Zdravtez essential oil may be difficult to pronounce, yet it is oh so easy to wear. This rare and unique aromatic is brought to us from Bulgaria. Zdravtez is the Bulgarian word for health. This species of plant is also known as big-root Geranium and long-rooted Cranesbill, though it is not related at all to the common red-flowering Geranium (Pelargonium). Zdravetz offers a truly unique set of soothing and clarifying qualities for the skin, scent, and psyche.
Botanical Name: Geranium macrorrhizum
Botanical Family: Geraniaceae
Extraction Method: Steam distilled
Part of Plant Distilled: Leaves and rhizomes
Country of Origin: Bulgaria
Cultivation Method: Organic
Composition: 100% Geranium macrorrhizum
Consistency: thick and cyrstaliine
Scent Description: Sweet and woodsy, with herbaceous green-floral notes and subtle whispers of spice.
Blends well with: Frankincense, Lavender, Geranium, Palmarosa, Sandalwood, Marjoram, Vetiver, Black Spruce, Pine, Silver Fir, and Ylang.
Uses: Dilute to use topically. Solid at room temperature; warm before using. May be used in baths, diffusers, and inhalers. Lovely in perfumes in colognes with its formidable fixative properties. Excellent for skincare serums: use diluted with Rosehips, Sandalwood Nut, Tamanu, or Jojoba oils. Add a dash of Rose Otto and Immortelle. Lovely for bedtime baths and inhalations. Be sure to spot test before applying to a prominent area like the face.
In skincare, Zdravetz is said to have a softening effect on the appearance of skin imbalances, such as melasma and scars. Be sure to dilute before using on the skin.
It is a fixative essential oil with a strong scent profile for perfumery. Because it is brimming with beneficial plant waxes and crystals, it becomes solid at room temperature, much like coconut oil, vanilla, or rose otto essences. These waxes and crystals are an essential part of the plants benefits and help the oil maintain its long shelf life (7+ years!) and aromatic qualities. Take care to warm the oil before blending with a carrier oil. Once blended, Zdravetz will retain its liquid form.
“Zdravetz is a pale green or pale yellow oil, slightly viscous liquid, due to crystals that form below 32C. The scent is warm-fresh sweetly herbaceous, rosy woody and tenacious. It is mainly composed of sesquiterpenes, present in the region of 90 per cent, and around half of these are germacrone (Weiss 1997).”
~ Jennifer Peace Rhind, Essential Oils: A Handbook for Aromatherapy Practice
“[The oil] has strong, penetrative powers but a gentle Zdravetz odor with strong fixative properties. The remaining mass…consists of dark green solid matter containing mainly n-triacontane. It is fatty, tasteless, with a pleasant Zdravetz odor and possesses strong properties.”
~ Maria Lis-Balchin, ed. Geranium and Pelargonium: History of Nomenclature, Usage and Cultivation
