When Life Gives You Lemons... A Closer Look At Lemon Essential Oil

Lemon is something that pretty much everyone is familiar with in one form or another.  Lemon in your water, lemon cake, lemon cleaner, lemon candy.  The abundance of lemons make it an essential oil that is easy to come by, not very expensive as compared to some of the other essential oils, and quite safe to use as well.  It is a great oil to use if you are just starting out, because there are a lot of ways to utilize it in your every day life, and you don't have to worry too much about if you are using it "correctly."  Just try it, and see how it works for you!

The main chemical composition of Lemon oil in it's pure unadulterated form are as follows:  a-pinene, camphene, b-pinene, sabinene, myrcene, a-terpinene, linalool, b-bisabolene, limoene, trans-a-bergamotene, nerol and neral.

Is that enough to get you snoring?  Well here is a quick overview of what properties these chemical components of lemon mean to you!
Lemon has antibacterial properties, making it useful for relief of cold symptoms.  It has astringent and antiseptic properties making it very useful for oily skin.  It has mild "bleaching" properties, and can be used to lighten age or sun spots on the skin, clean stained hands, or help get stains out of clothes.  Because lemon oil comes from the peels of lemon, it has a slightly bitter taste as opposed to the tart taste of lemon juice.  

Here are 5 of my favorite uses for lemon oil!

1. Helping your laundry smell fresh, and eliminate odors.  

Simply drop 10-15 drops of lemon oil right into your washer for fresh smelling laundry with no fabric softener!  Because pure lemon essential oil is actually not an oil at all, and will leave no oily residu you don't have to worry about it staining your clothes in any way.

2. Mouthwash

Lemon oil can be used for a fabulous mouth wash.  Just add a couple drops to 1/2 cup of water and gargle.  The disinfecting properties of lemon are great for killing germs in the mouth and neutralizing bad breath too!  It can also help soothe a sore throat and calm a cough.  Lemon oil helps fight against bacteria and viruses too!  Not too many things do both, but lemon sure does!

3.  Lemon Helps Renew Energy

For a quick refreshing energy boost, add a couple drops of lemon oil to a glass of water and drink up!  (make sure you have a high quality 100% pure essential oil with no chemicals or fillers added)  For a little extra boost you can add a drop of peppermint oil to the glass too!

4.  Lemon May Ease Anxiety

According to Ananda Apothecary, scientific studies have shown the anti-depressant qualities of essential oils, especially lemon oil and lavender oil.  The study was with the inhalation method.  So if you are feeling a little blue, diffuse some lemon oil.  Try putting a few drops in a diffuser, A wax melting pot, a candle you already have, or even putting a drop in your hands, rubbing them together and then breathing deeply 8-10 times.

5. Lemon Oil For Skin And Hair

Lemon oil can be great for oily skin and hair.  One thing to keep in mind when using lemon in your hair, is that if you go out into the sun the lemon oil might react in a way that lightens up your hair a little.  If applied in the right manner it can make for some good highlights!  But if you don't want any lightening, you better not use lemon in your hair if you plan to be going out in the sun right after!  Lemon oil helps fight agains dandruff and fungus, and on the skin it helps regulate oil production and kill bacteria on the skin that can cause acne.  Put a drop or two in your face wash, or a drop in your face lotion to help regulate oil production, and even skin tone.

So there you have 5 great things you can try using lemon oil for!  It's easy to use and very safe as well.  Here are a few cautions to keep in mind with lemon oil.

Cautions:  

Lemon oil is non-toxic.  When applied to the skin it can increase photosensitivity, so it should be avoided topically on exposed skin for 12 hours before going out side.  Some sites suggest lemon oil should be avoided during pregnancy, but the only reason for this is because of the extra skin sensitivity during pregnancy that some women have that can possibly be aggravated by lemon oil, especially when  exposed to sunlight.  So it can be used during pregnancy as long as caution is used on exposed skin with no harmful effects whatsoever.


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