Using Citrus Oils Safely in Skin Salves and Lip Balms to Avoid Photo-Toxicity

When using some essential oils in salve making or moisturizers and lip balms you want to make sure that your product is safe for sun exposure. Some essential oils are photo toxic. If you use them on the skin above safe dilution levels and then the skin is exposed to UV or sunlight, you may have a bad reaction. This reaction can occur up to 12 hours after using these essential oils and continue to increase in intensity for up to 36 hours after exposure. OUCH! I created this chart for you to help you keep your family safe with your salve making and lip balm making.

Phototoxic essential oils contain furanocoumarins which absorb solar radiation and can lead to damaging skin reactions when skin is exposed to UV or sunlight.

Take precautions when using phototoxic essential oils above these safe dilution levels. Avoid skin exposure to sunlight for 12 to 18 hours. Cover up with a heavy shirt. Light tee-shirts may not be enough protection from damaging UV rays.

Skin damaging reactions can occur up to 12 hours after application and can continue for up to 36 hours. Reactions include sunburn, swelling, and sometimes blistering. There can be enough severe skin damage to lead to skin cancer so do take precautions.

OR BE SAFE: use sun-safe versions of the above essential oils. The furanocoumarins are not volatile and do not pass into the distilled essential oil. Use steam distilled versions of lime, lemon, and grapefruit for sun safety. Plant Therapy has a safe bergamot essential oil that is “bergapten free” making it safe for sun exposure, even though it is cold pressed.

Cold pressed sweet orange, mandarin, and tangerine are safe and contain NO furanocoumarins.

Key take aways:

Keep photo-toxic essential oils properly diluted in skin care products, salves, and lip balms.

OR use sun safe, steam distilled version of citrus essential oils that have the potential for phototoxicity. Cold pressed mandarin, sweet orange, and tangerine are not phototoxic. Cold pressed bergapten-free bergamot essential oils is nonphoto-toxic.

Download a printable version of this chart for your personal reference

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

How is the DIY Herbal Fellowship different from other herbal programs like the Herbal Academy?

At the DIY Herbal Fellowship, we emphasize homegrown and foraged herbalism. We teach how to grow your own medicine, so you aren't dependent on the global supply chain for your wellness.

In the classes from other herb schools you'll get a long list of herbs you need to buy in order to complete the classes and a lot of these herbs are from herbal traditions from tropical climates, so you will need to buy imported herbs, that may have been in storage a long time before they reach you. Herbs you can grow and harvest close to where you live have been challenged by the same stressors that you've been challenged with and they have the unique metabolites that you need to thrive.

We also provide a list of herbs that you can buy if you don't have access to a garden or places you can forage, but growing your own gives you access to that unique property in herbs, that you can't buy in a store.

I’ve enrolled in herb classes from other herb schools that I didn’t complete. Can I successfully complete anything inside the DIY Herbal Fellowship?

Joining the DIY Herbal Fellowship can give you the support you need to complete the courses you've already signed up for, if you still have access to them. Many of our members are also working through certificate programs at Herbal Academy or other herb schools. They use the support and the methods we teach in the DIY Herbal Fellowship to help them systematically work through their other courses and retain the information they are learning.

The masterclasses inside the DIY Herbal Fellowship are different than what you'll find in other herb schools. We have success built into each masterclass. The lessons are designed to be completed during a break time, so that busy women don't get left behind. (Aren't we all very busy!)Each lesson inside the masterclasses are just 15 to 20 minutes long. The hands on projects can be done in the margins, while you are working on other things, like supervising homework, or waiting for dinner to cook. You don't need to wait till you have a few hours alone-time to get started. 15 minutes can be a start.

Also you'll enjoy quarterly implementation challenges to encourage you along your journey. These include games or other strategies to keep you moving forward to reach your goals and master the aspects within herbal studies that are important to you.

If you have a life challenge though, and can't complete the monthly masterclasses for a period of time, you don't lose access to them, as long as you remain a member in good standing. The masterclasses will wait for you.

How much time does it take to complete a masterclass? I don’t have a lot of time.

You'll want to have at least one hour a week to dedicate to the DIY Herbal Fellowship, to complete at least one masterclass a month, do the hands on projects, participate in the Q and A and the coffee chat. If you don't have that much time, you might feel frustrated inside the DIY Herbal Fellowship because you'll miss the interaction and the support. If you have more than one hour a week available, you'll be able to do several masterclasses each month. Each masterclass takes between one hour and 1 1/2 hours to complete. You'll get a certificate after you complete each masterclass, so you'll have a record of the time you've invested in your herbal learning.

What’s the difference between the membership and your courses at Joybilee Academy?

The courses at Joybilee Academy are generally longer. They don't have active support, so there are no live Q and As, no coffee chats, no dedicated Facebook group to ask questions or get feedback. Its for people that want to learn from me but don't need or want active support. The courses are also static. No new material is added once the course is published. Only one of the classes in Joybilee Academy has a certificate on completion.

On the other hand, the membership has a monthly masterclass that is designed so that you can watch each lesson during a coffee break, for those that don't have a lot of time. There is an active component focused on hands on application for the lessons. We learn better when we apply what we learn through hands on projects, so we integrate that into the classes. You have something to show for what you learned. There is a live monthly Q and A where the members can ask questions and get feedback. It is recorded so those who can't make it live can view it. Also (the fellowship part) we have a monthly coffee time (not recorded) where members can get together and build relationships, network, and share. Quarterly, inside the membership, we'll do challenges and games to help with implementation and improve how much people remember of the masterclasses. These are great for making progress on your goals and cheering others on, building relationships inside the community.

The membership has a dedicated Facebook group where members can connect, ask questions, get feedback, share information. I'm in that group daily.

Why do you need my mailing address?

Please use your best mailing address when you give us your contact information. While there are no physical products included with the monthly membership purchase, there are periodic surprises that may be mailed out to members, so your mailing address is required when you register.

To ensure that parcels mailed to you don't get returned by the post office, please keep your mailing address up to date. Periodically we will ask members to update their mailing address in their member account so that we can make your experience as a DIY Herbal Fellowship member awesome.

I’m a member. How do I enroll in one of the Masterclasses?

It's easy to enroll in any of the masterclasses on the site

Step 1: Log into the site using your user name and password. If you forget your password just click on the "lost your password?" link and it will send you an email to let you reset your password. Go here to log in.

Once you log in you'll be taken to your personal dashboard. Here you'll see an icon that says, "Courses". Tap/click on this icon to see all the masterclasses you have access to, in alphabetical order. You can tap/click on the link for any of these courses to begin the course.

If you've already taken a course you'll find it under the "Profile" icon in your dashboard. If you've already enrolled in a course, you'll find your progress under "courses" in your profile.

You'll find all the courses you have access to in your dashboard so that you can get started on that right away and get a good foundation.

Step 2: To enroll in a new DIY Herbal Masterclasses go to this link: https://thediyherbal.com/courses/ inside your dashboard. All classes are in alphabetical order. You can use both the search function and the category function to browse the catalog of courses.

Go to the class that interests you. Tap/click the green "Start" button to begin any lesson. Move through the course using the bar at the top of the page. If you are viewing your courses on your cell phone, it's helpful to turn the screen horizontally to see the green button used for navigation, at the top of each lesson.

Step 3: You can get back to your courses and pick up where you left off, clicking or tapping on the course icon in your dashboard under "courses" or in your profile area of the membership site.

How do I update my payment method?

This video will guide you through to update or change your payment method in your dashboard: