Unlike some essential oils, geranium doesn’t date back thousands of years or have some deep history where it was used in ancient religious ceremonies. But this isn’t to say that it is any less effective than other popular essential oils. Since being discovered in the 17th century in areas like South Africa, Madagascar, Egypt and Morocco, geranium essential oil (a.k.a. rose geranium oil) has been used for everything from perfume to acne medication.
Now that we’ve covered the basics, here is an in-depth look at geranium oil, it’s health benefits and how to use it to get the most out of it.
Appearance and Scent
Geranium essential oil is extracted from a plant called Pelargonium odoratissimum (a.k.a. apple geranium), and this plant is commonly found in South Africa and some parts of the Middle East. Apple geraniums only grow to be 8 inches high, and they usually grow in shady areas. The geranium essential oil is extracted from these plants through steam distillation.
In regards to the appearance of the oil, geranium is normally clear, but sometimes it is light green or amber-colored too. This middle note has a very strong scent, which comes off as having a sweet, floral aroma. With this being said, it’s no wonder why geranium is so popular in aromatherapy.
Benefits and Healing Properties
As mentioned in the introduction, geranium essential oil has a variety of uses and benefits. And here is a quick look at everything you can use geranium essential oil for, along with the benefit of each use:
Aromatherapy
No doubt one of the most effective oils for aromatherapy, geranium is used to relieve stress and anxiety, ease tension, balance emotions, and treat menstrual cramps. Along with the aromatherapy benefits, many people also use this oil for meditation purposes.
Skin care
One popular usage of geranium oil involves treating acne since geranium acts as a balancing agent for oily skin. Interestingly enough, these balancing properties also help people battle dry skin as well. Another thing worth mentioning about geranium essential oil is that it makes scars fade away.
Decongestant
Anybody who is struggling with the cold or flu should keep geranium aromatherapy in mind because the oil acts as a decongestant. So if your regular cold and flu products aren’t working, consider trying out geranium essential oil.
Deodorant
While most people will probably stick to store-bought deodorants, take note that geranium essential oil can be used to eliminate body odor, and keep you smelling fresh throughout the day. It’s also popular as a perfume because of the sweet scent.
Healing Cuts/Wounds
Geranium is very effective at healing wounds and cuts faster. This essential oil also has anti-bacterial properties, which helps keep the cuts and wounds clean while they’re healing.
Meditation
Those who enjoy meditating should consider using some geranium essential oil during their next session. Geranium has a very relaxing, calming effect on people, which certainly helps one get into the right mind frame for meditating.
Sleep Aid
Since geranium is quite effective at calming people, it’s no wonder why this essential oil is good at helping us sleep better too. Using geranium through aromatherapy eases a person’s mind, and allows them to fall asleep quicker.
Geranium Essential Oil Uses
We’ve stated several times throughout this article that geranium is commonly used in aromatherapy. And one of the easiest ways to do aromatherapy with geranium is by putting a few drops into a bowl of warm water, and breathing in the vapors. If you’ve got a vaporizer, this makes an even better way to use geranium essential oil since it will filter throughout your house.
When you’re using geranium as a sleep aid or to relieve depression, you can also fill up a tub of warm water, add several drops of the oil into your water, and soak in it for a while. Assuming you decide to go this route, it’s recommended that you add a little alcohol to the water so the oil doesn’t form a light film on the top.
As for skin care uses, it’s best to add a couple drops of geranium essential oil to skin cream or lotion before applying it to your skin. This is also a good way to treat cuts and bruises since it’s generally recommended that you not apply geranium essential oil directly on a cut. But if you accidentally get geranium on a cut, you shouldn’t have to worry too much because it’s non-toxic.
One more popular way to apply geranium essential oil to your body involves adding several drops into a bottle of massage oil. Just like with the lotions and skin creams, you can rub the oil into your skin and enjoy the many benefits of geranium oil.
How to Buy
Geranium essential oil is widely available throughout the internet – though not every site will sell high-quality products. This being said, you need to pay close attention to the scent and appearance of the oil, which we mentioned in an earlier section. If the geranium is clear or amber-colored and has a sweet floral scent, you should be getting the real deal.
Along with this, you should buy geranium essential oil from trusted sources who’ve received good feedback from their customers. Many sites enable people to make comments about their purchase, and this is a good place to check out relevant information. Of course, you can also do a simple internet search yourself to find reviews on the site in question.
Once you have found a trusted source to buy geranium essential oil from, you should take a look at how their prices compare to the rest of the industry. Now the quality will factor into the price too, but the key is to make sure that the amount you’re paying isn’t overly-expensive in comparison to other sites. And remember that any site which sells geranium essential oil for too cheap of a price is probably not selling a good product.
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