Updated 17 January 2024
Botanical characteristics
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Division: Magnoliophyta
- Class: Magnoliopsida
- Order: Lamiales
- Family: Lamiaceae
- Genus: Lavandula
- Part used: Flowering tops
- Country of origin: Bulgaria, France
Precautions for use
Essential lavender oil has no known risks!
It is very well tolerated, even by small babies, and can be used pure by all routes of administration.
However, it contains a large amount of linalool, which is an allergenic compound, so people with allergies should be careful.
It is contraindicated in severe hypotension.
Finally, people with asthma should seek medical advice before using it.
Other precautions
Warning:
- People with asthma should seek medical advice before use.
- Although it is one of the mildest, you should avoid taking large doses, which can reverse the effects: it becomes agitated (nervousness, sleeplessness).
Cutaneous use:
- For use on skin of babies over 3 months and sensitive people, dilute (20% essential oil in 80% vegetable oil).
Contraindications:
- It is important to distinguish between true lavender essential oil and lavender aspic essential oil.
- Their biochemical distribution and limitations of use are completely different!
- This essential oil should be avoided in cases of severe hypotension.
Allergenic components:
Essential lavender oil contains several biochemical allergenic components in high concentrations:
- Linalool (20 to 48%)
- Geraniol (≤1.5%)
- Limonene (≤1%)
- Coumarin (≤0.2%)
Note: It is best to test the essential oil before use (two drops on the crease of the elbow for at least 24 hours to check for a reaction).
Authorised users
How to use
Risks of use
Properties
- Powerful antispasmodic
- Muscle relaxant
- Powerful healing, skin regeneration
- Paediatric EO
- Analgesic, anti-inflammatory
- Cardiotonic and hypotensive
- Mild anticoagulant, diuretic
- Antimicrobial, antiseptic, wormicide, anti-mite
- Pulmonary antiseptic
- Emmenagogue
Indications
- Headache
- Hyperactivity
- Lice
- Wound
- Muscle cramps
- Contractures
- Rheumatism
- Mild burn
- Sunburn
- Sleep disturbance
- Insomnia
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Nervous depression
- Spasmophilia
- Psoriasis
- Eczema
- Scars
- Bedsores
- Acne
- Itchy skin
- Insect bite
- Tachycardia
- Heart palpitations
- High blood pressure
- Concentration disorders
- Skin allergies
- Asthma
- Digestive spasms
- Sickness
- Infant colic
Directions for use/usual dosage
- Skin problems: local unctions, pure or diluted in vegetable oil, depending on the area and the problem to be treated.
- Insomnia, stress, anxiety, cardiac arrhythmia: air diffusion and/or 1 drop on the solar plexus and over the heart.
- Muscle spasms, rheumatism: local applications diluted in a vegetable oil in combination with other relaxing and anti-inflammatory essential oils.
Cosmetic
- Ideal for regenerating the epidermis and treating skin problems: acne, rosacea, razor burn, burns, insect bites, itching, sensitive and irritated skin, oily skin, etc.
- Fights stretch marks
- Fights greasy hair and lice (prevention and cure)
Cooking
- Can be used in savoury or sweet dishes to give a Provençal touch, particularly in salads and in small quantities in lamb, chicken or pork dishes.
- It goes particularly well with chocolate desserts, apricots or as an original flavour for crème brûlée.
Interior use
- Can be placed on a pebble or cotton pad to add fragrance to sachets of lavender flowers or as a moth repellent in wardrobes.
- Atmospheric diffusion to purify and disinfect the air, relax and calm the atmosphere.
Find out more
- It was nicknamed the "blue gold" of Provence, especially when it was much sought after by perfumers.
- A true natural treasure, it is also a major tourist attraction.
- Travelling along the Lavender Route, between the Ventoux and the Luberon, the Drôme Provençale and the Haut-Vaucluse, the Baronnies and the Verdon, in July and August, it reveals its lavender hue, colouring the landscape and filling all our senses.
- In characterology, Lavandula vera is the symbol of femininity, gentleness, tenderness and maternal love.
- Tireless, unfailingly devoted and always balanced, it listens, cares and soothes.
- She cares for children, adults, the elderly, animals, plants, the earth and the sky with the same love, and if there's one being in the world she neglects, it's herself.
- With discretion and gratitude, even when she is tired, she always finds a way to help her neighbour.