Bergamot oil for hair: what it is, what it does, how we blend it
Bergamot oil is the Earl Grey citrus, bright and slightly floral, and ours is the FCF grade with the bergapten removed, which is the one that belongs in a leave-on hair oil. Fine Print carries it at 1%.
| Role | Essential oil, citrus family |
|---|---|
| On the label | Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil |
| In our blends | Fine Print 1% |
| Builder limit | Up to 1% of a hair blend (all essential oils together: 1%) |
What it is
Cold-pressed from the peel of Citrus bergamia, the oil is led by limonene, linalyl acetate and linalool, which is why it reads as citrus with a tea-like softness. Ordinary bergamot peel oil contains bergapten, a furanocoumarin that reacts with sunlight on skin, so the library uses the FCF (furanocoumarin-free) grade, with that fraction taken out. It is pale green-yellow, thin and volatile.
How it feels on hair
At 1% it gives a bright, clean, slightly floral citrus that lasts a little longer than sweet orange. The blend's weight and finish are unchanged.
Who reaches for it
Fine, thin and straight hair that gets a light shine oil (Fine Print, 1% over squalane and jojoba), and anyone who wants citrus with a bit more polish than orange.
Where it sits in our blends
Fine Print carries bergamot at 1% (with Squalane 52.3%, Jojoba 26.2%, Prickly Pear Seed 10%, and more). The blends with a product page can be bought as they are; every one of them can be opened in the builder and changed oil by oil.
How to compose with it
Essential oils share at most 1% of a hair blend; the builder allows bergamot up to 1%. Pair it with lavender, neroli, cedarwood or vetiver over squalane, jojoba or argan with prickly pear and pomegranate seed.
Compose with bergamot Find your formula
Weighed to the gram and blended to order in New Jersey, with the recipe printed on the label. For external use only; patch test before first use. Every oil, with its INCI name, is in the oil library.