Sweet Orange Oil

Botanical Name: Citrus sinensis

Other Common Names: Orange, Portugal orange, China orange, appelsin (Danish), apfelsine (German), naranjo (Spanish), zhi shi (Chinese).

Habitat: The origin of sweet orange is somewhat unclear, but it is probably native to southern China and Vietnam as the plant has been cultivated in those countries for thousands of years. The tree was first brought to Europe after the year 1400 and much later to America.

Today it is the most cultivated citrus fruit in the world and 70% of all citrus fruits are oranges. More than 40 million tones are produced each year, mostly in Brazil, USA, China, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.

Color and Smell:
It is yellow to orange in color. Sweet orange essential oil has a sweet, fresh and tangy scent.

There are over 400 orange varieties, and these can be divided into three groups:

Blonde or white oranges with normal fruits such as Valencia oranges from Spain.
Blood Oranges with red pulp. They get their red color from the pigment anthocyanin. Blood Oranges are primarily grown in Spain and Italy.
Navel Oranges characterized by the growth of a second fruit at the apex.

Description: The sweet orange is an ancient cultivation plant hybrid possibly between pomelo (Citrus maxima) and mandarin (Citrus reticulata). It is an evergreen tree of the Rutaceae family and it can grow up to be 12 meters in height.

Some thorns are found on the tree and the leathery leaves have a sweeter and milder scent than the lemon leaf. The tree blooms all year around. The flowers are large, white and intensely fragrant.
A single tree can in a year bear around 20,000 oranges. The fruit is actually a berry with white, soft inner shell and a leather-like, yellow or orange-colored shell. The sweet orange fruit is harvested while still immature.
The orange trees need to grow in full sun and have access to regular moisture. They cannot tolerate frost.

Plant Parts Used: The fruits are primarily used as food and tea can be made from the flowers.

Essential oils can be extracted from the fruit peel, the flowers, and the leaves.
It is usually the essential oil that is used in herbal medicine.

The traditional method of extracting essential oil from citrus is known as expression or cold pressing. It is done by soaking the rind of the orange in warm water then pressing against the rind to absorb the essential oil. The sponge will be then filled with the fluids extracted from the fruit. After that, the sponge will be pressed over a container to collect all the extraction and allow the separation of oil from the juice

However, it must be noted that extracting oils through distillation is different from the cold pressing method. Though distillation is a common method of obtaining oils, it has a negative effect on citrus oils. The heat from the steam reduces the citral content of the fresh oil, causing the essential oil to lose its therapeutic quality.

Orange oil for hair:

Orange oil is an excellent moisturizer and is recommended for dry, damaged and brittle hair. Thirdly, orange oil well vitaminizes skin and hair, due to the content of vitamin C. Fourth, orange oil prevents hair loss as a way to strengthen the hair roots and stimulate their growth. As you can see, the usual orange oil can solve quite a large range of hair problems. So let’s learn how to use orange oil to the hair.

Shampoos, conditioners, masks At 10 grams means the base will need 3-4 drops of orange oil – put your palm on the usual means, drip with oil, then mix and can be applied to the hair.
Are fragrant combing. You just need to drop a comb on a couple drops of orange oil and comb the hair. This procedure gradually make your hair more elastic and they will cease to break, plus your hair will exude a sweet fragrance of orange.
Wet hair – another good option of using orange oil. Melt 1 tbsp. liter. Butter and add it to 2 tablespoons. Liter. Fat sour cream (you can use mayonnaise), and the mixture, stir well and drip 5 drops of orange oil. Apply the mask on the scalp and hair, insulated with polyethylene and towel. Treatment time – 40 minutes.

For dandruff :Mix 3 drops of essential oil of orange, patchouli and eucalyptus (all sold in pharmacies) and dilute the resulting composition in two tablespoons of warm (37 degrees) of vegetable oil. The composition of the mask rub into the scalp, making a circular motion. Then wrap your head with plastic wrap and a towel, and 1-1.5 hours wash with shampoo.

For Hair fall :Out, brittle, orange, and here to help. Place in an iron bowl 2 tablespoons. Liter. Any vegetable oil and heat to 37 degrees. Then, add the oil and 1 tsp. brandy and lemon oil, and 5 drops of essential oil of orange. The mixture thoroughly. Apply on the scalp and hair, insulated with cellophane and towels. After half an hour rinse.

Hair Shiny: Sweet orange essential oil! It removes excess oils from your hair, which leaves it looking and feeling silky soft! You can add about 7 drops of sweet orange oil to your 8 oz. conditioner bottle. Or mix 3 drops of orange oil in 1 tbsp. of conditioner and apply it to your hair.

Orange oil for Skin:

Perhaps the number one beauty benefit of sweet orange essential oil is that it has great oil control action! You can use it to reduce oil on your faceoil control facial toner using orange oil:

Orange Facial Toner:

In a 2 oz. amber glass spray bottle, add 1 tsp aloe Vera gel & 4 drops sweet orange essential oil. Top off with distilled water. Cap tightly and shake the bottle well to mix everything up. Spray on your clean face with your eyes closed. Follow up with a water based moisturizer like this one.

Skin Lightening:

Among the essential oils you can use for skin lightening, brightening and whitening is sweet orange essential oil! After all, it is extracted from the peels of oranges, which are known to have natural skin bleaching properties. Ensure to dilute sweet orange essential oil in a natural skin lightening product like argan oil or cocoa butter before applying it on your skin. Remember add 2 drops of sweet orange oil for every tsp of base ingredient.

Brighter Nails:

Remove yellow stains on nails and make them brighter using sweet orange essential oil! All you have to do it add 1 tbsp. olive oil & 1 tbsp. white vinegar into a bowl. Now add 4 drops of sweet orange essential oil and ½ tsp sea salt. Mix well. Soak your finger nails in the solution for 5-7 minutes then use a nail brush and soap to scrub your nails. You can do this treatment every week for brighter nails.

For Teeth Whitening:

You can use sweet orange essential oil for teeth whitening as well! Simply add a drop of sweet orange essential oil to a pea-sized amount of toothpaste on your toothbrush. Use it to brush your teeth just once a week to see results!

Reduces Blemishes & Dark Spots

The skin brightening effects of orange essential oil also help fade blemishes, acne scars, dark spots and more. To make a blemish-fading treatment, do this:

Blemish Treatment:Add 2 tsp raw honey and 2 drops sweet orange essential oil to a small bowl and mix well. Apply this all over your clean face, leaving out the eye and mouth area. Leave it on for 7 minutes then rinse off with warm water and wash your face with a mild cleanser.

Anti-Aging Effects:

Sweet orange essential oil is filled with antioxidants that fight off free radicals known to accelerate premature aging. It decreases wrinkles and improves skin elasticity by boosting collagen production.

Reduces Acne

The strong antibacterial properties of sweet orange essential oil combined with its anti-inflammatory properties helps treat acne naturally. You can dilute 2 drops of sweet orange essential oil in 2 tsp of aloe Vera gel and apply it on your face as an overnight acne treatment. Or, use the orange facial toner shared in Point 1 above.

Natural Perfume

Some people buy sweet orange essential oil just for its sweet citrus scent! If you fancy smelling like fresh oranges, then you’ll love using sweet orange oil as a natural perfume! Here’s a simple roller bottle perfume recipe you can make. Apply it on your skin, hair and clothes!

Citrus Perfume:In a small glass bowl, add 10 ml of jojoba oil. Now add 15 drops of sweet orange essential oil. Stir well with a toothpick and transfer the blend into a 10 ml roller bottle using a syringe. Roll onto wrists, behind ears, hair ends, clothes, collar bones and other key areas.

Diminishes Large Pores

Sweet orange essential oil also helps shrink large pores?! That’s because of its astringent properties that help tighten and tone skin. Using a facial toner containing orange oil (like the one I shared in Point 1 above) can help you achieve smaller pores!

Body Scrub:

To exfoliate dead skin cells and hydrate your skin, make a body scrub with sea salt (or raw sugar) as your base. Next, add in apricot seed oil and five to six drops of sweet orange essential oil. Apricot seed oil has a very subtle apricot scent and goes wonderfully with orange. Next add lemon essential oil or fresh lemon juice. This step is optional, but it’s especially great if you’re hoping to lighten the appearance of scars.

Hydrating Lip Balm

Blend equal parts of cocoa and mango butter together and add in a few drops of sweet orange essential oil. Store your container in a sealable tin or plastic container to take with you on the go. Not only will this homemade lip balm keep your lips from getting cracked and bloody, it smells and tastes delicious!

Available sizes are 15ml, 30ml, 50ml