Organic Palmarosa Essential Oil

Yes, 100% pure Cymbopogon martinii, nothing added or diluted, bottled in the UK and GC/MS tested. Worth knowing when you are comparing suppliers: palmarosa is one of the most commonly adulterated oils in the trade, usually stretched with cheap synthetic geraniol or with the cheaper sofia variety sold as motia. Batch GC/MS is available on request.

Geraniol. It is one of the principal scent molecules in rose petals, and palmarosa is geraniol-dominant, so a grass ends up smelling floral. Botany has a sense of humour.

What it actually smells like: fresh, sweet and rosy with a soft green, grassy edge underneath. Lighter, brighter and less heady than true rose, and greener than geranium. It reads as a clean rose rather than a rich one, which is exactly why it works in everyday skincare where real rose would be too much.

Standard care: ventilated rooms with an exit for the animal, never applied to fur, bottles stored out of reach.

Yes. Palmarosa is another Cymbopogon grass, the same genus as lemongrass and citronella, and it is dominated by geraniol, one of the two molecules that make citronella products work. It is the gentlest of that family on skin, which makes it the sensible choice for a repellent you actually want to wear.

What it is used for

• Mosquitoes and midges: 2 to 3% in a carrier oil, or 15 drops in 100ml of water with witch hazel for a spray.
• Flies: diffused, where its soft rosy-grassy smell is far more pleasant indoors than citronella.
• Storage pests: traditionally added to grain stores in India, which is one of the oldest documented uses of the oil.

Palmarosa is one of the few repellent oils that smells like something you would wear on purpose. It sits between a rose and a fresh-cut lawn, so it blends naturally with geranium, lavender and lemongrass, and it is the one to choose if citronella is too harsh for you.

Gentle as it is, it still belongs in a carrier oil rather than neat on skin, and it is worth patch testing before a hot day outdoors.

Yes, and it is one of the more pleasant oils to use on hair, because the rosy scent lingers without being heavy. Two ways people use it:

• Scalp oil: 4 to 6 drops in 30ml of jojoba or coconut oil, massaged in and left for an hour before washing out.
• Scented rinse or conditioner: 2 to 3 drops stirred into a handful of unscented conditioner.

Patch test on the scalp first, and keep it well away from the eyes when rinsing.

Palmarosa is a team player and sits happily under almost any floral. Three blends worth copying:

• Everyday facial oil: 2 drops palmarosa, 1 drop frankincense, 1 drop lavender in 30ml of jojoba.
• Soft rosy diffuser: 3 drops palmarosa, 2 drops bergamot FCF, 1 drop geranium.
• Stretching real rose: 2 drops palmarosa to every 1 drop of rose keeps most of the character at a fraction of the cost.

Also lovely with lavender, mandarin and sandalwood.

It is a formulator favourite, and the reason is versatility: it suits dry and oily skin alike, so one oil covers a whole range of blends. That is why it turns up in facial oils, creams, masks and body lotions far more often than its price suggests.

It is also not phototoxic, so unlike the citrus oils it is fine in a morning facial oil. Dilute to 0.5 to 1% on the face and patch test first, because geraniol is a skin sensitiser.

Budget rosiness: palmarosa. Balanced all-rounder: geranium. The real thing for special occasions: rose. Many blends use two of the three.