Which Citrus???

"Which Citrus is safe for children/toddlers/babies?"

When you ask three times, I need to blog, so next time I can just send this link.

My immediate answer is "all of them ...... sorta"

How do you want to use the oil on your child, and why?

None of the citrus rind oils that Nature's Gift offers are contraindicated for children, per se.

Some are photo-sensitizers, and should not be used topically on anyone, adult or child, if they are going to be exposed to sunlight or ultra violet light.   These would include:

• Bergamot (organic, expressed... STRONG Photosensitizer)
• Lime - Expressed... again, a STRONG photosensitizer, not currently offered.)
• Grapefruit Oil (expressed)
• Lemon Oil (expressed)
• Bitter Orange Oil (we don't offer this, currently)
• Clementine Rind (Possibly photosensitizing, not currently offered.)

You would not use these topically on a child, or on yourself.  All are safe if diffused, however.

The remaining Citrus oils are NOT photosensitizers, and should not cause any risk of sun damage:

•  Sweet and Blood Orange
•  Red and Green Mandarine 
• Tangerine 
• Distilled Lime
• Bergamot FCF.

 After reviewing all relevant safety information I can find no risk to babies or toddlers by the use of the listed "sunsafe" citrus oils  either by diffusion OR by very well diluted topical use.

BUT...

Why are you contemplating using a citrus oil on or around an infant or a toddler?

The ONLY reason I can think of to diffuse any of the citrus oils around a baby or toddler would be the emotional effects. 

Let us look, for example, at my beloved Pink Grapefruit oil. In the diffuser, this is by far the most energizing essential oil that I know of.  NOW, does any toddler need MORE energy? Why on earth would you want to diffuse an energizing essential oil around a child?

Lemon Oil, while "chld safe" is also a mental stimulant. Again, why would you diffuse this around a very young child?  In a "tween's" study blend, of course, but not a baby or toddler. It's not a case of "safety" but of "appropriate use."

 The only Citrus oils I can see diffusing around an infant or toddler would be some of the most gentle spirit lifters. Sweet Orange has traditionally been recommended for use around toddlers and babies and, more recently, the Mandarines have also been recommended.  Any of these can help lighten the mood in a room when children are fractious, fussy, overtired, or picking up on a parent's stress.  (And they can help ease the adult's stress as well, solving both problems!)

I would see no difficulty in either diffusing them around even an infant. let alone a toddler or older child,  or using a very low dilution in a massage blend for a calming back rub.   I would not necessarily diffuse any of them in an infant's nursery, but I'd not be concerned about having the baby in a room where they are being diffused.

I personally don't like using the majority of Citrus oils topically because they tend to be drying. The best effects of the citrus oils are obtained by inhalation, so diffusion would be my preferred method.

Hope this helps a little bit.

Blue Tansy Quandary

"Are you going to be offering Blue Tansy this year?" When I am asked this question several times in a week, it's time to write about it.

And the answer, of course, is "I hope so!"

But it is not that simple. Last year we were unable to make it available.

A fairly well known US reseller has it in stock. We have seen others offering it, and of course requested a sample. The GC/MS appears to be within limits... in all honesty I can't tell, by looking at the analysis, compared to the analysis of the absolutely stunning oil we offered two years ago, what the significant differences are. This specimen is higher in Camphor, a bit lower in Chamazulene... and a LOT lower in some components both labeled dihydro-chamazulene isomers (different isomers) which are derived from the matricine that converts to chamazulene during distillation.. 

I don't know which of the minor components that is higher in this specimen then our our past specimens give this a different undernote, a different dry down,  than we have come to expect.

More specifically, I don't know what components in Blue Tansy give it its amazing anti-allergen properties.  It may be that this sample with its odd drydown will give marvelous anti-allergen effects. Or not.

But there is something "different" about it...it has the sweet top note I expect, but there''s a bitter undernote that makes me think of, perhaps, Yarrow... more astringent than the Tanecetuum (Tanacetuum annuum) ought to be... Christi loves Blue Tansy, uses a LOT of it, and has declined to take this sample home. That says something significant.

My French supplier anticipates having a new crop of Blue Tansy in stock at the end of September. We have chosen to gamble, and not to order what is currently available.

I trust we have chosen wisely. I just don't think what I've been offered is what you expect from Nature's Gift, and I'd rather wait, in hopes of matching the quality of the superb oil we had two and three years ago, than offer something that I know is not what we had hoped.

Waiting, with fingers crossed.