Lavender Essential Oil for the Sun

I love summer and being outside. I love anything to do with nature: gardening, hiking, biking, beach, swimming and of course the sun. Unfortunately I am blond, with blue eyes and very fair skin, so I always have to be very careful with the sun. I use Young Living lavender essential oil mixed with coconut oil as a natural sunscreen. Also carrot seed oil and copaiba oil work great, as well as frankincense oil. Those oils are great for the skin. I always wear big hat and sunglasses to cover my face from the strong sun. Being proactive about sun is the key, but if you ever get a bad sunburn use aloe Vera, coconut oil, lavender essential oil. Remember that some essential oils are very sun sensitive when exposed to sunlight and when applied on the skin without sun protection will cause sunburn.

Sun sensitivity (phototoxicity) and essential oils :

Sun sensitivity (phototoxicity) or otherwise also known as photosensitization occurs when an agent, in our case certain essential oils, are used and they cause the skin to be more sensitive to sunlight (actually any ultra violet – UV – light) and one would therefore burn and damage more easily.

The oils as such do not cause skin sensitivity, but when applied and the skin is exposed to ultra violet (UV) light, sun sensitivity may occur. Should phototoxic oil be used in aromatherapy massage, one should not sun tan for at least 12 hours after the massage.

The main culprits causing phototoxicity are the oils from the citrus family, when they are extracted by direct expression and without distillation. There are however some oils, like lemon, which still remains phototoxic even after distillation.

The agent causing this sun sensitivity is the bergaptene contained in the oil.

Should oil contain a very small amount of bergaptene or 5 methoxypsolaren (5 MOP) – normally below 0.000075% the effect will not be pronounced such as sweet orange oil, which contains only 0.00005%.

Oils like bergamot, lime and bitter orange are severely phototoxic when used undiluted, but should they be used in very low dilutions the sun sensitizing effect is negated to a large degree.

People should not include any of these oils in sun tanning lotions or creams, because it WILL NOT make you tan easier or faster, but will only cause burning, and skin damage when exposed to the sun.

Essential oils that may cause sun sensitivity:

Angelica
Bergamot *
Bitter orange (cold pressed)
Cumin
Dill
Grapefruit (cold pressed)
Lemon (cold pressed as well as distilled)
Lemon verbena
Lime (cold pressed as well as distilled)
Orange
Mandarin
Tagetes
Tangerine (cold pressed)
Yuzu
* Unless it is bergaptene-free oil – sold as Bergamot FCF.