Citrus Essential Oils

Sunny, bright, fresh, clean these are some of the descriptions I have heard about

the group of essential oils that are extracted from citrus fruit.

Citrus essential oils are located in cells close to the surface of the fruit's skin. It is the essential oil we are capturing when we zest oranges or lemons to use in cooking. And it is also this which gives citrus fruit their characteristic aroma. If you have ever been squirted in the eye when peeling an orange, then you have been hit by the fruit's

essential oil!

The oils from Citrus fruits are all extracted from the peel by a method known as expression. It used to be that the oils were manually pressed into sponges which absorbed and captured the oil. Now the process of expression is more mechanized, but once extracted the oil is subjected to no more processing than filtering. For this reason, the Citrus Essential Oils are some of the most unprocessed of all the essential oils.

Perhaps because they are so unprocessed, citrus essential oils also tend to have the shortest shelf life of the essential oils, and are much more likely to succumb to environmental degradation. Although it is always important to keep your essential oils in a cool dark place, this applies even more so to these oils. However if kept in an especially cold place, such at the fridge, citrus oils can become cloudy, due to the presence of natural waxes in the oil. These waxes are naturally occurring and their appearance does not affect the quality or properties of the oil.

Citrus oils are sweet, refreshing and well received by most people. They have a generally uplifting character that brightens the mood and lifts the spirits. They are, as a group, a useful addition to the aromatherapy kit. Individually they have different characters

Bergamot a delicate sweet oil especially good for helping to relieve stress or any condition related to stress.

Grapefruit a refreshing oil, stimulating to the digestion and good for encouraging the appetite. Also useful in preparations for oil skin

Lemon refreshing and cooling, lemon is also good for helping concentration and lifting the spirits

Lime refreshing and detoxifying, good for freshening the mind and also the skin.

Mandarin calming and uplifting to the spirits. Very sweet and gentle and sometimes known as "the children's oil".

Sweet Orange with a happy sweet nature, helping to relax the mind and emotions.

One note of caution - Some citrus essential oils can cause the skin to be more sensitive to the sun or susceptible to sun damage. The most common culprits are bergamot and lime. So be careful to use only tiny amounts of these oils in preparations which are to be left on the skin, or avoid the sun for a least a couple of hours after applying them.

Citrus Essential Oils

By: Wendy Mackay

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