Bitter Almond Essential Oil – Is it Skin Safe?
I knew that there was such a thing as almond essential oil, but somewhere in the back of my mind I also remembered reading something about it not being the best choice for skin care. So I decided to do a little bit of research. At the top of my list of search results, I found that WSP offers an all natural bitter almond fragrance. It is about 48% essential oil and 52% sweet almond oil – I think. The certificate of compliance lists different ingredients than the official ingredients list. The recommended maximum usage level for lotions is 0.5%. (I normally scent my lotions at 1%.) All the reviewers give it five stars, claim it is super potent, a little goes a long way, best seller, etc. There are no warnings associated with this product.
So why was I concerned? I found a little bit more information about bitter almond essential oil. According to Esoteric Oils:
The main chemical components of bitter almond oil are benzaldehyde and hydrocyanic (prussic acid).
Bitter almond oil should never be used in therapy. The human ingestion of 7.5 ml of Bitter almond oil has resulted in death, so this oil should be handled with great care.
The MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) information on bitter almond essential oil states:
LIQUID MAY BE IRRITATING TO SKIN AND EYES. VAPOR MAY BE IRRITATING TO EYES, THROAT AND RESPIRATORY TRACT. BREATHING OF HIGH CONCENTRATION OF VAPOR MAY CAUSE NAUSEA, VOMITING, DIZZINESS AND LOSS OF MUSCLE COORDINATION.
No wonder I had concerns! Oh, and did I mention that bitter almond essential oil is also regulated by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)?
However, I did find an article at statssheet.com (no longer available) which claims that there may be other natural alternatives that still smell like almond essential oil:
In spite of the dangers associated with bitter almond essential oil, consumers continue to demand the scent of almonds in their essential oils. Therefore, oil distillers have responded to their requests and provided “bitter almond” essential oil marketed under the bitter oil name but being derived instead from cherry pits.
This might explain one reviewer’s remarks about the WSP Bitter Almond Fragrance that “Initially it smells like cherries but after sitting it has a slightly more nutty smell.” I’ve sent an email to Debbie May, owner of WSP, to find out what is actually in her product. She is looking into it, but her purchasing manager wasn’t going to be in the office until later, so I’ll let you know what I find out!
I would love to be able to use a natural almond fragrance that is also skin safe. Seems like I may be on to something… Do any of you use a bitter almond essential oil in your soaps or lotions that is skin safe? I’d love to hear about it!
Page with Comments
Comments are closed.
Amy I’ve never tried it, but my soapy handbook (Soap Naturally, best reference book ever) says that bitter almond oil should be avoided as it is ‘highly toxic’.
🙁
We ordered bitter almond before realizing the toxicity, but thankfully realized it before using it. It’s just been sitting ever since. I myself love the smell of almonds, so I’d love to find something safe and still natural. Kudos for doing so much research and trying to find something. If it’s out there, bet you find it.
The oil derived from cherry pits seems like a good idea. Let us know if you purchase it and what you think.
Liberty natural sell the bitter almond EO FFPA FFC. There is some paperwork to fill out first but once done ,they keep them on file so you dont have to do it again next time you want to buy . I have some here and i can assure you it is VERY potent stuff . Used at 0.5 PPO it still almost drove me out of the house . Here’s the link :
http://libertynatural.com/bulk/354.htm
@Dennise – I’ll let you know if I actually find an oil that’s derived from cherry pits! I’m only making assumptions about the one from WSP at this point.
@Josee – This is the real bitter almond essential oil that concerns me! Did the fumes make you nauseous, dizzy and/or cause you to lose muscle coordination?
This EO has been modified , the prussic acid removed, so that it is safe to use . The reason you have to fill out paperwork is because benzandelhyde is the precursor to amphetamine.
No side effects from using it at all.
I’ve never used almond EO in my soaps because of that reason, I’ve seen others who do use it, but I really don’t think it’s worth the risk. I know how popular the FO seems to be so it would be wonderful if they did come up with a natural EO that smells similar, would love to know if you find out anything about the cherry pits, sounds interesting.
@Josee – Oh good!!! That’s what I was wondering about! Interesting though, the product you mentioned using from Liberty Naturals is the one where I found the MSDS sheet that listed all those side effects.
@Jan – I think I may have a lead from someone on a blend that doesn’t cause skin irritation.
i have always used benzeldehyde in my popular almond flax soap. you have to fill out paperwork with the DEA in order to purchase it.
@cocobong – Sounds like I may need a vanilla stabilizer like Erica mentioned to prevent the dark brown discoloration, although I think that negates the whole idea of creating an all-natural soap. I’m not sure what’s in a vanilla stabilizer…
@tina – I’m assuming you haven’t had any issues with skin sensitivity then?
Amy,
I bought some from a reputable supplier awhile ago and just made some melt and pour soap yesterday. Unfortunately the place I bought it from has been transferred to another owner under a new name. I’ve just contacted them to find out more about this. I had no problem when using it yesterday and mine smells like cherries with no weird order. I didn’t get a headache or have any problems. Hopefully I’ll hear back soon.
Lately your blog has been a wealth of information. Thank you for such informative information.
Michelle
amazing! great info thank you 🙂 Who’d have thought, eating 7-14 liters of raw almonds could kill a person! 😀
I stumbled across this searching for info on bitter almond oil – I recently purchased a hand made lotion and body butter, scented with almond essential oil (as listed in the ingredients). The scent is overpowering (although delicious!), and caused my eyes, nose and skin to itch after I applied it to arms and legs. Due to the reaction I assumed it was an artificial fragrance oil that had been incorrectly listed, so I contacted the maker. She explained it was bitter almond oil, and that they have to carry a permit to use it. I thought I’d share my experience, since you are wondering about reactions. I do have somewhat sensitive skin, but have never had as strong of a reaction to a lotion before. I am also a bit concerned about the toxicity, as I am a nursing mother. Perhaps there should be warnings listed when this ingredient is used?
@monica – Thank you for sharing your experience! Obviously bitter almond essential oil is not one of the safer essential oils for skin. I know a lot of products contain warning labels, so this shouldn’t be any different.
Did WSP get back to you with an explanation of the ingredients of their bitter almond, from April?
@Pam – Yes, it is made from cassia essential oil. Ironically, this oil also has sensitivity warnings. You can read about my follow-up post here.
First, look up any essential oil and it will tell you it can be irritating to the skin, eyes, etc. Essential oils by their very nature are classified as solvents. Unlike synthetic fragrances, these are undiluted oils.
Second, most of the information found in ‘aromatherapy’ and other books on essential oil was lifted from herbal books which use the whole plant parts which contain only ‘minute’ amounts of essential oil. When they say a certain oil is toxic, it may very well be when making infusions from the plants, but it does not necessarily mean it is when using the essential oil.
Finally, bitter almond essential oil is safe to use in skin care products as long as it is ‘rectified’. That means the prussic acid has been removed and that is the only bitter almond you will be able to buy without special licensing anyway. Consider…if bitter almond should never be used, why is it listed as a common component of flavorings, beverages and fragrances?
Unfortunately there are many people in the business of selling essential oils who don’t really understand what they’re selling and this is why the same misinformation keeps spreading.
I hope this helps.
Oh and bitter almond is *very* strong. Like other oils that can be irritating in even moderate amounts (e.g. spearmint, peppermint, anise, etc.), we recommend using half of what you would normally use of other essential oils like lavender.
Hi Amy!
I just have found your post about almond EO. I got one few days ago (smells like heaven), and then started to wonder if there is such thing like Almond EO, as my is natural\natural identical. So I was worried that I’ve purchased something not quite natural. But it also says on the bottle free from prussic acid. Now I know that everything is ok, is possible for it to be natural and in the same time is possible for it to smell like almonds, but not being distilled from almonds , and if is without that acid it should be safe.
I would like to ask you if it was fun using it? If Almond EO didn’t discolor your product or cause some other problem while using it? I would like to use it for soaping.
Best regards
Jaga
Ps. Pardon my poor English : (
Ach Amy I forgot to tell you that I love your YT channel!!! And pls make some video for us from time to time : ) It’s been always a treat for me when something new from you uploaded on YT : )
Here is some food for thought: I am a registered nurse who is 4 months pregnant. Ever since being a university student I have a habit of researching everything, especially in regards to my pregnancy. I have read approximately 200 peer-reviewed journal articles in relation to striae gravidarum (stretch marks) and how to prevent them. After many long hours of reading the only article that had success in preventing/reducing stretch marks was a study with using pure bitter almond oil and directly massaging into the skin of prone areas for 15 minutes daily. They had success with 80% effectiveness. No other product on this planet has had any success on stretch marks at all. I found this info very interesting.
@Melissa – Well, now that is very interesting!!
Hi i notice all the posts are from 2013. I was wondering what happened about the almond essential oil as i would like to make almond scented soap.
@Gail – Well, I can tell you that the bitter almond compound that I purchased from WSP did NOT hold up to cold process soap. I haven’t looked into getting a natural almond scent recently, and really haven’t made an almond scented soap for quite some time. If I were to make one, I think I would go back to the fragrance oil I was using since it was nice and strong.
I am a bit late to this bitter almond discussion. I buy mine from The Perfumery which despite its name primarily sells essential oils. The have a bitter almond oil that has had the prussic acid removed. It is also blended with some fractionated coconut oil to reduce its concentration level to be more easily useable. It smells great and I still use it at a level comparable to other strong essential oils. I have never had any negative reaction. None of my customers have ever told me they had an issue. It is a popular scent. I pretty much only use it as a soap scent. Only fairly large volumne buying customers can buy from The Perfumery, it is not accessible to home crafters, but Amy you may be interested. I buy a lot of EO’s from these folks and they are always really good. I think that bitter almond is one of those oils that when used properly is perfectly safe. As safe as those nasty synthetic fragrance cocktails at least.
@Laura – Yes, I know about The Perfumery!! They used to be Essential Oil University….trying to remember why I didn’t order the bitter almond oil from them. Could have been the high minimums – it’s been too long! 🙂 I’m so glad it’s a great seller for you!!
I too found some Bitter Almond EO from Eden Botanicals where their EO is steam distilled from the crushed and pressed kernels of the apricot fruit, then rectified to remove the toxic prussic acid. It’s wonderful stuff, but “a teeny bit” goes a long way. I use it in my shop for the “Sugar Cookie” scent which customers love.
@Laura,
I just got a sample of their blend. What is your usage rate? I am so glad you have had a good experience with theirs! I would love to try a soap with this. It smells so great!. I hope I hear back since this is an older post!
@Jenn and Laura, what are the names of your shops so I could order one of your sprays with the bitter almond that is safe? I am new to oils but stumbled upon this looking for an almond scented body spray. Thank you!