Anise Oil and Head Lice: What the Evidence Says
Two clinical trials tested a commercial coconut, anise and ylang ylang spray against medicated lice products, and both reported high success rates. Neither tests a home blend of anise oil, and neither shows that anise oil should replace standard products. This page reports what each study did and where it falls short.
Anise Essential Oil
Our own Anise Essential Oil, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.
From $7.99
Shop Now →Head lice are a medical-advice topic. Questions about a child's scalp belong with a pediatrician or pharmacist, and we do not recommend using our oil for lice. For our general safety rules on skin contact, see anise oil safety basics.
Why Anise Shows Up in Lice Searches at All
The link comes from two published trials of a spray whose ingredient list includes anise oil. Product pages and blogs then compress those studies into "anise oil gets rid of lice," which the studies do not say. The useful question is narrower: what exactly was in the bottle, who was tested, how success was measured and who ran the trial. That is what we walk through below.
Trial One: Mumcuoglu and Colleagues, Jerusalem, 2002
Mumcuoglu KY, Miller J, Zamir C, Zentner G, Helbin V and Ingber A published a paper on the in vivo pediculicidal efficacy of a natural product in the Israel Medical Association Journal in 2002 (volume 4, pages 790 to 793). The page we opened is the journal's own record of the paper (IMAJ article record).
- Preparation: a product named Chick-Chack containing coconut oil, anise oil and ylang ylang oil. The abstract we read does not give the percentage of each oil.
- Population: 940 children aged 6 to 14 were screened at six Jerusalem schools; 199 had lice and eggs and 164 had eggs only. A total of 119 children were randomly assigned to one of two products.
- Comparator: a spray pesticide product, applied twice, 10 minutes each time, 10 days apart. The natural product was applied three times, 15 minutes each, at 5-day intervals.
- Result: success was reported in 60 children (92.3 percent) using the natural product and 59 children (92.2 percent) using the control. No serious side effects were reported.
- Limits: the study was described as an open clinical study, meaning participants and assessors knew which product was used. The two arms used different application schedules. The abstract does not give per-group denominators for the percentages, and we could not open a full text with the methods.
The honest summary: in a school-based Israeli sample, a three-oil product performed about as well as a chemical spray. It was not shown to be better, and it was not tested against the products American clinicians use first.
Trial Two: Burgess, Brunton and Burgess, 2010
Burgess IF, Brunton ER and Burgess NA published "Clinical trial showing superiority of a coconut and anise spray over permethrin 0.43% lotion for head louse infestation, ISRCTN96469780" in the European Journal of Pediatrics (2010;169(1):55-62). We read the indexed abstract record (PubMed) and could not open the full paper.
| Feature | What the abstract reports |
|---|---|
| Design | Randomized, controlled, parallel-group trial |
| Participants | 100 people with active head lice, 50 per arm |
| Schedule | Two applications, 9 days apart |
| Comparator | Permethrin 0.43 percent lotion |
| Success rate | 82.0 percent (41 of 50) for the coconut and anise spray versus 42.0 percent (21 of 50) for permethrin |
| Safety signal | 33 participants reported irritant reactions, linked in the abstract to alcohol contacting broken (excoriated) skin |
| Authors' framing | Permethrin still works for some people; the spray was a significantly more effective alternative |
How to read the 42 percent
The permethrin arm's low result is the headline, and it needs context. The comparator was a 0.43 percent lotion, while the over-the-counter lotion in the United States is 1 percent permethrin, per the CDC (CDC clinical care of head lice). The trial's authors framed their result around reports of declining permethrin performance. The CDC states that lice have developed some resistance to 1 percent permethrin but that how widespread it is remains unknown. A study showing permethrin working poorly in one setting does not tell you how it works in yours, and it does not by itself show the spray is safe or reliable at home.
Who ran the study
The first author's listed affiliation is a commercial company, Insect Research and Development Limited. We could not open the full text to read its funding or competing-interest statement, so we will not characterize it further. When one team develops a product and also reports the trial, independent replication carries extra weight. We did not find one that we could open.
The Irritation Finding Is Not a Footnote
The 2002 trial reported no significant side effects. The 2010 trial reported irritant reactions in 33 of 100 participants, which the abstract attributes to alcohol reaching scratched skin. Those two numbers describe two different formulations, and the contrast is the point: what is in the bottle besides the oils changes what happens on a child's scalp.
Anise oil itself deserves caution on skin. Its main constituent is trans-anethole, covered in our chemistry guide. A 2023 European Food Safety Authority opinion on anise oil as an animal-feed additive concluded that it should be considered an irritant to skin and eyes and a dermal and respiratory sensitiser, and flagged its estragole content (at or above 1 percent) as a genotoxicity and carcinogenicity concern for handling (EFSA FEEDAP Panel, EFSA Journal 2023;21(4):e07976). That opinion concerns animal feed, not cosmetics or children's scalps, so it is not a head-lice safety verdict. It does show why we describe anise oil as a material to dilute carefully and patch test first.
A child's scalp raises the stakes: scratching from lice can leave broken skin, which is exactly where the 2010 trial saw irritation. The 2023 opinion is why we keep our children and storage guidance separate and cautious.
What the CDC Says to Do
The CDC's clinical guidance states that both over-the-counter and prescription medications are available for head lice, and it lists specific products and ages (CDC, reviewed January 2025):
- Permethrin 1 percent lotion, approved for children two months and older. It kills live lice but not unhatched eggs, so a second application around day nine may be needed.
- Pyrethrins with piperonyl butoxide, approved for ages two and older, and not for people allergic to chrysanthemums or ragweed. Retreatment is advised 9 to 10 days later.
- Prescription options include benzyl alcohol, ivermectin, malathion and spinosad, each with its own age limits and instructions.
The CDC page also warns against using extra amounts of any lice medication unless a physician and pharmacist direct it, and against combining different lice drugs at the same time without that advice. As far as we could read, the page does not discuss essential oils or home recipes at all. That silence is itself informative: standard guidance does not currently list them as an option.
A pharmacist can tell you which product fits a child's age and whether a prior product failed because of resistance or because of how it was used. A pediatrician can confirm that what you found is lice at all, and check the scalp if it is raw or infected.
Our Position
Based on what we could verify, the evidence does not support replacing standard lice products with anise oil, and it does not support mixing a home version of the spray. Our reasons are specific:
- Both trials tested one commercial formulation. Oil percentages and the rest of the ingredients were not reported in what we read, so a home blend cannot be said to match it.
- The 2002 trial was open-label with different schedules per arm; the 2010 trial was small and reported a high irritation rate.
- The most striking result depends on a comparator that differs from the U.S. product, and we found no independent replication we could open.
- Anise oil is a recognised skin sensitiser, and children's scalps are a poor place to find that out.
What is not known
We do not know how anise oil performs by itself, as distinct from coconut oil, ylang ylang oil or the spray base. We do not know the right concentration, how long effects last, or whether results hold for current U.S. lice populations. We do not know long-term sensitisation risk from repeated scalp use in children.
If You Want to Look Further
If you are reading this because standard products seemed to fail, the next step is a pharmacist or pediatrician, not a new oil. Product failure often traces to timing, such as skipping the second application, so a short conversation can save weeks. If a child has swallowed any essential oil or had a bad skin reaction, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.
For perfumery and scalp-care products that do not make lice claims, see anise oil in cosmetic hair rinses and scalp blends, and for the oil itself you can browse our shop.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does anise oil kill head lice?
Two trials found success with a commercial coconut, anise and ylang ylang or coconut and anise spray, but neither tested anise oil alone. We cannot say the oil is responsible, and we do not recommend using it for lice.
Is there an aniseed lice spray I can make at home?
The studies did not publish a recipe we could verify, and the second trial recorded irritant reactions in 33 of 100 participants. We do not provide a lice formula. Ask a pharmacist about products with a known label and dose.
Is a natural anise lice product safe for children?
Safety on children's scalps has not been established for anise oil. It is a recognised skin sensitiser in a feed-additive opinion, and young children are the group where we advise the most caution. Talk to a pediatrician first.
Why did the spray beat permethrin in one trial?
The comparator was a 0.43 percent permethrin lotion, not the 1 percent product sold over the counter in the United States. The CDC notes some resistance to 1 percent permethrin, but its prevalence is unknown. One trial cannot settle the question.
Who should I ask about head lice?
Start with your child's pediatrician or a pharmacist. They can confirm the diagnosis of lice, pick a product by age, and tell you when and how to repeat it.
Anise Essential Oil
Anise Essential Oil from our own shop, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.
From $7.99
Shop Now →Sources & Further Reading
- Mumcuoglu KY, Miller J, Zamir C, Zentner G, Helbin V, Ingber A. The in vivo pediculicidal efficacy of a natural product (title abridged). Isr Med Assoc J. 2002;4:790-793
- Burgess IF, Brunton ER, Burgess NA. Clinical trial showing superiority of a coconut and anise spray over permethrin 0.43% lotion for head louse infestation, ISRCTN96469780. Eur J Pediatr. 2010;169(1):55-62 (PubMed record)
- CDC: Clinical care of head lice
- EFSA FEEDAP Panel. Safety and efficacy of feed additives obtained from the fruit of Pimpinella anisum L. EFSA Journal 2023;21(4):e07976
- Anise oil safety basics: dilution, patch testing and pets