Geranium oil for hair: what it is, what it does, how we blend it
Geranium oil is the rosy-green leaf oil that stands in for rose at a fraction of the price: citronellol and geraniol, a fresh floral note that After Color carries at half a percent beside neroli.
| Role | Essential oil, floral family |
|---|---|
| On the label | Pelargonium Graveolens Oil |
| In our blends | After Color 0.5% |
| Builder limit | Up to 1% of a hair blend (all essential oils together: 1%) |
What it is
Steam-distilled from the leaves of Pelargonium graveolens, the scented geranium (not the garden geranium), the oil is mostly citronellol and geraniol with their esters, the same molecules that lead in rose oil, plus a green note of isomenthone. It is pale green to amber, thin and volatile.
How it feels on hair
At 0.5% it gives a fresh, rosy, slightly green scent that reads as clean rather than sweet; at 1% it is a definite floral. The blend's weight and finish are unchanged.
Who reaches for it
Bleached, coloured and heat-styled lengths that get a floral oil (After Color, 0.5% with neroli), and anyone who wants rose without the cost. Pairs well with wavy and straight hair blends.
Where it sits in our blends
After Color carries geranium at 0.5% (with Camellia (Tsubaki) 52.3%, Argan 26.2%, Marula 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 geranium up to 1%. Pair it with neroli, bergamot, lavender or clary sage over camellia or argan with marula and baobab.
Compose with geranium 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.