Guest guest Posted February 5, 2001 Report Share Posted February 5, 2001 At 08:13 AM 2/5/01 +0000, you wrote: > I have not heard from Marge, but to me it is >reasonable to question the differences in for example, sweet orange, >lemongrass, grapefruit, bergamot, mandarin, litsea cubeba, lemon myrtle, >lemon, neroli. All of these oils have a " citrusy " designation, but >apparently vary in photosensitivity/toxicity. The reason that I am trying to >figure this out is that I use eos in lotion and cream and many people enjoy >the scent of " citrus " , so I am trying to work with only the oils that are >skin-safe. In all that I have read and I admit I am certainly no expert--it >looks to me that mandarin, neroli, pettigrain, and grapefruit to some extent >are skin-safe. I can't find much information on litsea cubeba or lemon >myrtle. I know enough to avoid sweet orange unless distilled and bergamot >unless bergapten-free. okay... the risk in the oils you discuss is ONLY in coldpressed citrus oils... so Neroli (blossom) lemongrass (a grass) litsea (another grass) lemon myrtle ( a leaf), the various petitgrains (also leaves) don't cause a problem (be careful with the lemon myrtle tho, its high citral content makes it a STRONG skin irritant and it needs using in VERY low dilutions. I'd personally not use it in a lotion, since lotions are supposed to be soothing and it's irritating...but if you went to a VERY low dilution, I think the aroma would still come thru. Steam distilled citrus oils also are safe to use, as far as photosensitizing goes... but, with the exception of lime, most of them are, aromatically, pretty 'flat'... the lime is a good choice tho. Of the expressed (cold pressed) oils, Bergamot and Lime are the most severe photosensitizers, Mandarine, Grapefruit and Lemon pose less of a risk, but you can avoid the risk of lemon totally by substituting one of the noncitrus based oils with a 'lemony' aroma, like the lemon myrtle or the litsea. I've seen sources that indicate that there is very little risk in using sweet orange...but I " ve also seen sources that say it poses as much of a risk as any of the others...so ???????? hope this helps some! Your source for superb Essential Oils, Aromatherapy Accessories, Information, Books and more! Visit us at: <http://www.naturesgift.com> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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