Some links on this site are affiliate links, where I may earn a commission if you make a purchase. This does not affect the price you pay. Privacy Policy / Disclosures

A Guide To Lemon Essential Oil and Its Benefits and Uses

"Lemon clarifies everything through upliftment and focus… The spiritual cleansing of lemon enables the entire psyche to react to the positivity in mortal as well as divine love," writes Valerie Ann Worwood in Aromatherapy For the Soul.

Worwood says the emotional benefits of lemon essential oil (Citrus x limon L.) are to encourage clarity, direction, awareness, concentration, and liveliness.

Here's a blend said to help attract joy and happiness:

3 drops lemon essential oil
4 drops grapefruit essential oil
5 drops orange essential oil

Use a few drops in an aromatherapy diffuser or make an air spray by combining the oils with distilled water in a two-ounce spray bottle.

Basic Lemon Facts

Plant family: Rutaceae

Production: Cold pressed (expressed) from the peels of lemons. (Steam-distilled lemon oil is available but not typically used in aromatherapy.)

Aroma: Bright, refreshing, uplifiting, lemony

Perfume/Aromatic note: Top

Is lemon safe to use during pregnancy? Yes, according to Aromatherapy and Massage For Mother and Baby.

Is lemon safe for children? Yes, but do not apply to the skin of babies.

Cautions: When applied to the skin, lemon essential oil can cause skin to become photosensitive. That means your skin is more likely to burn when exposed to UV light from the sun or tanning beds.

The risk of photosensitivity from lemon is low if you use no more than a two percent dilution (2 drops essential oil in one teaspoon carrier oil), according to Essential Oil Safety by Robert Tisserand. Otherwise, avoid direct sun and tanning beds for at least 12 hours after applying lemon to your skin.

Avoid old or oxidized lemon oils, as they may cause skin sensitization.

Note: Distilled lemon is not a photosensitizer.

Main components:

Component

(+)-limonene
beta-pinene
gamma-terpinene

Cold-Pressed Lemon

56.6–76.0%
6.0–17.0%
3.0–13.3%

Distilled Lemon

64.0–70.5%
8.2–14.0%
8.4–10.7%

Source: Essential Oil Safety, 2nd Edition

Benefits Of Lemon Essential Oil

Lemon oil is known for its clean, energizing, and invigorating aroma. The Heart of Aromatherapy states, "Lemon is passionate about helping people experience each day as a vibrant slice of life." The book lists the following benefits of lemon oil:

Clears mucous and congestion
Energizes and inspires
Has cleaning properties
Helps reduce swelling and pain
Soothes allergies and sinus congestion
Supports the respiratory system

Lemon contains a high percentage of d-limonene, a powerful antioxidant that may benefit the immune system.

Aromatherapy: A Complete Guide to the Healing Art: Lemon is an antioxidant, preservative, and antiseptic. For skin and hair care, lemon works best for oily skin and hair and skin impurities.

Aromatherapy for Dummies: Lemon in a massage oil relieves congested lymph glands and reduces bloating. The oil may promote weight loss.

The Fragrant Mind: Lemon promotes joy, emotional clarity, awareness, concentration, and clarity of thought. It helps relieve apathy, lethargy, bad attitudes, mental blocks, irrationality, and fear.

Advanced Aromatherapy: The Science of Essential Oil Therapy: Lemon oil has a refreshing scent that stimulates the liver and has a gentle, calming effect. This oil is perhaps the most effective essential oil for disinfecting room air using a diffuser.

Aromatherapy For Healing the Spirit: In Traditional Chinese Medicine lemon is cool and dry and clears heat, dampness, and phlegm. "It is one of the best oils to decongest, cleanse, and detoxify."

Aromatica: A Clinical Guide to Essential Oil Therapeutics, Volume I: Psychologically, lemon stimulates the mind, promotes alertness and optimism, and promotes discernment and foresight. Physically, the essential oil is restorative and decongestant. In Traditional Chinese Medicine the essential function of lemon is to raise the clear Yang, resolve damp, and strengthen the Shen.

The Essential Guide to Aromatherapy and Vibrational Healing: Spiritually, lemon connects you with your divine nature. Mentally, the essential oil enhances clarity and focus. Emotionally, the oil promotes self-confidence.

Aromatherapy and Subtle Energy Techniques: Lemon clears and cleanses. It clarifies, uplifts, and invigorates the mind. The oil is especially useful for the sixth chakra, where the scent promotes objectivity, concentration, and mental vitality.

Lemon Oil Uses

Diffuse lemon to create a more focused environment or uplifting atmosphere.

Cleaning

Lemon oil in cleaning solutions helps get rid of germs while leaving behind a fresh, clean scent:

Make a lemon air freshener: Put 10 to 20 drops in about two cups of distilled water in a fine spray bottle. Shake well and spray into the air. Do not spray directly on wood, velvet, or silk.

Freshen drawers or other small spaces: Saturate cotton balls with lemon oil and place them in the corners of a room, in cupboards, or in out-of-the-way places (out of reach of children and pets).

Wash down surfaces in the kitchen: Place one drop of lemon directly on a cloth or add one drop to seven drops of water. You can also use your air freshener blend on countertops and other hard surfaces.

Use as toilet cleaner: Stir 2 drops lemon into 2 tablespoons baking soda and use mixture to scrub toilet.

Add a few drops to your floor, window, or surface cleaning solutions.

Freshen your carpet cleaning: To one gallon of carpet cleaning solution, add 10–15 drops of lemon oil.

Make lemon oil furniture polish. Add 1/2 teaspoon lemon essential oil to 1/2 cup olive oil. Apply a small amount to wood furniture and buff well.

Skin Care

Use lemon essential oil in blends for oily skin or blemishes. Best used at night.

To soothe or prevent corns, callous, or bunions, rub lemon oil on the area twice a day.

Pet Care

Lemon essential oil may help repel fleas and ticks on dogs. To make a flea and tick spray, add about 25 drops of lemon oil to eight ounces of distilled water. Shake well and mist a little of the blend on your dog, avoiding the eyes. You can also spray this mixture anywhere you think bugs may be breeding.