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Quite a few people have written to tell me lately that they are avoiding surfactants in their products. The problem is this – Surfactants aren’t just about the foamy lathery things you find in body washes and conditioners. They are found in things we eat, things we use on our hair and bodies, and even...
Let’s take a moment to look at the compound called eugenol (or 4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol) that we find in clove, cinnamon, allspice, bay, basic, rose, jasmine, and carnation plants and oils. “Eugenol is a phenylpropene, an allyl chain-substituted guaiacol.” (From Wikipedia.) It’s a polyphenol, meaning it has a phenyl ring (the six sided molecule) and and has a...
I mentioned in the post on lavender essential oil that there were two stereoisomers of linalool – what the heck is an isomer? I liked this family tree type picture to give you an idea of the different kinds of isomers, so I’m including it in this post! Isomers are compounds that have the same...
Linalyl acetate is an acetate ester of linalool, and it can be known as linalyl acetate or 3, 7-dimethylocta-1,6-dien-3-yl acetate. It’s found in clary sage (up to 78%), lavandin, lavender, and bergamot, as well as neroli, lemon, lime, and some mints (p. 171, Selected Topics in the Chemistry of Natural Products). In animal studies, it’s been...
You see this compound listed on quite a few products, especially on products from the EU, but what the heck is linalool? Linalool is a monoterpene alcohol (also known as 3,7-dimethylocta-1,6-dien-3-ol) found in plants from the Lamiaceae family (mints, scented herbs), Lauraceae family (cinnamon, rosewood), and Rutaceae family (citrus fruits) (Wikipedia). There are two stereoisomers of...