How to Make a Litsea Cubeba Inhaler, Counted in Drops

A personal inhaler is the most concentrated way to meet litsea cubeba oil, because the whole dose sits on a cotton wick a few centimetres from your nose, so this recipe goes lower than a diffuser would and counts the oil in drops, not percent. The formulation below is worked out from supplier information and our own figures. We have not made it or worn it, so build one wick first and treat it as a trial.

Litsea Cubeba Essential Oil bottle

Litsea Cubeba Essential Oil

Our own Litsea Cubeba Essential Oil, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.

From $12.99

Shop Now →

Step 1: decide whether an inhaler is what you want

A diffuser fills a room; an inhaler is a small closed tube you open and sniff. The inhaler needs no electricity and no water, and it keeps the scent away from other people in the room, which matters for children, pets and pregnancy (see the safety articles linked at the end). It is also the format where oil sits closest to the airway, which is why the lower count matters. No mood, focus or sleep claim comes with it: the FDA regulates aromatherapy products mainly by how they are intended to be used, and says that coming from a plant does not keep an ingredient from being regulated as a drug (FDA aromatherapy page, current as of 09/08/2023). We describe the oil's scent and how to handle it, and nothing more.

Step 2: get the parts, and ask the right questions

We sell only the oil. Blank inhalers and spare cotton wicks come from aromatherapy, soap-making or craft supply shops. Three product pages we read describe the same basic design: a cotton wick in a tube with a snug cap. One is an aluminium case with an inner glass vial and a vented lid; one is an empty plastic stick described as BPA-free PET; one is an empty stick inhaler with a cotton wick. Ask any supplier:

Step 3: count the oil

None of the three product pages gives a drop count beyond "a few drops." The only stated capacity is a French supplier's page, which says the wick is "soaked with 1 to 2 ml of essential oil(s)" (Essenciagua product page). That is a ceiling for how much a wick can hold, not a recommended amount. Here it is in our oil's terms, using the 0.883 relative density on our COA and about 20 drops to the ml (droppers vary; weigh if you can):

Amount on the wickVolumeWeight
1 dropabout 0.05 mlabout 44 mg
3 dropsabout 0.15 mlabout 130 mg
Wick fully soaked, 1 ml1 ml (about 20 drops)about 0.88 g
Wick fully soaked, 2 ml2 ml (about 40 drops)about 1.77 g

Three drops is 15% of the lower capacity figure and 7.5% of the upper, so the wick is nowhere near full. For scale, 3 drops is also the oil in one ounce of a 0.5% skin blend (the low end of our own 0.5% to 2% skin copy, roughly 3 to 12 drops per ounce of carrier), except here it is held in one spot near the nose, undiluted. That comparison is the reason to start low. A 0.5 oz bottle holds about 296 drops, so at three drops a wick it is roughly 98 charges, and there is no economy in overloading.

Step 4: the recipe

One oil, one wick. Reasoning from the counts above and the irritation warnings below, the working formulation is:

  1. Hold a clean cotton wick with tweezers, so neat oil does not touch your fingers. Our copy says citral is a recognised skin sensitiser and that oil goes well down in a carrier for skin; a neat drop on a fingertip is the opposite of that.
  2. Put 2 drops of litsea cubeba oil on the wick (about 88 mg). Seat the wick in the tube and close the cap.
  3. Open it and sniff once, from about 15 cm, not with the opening against a nostril. If it is faint after a few minutes, add 1 drop. Stop at 3.
  4. Label the tube with the oil, the date and the batch number (our published COA is for batch LICQGCLCCNC003A, best by 04/30/2028).
  5. Wipe any oil from the outside, wash your hands, keep the cap closed between uses, and do not reuse the wick for a different oil.

A two-oil version is possible, but the second oil brings its own hazards, so keep the combined count at 3 drops and look up the other oil's cautions first. Our diffuser blends and uses article cover partners and ratios for open rooms; do not carry those drop counts across to an inhaler.

What citral does to the nose and eyes

EFSA's 2021 opinion on litsea berry oil says it should be considered an irritant to skin and eyes, a skin sensitiser and a presumed respiratory sensitiser, and that no user-specific data were supplied (EFSA FEEDAP, 2021). The oil analysed there averaged about 66% geranial plus neral, the two isomers of citral; our COA has no composition data. The European Commission's SCCS summary lists citral among the 26 fragrance allergens (European Commission, 2012). Practical reasoning from those two statements: keep the oil off your fingers and away from your eyes, stop if your nose, eyes or skin react, and if you have asthma or another airway condition, ask your physician before using any inhaled essential oil. We have no source that says litsea oil is acceptable for an airway condition, and we are not offering one.

Who should not use it

Never swallow the oil. Our product pages say it is not for internal use. If anyone does, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 (National Capital Poison Center).

The oil goes in a tube in drops, and the judgment about whether to use it near your airway goes to your physician; for dilution and patch testing of anything that touches skin, start with the skin basics article.

Litsea Cubeba Essential Oil bottle

Litsea Cubeba Essential Oil

Litsea Cubeba Essential Oil from our own shop, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.

From $12.99

Shop Now →

Sources & Further Reading