What is it?
The fragrant water produced when blossoms of the bitter orange tree, Citrus aurantium var. amara, are steam-distilled. The oil that separates out is neroli oil; the water that remains is orange flower water, also called orange blossom water or neroli hydrosol. In cosmetics it is used as a fragrance, skin-conditioning and toning ingredient. Distillates of bitter orange flowers are also used as food ingredients.
Key information
- The CIR Expert Panel concluded that bitter orange flower water is safe as used when formulated to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing.
- One supplier's flower water had no detectable levels of the 26 fragrance allergens regulated in the EU, and no detectable furocoumarins.
- Unlike neroli oil, the flower water is not named on the EU's list of fragrance allergens that must appear on labels.
- Because it is water-based, commercial flower water is sold with added preservatives.
More information
Steam distillation splits the blossoms’ aroma into two products: an oil that does not mix with water, sold as neroli oil, and the water-soluble portion, sold as flower water. One supplier described making its flower water by distilling the flowers, then acidifying it, adding a preservative and decontaminating it. Its raw material was more than 98 percent flower water, with under 1 percent citric acid, 0.3 percent sodium benzoate and 0.15 percent potassium sorbate.
In a safety assessment published in 2021, the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel concluded that bitter orange flower water and 32 related citrus flower and leaf ingredients are safe in the present practices of use and concentration when formulated to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing. The flower water was reported in 31 products. Tested at 10 percent in two laboratory eye-irritation methods, it was rated practically non-irritating by one and slightly irritating by the other. The supplier’s material contained none of the 26 EU-regulated fragrance allergens it was tested for at detectable levels, and no furocoumarins, the compounds behind citrus phototoxicity, above 10 parts per million.
Natural extracts and distillates of bitter orange flowers are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) as food ingredients in the US. The EU requires neroli oil to be named on labels as a fragrance allergen, but its list does not include the flower water, which appears in ingredient lists as Citrus Aurantium Amara Flower Water. See also our Neroli Oil profile.
Sources: CIR: Safety Assessment of Citrus Flower- and Leaf-Derived Ingredients as Used in Cosmetics (2021); European Commission CosIng: Citrus Aurantium Amara Flower Water; Official Journal of the EU: Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 on labelling of fragrance allergens
