Aromatherapy A-Z: Lavender

Beautiful blue violet or deep purple blossoms resembling tiny purple pine cones grow in whorls around a single lavender stalk. The abundant branches have long, narrow, pale silvery green leaves. This woody evergreen shrub grows three or four feet tall.

Lavender smells clean and fresh, and permeates the air with a delightful aroma that simultaneously stimulates and relaxes. Steam-distilling the flower tops and stalks produces a colorless pale yellow or yellow-green oil. It has a sweet, floral and herbaceous scent with a balsamic woody undertone. An acre of lavender plants will yield about fifteen to twenty pounds of essential oil. Distilling only the blossoms produces a superior oil. Of the over thirty different species of lavender, Lavandula officinalis, Lavandula angustifolia and Lavandula vera are the most popular varieties for producing essential oils. French lavender (Lavandula stoechas) is also used in aromatherapy.

A member of the Lamiaceae family, lavender thrives high atop the dry, rocky, sun-drenched mountain slopes in its native France, Persia (now Iran), the Mediterranean countries and Tasmania. It is now also cultivated commercially in Bulgaria, England, Greece, Italy, Russia, Spain and Turkey. France is the primary producer of lavender oil.

Beauty Benefits

Lavender oil calms and soothes the skin. It balances oil production, helps heal blemishes and stimulates circulation to the skin. Lavender oil reduces the inflammation of acne and soothes the pain of sunburn. It regulates the oil secretions of the scalp and helps repair damaged or overprocessed hair.

Emotional Effects

Throughout Europe, physicians and psychologists recommend lavender oil for emotional difficulties such as depression, fear, insomnia, irritability, melancholy, mood swings, nervousness and stress. They say that it strengthens the nervous system. Lavender oil clears thinking, dissipates fears, minimizes anger and reduces worry. By balancing extremes of emotion, it contributes to emotional equilibrium. It relaxes the mind and promotes physical and mental well-being. Lavender oil can neutralize sensory overload and balance either a racing or sluggish mind. Used at bedtime, it helps overcome insomnia.

Reprinted from Aromatherapy for Vibrant Health and Beauty by Roberta Wilson with permission of Avery Books, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc. Copyright © 1995 by Roberta Wilson.

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