Uses and Benefits
Lavender oil is the most well known and most used essential oil in the world, even more so than rose. It has been used for over 2,500 years for health and wellbeing.
It was used by the Egyptians for mummification and for bathing, cooking and scenting the air by the Romans. However, science has only recently started to evaluate the range of health benefits of lavender.
I tend to think, however, that more than 2,500 years of evidence isn’t bad going! It is interesting too, that today lavender is sometimes viewed as being old fashioned, perhaps we have lost our way with understanding the benefits of lavender. I hope this article will alleviate some of the fears of smelling ‘like old Victorian ladies’, and put lavender back at the centre of your health and wellness routines.
Lavender is distilled from the lavender flowers with their fabulous fragrance and comes from many parts of the world. It is good for many things and these are just a few...
Lavender is antiseptic, anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-microbial and also a powerful anti-oxidant.
It will speed up the process of healing cuts and scrapes, burns and wounds. If you burn yourself, gently apply neat lavender oil onto the burn, it will take away the heat and the wound will heal with much less scarring.
Try at home blending 10 drops of lavender oil and 10 drops of tea tree oil with 20mls of carrier oil or cream for an effective anti-fungal for feet and toes and other skin funguses.
Our Lavender and Tea Tree cream is developed to be effective as an antiseptic and anti-fungal cream for skin infections. It is also useful for dogs and horses.
Never use any essential oils of any kind on cats. Cats don’t have the right enzymes in the liver to break down the chemical compounds in essential oils and the use of oils can kill them.
Some scientific evidence
So to continue with the scientific evidence relating to the benefits of lavender, here are a few interesting pieces of research.
There is not really enough evidence to say that lavender can be used in pregnancy. Some of the risk relates to lavender being a muscle relaxant and can affect hormone balance.
Our safety advice is to avoid all essential oils during pregnancy unless recommended by a doctor. You can read our full Essential Oils Safety Guide here.
There are hundreds of studies carried out each year on how lavender can improve the quality of sleep including those on college students when it was found that using lavender improved sleep quality by 60%.
If you need help with sleeping, try taking a bath with 10 to 15 drops of lavender combined with some Himalayan bath salts or Epsom salts.
Because it is widely accepted that lavender is one of only two oils that you can use neat on the skin (the other being tea tree) rub some oil into your hands and rub it around your neck and chest and temples. Or leave some oil on a tissue by your bed side or add some drops to your pillow. You don’t need to buy expensive treatments.
In the winter you can add together a few drops of lavender with some eucalyptus in a carrier oil, again rub around the neck and chest and this will help to heal chest infections, tonsillitis, sore throats, coughs and laryngitis.
A Scottish study reported a 40% increase in hair growth if the oil was regularly rubbed into the scalp. This could be especially beneficial for those struggling with hair loss who prefer to use natural remedies.
Lavender and the skin lavender soothes and calms, reduces itchiness and is good for acne too. Mix with cream or oil and apply all over the infected area.
Lavender cream on your hands and body will keep your skin healthy and happy, blemish free and silky smooth. Try one from our range or try making one for yourself at home using our pure essential oils and carrier oils.
The fabulous combination of a blended oil of lavender and frankincense used as a face oil, will reduce scarring, reduce age spots, improve acne skin and heal wounds.
And finally...inhale lavender
Inhale some pure lavender fragrance as often as you can and certainly for at least an hour a day. The benefits of doing this include protecting cells from environmental and chemical damage seen by some experts as being a possible cause of cell damage which can lead to cancer. Lavender helps the body to produce powerful antioxidants to support the brain, and lavender inhalation can improve mood and relieve depression.
It’s easy to do; you can use an aromatherapy burner, or a 100% natural reed diffuser, lavender tissues in each room, add drops of lavender oil to a small amount of water to make a perfect room spray (even combine it with frankincense), or add some drops to your clothes as a totally natural perfume.
Make lavender a first choice essential oil for you and the family and enjoy it! Take a look at the Boxworth Botanicals Lavender Collection.
Photo by Krisztina Papp on Unsplash