Clary Sage Oil and Menopause: What One Study Measured

Search for clary sage oil and menopause and you will find the two ideas stitched together everywhere. The stitching mostly traces back to one small Korean study, and it is worth knowing exactly what that study looked at, because it is not what most pages imply.

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What the Korean study measured

Researchers recruited 22 menopausal women in their 50s, used depression questionnaires to sort them into a "normal" group and a "depression tendency" group, and measured neurotransmitters and hormones in blood plasma after the women inhaled clary sage oil (Lee, Cho and Kang, Phytotherapy Research, 2014). Cortisol was significantly lower afterwards and serotonin was significantly higher. Thyroid stimulating hormone fell in every group, though not by a statistically significant amount.

What it did not measure is hot flashes, sleep, or how the women felt day to day. It also describes comparing two groups of women by questionnaire score, with no oil-free comparison group mentioned in the abstract, and 22 people is a very small base. Read as a lab snapshot of stress chemistry in a handful of women, it is interesting. Read as a menopause result, it asks more of itself than it can deliver. If you would like the study taken apart in more detail, we have a breakdown of the cortisol paper.

What the aroma trials in menopause used

The aromatherapy trials in menopausal women that do exist tested lavender. In a double-blind crossover trial of 100 women in Ardabil, Iran, women smelled lavender twice a day for 20 minutes over 12 weeks, with diluted milk as the control, and their symptom scores on a questionnaire fell significantly more than the control group's (Nikjou et al., 2018). In a pilot of 35 postmenopausal women with insomnia, lavender or sunflower oil was inhaled before bed for 29 days. Overall quality of life improved in the lavender group, while the hot flash diaries showed no difference between groups (Lucena et al., 2024).

So there are encouraging questionnaire results for one oil, a diary result that did not move, and nothing at all for clary sage on hot flashes. Our reading is that scent can be a pleasant part of an evening, which is a perfectly good reason to own a bottle, and that it does not stand in for a plan made with a clinician.

Using the oil as a scent you enjoy

Clary sage has a sweet, dry, softly herbal aroma with nutty, tea-like undertones, and many people simply love it. If you want it on skin, we recommend diluting to 0.5% to 2% in a carrier oil from a craft or grocery shop, patch testing first, and keeping it away from your eyes. At the top of that range, 30 ml of carrier takes 0.6 ml of oil; at the bottom, 0.15 ml. Our dilution guide has the full ratios.

Two notes from us. We avoid clary sage in pregnancy, which matters if your periods are irregular and pregnancy is still possible. And it is not the oil to reach for before driving. If sleep is what you hope the scent will support, our sleep article covers what that research does and does not show, and our estrogen article follows that particular claim back to where it started.

When to talk to someone

Hot flashes that interrupt sleep or work, bleeding that is heavy or returns after a year without a period, or low moods that worry you are all worth a visit with an OB-GYN, midwife or menopause-certified clinician. Hormone therapy and other options are prescriber decisions, and a pharmacist can check any herbal product against your medicines. The oil we sell is an external cosmetic product and nothing more. Our women's health overview maps the rest of the research.

Buy clary sage because you love how it smells, and bring the symptoms themselves to someone who can help.

Clary Sage Essential Oil bottle

Clary Sage Essential Oil

Clary Sage Essential Oil from our own shop, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.

From $19.99

Shop Now →

Sources & Further Reading