous back note.
IF ANY OF THESE ODORS are tending to an unpleasant fungal side, they are oxidizing. Remember, that you can know them by their scent. If the scent is changing, check also the color and if moving from a blue to dirty blue or brown, the oil is probably oxidizing and unusable. Remember to store these oils in the freezer.
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TASTE THE OILS. Taste does not mean eating, it only means when you put a sample on a scent strip, that after checking the fragrance you can give a lick to the strip to get the taste of the oil. Steam-distilled oils or CO2 extracts can be tasted this way. Use all your senses to know your oils. Scientists describe seven basic tastes of astringent, bitter, pungent-chili, salty, sour, sweet, and umami. However, the tongue recognizes five basic tastes of bitter, salty, sour, sweet, and umami.
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COLOR & CHEMISTRY OF THE BLUE OILS ~ By examining all of these oils one can see which were the old and improperly stored oils and even last year’s distillation by their color. When they begin to oxidize, they turn yellow or brown; brownish-yellow for Ormenis and greenish-black for azulene-containing oils. Sometimes it is a disadvantage for the essential oils to be sold in brown bottles because the consumer cannot judge the age and quality of the oil by the color. My suggestion is that knowledgeable consumers carry around a bit of blotter paper and take a tiny sample by blotting the inside of the lid of these expensive oils, examining them carefully for color and scent before purchase. Also, the consumer must take some responsibility and learn the Latin binomial and make sure essential oils are labeled completely before they buy them. These blue-colored oils will show age and oxidation with a change in color from blue to greenish-black to green or from pale yellow to yellow-brown. If blackish or brown – put it down.
••Chamaemelum nobile — Chamazulene (27.80 %), β-pinene (7.93 %), 1,8- cineole (7.51 %), α-pinene (5.94 %), α-bisabolol (5.76 %) were found major compounds in Chamaemelum nobile.
•Matricaria chamomilla The main compounds identified were α-bisabolol (56.86%), trans-trans-farnesol (15.64%), cis-β-farnesene (7.12%), guaiazulene (4.24%), α-cubebene (2.69%), α-bisabolol oxide A (2.19%) and chamazulene (2.18%) and in another study In Matricaria recutita major compounds were chamazulene (31.2 %), 1,8-cineole (15.2 %) β-pinene (10.11 %), α-pinene (8.14 %), α-bisabolol (7.45 %) and terpinen-4-ol (4.11 %)
•Cladanthus mixtus – MOROCCAN CHAMOMILE when distilled is sometimes a blue color and more often a caramel or mustard color. The yields of the essential oils ranged between 0.1% and 0.8% (v/d.w.). These samples (Benguerir, Kenitra, Settat, Meknes, and Tamesna) were characterized by the dominance of camphor (14–27%), β‐myrcene (3–17%) and santolina triene (3–15%). All these and Chefchaouane essential oils showed a blue color. β‐Myrcene (3–17%), trans‐β‐farnesene (18%) and 2‐tridecanone (16%) dominated the Chefchaouane essential oil, Whereas Oujda, Bouznika and Sidi Alal Ibahraoui essential oils were yellow whereas trans‐β‐farnesene (43%) was the main component in the Oujda essential oil.16
•Tanacetum annuum. The main compounds were myrcene (13.67 %), camphor (12.67 %), sabinene (9.49 %), -pinene (7.70 %), -phellandrene (6.95 %) and chamazulene (5.87 %).
•Achillea millefolium the major components extracted from the stems, leaves, and inflorescences were found to be β-thujone (8.3–21.7%), camphor (8.6–11.7%), 1, 8-cineole (7.7–15.2%), β-pinene (3.8–7.8%) and sabinene (5.7–8.9%). More than sixty components have been identified;
•Artemisia arborescens. . EO extracted from dried aerial parts of the plant from Algeria, the main constituents of the essential oil were chamazulene (30.2%), β-thujone (27.8%), β-eudesmol (8.1%) and catalponol (5.5%). USA grown, specifically Pacific Northwest, the main components were 40% chamazulene, camphor 16%, many other components including terpenes such as 5% myrcene.
•Artemisia douglasiana artemisia ketone, yomogi alcohol, antifungal activity of vulgarone B and verbenone. I have seen a source list Douglas/California Mugwort leaves as containing α-thujone constituting 10% to 68% of the essential oil. Active compounds including many sesquiterpene lactones such as vulgarin and psilostachyin, and probably monoterpenoids such as thujone and alpha-pinene. The yield of essential oil from A. douglasiana is about 0.6–0.8% by weight of the dry material, including plant stems.
•Callitris intratropica— Australian Blue Cypress Oil is a vivid and pure cobalt-blue colored oil (see fig. 6), opaque, viscous like cane syrup, medium intensity odor (5 on a scale of 1-10). The taste is bitter. Turns green when oxidized. It contains various alcohols like 10-11% bulnesol and terpenes and 24.3% citronellic acid and 20% guaiol.
• C. columellaris — Australian Victorian Emerald Cypress oil is emerald green in color. And there is also an Australian Jade Cypress oil, Callitris glaucophylla used for pain and bruising that is a jade-green in color. For more information on the latter two please see http://www.aromaticplantproject.com/articles_archive/Australian_Essential_Oils.html
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SOLUBILITY ~ German Chamomile is soluble in 90-95% alcohol. Roman Chamomile is soluble in 7-10 volumes of 70% alcohol. It helps to always have on hand organic high proof alcohol in which to dissolve your oils or to use in perfumery. See https://organicalcohol.com/
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QUESTIONS THAT WERE ASKED ~ These are the simple answers to certain questions that were asked and answered above in longer terms.
- Are all blue oils anti-inflammatory? YES because of the content of azulene and bisabolol.
- Do blue oils oxidize faster than other oils? YES, they seem too – remember to keep them in the freezer.
- If I am making a blend with blue oils how should I preserve them? MAKE SMALL AMOUNTS, USE IT UP, AND THEN MAKE AGAIN.
- How long before they turn green or brown? DEPENDS ON HOW THEY ARE CARED FOR IN THE BEGINNING
- Are they still good once they turn green? NO, this means they are oxidizing.
- Why are some distillations a darker blue than other distillations of the same oil? DEPENDS ON THE ATTENTION OF THE DISTILLER AND HOW CAREFUL THEY ARE WITH THE HARVEST; WHAT PART OF THE PLANT IS HARVESTED AND THE DISTILLING PROCESS. It also depends upon the amount of flowers to green tops.
Distiller = the person doing the distillation; Still = the object used to distill
- Can there be allergic or skin reactions to chamazulene? THERE HAVE BEEN SOME REPORTS OF ALLERGIC RESPONSE TO AZULENE AND TO PLANTS CONTAINING MATRICINE
- Are blue oils good for compromised skin conditions? DEPENDS ON THE BLUE OIL, SOME HAVE BEEN USED FOR SKIN CANCER such as Artemisia arborescens from Morocco because of the thujone content and A. arborescens from Oregon which has no thujone, it has camphor).
- Are they safe to use on children? Roman Chamomile can be used, VERY DILUTED IN SMALL AMOUNTS, plant tea is recommended to being used first.
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END OF PART I OF The Blue Oils
Part 2 will include properties, uses, how to use the oil, chemistry, Blue oil tomato tales, history, references, precautions, blending and formulas for health and well-being and references.
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Rising Up
Tarragon — the herb, the aged oil and the fresh new oil from Eden Botanicals
This lovely oil courtesy of Eden Botanicals
Anise Seed (Pimpinella anisum L.) of the Apiaceae family is an annual herb whose essential oil contains 90% trans or E-anethole and methyl chavicol. These Licorice scented, tasty seeds were once used as payment for taxes, in spiced cakes to prevent indigestion, as a flavorant for soups, breads, liqueurs like Anisette and even as a token to avert the ‘evil eye’. The leaves can also be used to flavor foods. This gentle herb and seed along with Fennel seed is good for children who have diarrhea and can be used stuffed into ‘sleep pillows’ to assist for a restful night sleep.
Anise wood or Havozo (Ravensara anisata) Essential oil from the bark of this tree of the Lauraceae family contains (E)-anethole and methyl chavicol (61.62%) and (E)-anethole (20.09%). The EO, because of the large amount of methyl chavicol whose odor which is very Anise seed like, can be used much the same as Anise seed. It can be used in food and cooking, and therapeutically by both inhalation and application in massage oils to relieve indigestion or a single diluted drop on the pillow case to relieve insomnia.
Clove buds are the sun-dried, unopened flower buds of the Clove tree, Syzygium aromaticum from Indonesia and other locations of the family Myrtaceae. Clove oil contains eugenol which composes 72–90% of the essential oil and is the compound most responsible for clove aroma.
Fennel seed (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) is a perennial herb of the Apiaceae family that contains trans-anethole of about 68% and 10-12% estragole. 
Organoleptically, 
Holy Basil or Tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum) is a perennial of the Lamiaceae family and contains eugenol. For me, it is only slightly licorice or anise-scented. Ocimum tenuiflorum (synonym Ocimum sanctum), commonly known as holy basil, tulasi, or tulsi, which is native to the Indian subcontinent and widespread as a cultivated plant throughout the Southeast Asian tropics. It is revered as the ‘elixir of life’.
Star Anise (Illicium verum) The fruit of this evergreen tree contains anethole, the same as Anise seed. The EO is obtained from the star-shaped pericarp of the fruit which is harvested just before ripening. This is a lovely fragrant EO used in foods, soap, perfume, toothpaste and mouthwash, and in cosmetic care for the skin. I am most familiar with it in Sambuca, an Italian liqueur that I find very delicious and have drunk often as an aperitif.
Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) contains estragole. This perennial herb of the Asteraceae (Sunflower) family comes in two subspecies. The Russian Tarragon is used medicinally while the French Tarragon has the most powerful scent and taste and is used as a culinary. French tarragon is the variety used for cooking in the kitchen and is not grown from seed, as the flowers are sterile; instead it is propagated by root division. Russian tarragon (A. dracunculoides L.) can be grown from seed but is much weaker in flavor when compared to the French variety.
Mexican Tarragon (Tagetes lucida) or Mexican Marigold has a slight anise-flavor to the leaves. Mexican tarragon is a half-hardy perennial plant with yellow flowers.
Eden Botanicals Basil, Fennel, Tarragon EO
muskal