The Oil Within the Plant: Benchmark Thyme

As an ACP student, I progressed through the lessons, growing more and more confident with these beautiful, gentle oils when…WHAM…I hit the phenols. Phrases like "very irritating to the skin" and "must be used carefully" scared the bejeebers out of this aroma newbie!

I tiptoed around thyme and clove bud like they were rabid dogs. I dutifully did the assignments, suspiciously making blends that combined these highly aggressive oils with skin nourishing ones. But for my own blending, those words of caution kept my hands off the phenols for quite a long while.

I read up on everything I could get my hands on about skin infections, which led me to MRSA. MRSA is an acronym for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a superbug resistant to antibiotics. About 1 in 3 people carry the bacteria on their skin or in their noses, so it's common. But for some people, like the elderly or those who are immunocompromised, MRSA can cause quite a serious infection. (If you're curious, Google photos of MRSA. But be prepared to be traumatized! I just couldn't do that to you.)