Ingredient Library
Palmarosa
Cymbopogon martinii
Palmarosa is a rosy grass oil that hydrates and balances while lending a soft floral scent. Comforting, it suits dry, combination, and mature skin.
A natural history
Palmarosa is an aromatic grass of India whose oil carries a soft, sweet, rose like scent, which is just how the plant earned its name, the palm rose. The likeness to rose is no accident: palmarosa is exceptionally rich in geraniol, the very compound that gives the rose much of its fragrance.
That rosy richness gave palmarosa a colorful history. Long valued in perfumery and known as Indian geranium oil, it was shipped toward the great perfume markets and used to extend and imitate far more costly rose oil, a humble grass standing in for the queen of flowers.
What it does for your skin
Palmarosa is a balancing, rosy scented grass oil. In laboratory study, palmarosa oil, rich in geraniol, showed antimicrobial activity behind its purifying reputation.[1] A further analysis confirmed its high geraniol content and antioxidant activity in testing.[2] In a formula, palmarosa lends a balancing, comforting, beautifully fragrant character to dry or combination looking skin. That balancing, purifying character is documented in laboratory studies of its geraniol.
References
[1] Prashar A, et al. Antimicrobial action of palmarosa oil (Cymbopogon martinii) on Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Phytochemistry. 2003;63(5):569-575. doi:10.1016/S0031-9422(03)00226-7
[2] Romero AK, et al. Enhanced two-step extraction from biomass of two Cymbopogon species cultivated in Santander, Colombia. Molecules. 2023;28(17):6315. doi:10.3390/molecules28176315
Found in these formulas
Questions, answered
It is a balancing, rosy-scented grass oil used to comfort and refresh dry or combination-looking skin.
It is exceptionally rich in geraniol, the same compound that gives roses much of their fragrance, which is why it was historically used to extend precious rose oil.