The Psychological Side of Orange Essential Oils
When I think of orange essential oil, adrenal support and creativity are the top two benefits that come to mind. This is based on my own personal experience.
The first “orange” essential oil I learned about was red mandarin. For the person on the go all the time, and a constant giver to the point your adrenals get tired, fatigued, and exhausted. This is from you not replenishing your “energy tank” and continuously running on empty. One whiff of red mandarin, Citrus reticulata, starts to refill your tank by lifting your energy, helping you feel motivated, and inspiring creative problem-solving solutions.
The next orange I learned about was bergamot, Citrus aurantium var. bergamia. This has a “pick me up and elevate my mood” personality. Adding it into a custom blend helps balance mood swings to enhance feeling comfortable, focused, and confident without anxiety, panic, or doubt. I find it extremely helpful in blends to combat addictions of any kind, because it can help the body’s metabolism and blood sugar regulation. Both are major contributors to anxiety attacks.
Sweet orange, Citrus sinensis, is the sweetest of the oranges in my opinion. This is similar to red mandarin as far as benefits, but scent wise it is sweeter. It smells like the juiciest of fruits bursting with flavor, joy, and happiness. It is hard to smell sweet orange oil and not smile. This oil helps you find the sweetness and joy in life, work, and situations. You feel more inspired with creativity, visioning, manifesting, and intuition.
Then, you have tangerine, Citrus reticulata. It is very similar and a “mix” (scent-wise between sweet orange and red mandarin). I started out my practice using only red mandarin and was introduced to sweet orange a few years later. Those were my main oranges, along with bergamot for about 18 years. In the last 2-3 years, I started implementing more tangerine into blends, as it became a favorite for some clients and kept coming up in their custom blend profile. I am also seeing a pattern that it has become a favorite among veterans and others suffering from PTSD. It is helping them be more comfortable with themselves, work on the detriments of PTSD, and allowing them to find and feel joy again. It also helps them sleep better, have more confidence, and reduces neuropathy pains.
Scent difference between the 4 oranges – and the origin of the ones I use:
- Mandarin: a hint more bitter, dirt & earthier (Citrus reticulata, from Spain, expressed from the peel)
- Bergamot: a combination of sweet and bitter, gentle yet sharp (Citrus aurantium var. bergamia, from Italy, expressed from the peel)
- Sweet orange: a hint more airy (Citrus sinensis, from USA, expressed from the peel)
- Tangerine: is a hit more balsamic (Citrus reticulata, from USA, expressed from the peel)
Scent preferences come into play when you are assessing direction of support & determine psychological support.
- Does someone need a citrus to be more playful and happier, yet have some roots and earthy connection? That would be red mandarin.
- Does someone need a pick me up, combat anxiety and addictive behaviors, yet feel root with joy at the same time? This would be bergamot.
- Does someone need to have their spirits and depression lifted with a deeper nurturing and heart connection? That would be Tangerine.
- Does someone need to be lifted up out of being over analytical, controlling, dark, and heavy to breathe more happily? That would be sweet orange.
This helps you “feel” the difference so you can strengthen your intuitive skills as an aromatherapist and when creating custom blends.
Orange Benefits
Overall, orange essential oil therapeutic properties and physical support are very similar. They each help adrenal, circulatory, nervous, and immune systems. They provide energy to help them function better.
As far as which scents blend well together, they all can be friends, and make a great team member for a blend. All scents blend well together. It will just depend on your purpose, direction of support needed, and potency of the scent and therapeutic benefits the client can handle.
To get a little more advanced and technical for a moment to expand on that, citrus scents can soften a strong, powerful bulldozer of a blend that pushes emotions too quickly (think of the power of oregano) and turn it into a shovel or spoon (gentler approach to moving emotions – think lavender or chamomile). An example would be –
5 drops of oregano with 2 drops of sweet orange, can soften it a bit still allowing it to push out feelings of being attacked but bu holding their hand, rather than pushes them forward without anything to hold onto.
2 drops oregano with 5 drops orange, is a very gentle approach to helping someone feel nurtured, but encouraging them to take 1 step forward. See how this is more of a “spoon” that scoops out emotions, rather than the above example that “shovels” emotions, or doing straight oregano that can be felt as a bulldozer moving emotions out too fast?
Here’s more on how citrus essential oils can improve health.
If you want deeper training on the uses, benefits, practices, and psychological side of using essential oils, check out the aromatherapy certification programs at JennScents Aromaversity. They offer comprehensive training classes to help build youer personal knowledge for family health, but also help you tap into your passion and talent side to develop skills to help others.