Chamomile

Family: Asteraceae

Fragrant Note: Middle

Origin: German chamomile oil is mostly cultivated in Hungary, Egypt, Eastern Europe and France, while Roman chamomile is cultivated in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Morocco and France.Roman chamomile is a small perennial herb, with a hairy stem and feathery pinnate leaves, daisy like white flowers (larger than those of German chamomile) and grows about 25 cm high, while German chamomile grows about 60 cm high and has a hairless branching stem, with delicate feathery leaves and simple daisy like white flowers on single stems.

Extraction Method: Both chamomile oils are extracted from the flowers by steam distillation, with the Roman chamomile yielding about 1.7 % from fresh flowers and German chamomile yielding about 0.2 - 0.4 %

Description: Roman chamomile essential oil has a sweet, apple-like fragrance and is very light clear blue in color with a watery viscosity, while the German chamomile oil has a sweet, straw-like fragrance, is dark blue in color and its viscosity is medium.

Common Use: Roman chamomile oil can be used with great effect on children when they feel irritable, impatient, teething or colicky. Women find it great to relieve PMS. In general it is good for abdominal pain, gall bladder problems, as well as for throat infections. it furthermore helps to relieve allergies, hay fever and asthma. For the skin, it can be used to calm acne, eczema, rashes, wounds, dermatitis, dry and itchy skin and other allergic conditions in general.For babies it can be used in a very diluted form to sooth an irritated and teething baby and helps for colic, diarrhea and gastric spasms.

German chamomile oil has a calming effect on the mind and body and is excellent in treating any type of inflammation and it is very effective on urinary stones (bladder gravel) as well. It stimulates the liver and gall bladder, thereby improving digestion and is valuable in treating menstrual and menopausal problems.On the skin, it is a miracle worker and calms red, dry and irritated skin, as well as calming allergies, eczema, psoriasis and all other flaky skin problems. It is high in -(-a)-bisabolol which promotes granulation (healing) and is also a great tissue regenerator.

Safety Information: Non-toxic and non-irritant, yet since they do have emmenagogue properties when used in high concentrations, they should be avoided during pregnancy.

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