Lemon Essential Oil Benefits and Uses
Where did lemon essential oil come from?
Go back to the second century AD. A small but very special evergreen tree that seems to be a hybrid cross between the citron tree and pomelo tree sits in the foothills of the Himalayas in North East India bearing a brilliant, yellow, spherical fruit. It’s bright scent immediately relieves and awakens the mind and stimulates a more positive mental outlook. This powerful fruit that provides the uplift to the psyche was later classified as Citrus limonum, more commonly known as the lemon.
Now fast forward the early 1900’s in Sicily where they began cold pressing truckloads of the lemon and more specifically the oil sacs found in the peel and zest of this beautifully aromatic fruit for commercial use of the light greenish-yellow essential oil. This is what we know as lemon essential oil. With age, this oil will turn a darker brown, but if properly kept, its potency will not fade and its fresh, sharp, citrus scent with sweeter undertones will be used in countless ways across the world.
Since this time, the lemon essential oil has increased in popularity and its uses have become far more widespread. From Turkey to Argentina, South Africa to California, lemon itself is incredibly helpful fruit that is vitamin and nutrient-rich.
The high vitamin content of lemon essential oil is an added immune booster because it helps to further stimulate white blood cells which help fight disease and increase circulation. It’s high levels of vitamin C help to produce collagen and cortisone which are each very important for proper body maintenance.
To explain, collagen helps give strength to structures within the body while helping to protect structures like our skin by preventing the absorption and spread of pathogenic substances, environmental toxins, microorganisms and cancerous cells. Cortisone aids in the balancing of mood and adrenal hormones which help allow us to properly defend against the damaging effects of stress, more specifically, oxidative stress which is known to age our bodies faster.
The antioxidants found in lemon essential oil also help to neutralize the imbalance of free radicals in our systems. This helps increase immunity and also helps ward off infection. This essential oil is also a known antiseptic and antifungal, detoxifier and disinfectant, as well as being astringent (known to help tighten the skin).
Lemon essential oil also contains healing properties which have been used aromatically for decades especially to help boost concentrations and alertness. Its aroma has been shown to help increase spiritual and psychic awareness by heightening the connection between consciousness and soul and also by calming conflict between our thoughts and intellect.
This incredibly cleansing aroma is great for clarifying our overall and mind and helps to promote good airflow and steady breathing. Lemon essential oil has been proven to help eliminate mental fatigue and relieve various types of anxiety and nervous tension.
Other than being remarkably cheery and uplifting, the essential oil of lemon, when added to natural skin products, also helps to remove dead skin cells and create an overall more fresh and clear complexion. Lemon is also proven to help soften rough patches of the skin or areas of skin that seem to have hardened over time. Lemon essential oil is a known skin brightener that helps give skin increased luster. It also helps rejuvenate complexion and rid the discoloration of skin cells.
This detoxifying oil is cleansing, energizing and helps give our products an added zing to help us get through lulls of the day, the cold season or even just a case of the blues. We love the effects of lemon's essential oil and hope that you are just as much of a fan after giving it a try for yourself! Luckily, lemon essential oil also combines wonderfully with lavender, which is one of our other very favorite essential oils.
Check out some of our products that utilize lemon essential oil:
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