Guide To Monarda Essential Oil and Its Benefits and Uses

Monarda essential oil (Monarda fistulosa) is relaxing and reassuring and adds sunshine to your day, according to Working With Unusual Oils. The oil is also called wild bergamot or horsemint.

You may hear the oil referred to as bee balm or red bergamot but some sources note those terms technically refer to Monarda didyma. According to Essential Oil Safety, 2nd Edition, the two oils have different chemical compositions. Monarda fistulosa is about 90% geraniol and less than 3% linalool and is similar to thyme ct. geraniol. In contrast, Monarda didyma is about 70% linalool.

However, the monarda genus consists of 15 species and over 50 cultivars of the plant, according to The Herbal Academy. Monarda fistulosa essential oil comes in at least three chemotypes: geraniol (the most commonly available oil and the one profiled in Essential Oil Safety), carvacrol, and thymol.

Other sources refer to both monarda fistulosa and didyma as bee balm, For example, in Hydrosols: The Next Aromatherapy, Suzanne Catty refers to Monarda fistulosa as purple bee balm and Monarda didyma as scarlet bee balm. Plus, Aromahead has a series of bee balm articles about a Monarda fistulosa oil with a carvacrol/thymol composition.

This variation in names and composition illustrates the importance of knowing what you are buying.

Monarda Fistulosa ct. Geraniol Basic Facts

Plant family: Lamiaceae

Production: Steam distilled from either the flowers or the flowers and leaves of the plant, which is native to North America and was traditionally used by Native Americans. Monarda fistulosa can have lavender, pink, or white flowers, while Monarda didyma has red flowers.

Aroma: Herbaceous, slightly citrus, slightly sweet and floral.

Perfume/Aromatic note: Middle

Is monarda safe to use during pregnancy? Safe after 16 weeks, according to aromatherapist Elizabeth Ashley in Monarda: A Native American Medicine. Consulting a professional recommended. 

Is monarda essential oil safe for children? Probably. Ashley uses the oil in blends for colic. Consult a professional.

Cautions: May irritate sensitive skin.

Monarda Aromatherapy Benefits

The following benefits and uses are for Monarda fistulosa ct. geraniol essential oil.

Working With Unusual Oils: Monarda is helpful for respiratory issues, athlete's foot, wounds, cuts, boils, inflamed skin conditions, herpes/cold sores, and urogenital conditions. This essential oil helps ease stress and tension, promote calm, and improve your mood, and may help cleanse stuck or stagnated emotions. The book suggests this diffuser blend for sleep:

• 1 drop monarda
• 1 drop neroli essential oil
• 1 drop cape may essential oil
• 1 drop sandalwood essential oil

Healing Intelligence of Essential Oils: Monarda has a brilliant fragrance and often leaves a slightly sharp but pleasant tingle on the skin when used in the shower. The oil helps relieve upper respiratory and urogenital conditions.

Stillpoint Aromatics: Monarda oil uplifts your mood, helps relieve anxiety and depression, helps reduce swelling and pain, and fights fungus. Energetically, the uplifting floral oil harmonizes the mind-body connection and focus your awareness to amplify and unblock the grounding first chakra, stabilizing energy alignment. The oil also supports the fourth chakra (unconditional love) and sixth chakra (balancing, grounding, introspective, perspective, unconditional love.)

Monarda Essential Oil Uses and Blends

For colds, you can make a steam inhalation with monarda.

For a bath to ease congestion and improve breathing:

• 2 drops monarda essential oil
• 3 drops myrtle essential oil
• 3 drops eucalyptus globulus essential oil
• 1 teaspoon carrier oil

Blend oils and stir into bath.

Source: Monarda: A Native American Medicine

That book also suggests this diffuser meditation blend to let go of the past:

• 2 drops monarda 
• 1 drop geranium essential oil
• 1 drop rose essential oil

Herbal Garden Roll-on

Use this blend to enhance focus, concentration, alertness, cognition, motivation, and willpower or to reduce feeling lonely, stuck, and overshadowed. The blend also calms nerve pain and relaxes stiff, sore, and tired muscles. For adult use only.

• 10 ml roll-on bottle
• 4 drops monarda 
• 3 drops thyme essential oil
• 3 drops rosemary essential oil
• 3 drop lavender essential oil
• 2 drops oregano essential oil
• 1 drop sweet basil essential oil
• 10 ml (about 2 teaspoons) carrier oil

1. Add essential oils to the empty roll-on bottle.
2. Add carrier oil, filling the bottle to where the glass begins to bend, leaving room for the rollerball insert.
3. Secure the rollerball onto the bottle and cap.
4. Blend well by shaking the bottle or rolling it between your hands. Label the bottle.

To use: Apply the roll-on to your wrists, neckline, and pulse points. Breathe in the restorative and revitalizing scent for 4 to 6 deep breaths.

Cautions: For topical use only. Do not use if you are pregnant or have epilepsy or high blood pressure. Discontinue use if irritation occurs.

Adapted from Jennifer Pressimone. "Spring Recipes." NAHA Aromatherapy Journal, Spring 2021.1. p. 99.

Sinus Face Mask

Use this mask to help relieve sinus congestion, coughs, and colds.

• 2 tablespoons borage oil
• 1 drop monarda essential oil
• 1 drop frankincense essential oil
• 1 drop thyme ct. linalool essential oil
• 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) powdered green clay

1. Blend the essential oils with the borage oil.
2. Blend into the clay.
3. Apply the mask to your face, avoiding eyes, nose, and mouth. Leave on for 8 to 10 minutes and then wash off.

Cautions: Do not use during pregnancy or with babies and children.

Sinus Massage Blend

• 2 tablespoons borage oil
• 2 drops monarda essential oil
• 1 drop eucalyptus globulus essential oil
• 1 drop myrrh essential oil

Blend the essential oils and borage oil. Massage daily over the sinuses to relieve pressure and pain.

Cautions: Do not use during pregnancy or with children under the age of six years.

Source: Elizabeth Ashley. "Aromatherapy for the Sinuses." NAHA Aromatherapy Journal, Spring 2016.1, p. 53.

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Photo Credit: USFWS Mountain-Prairie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons