I often get asked what my favourite scent is and I always say Lavender! Hands down! I'm obsessed with fresh lavender! I have over a dozen lavender plants and still adding more every year! The bees love my lavender too and my plants are buzzing (literally) with them right now. Thankfully my goats don't want to eat lavender so my plants are safe from them when we let them out to mow the lawn. Lavender offers many health benefits in aromatherapy and here are just a couple...
Calming and relaxing: Lavender has been used for centuries for its calming, stress-reducing and relaxing benefits. Lavender contains linalool which triggers serotonin (a neurotransmitter involved in mood regulation) thereby reducing anxiety. Studies have shown that lavender aromatherapy can have a substantial affect on anxiety and depression and new research shows that it even helps reduce challenging behaviors in dementia patients so we know it really works! Lavender can help you unwind and sleep better too. If you have high blood pressure, you might want to try lavender aromatherapy! A study showed that children who smelled lavender for 3 minutes before a dental extraction experienced much less stress and had lower blood pressure than a placebo group of children. I'll have to remember this the next time I go to the dentist!
Soothes skin irritations: Studies have shown that the anti-inflammatory components of lavender (linalool and linalyl acetate) can reduce skin irritation. These components contain anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and antifungal properties. In one study lavender essential oil (10% in a carrier oil) even helped significantly with psoriasis-type skin inflammation! Another study showed that lavender oil applied to aphthous ulcers (canker sores) significantly reduced the size of them. Many studies are currently being done to discover more exciting therapeutic properties of lavender oil.
I love to use lavender essential oil in many products that I make including my herbal balm, lotion, deodorant, body wash, bubble bath, liquid hand soap, bar soap, roll-ons and salt soaks that I make. We carry pure lavender 40/42 essential oil (from France) in our store to make it easy for you to use in your diffuser. If you want to use an essential oil on your skin we always recommend you dilute a few drops in a carrier oil like sunflower oil or almond oil. Using essential oils directly on your skin can cause skin sensitivities over time or trigger an allergy.