Melissa oil

Say itmuh-LIS-uh oil

Soft, honeyed lemon-herbal, rosy and green; gentler than lemongrass.

What it is: Natural oil from steam-distilled leaves and flowering tops.
Where it comes from: small European production
When you smell it: Top notes: the first minutes.
What perfumers do with it: Lends a delicate, natural lemon-herbal glow to colognes and green florals; genuine oil is rare.
Worth knowing: Yields are so tiny that genuine melissa oil is costly and often faked with lemongrass or citronella.
Rules: Limited. Genuine melissa oil has its own IFRA dose limit
Also called: Lemon balm; Melissa officinalis leaf oil

Not on the label of any of the 232 perfumes read so far.

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