Egyptian geranium ethereal oil

Botanical name: Pelargonium graveolens

Precautions:
Non-toxic, non-irritant, generally non-sensitizing; possible contact dermatitis in hypersensitive individuals.

Geranium from Egypt is considered the finest grade of Geranium and it is currently produced only in controlled quantities.

Geranium essential oil is highly regarded as a woman's essential oil because of its hormone balancing effect. It has been used to treat menstrual, menopausal, and infertility problems. It is also used in some men’s skincare due to its pleasant scent. Research has shown to have a positive effect in the treatment of acne, dermatitis and other skin diseases, as well as infections of the nose, throat and other respiratory organs.

Geranium essential oils have also been effective in managing the peripheral neuropathy of diabetes and neuralgic pain of various types. They help to stimulate the circulation of lymph and blood and they been successful in treating varicose veins and in facial creams to help reduce thread veins.

Furthermore, it has powerful effects to uplift spirits and mental functioning, which makes it useful in the treatment of depression, chronic anxiety, and anger issues.

Herbal Folk Tradition
Geranium species have been used medicinally by the Hottentots and Zulus of South Africa for hundreds of years for dysentery, coughs, upper respiratory irritations, gastritis, tuberculosis, and other problems. In 1897, an Englishman named Charles Stephens was treated for tuberculosis by a traditional healer in South Africa who gave him an herbal decoction of the local geranium. Stevens is said to have been cured and he subsequently returned to England and sold the remedy as “Stevens’ Consumption Cure”. During the 1920’s a Swiss physician, Dr. Adrien Seche, reportedly used Stevens’ Consumption Cure to treat and cure 800 patients with tuberculosis. According to Charles Wells, the founder of Essentially Oils Ltd. and a well-known authority on essential oils, a lot of the information about the medicinal properties of P. graveolens essential oil is actually derived from the old folk medicine uses of the true geraniums (genus Geranium) and there is virtually no reference in the old herbal literature to P. graveolens which has not ever been widely used in western herbal medicine except for aromatherapy.

People in some regions of Latin America bathe in water perfumed with these flowers and claim that the herb has been helpful in alleviating skin irritations.

During the Victorian era, lots of the flower heads were used in potpourris, ointments and even cooking. Pots of scented pelargoniums were also strategically placed in homes so that their scents would be released when brushed by the long skirts of passing ladies.