Sharing Is Caring!

How to Use Cinnamon Essential Oil 10 Ways

Here’s how to use cinnamon essential oil in ten ways! Uses for cinnamon different types to make bath bombs, room sprays, lip balms, soap, and more. 

What do you picture when you think of cinnamon? Does your mind immediately go to the signature scent so common during the fall and winter seasons? Or do you think of the spicy, warm flavor of cinnamon first? 

If I close my eyes and think of cinnamon, it’s the aroma that I instantly think of. Its warm, spicy, full-bodied scent is heartening and easily brings to mind the changing of leaves, holiday baking, and family traditions. It is certainly a scent to boost your holiday spirit and enjoy it throughout the seasons. That’s why I enjoy using cinnamon essential oil in diffuser blends around the house. 

But cinnamon isn’t just for diffusing; besides smelling absolutely marvelous, cinnamon essential oil has many uses! It’s a known fact that humans have been using cinnamon for thousands of years. It was one of the first traded spices in the ancient world, and some say more valuable than gold. 

Today cinnamon is put to use in the culinary world, beauty, and medicinal use too. And when it comes to cinnamon essential oil, it’s important to know the difference between cinnamon types. 

I’m excited to share with you how to use cinnamon essential oil in ten ways, including uses for different types of cinnamon to make bath bombs, room sprays, lip balm, soap, and so much more. It’s quite the cinnamon lover’s dream come true! 

For your convenience, this article contains some affiliate links; please read the full disclosure policy.

How To Know When To Use Cinnamon Different Types

If you’re ready to get crafty with cinnamon essential oil but aren’t sure where to draw the line between cinnamon different types, then you’re in luck. It took me a few hours, but I pulled together everything I could find to understand the differences. 

I think learning how cinnamon is produced really helps clarify the different types. For starters, cinnamon bark essential oil and cassia oil are derived from tree bark by a delicate process of stripping the outer layer to expose the inner bark. The inner bark is carefully peeled away in thin layers. 

The layers are dried in the sun to curl and then fitted and tied together to create a cinnamon stick. After more drying, they are steam-distilled to produce essential oil. 

And any broken leftover pieces of bark are typically ground to make ground cinnamon. This explains why ground cinnamon is much cheaper than cinnamon essential oil. It also should be noted that cinnamon bark can only be harvested after a tree has had at least four years to grow and mature.

As for cinnamon leaf essential oil, it is derived from the leaves of the trees, and it can be harvested on-going throughout the year. The leaves are removed from the branches and left to dry for a few days before distillation. This requires far less labor to produce than the other cinnamon types and is, therefore, more affordable.

Here’s a closer look at each –

Cinnamon Bark Essential Oil:

Cinnamon Bark Oil is derived from tropical evergreen trees native to Sri Lanka that grow up to 45 feet high. They produce fragrant leaves, flowers, and bark known as Ceylon cinnamon or true cinnamon. Cinnamon Bark essential oil, Cinnamomun zeylanicum, is steam distilled from the tree’s inner bark and has a reddish-brown color. 

The oil has a warm, spicy aroma that is great for diffusing, as it can help us feel grounded and balanced. Cinnamon is also excellent for cleaning and is an ingredient of popular Thieves oil and household cleaner. 

Is cinnamon essential oil safe for the skin? It is a “hot” oil, which means it causes a warming sensation on your skin; that’s important to remember when you use this oil topically. Diluting cinnamon bark oil 1:1 with a carrier oil and doing a patch test before topical use is recommended.

Cassia Essential Oil:

Closely related to cinnamon bark essential oil, cassia oil, Cinnamomum cassia comes from an aromatic evergreen tree native to China. As one of several varieties of Cinnamomum, it is used for its aromatic bark that has a slightly sweeter aroma with higher levels of coumarin and trans-cinnamaldehyde than other types of cinnamon.

Cassia essential oil has numerous uses, including neutralizing unwanted odor, cleaning dirt and grime from surfaces, freshening laundry, to creating a sense of peace and serenity when used aromatically.

Cinnamon Leaf Essential Oil: 

It might surprise you that cinnamon leaf essential oil, Cinnamomum verum, is distilled from the leaves of the same tree that produces cinnamon bark oil. It is also known as “Ceylon ” or “true” cinnamon. Essential oil made from the tree leaves has a yellow to pale brown color. 

It, too, has a powerful warm, spicy aroma enjoyed by many, but it is more ideal for skin care as it is not quite as strong as its counterparts. You’ll find it also has an invigorating, restorative, uplifting effect for aromatherapy. 

We all know that variety is the spice of life, so why not explore all three types of cinnamon essential oil in these creative uses?

Related To: 15 Ways to Use Vanilla Essential Oil

10 Cinnamon Essential Uses You Have To Try!

What is cinnamon essential oil used for? Now that you’ve got a grasp on the different types of cinnamon oil, here are ten ways to use cassia, cinnamon bark, or cinnamon leaf essential oil! 

1. Cinnamon Spice DIY Shower Steamers: Essential Oil Recipe

Whip up these DIY shower steamers with cinnamon and clove essential oils and a dusting of ground cinnamon for a decadent shower to melt stress away and warm up on a chilly day! They are just the right size to fill pretty jars for gifting to a friend, colleague, or family.

2. Cinnamon Shea Butter Soap

The ground cinnamon in this soap recipe imparts a beautiful speckled-brown natural hue, while the cinnamon essential oil adds spice and a home-baked scent. And I love the look of the cinnamon sticks embellished on the top of the soap bars!

3. Simple Beeswax Tea Light Candles

This season of coziness inspired me to create beeswax candles with essential oils. Beeswax is a natural, clean-burning wax with a beautiful golden glow. The sweet, subtle scent of beeswax and warm essential oils like cinnamon, clove, or vanilla is just the thing to cozy up. And it’s simple to make beeswax tea light candles at home with these step-by-step instructions. 

4. Vanilla Pumpkin Bath Bomb Recipe

Infused with five spicy essential oils, wrapped in vanilla, and topped with a dash of pumpkin spice, these bath bombs are creamy, warming, and, can I say it? – PUMPKIN PERFECT! So, keep fall on tap with this vanilla pumpkin bath bomb recipe made using only natural ingredients and essential oils to nourish the skin and soak in all the fall feels.

5. Cinnamon Essential Oil Blends Charts For Diffusing

I’ve whipped up a dozen of the best-smelling cinnamon essential oil diffuser blends into two essential oil blend printables. Find both and many more essential oil printables in the Oily Chic Library. From delicious aromas like cinnamon strudel to seasonal traditions like pumpkin picking, there’s an abundance of new diffuser recipes to enjoy! 

Starting with this diffuser blend, a contrast between woodsy Idaho blue spruce, courageous valor, and spicy cinnamon is uplighting and energizing as a nature walk in the fall woodlands or snowy forest. 

Nature Walk

3 drops Idaho blue spruce

2 drops valor

1 drop cinnamon

6. How To Make Cinnamon Clay Diffuser Tags

These cinnamon clay diffuser tags smell SO good on their own, but they also hold essential oils beautifully. Why not add a few drops of your favorite fall essential oil? After just a few hours in the oven, these DIY clay diffusers are ready to be used for whatever you like – ornaments, obviously, but they also make great gift tags or additions to garland. 

7. Pumpkin Spice Sugar Scrub Recipe With Essential Oils

This pumpkin spice sugar scrub recipe smells like pumpkin pie in a jar! But you won’t need to count calories with this fall treat. Instead, you can enjoy the benefits of a sugar scrub to nourish and gently exfoliate dull, dry skin, restoring your natural glow to leave your skin feeling soft, smooth, and well-nourished. 

8. Essential Oil Room Spray Recipe

Autumn, winter, or a random Sunday, this essential oil room spray recipe has all our favorite aromas we find at home. Lavender in our linens, blue spruce in the study, as well as orange and cinnamon aromas from the kitchen. Bring them together in an essential oil room spray for feeling the coziest at home.  

Coziest at Home Room Spray Blend

15 drops Lavender

10 drops Northern Lights Blue Spruce

5 drops Orange 

5 drops Cinnamon 

9. Cinnamon Honey Lip Balm

You can make skin-loving cinnamon honey homemade lip balm with just five ingredients. It’s easy to make, and once you try it, you will want to make lip balm in many variations!

10. How To Use Cinnamon Essential Oil To Make Wax Melts

Are you ready to hang a sign in your front yard that reads, “Autumn Leaves and Pumpkins Please”? I certainly am! What better way to welcome autumn’s arrival than with these fall-scented wax melts made with essential oils that smell like fall for the cozy season?

Who doesn’t love the smell of cinnamon? In this season of short days and fleeting warmth, turn to these creative cinnamon essential oil uses! Spice up your day with a diffuser blend, room spray, shower steamer, or a cinnamon scented candle. 

MORE ESSENTIAL OIL DIYS:

• DIY Body Shimmer Spray
• How to Make Foaming Hand Soap
• Essential Oil Roller Bottle Recipes
• Eucalyptus Diffuser Blends
• DIY Crystal Candle Bowl

Pin these ideas for how to use cinnamon essential oil to your Pinterest essential oil board, and while there, follow Oily Chic for more inspired ideas. And don’t forget the printable charts above! 

P.S. Did you know you can tag #oilychic on Instagram to share your essential oil DIYs with us?

Sharing Is Caring!