Abstract Clove oil and citronella oil from China were selected to evaluate their potential as skin-care ingredients. The gas chromatographyâmass spectrometry (GCâMS) results showed that the main component of clove oil was eugenol, while citronellal was the main compound of citronella oil. Clove oil exhibited prominent free radical scavenging activities (ic 50: 58 μg/mL for O2 â· and 8.5 μg/mL for ABTS+·) and strong inhibitory effect on lipid peroxidation, whilst citronella oil showed weaker antioxidative activities (ic 50: 150 μg/mL for O2 â· and 500 μg/mL for ABTS+·) and lipid peroxidation inhibitory efficiency. In addition, both oils revealed dose-dependence in protecting bovine serum albumin against UVâTiO2âNO2 â induced protein oxidation and tyrosine nitration injury. This study suggests that both clove oil and citronella oil could be used as new source of skin-care ingredient in the cosmetic industry. Keywords: essential oilclove oil (Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. & Perry)citronella oil (Cymbopogon goeringii)gas chromatographyâmass spectrometryantioxidant Acknowledgements This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (HUST No. 2010ZD010).