Lemon Myrtle

Backhousia citriodora

ClarifyingFreshAntioxidant

Lemon myrtle is a bright Australian leaf oil with a clean citrus scent and clarifying properties. Refreshing, it suits oily and combination skin.

Ingredient type

Aromatic leaf oil

Best for

Oily, congested, or dull-looking skin

Key actions

Clarifies, refreshes, defends

Notable for

The Australian leaf that is more lemon than lemon

A natural history

Lemon myrtle is an Australian rainforest tree with a scent more vividly lemony than the lemon itself. Long known to Aboriginal Australians as both a food and a medicine, its glossy leaves carry one of the highest natural concentrations of citral, the bright compound behind a true lemon aroma, of any plant on earth.

That extraordinary purity has earned it a fond nickname, the queen of the lemon herbs. Where a lemon's scent is tangled with other notes, lemon myrtle offers lemon in its clearest, sweetest, most uplifting form, a fresh and sunny gift from the Australian bush.

What it does for your skin

Lemon myrtle is a fresh, clarifying leaf oil exceptionally rich in citral. In laboratory study, its oil was confirmed to be nearly ninety percent citral and showed antioxidant and antibacterial activity against skin relevant bacteria.^[1] Further research found the whole oil an effective antibacterial and antifungal agent in testing.^[2] In a formula, used at gentle levels, lemon myrtle lends a clarifying, refreshing, antioxidant touch to oily or congested looking skin. Because its citral is potent, it belongs in careful, low measure.

References

[1] Lim AC, et al. Chemical composition, antioxidant, antibacterial, and antibiofilm activities of Backhousia citriodora essential oil. Molecules. 2022;27(15):4895. doi:10.3390/molecules27154895

[2] Wilkinson JM, et al. Bioactivity of Backhousia citriodora: antibacterial and antifungal activity. J Agric Food Chem. 2003;51(1):76-81. doi:10.1021/jf0258003

Questions, answered

It is a fresh, citral-rich leaf oil with clarifying and antioxidant qualities, used at gentle levels to refresh oily or congested-looking skin.

Its leaves carry one of the highest natural citral contents of any plant, up to around ninety percent, giving it a purer, sweeter lemon scent than the lemon itself.