Steam-distilled from the seeds of Foeniculum vulgare, organically grown. 10 ml in dark glass. Warm, sweet and strongly anise-like — one of the most distinctive scents in any aromatherapy shelf, and closely related in character to aniseed and star anise.
This is one of the oils that genuinely needs restrictions — please read
Most essential oils need ordinary care. Fennel needs more than that, and it is rarely sold with any of it stated.
Do not use fennel essential oil if you are:
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Pregnant or breastfeeding. Fennel's main constituent, trans-anethole, has weak oestrogen-like activity, and the oil is traditionally avoided throughout pregnancy.
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Buying it for a child. Fennel essential oil is not appropriate for children. (Fennel tea is a different product with a different, far lower concentration — do not reason from one to the other.)
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Someone with an oestrogen-dependent condition — endometriosis, or a history of oestrogen-receptor-positive cancer. Discuss it with your doctor before using it at all.
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Epileptic, or caring for someone who is. Anethole and fenchone are convulsant at high doses and fennel is on the standard caution list.
And one more, which is why the dilution matters: fennel oil contains estragole (methyl chavicol) alongside anethole. Estragole is genotoxic and carcinogenic in animal studies, and the European Medicines Agency's herbal committee has recommended that human exposure to it be kept as low as reasonably achievable. That is a reason to use this oil sparingly, at low dilution, and occasionally — not daily, and not on large areas of skin.
What an essential oil may and may not claim
Fennel oil is commonly sold on the grounds that fennel "has long been a go-to for the digestion" and that "diluted and massaged over the tummy it can help ease everyday bloating, gas and cramps". That wording does not appear here.
Two reasons, and both matter. Easing bloating, gas and cramps is a medicinal claim, which a cosmetic or aromatic product may not make under EU law. And more importantly, rubbing this particular oil over the abdomen is bad advice given everything above — the abdomen is a large area, it is exactly where a pregnant customer would apply it, and repeated whole-area use is precisely the exposure pattern the estragole caution is about.
What it is genuinely good for
Its smell. Fennel is a superb perfumery note — it gives sweetness and lift without being floral, and it works beautifully with lavender, bergamot, sweet orange, rosemary and cedarwood. A single drop in a blend changes it completely. It is also a good scent for a kitchen or a workshop, where anise reads as clean rather than sweet.
How to use it
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Keep it to a low dilution — one per cent or below in a carrier oil (about 6 drops in 30 ml), on small areas, occasionally. Never neat.
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Diffusion: one or two drops is plenty; it is a strong oil. Ventilated room, short sessions. Not around children, pregnant women or pets.
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Patch test on the inner forearm and wait 24 hours.
Safety — the essentials
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Never swallow essential oils without the direct supervision of a qualified health professional. This applies with particular force to anise-type oils.
- Keep out of reach of children, in the original bottle with the child-resistant cap.
- Away from eyes — flush with plain vegetable oil, not water.
- Accident or swallowing: in Portugal call CIAV on 800 250 250 — free, 24 hours. In an emergency, 112.
If any of the conditions above apply to you, please ask us in the shop and we will suggest something that smells similar without the cautions.
Storage
Cool, dark, tightly closed, upright. Oxidised oil irritates skin more than fresh oil does.
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