Materia Aromatica

The Mediterranean

Southern Italian citrus, Iberian thymes and lavenders, Alpine pines and the coastal herbs.

See the oils ↓

Materia Aromatica · Origin

Mediterranean oils are usually reduced to a herb garden of thyme, rosemary and sage. The range runs wider. Southern Italian citrus, conifers from the Italian Alps, Turkish rose and the Iberian lavenders stand beside the garrigue herbs, and the herbs themselves divide sharply by chemistry.

01 · The Region

Drought summers, wet winters

The Mediterranean climate is defined by hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The aromatic shrubs of the maquis and garrigue are adapted to it. Thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary and lavender belong to the Lamiaceae and store their oil in glandular hairs on leaf and calyx, close to the surface. Most of the Spanish and Turkish herbs here are wild-harvested on dry limestone hills.

The region has its altitude bands too. Sea fennel grows on coastal rock within reach of salt spray. The garrigue herbs occupy the hills above. Dwarf pine, stone pine, larch and spruce come from the Italian Alps, a mountain climate at the northern edge of the region. The citrus is a separate tradition again: groves on the southern Italian coast, worked by cold pressing of the peel.

Citrus

Southern Italy

Bergamot in three forms, lemon, sweet and red orange, pink grapefruit. Grapefruit also from Israel.

Garrigue

Lamiaceae herbs

Thymes, oreganos, sages, rosemaries and the Iberian lavenders, mostly wild.

Mountain

Alpine conifers

Dwarf pine, stone pine, larch and spruce from northern Italy.

Coast and rarities

Outside the pattern

Sea fennel, cistus, santolina, vitex berry, horse mint and Turkish rose absolute.

02 · The Range

Ten oils, coast to mountain

No. 1175 · ItalyBergamot Essential Oil (Organic)Citrus bergamia · certified organicLimonene, linalyl acetate and linalool. Cold-pressed peel. No. 2325 · ItalyOrange, Red Oil (Organic)Citrus sinensis · certified organicLimonene with myrcene and alpha-pinene. Cold-pressed blood orange peel. No. 2830 · SpainThyme, Thymol (organic)Thymus zygis · wild-crafted organicThymol, para-cymene and gamma-terpinene. A phenolic thyme. No. 2347 · GreeceOregano, Heracleoticum, GreeceOriganum heracleoticum · conventionalCarvacrol and thymol with para-cymene and the terpinenes. No. 2635 · TurkeySage, TrilobaSalvia triloba · wild1,8-cineole with the pinenes. Greek sage, without the thujone load of Salvia officinalis. No. 1251 · SpainCistus (organic)Cistus ladaniferus · certified organicAlpha-pinene, camphene and bornyl acetate, with trimethylcyclohexanone and viridiflorol. No. 1920 · PortugalLavender, Stoechas (organic)Lavandula stoechas · wild certified organicFenchone and camphor, with 1,8-cineole. A ketonic lavender. No. 1780 · ItalyPine, Stone (organic)Pinus cembra · wild-crafted organicAlpha-pinene, beta-phellandrene and limonene. Soft Alpine pine. No. 2048 · GreeceFennel, Sea (organic)Crithmum maritimum · wild-crafted organicGamma-terpinene, beta-phellandrene and para-cymene, with apiole and thymol methyl ether. No. 2540 · TurkeyRose Blossom, AbsoluteRosa damascena · conventionalPhenylethyl alcohol, citronellol and geraniol. Solvent-extracted Rosa damascena.

03 · Side by Side

Process, chemotype and species

Bergamot first, in three forms from the same fruit. Bergamot (No. 1175) is cold-pressed peel and keeps its furocoumarins, bergapten among them. Bergamot Furocoumarin-Free (No. 1176) and Bergamot, Feccia FCF (No. 1177) are distilled, and the distillation leaves the furocoumarins behind. The feccia is the residue that settles out of the pressing. All three are led by limonene, linalyl acetate and linalool. The comparison shows what processing changes in a citrus oil and what it leaves alone.

Then Thymus zygis in two chemotypes from Spain. Thyme, Thymol (No. 2830) is phenolic: thymol, para-cymene and gamma-terpinene. Thyme mild (Linalool) (No. 2850) is led by linalool and terpinen-4-ol. Set beside them Oregano, Spain (No. 2341) and Thyme, Field (No. 2810) from Turkey, both carvacrol-led. Thymol and carvacrol are isomers; on a strip the thymol oil reads drier and sharper, the carvacrol oils hotter and more herbal.

Then sage. Sage (No. 2640), Salvia officinalis from Spain, carries alpha- and beta-thujone with camphor. Sage, Triloba (No. 2635) from Turkey is led by 1,8-cineole. Two species sold under one common name, with different handling requirements.

04 · In Practice

Top notes and phenols

The citrus oils are top notes in natural perfumery and the most widely used materials for diffusion on this shelf. Cold-pressed bergamot, lemon and grapefruit can be phototoxic on skin exposed to sunlight; for leave-on skin preparations the furocoumarin-free bergamots are the conventional choice. The Alpine conifers suit diffusion and bath preparations.

Linalool thyme, wild marjoram and Greek sage work in massage blends at ordinary dilution. The phenolic thymes and oreganos call for high dilution and are used in small proportion in any blend. Salvia officinalis and lavender stoechas are ketonic and are reserved for adults at conservative dilution. Cistus and rose absolute are perfumery materials: cistus gives a dry, ambery base, the rose absolute a rich heart note in small proportion.

Essential oils are for aromatic and topical use. Dilute before applying to skin. Keep out of reach of children.