Tanacetum Annuum Flower Oil

_Tanacetum annuum_ flower oil (also known as blue tansy) is a fragrant essential oil with a sweet, herbaceous odor and characteristically blue hue. Unfortunately, due to its volatile nature, it poses a risk of sensitizing skin and causing a cascade of damage on a deeper level. Interestingly, many brands selling blue tansy skin care products claim it has the opposite effect—that it offers skin-calming, cooling effect. In reality, a cool, tingling sensation is your skin’s response signal to being irritated. The cooling comes from camphor, a significant component of this plant’s oil along with beta-pinene, a type of fragrant terpene shown to disrupt skin’s lipids (while imparting no positive benefit on healthy skin). Even if you didn’t immediately see or feel the negative effects of using _Tanacetum annuum_ flower oil, the damage is triggered under the surface, causing minor problems for your skin in the short term and more serious problems if used consistently. As such, _Tanacetum annuum_ flower oil isn’t an ingredient we recommend for topical use, even though research shows it does offer some antioxidant properties. Alternatively, _Tanacetum annuum_ oil may offer aromatherapeutic benefits, as other essential oils have evidence of anti-anxiety effects. More studies are needed to confirm, but in theory, it shows promise for this purpose. Researchers have also studied this ingredient for use an insect repellant—but the jury is still out since the results have been mixed. Fun fact: Tanacetum annuum flower oil’s blue pigment comes from its chemical component chamazulene.

Related ingredients: Camphor