Lavender: My first essential oil love
I've been using essential oils for four years now and lavender will forever be my first true love. It is known for its anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antidepressant, antiseptic, antibacterial and antimicrobial properties. It also has antispasmodic, analgesic, detoxifying, hypotensive and sedative effects.
I think most people know lavender is supposed to be a relaxing scent as evidenced by the vast amount of products using "lavender fragrance/essence." But many people - myself included - often get awful skin rashes when using these products because it turns out those "fragrances" are not always made with all natural ingredients.
Lavender is a great oil to have on hand for DIY gifts like soaps, bath salts, bug sprays, and homemade perfumes.
It's a homesteader's best friend! Read on to find out my top six reasons for loving lavender essential oil.
Lavender can alleviate all bug bites including bee stings! It can reduce pain, swelling, and itching. Diluted with a carrier oil, it can also soothe ecsema and dermatitis. New earrings irritating your ears? Put a drop of lavender on your ear lobe or on the earring stem and you can wear them all day! Any time you experience skin irritation, it's a good idea to experiment with lavender!
To stop a nosebleed, put a drop of lavender oil on a tissue and wrap it around a small chip of ice. Push the tissue covered ice chip up under the middle of the top lip to the base of the nose and hold as long as comfortable or until the bleeding stops (do not freeze the lip or gum).
French scientist Rene Gattefosse discovered lavender's ability to promote tissue regeneration and speed wound healing when he severely burned his arm in his lab and plunged his arm into the nearest tub of liquid which happened to be lavender essential oil. I've used it for those times I burned my hand on a hot pan in the kitchen.
Like I mentioned above, lavender products are often adulterated with hybrid lavender, symthetic linalol and linalyl acetate, or synthetic frangrance chemicals like ethyl vanillin. It also smells drastically different then the real essential oils so if you "think" you don't like lavender, try again!
University of Miami researchers found that inhalation of lavender oil increased beta waves in the brain, suggesting heightened relaxation. It has also reduced depression and improved cognitive performance. All reasons why it's the primary oil used in aromatherapy.
This is how I initially got into oils. When my eldest was a baby (over four years ago now 😭), I was desperate for sleep and when I put a few drops of lavender in his bath and rubbed a drop on his feet I SWEAR I could see him visibly relax and be better prepared for sleep. 🙌🏻. I always use lavender neat (undiluted) but you can dilute it in your favorite carrier oil - mine is fractionated coconut oil.
If you haven't read our essential oils story in full here or go straight to purchasing a Young Living Premium Starter Kit - which comes with lavender - at this link here.