What is Geraniol?
Geraniol is a naturally derived fragrance that is derived from plants such as rose, geranium and citronella. It is mainly used to improve the scent of skincare and cosmetic formulations. However, geraniol has been linked with sensitivity in some people.
Geraniol is a terpene alcohol that naturally occurs in the essential oils of several aromatic plants. Terpenes are a large and diverse class of organic compounds produced by a variety of plants. They often have a strong scent and may protect the plants that produce them by deterring herbivores and by attracting predators and parasites of herbivores.
Geraniol is the primary component of rose oil, palmarosa oil, and citronella oil. It also occurs in small quantities in geranium, lemon, and many other essential oils. Furthermore, geraniol is produced by the scent glands of honeybees to mark nectar-bearing flowers and locate the entrances to their hives.
Geraniol is generally synthetically produced, with global production exceeding 1,000 metric tons per year it is not environementally sustainable to extract it from natural sources.
Geraniol
the good:Geraniol is a great carrier of scent, helping to increase the longevity and strength of the scents in skincare and cosmetic formulations.
the not so good:Geraniol can produce some sensitivity issues in some people and skin types.
Who is it for?All skin types except those that have an identified allergy to it.
Synergetic ingredients:Works well with most ingredients
Keep an eye on:How low geraniol is on the ingredients list. If you have sensitive skin you may want to make sure it is near the bottom of the list or avoid it all together.
Why Is Geraniol Used?
Scent
Geraniol has a characteristic rose-like scent, which is why it functions as a fragrance ingredient in a variety of cosmetics and personal care products. A survey of consumer products revealed that it is present in 76% of investigated deodorants on the European market, included in 41% of domestic and household products, and in 33% of cosmetic formulations based on natural ingredients.
Flavor
In addition to functioning as a fragrance ingredient, geraniol is also used in flavors such as peach, raspberry, plum, citrus fruits, watermelon, pineapple and blueberry. The pleasant flavor of geraniol makes it a useful ingredient for lip care products, such as lip gloss and lip balm.
Insect repellent
Geraniol can also function as an effective plant-based insect repellent. Studies have proven geraniol to be effective in repelling mosquitoes. In fact, geraniol has significantly more mosquito repellent activity than citronella or linalool in both indoor and outdoor settings.
Antimicrobial
Research has found that geraniol exhibits various biochemical and pharmacological properties. For instance, geraniol can function as an antimicrobial agent due to its solubility in the phospholipid bilayer of cell membranes. In 2002, a study published in the Journal of Food Protection evaluated the bactericidal activity levels of 96 essential oils and 23 oil compounds (including geraniol) against a variety of bacteria. This research demonstrated that geraniol was most active against E. coli, L. monocytogenes, and S. enterica.
Helps your skincare penetrate deeper
Finally, geraniol has been investigated for use as a penetration enhancer. The enhancing power of geraniol enables it to be used as a carrier for other molecules that are unable to cross skin barriers alone. In fact, geraniol and other terpenes are used to improve transdermal drug delivery because they are reported to have good toxicological profiles, high percutaneous enhancement abilities, and negligible skin irritancy at low concentrations.
Is Geraniol Safe?
The safety of geraniol has been evaluated by the< Research Institute for Fragrance Materials Expert Panel. Based on this evaluation, an International Fragrance Association Standard has been established which restricts the use of geraniol in fragrances because of potential sensitization. In addition, geraniol is listed on the European Union’s 26 fragrance allergens that must be identified on cosmetic and detergent product labels.
The US Food and Drug Administration includes geraniol on its lists of flavoring substances considered Generally Recognized As Safe.
Studies have reported that geraniol had the potential to autoxidize upon air exposure. This means that when products containing geraniol are applied to the skin, the exposure to air causes the unstable geraniol molecule to oxidize, which is believed to trigger the associated irritation on the skin.
Due to the possibility of an allergic reaction, those with sensitive skin should try to avoid geraniol or perform a patch test with any product containing this ingredient.
References:
Chen, W & Viljoen, A, 2010. ‘Geraniol – A review of a commercially important fragrance material, South African Journal of Botany, vol. 76, is. 4, pp. 643-651. Chacón, M, Marriott, A, Kendrick, E, et al, 2019. ‘Esterification of geraniol as a strategy for increasing product titre and specificity in engineered Escherichia coli’, Microbial Cell Factories vol. 18, no. 105. Pavan, B, et al., 2018. ‘Geraniol Pharmacokinetics, Bioavailability and Its Multiple Effects on the Liver Antioxidant and Xenobiotic-Metabolizing Enzymes’, Frontiers Pharmacology.
