Essential Branch

Floral essential oil

Ylang-ylang

Cananga odorata

Drooping, ribbon-like yellow ylang-ylang petals hanging among broad green leaves.
Drooping, ribbon-like yellow ylang-ylang petals hanging among broad green leaves. Photo: David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0

Ylang-ylang is distilled from the star-shaped yellow flowers of Cananga odorata, grown mainly in Madagascar and the Comoros. The distillation is often split into grades, sold as extra, I, II, III or complete, with the early fractions smelling sweetest. Its rich, heady floral scent makes it a classic in perfumery, and people often choose it for evening and mood blends. It is powerful: one drop in a diffuser is usually enough, and too much can feel cloying or bring on a headache. On skin it is a known sensitiser, so the limit given here is very low and it rarely belongs in a roller.

Safety at a glance

  • Pregnancy Generally well tolerated
  • Children From age 2
  • Dogs Use with caution
  • Cats Avoid
  • Sunlight Not phototoxic
  • On skin Up to 0.18%

Reference

Botanical name Cananga odorata
Plant family Annonaceae
Plant part Flowers
Extraction steam distillation
Main origins Madagascar and Comoros
Aroma family Floral
Note Middle note
Aroma Rich, heady, sweet tropical flowers
Main constituents linalool, germacrene D, benzyl acetate, geranyl acetate and benzyl benzoate
Common uses calm, perfume, mood and evening
Suggested maximum on skin 0.18% of the blend
Phototoxic No
Shelf life once opened 2 to 3 years
Pregnancy Generally well tolerated
Children From age 2
Dogs Use with caution
Cats Avoid
Safety notes Tisserand and Young suggest 0.8% on skin, but IFRA's ylang-ylang standard allows only 0.18% in leave-on body products, so we use the lower figure; keep it off sensitive or damaged skin. Pet Poison Helpline lists ylang-ylang as toxic to cats.

Blends well with

Used in: Essential Oil Blends for Calm

Sources

  1. Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Health Care Professionals, 2nd edition (Tisserand & Young), Churchill Livingstone / Elsevier
  2. IFRA Standards, 51st Amendment (ylang ylang extracts, citral, geraniol, citronellol, eugenol), International Fragrance Association (IFRA)
  3. Traditional uses, phytochemistry, and bioactivities of Cananga odorata (ylang-ylang) (Tan et al., 2015), PubMed Central (NIH)
  4. Updates on essential oils, Pet Poison Helpline