When I first became interested in and began studying Aromatherapy, I wanted to grow as many of the plants used in making Essential oils as it was possible for me to find and cultivate here in the desert. My favorite local nursery had several varieties of scented Pelargoniums, and I have as many of these beautiful plants with their ruffled leaves and delicate flowers as I could find, but it took a bit of searching to find the �Rose Geranium� Pelargonium. I have two, and they are among my favorite plants on the back terrace, flowering constantly and always smelling so incredible when I water them or brush against the leaves.

Every time I ask the question, I get a different answer: Some authors will say that Geranium and Rose Geranium Essential oils are distilled from the same variety of plant, but with different common names used. Others will say they are two distinct plants and therefore two distinct Essential oils. It just seems to depend on whom I ask and which book I am consulting at the time. However, commercially available Geranium oils can come from several different cultivars or varieties of the species, and that makes botanical binomials almost meaningless in the case of this Essential oil. They can range from Pelargonium graveolens to P. roseum, P. odoratissimum, P. radens and many others. The term Rose Geranium commonly refers to the Bourbon variety originating from the Reunion islands.

I like using Geranium Essential oil in skin care at this time of year because of its fabled balancing properties. Now is when my clients are starting to get more sun exposure after a winter spent on indoor activities. Air-conditioners and swamp coolers are being used full time day and nite rather than just on occasion, and so there is less fresh air in houses now than a month or two ago. We are in that transition from dry, flaky winter skin to oily summer skin, from clear skin to summer acne.

Remember our safety mantras: Never, ever use any Essential oil neat, except in certain emergency situations. Any person can become sensitized to any substance at any time. And understand that there are many skin conditions that are not treatable at home; that a qualified medical professional should examine any condition that persists after simpler treatments have been tried.

I have seen some discussion recently as to the advisability of performing skin patch tests when using new substances, Essential oils included, on the skin. The argument being that simply applying the substance in question to the skin for the patch test will make your likelihood of developing a sensitivity to the substance that much greater. I can acknowledge that this argument makes sense. However, skin patch testing is still the method suggested and taught by most schools of Aromatherapy.

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