Lemon Oil

Lemon Oil Description

Lemon oil is a commonly used citrus-based volatile oil that can be a skin sensitizer, especially on abraded skin. It can come from the peel, leaf, stem, seed and fruit of the _Citrus limon_ or _Citrus medica limonum_ plant.

Lemon oil has limited research proving any benefits for skin. As with many volatile fragrant oils, lemon oil has antioxidant components that can be beneficial, but there’s no valid reason to tolerate the bad to get the good; there are plenty of plant ingredients chockful of antioxidants but void of irritants.

Lemon oil contains numerous fragrance chemicals that can cause a reaction when on skin that’s subsequently exposed to sunlight. Examples of the fragrance chemicals in lemon oil include limonene, bergapten and oxypeucedanin.

The amount of lemon oil in cosmetics varies but based on published studies. We don’t consider any amount of this citrus oil to be safe for use on skin.

For more information, please see the entry for _Citrus medica limonum_.