The ABCs of Essential Oils: Lavender

Lavandula angustifolia

So ubiquitous, lavender is used to scent almost any product that can be fragranced. There's a good chance you already have an opinion on the odor. "L" presented many essential oil choices, and I chose lavender because while simple on the surface, it has much more going on once you dig deeper.

Lavender is a popular scent, with either the essential oil or fragrance oil appearing in a wide variety of products, from perfumes to floor cleaners. Lavender is a relatively inexpensive essential oil, but nothing is too cheap for adulteration. Many of the lavender products you have sniffed will either be fragrance oils, adulterated essential oils, or poor quality essential oils. Lavender also has a cousin, lavandin, that is often used in its place due to its lower cost. If you've sought various lavender oils and are still like "nope, don't like this stuff," then you can go on your way. But if you haven't, you should realize there are better lavenders out there.

Lavender oil is produced in many countries, including the United States, though you more often hear of French and Bulgarian. You can also find organic , wild-crafted, (as opposed to cultivated) and high-altitude lavender oils. Each factor can influence the scent of the lavender, and even a lavender from the same farm can smell different year to year. It's worth it to buy samples of several types to see which one you like best.

If you're willing to explore beyond the essential oil, lavender is available in many other forms. Lavender hydrosol is fairly common, and safer for those who are sensitive to essential oils (though anyone with a lavender allergy should avoid the hydrosol as well). It does have a different odor profile than the oil, and I tend to think of it as best for skincare and aromatherapy than for scent. If you are looking to purchase lavender for its fragrance, then you need to try lavender absolute. Not only is it a blue or green color, it has a scent quite different than that of regular lavender essential oil. It has a coumarin note, making it a perfect addition to chypre and fougere fragrances. Lavender concrete is harder to find, and not as enjoyable as the absolute, but if you need to sniff everything (like I do), then go for it. Lavender CO2 extracts are available as well, and are perfect for the lavender connoisseur, with a scent that most accurately captures the plant.

A versatile oil, lavender pairs nicely with many essential oils, and it's moderate cost makes it perfect for soap and bath/body products.

Similar:
Bergamot Mint (Mentha citrata)
Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea)
Lavandin (Lavandula hybrida/grosso/abrialis)
Petitgrain Bigarade (Citrus aurantium)
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Spike Lavender (Lavandula latifolia)

Previously:
Kewda
Jasmine
Immortelle
Ho Wood
Ginger
Frankincense

Eucalyptus

Davana
Coffee
Bergamot
Anise

Witch Hazel and Hydrosols

While lots of ingredients in a product aren't necessarily a bad thing, it does make it harder to scrutinize the product. I personally dislike squinting over a label in the store, scanning for any ingredients I want to avoid. I love hydrosols, including witch hazel, for my face, since there shouldn't be too much in it, and they offer various skin benefits.

Hydrosols are often a by-product of essential oil distillation, though better hydrosols are produced just for their own sake. They're much cheaper than essential oils, and you can even find hydrosols for plants that don't produce an essential oil.

Witch hazel is a cheap and natural astringent, and you should be able to find it easily in grocery stores and drugstores. It's good for oily and acne-prone skin, as well as dry, sensitive and inflamed skin. It usually contains alcohol as a preservative- look for one that's 86% witch hazel distillate and 14% alcohol. The alcohol should be some sort of ethanol/ethyl alcohol, not isopropyl alcohol. If you want to find an alcohol free witch hazel, you will need to use one with a different preservative, since unpreserved witch hazel is not available.

Other popular hydrosols include rose water, orange flower water, and lavender water. While there are many hydrosols out there, these three tend to smell nice to most people. You can use them as toners if you don't like witch haze. I love spraying my face with hydrosols when I'm feeling warm to help cool myself down. They also work as a light, pretty fragrance when you don't want to wear a heavier perfume. When purchasing hydrosols, check the label to make sure there are no added fragrances or dyes.

The Lab # 5 Lavender

This started out as an idea for a lip balm flavor- lavender, anise, and vanilla. When I did my flavor tester (I made a zillion of those), I wasn't impressed. I took the scent blend and put it in some soap, which was rather lovely. It did make the soap turn dark due to the vanilla in it, so it wasn't the prettiest soap, but it did smell nice.

This scent is an expansion of that idea- vanilla at the base, lavender at the middle and top (lavender absolute and essential oil), and anise at the top. Vetiver, patchouli, and clary sage bring some earthiness to it, and black pepper spices up the top. I also added some yuzu absolute to brighten it up- that stuff is hard to find and rather pricy for a citrus note, so once this fragrance is sold out, there will be no more of it. Perhaps a slightly different version, but unless I can get my hands on some more yuzu absolute, I won't be able to make any more.

The Lab #5 Lavender is available at Ivre de Fleurs and Etsy for $15.