Neroli essential oil: uses & benefits

23/11/20221 min read

What can neroli oil be used for and what are the benefits of using this essential oil? Check out this article for a complete guide to neroli essential oil.

What do you know about neroli oil, other than it has a bit of an unusual-sounding name? Well, it also goes by the name of orange blossom oil, it was once used to help fight the plague and it has royal roots – it actually happens to be named after the Princess of Nerola.¹ Fancy, hey?! The oil itself is made from the delicate flowers that can be found on bitter orange trees, Citrus Aurantium or Seville orange trees, which are so delicate, that slight bruising can release their oil.²

How is it made?

As with most essential oils, neroli oil is extracted from the flowers of bitter orange trees, using a process known as steam distillation.³ Interestingly, different parts of the trees are using to produce different types of oils – three in total. Bitter orange oil is made from the peel, petitgrain oil from the pressed leaves, and neroli oil from the flowers. Of all of the three oils, neroli is said to be the most precious.⁴

How long have people been using neroli essential oil for?

As you may have already guessed from the royal connection, neroli oil has been used far and wide for some time now. It’s actually named after Neroli, a small Italian town near Rome, where the Princess of Nerola, Anne Marie Orsini lived. Back in the 17^th century, she fell in love with its floral scent with citrusy overtones and used it to perfume her bath and her clothing. Soon afterwards, Italian perfumer, JM Farina of Cologne, created a blend of oils that were inspired by the Princess and included a blend of neroli, bergamot, lemon, petitgrain, lavender and rosemary. The scent went on to be incredibly popular, and is where cologne is believed to have originated from.⁵

How can it be used?

There’s so much you can do with neroli oil. You can:

Massage it

Dilute 5 drops of neroli oil with 10ml of Miaroma base oil and gently massage into skin.

Bathe in it

Run a warm bath and add 4 to 6 drops of neroli oil. Then relax in the bath for at least 10 minutes to allow the aroma to work.

Diffuse it

Put 8 to 10 drops into a diffuser and breathe in the rich floral-citrus scent.

Inhale it

Breathe it in directly from the bottle or sprinkle a couple of drops of it on to a cloth or tissue and gently inhale it.

Neroli oil benefits

Aside from its fragrant qualities, Neroli oil has antioxidant and anti-fungal properties. As a result, there are lots of benefits to using it, including these:⁶

Eases menopause symptoms – a study of post-menopausal women found that, when inhaled, neroli helped with several menopause-related feelings, including low libido and high stress levels.
Helps with PMS – research has found that neroli oil can be effective at helping ease several Premenstrual Syndrome symptoms, such as poor mood and bloating.
Alleviates stress – when inhaled, neroli oil is said to help reduce stress and anxiety due to its ability to encourage the brain to release serotonin and reduce cortisol levels. What’s more, these calming abilities are said to help people sleep better too.⁷
Soothes inflammation – due to its natural anti-inflammatory properties, neroli can reportedly works positively on reducing inflammation and irritation.

How to use it safely

Always do a patch test to it make sure it doesn’t irritate your skin and always dilute it first with a carrier oil before putting it on your skin. Make sure you follow the manufacturer’s guidelines on how to use it and if you have a citrus allergy, do not use neroli. Citrus oils, such as neroli oil, have also been known to increase skin sensitivity in the sun. Neroli oil should never be applied immediately before going out in the sun and sunscreen should always be used to help prevent sunburn.⁸

Some interesting facts about neroli oil

Neroli oil blends well with chamomile, eucalyptus, cedarwood and bergamot oils⁹
It’s often combined with basil, tangerine and lime essential oils¹⁰
Neroli’s also known as the ‘oil of romance’ and has long been used in weddings because of its calming and aphrodisiac qualities¹¹
It’s reputed to be one of the ingredients in the top-secret recipe for Coca-Cola¹²