Common name: Bergamot, organic, essential oil
Botanical name: Citrus bergamia/Citrus aurantium var. bergamia
Supplier: White Lotus Aromatics
Note: Top
Family: Citrus
Diffusion: High
Dilution: 10%
Blends well with: jasmine, chamomile, lavender, neroli, rosemary, benzoin siam resin, blood orange eo as well as most other citrus oils, boronia, citral, clary sage, clove bud, dihydrojasmone, ethyl linalool, geraniol, geranium bourbon eo, cis jasmine, jonquils, mimosa, patchouli, etc. (TGSC)
African bluegrass; amber sweet melange; anise star eo and co2; apple melange; apricot melange; basil eo and abs; bay leaf eo; benzoin abs; bois de rose eo; blood orange eo; boronia abs; cananga eo; cardamon eo, co2 and abs; cassie abs; chamomile english/roman eo and abs; chamomile wild eo and abs; chamomile blue eo, co2 and abs; champa white flower eo; champa white leaf eo; citronella eo; clary sage eo and abs; clove bud eo, co2 and abs; clementine eo; coriander see eo, co2 and abs; cubeb eo; cypress eo and abs; davana eo and co2; elemi eo and abs; erigeron eo; eucalyptus lemon ironbark; eucalyptus citriodora; fir balsam eo; fir silver eo; fir douglas eo; frankincense eo, co2 and abs; grapefruit eo; galbanum eo, co2 and abs; geranium eo and abs; gingergrass eo; ginger eo, co2 and abs; galangal eo; hay abs; hinoki eo; hiba eo; juniper berry eo and co2; ho wood eo; jonquille abs; lemon eo; lemon essence eo; labdanum eo and abs; lavender eo, co2 and abs; lavandin eo and abs; lime eo; lemon eo; lemon essence eo; lime essence eo; mandarin eo; mimosa abs; myrtle eo; neroli eo; orange sweet eo; orange bitter eo; opoponax eo and abs; pine eo and abs; peach melange; pear melange; pineapple melange; petitgrain eo; patchouli eo, co2 and abs; plai eo; raspberry melange; sandalwood eo, co2 and abs; spruce eo and abs; tea green abs; tangerine eo; tangerine essence eo;tonka bean abs; turmeric eo and co2; vanilla abs and co2; ylang eo and abs; yuzu eo; zdravetz eo and abs (White Lotus Aromatics)
Chemical components: some of the main volatile compounds are: Limonene (37.2%), Linalyl acetate (30.1%), Linalool (8.8%), gama-terpinene (6.8%), beta-pinene (2.8%); the minor volatile compounds make up 14.3%. Some of the major non volatile compounds are Bergamottin (21.42%), Citropten (2.58%) and Bergapten (2.37%).
Interesting bits: You can make an oriental or even a cologne without bergamot, but the classical chypre family is impossible without this citrus note. Bergamot offsets the inky, bittersweet roughness of oakmoss and prevents you from smelling like a moss festooned tree. (Bois de Jasmin)
*** Bergamot is a photosensitizer (increases the skin’s reaction to sunlight and makes it more likely to burn).
“Bergaptene is the naturally occurring chemical constituent found in cold pressed Bergamot Essential Oil that makes the cold pressed oil highly phototoxic. Varieties of furocoumarin-free (FCF) cold pressed Bergamot Essential Oil are available that have the bergaptene synthetically removed. Bergamot Essential Oil is also sometimes available as a steam distilled oil.” (Aromaweb)
Bergamot essential oil is a cold-pressed essential oil produced by cells inside the rind of a bergamot orange fruit. It is a common top note in perfumes. Bergamot essential oil is a major component of the original Eau de Cologne composed by Farina at the beginning of the 18th century. The first record of bergamot oil as a fragrance ingredient is from 1714, found in the Farina Archive in Cologne. One hundred bergamot oranges will yield about three ounces (85 grams) of bergamot oil.[1] The scent of bergamot essential oil is similar to a sweet light orange peel oil with a floral note.[2]
“Earl Grey tea” is a type of black tea that contains bergamot essential oil as a flavouring.
The main compounds in the oil are limonene, linalyl acetate, linalool, γ-terpinene and β-pinene,[4] and in smaller quantities geranial and β-bisabolene.
Linalyl acetate and linalool are qualitatively the most important components of the bergamot oil.
The bergamot essential oil is particularly subject to adulteration being an essential oil produced in relatively small quantities. Generally adulteration is to “cut” the oil, i.e. adding distilled essences of poor quality and low cost, for example of bitter orange and bergamot mint and/or mixtures of terpenes, natural or synthetic, or “reconstruct” the essence from synthetic chemicals, coloring it with chlorophyll. Worldwide, each year, around three thousand tonnes of declared essence of bergamot are marketed, while the genuine essence of bergamot produced annually amounts to no more than one hundred tons. (Wikipedia)
Bergamot orange (Citrus aurantium var. bergamia) is a small, roughly per-shaped citrus fruit, which grows on small trees known as bergamots. It is a cross between pear lemon and Seville orange or grapefruit. Production of bergamot is mostly limited to the Ioanion, coastal region of the province of Reggio Calabria, South Italy, where the soil and climatic conditions are very favourable for its cultivation. It is also cultivated in Ivory Coast, Argentina and Brazil, but in no other part of the world does it fructify with the same yield and quality of essence. Bergamot is named after Italian city of Bergamo, in which its oil was first sold, and it has become a symbol of the entire region and city.
This fruit is not edible and is cultivated for production of its essential oil. The essential oil of bergamot is expressed from the ripe fruit peel and is used extensively in perfumery for its sweet freshness. Bergamot oil is also used for flavouring purposes, e.g. Earl Grey tea and the so called althea drops, candy-making, in aroma therapy to treat depression, and also as digestive aid. (Fragrantica)
Their nose: Fresh, orange/lemon/citrusy, slightly floral. (Aromaweb)
citrusy, bitter and sour, elegant light note, complex with nuances of fruit and aromatic elements, reminiscent of eau de Cologne, flavors Earl Grey tea. (Fragrantica)
complex citrus, tangy-green, sweet, fresh and clean, slightly floral and spicy (Floracopeia)
citrus woody orange linalyl acetate (TGSC)
citrusy, agrestic, reminiscent of lavender (Albert Vieille SAS via TGSC)
a fine, rich, juicy, sweet, fruity bouquet with an elegant herbaceous, balsamic undertone. (White Lotus Aromatics)
My nose: Bergamot, organic essential oil starts off uplifting, invigorating, revitalising but also tense and terse, fever-pitched, feeling like it bursts out and grabs you as it wakes up with it’s battle cry I’m alive! A scant 15min later I’m getting a sense of a cool, bracing and frozen temperature. It’s lemon-lime in scent too and I get the sense that this would pair very well indeed with a spicy, peppery note. It’s movement is quick-paced and zesty. After 30min this note is beginning to lessen in intensity but it still has a strong lemon-lime characteristic. The impression is becoming thinner, simpler, less exuberant and drier. Just heading into 45min and it’s a light, lime, lemon, note as it fans out. Also as it heads into the dry down it becomes much more one-dimensional. The 1hr mark opens up a less dramatic landscape and it’s much more mellow in tune, dwindling now it reminds me of the petals of a fading rose, and with it a sense of warmth. 2hrs in and what I get is a dry, almost stale impression. It’s slightly translucent and beginning to expire, as if it’s flickering on and off. It’s still present on the strip after 3hrs, although in an isolated way and with scant reference to the beginning impression. Now it’s minimalist and pristine. 7hrs sees this note to be much more stale, dry and oddly herbaceous totally not what I was expecting in the dry down, now I can pick out commonalities with Lavender. 10hrs into its evolution and the scent is almost gone, just a faint breath remains and that impression is dry, lemony, smelling faintly of cleaning product. The final evaluation at 24hrs reveals a hint, just a whiff that seems very pale and bleached out, but I’m amazed that it’s still on the strip! Holy cow!
While I originally purchased this from WLA they don’t currently have the organic version as they like to deal with fresh product so when that runs out that’s it until they stock more. So if you’re interested keep an eye on their shop for when it becomes available. As I am a lover of Earl Grey tea, you can well imagine how much I adore the smell of Bergamot essential oil and even when you think you know a material because you’ve heard about it so often as is the case with many citrus oils, or you smell it every single day in your tea, like me, there is always some new, undiscovered facet that reveals itself upon closer observation, living with the scent around you for longer, such was the case with Bergamot, organic, essential oil.
Take good care, make lots of scents and I’ll be back on Friday with an evaluation of Birch Tar rectified essential oil.
MC
Her Two Scents 