Geranium absolute

Rosy leaf, green, a light mint, a hint of tea. The absolute is rounder and softer than the oil, with less mint and metallic edge and a warm green drydown.

Geranium absolute has no dedicated standard in the IFRA 51 index. Citronellol (IFRA restriction 2020) and geraniol (IFRA restriction 2023) are its main constituents and count toward limits per product category.

In the EU, linalool, geraniol, citronellol, benzyl benzoate and benzyl salicylate must be labelled as allergens above 0.001 percent in leave-on or 0.01 percent in rinse-off products.

Store dark, sealed and cool.

Rose geranium is a group of hybrid Pelargonium cultivars native to South Africa, grown for oil in Egypt, Réunion, Morocco, China and elsewhere. The leaves carry glandular hairs full of oil that release scent when touched.

Réunion is the home of Bourbon geranium, prized since the 19th century. Egypt is now among the largest sources. Egyptian and Chinese material can be told apart by marker constituents such as 10-epi-γ-eudesmol and the citronellol to geraniol ratio.

An absolute is made in two steps. The raw material is extracted with a non-polar solvent such as hexane to give a waxy concrete. The concrete is then washed with ethanol, chilled to precipitate waxes, filtered and freed of alcohol. What remains is the absolute.

The absolute keeps heavier leaf components that steam distillation does not fully recover. It smells rounder, greener and more rose-like; the mint note from menthone and isomenthone in the oil recedes.

In perfumery geranium absolute builds rose hearts, rounds fougères and supports natural rose. It usually costs less than rose absolute, which makes it important in natural rose structures.

Since citronellol and geraniol are both IFRA-restricted, the maximum amount of absolute in a formula is calculated from their content in each lot.