Which lavender essential oil do I choose?
Maybe you’ve been in this situation: you’re at your favorite lavender farm or shop, wanting to buy some lavender essential oil because you’ve heard about all of its wonderful benefits, but you are faced with 2 or 3 or 12 different varieties to choose from. And you don’teven know where to start.
Well let me help you out with some basic differences between the two larger categories of essential oil you will most likely be confronted with: lavandula angustifolia and lavandula x. Intermedia.
The first category, Lavandula angustifolia, sometimes called English lavender or “True” lavender produces a very therapeutic essential oil that is great for easing headaches, decreasing anxiety, and supporting sleep. It has been well studied with much evidence to support these claims. (A good study to start with is “Lavender and the Nervous System.”) It is most often ingested via inhalation by using a diffuser or even adding a few drops to bath water. It is generally held that, unlike other essential oils, lavender essential oil can also be applied in small amounts to the skin, where it is quickly absorbed into the body. (If you are pregnant or nursing, check with your doctor first.)
Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, it is also therapeutic for respiratory issues. Not only that, but a 2016 study provides compelling evidence for lavandula angustifolia’s wound-healing properties: “These data suggest that lavender oil [specifically L. angustifolia] has the potential to promote wound healing in the early phase by acceleration of formation of granulation tissue, tissue remodeling by collagen replacement and wound contraction through up-regulation of TGF-β”(Mori et al. 2016).
The second category, is Lavandula x. Intermedia, often called French lavender or Lavandin. Intermedia is a hybrid lavender that combines properties of its parent plants (L angustifolia and L. Latifolia) in varying degrees, meaning, for example, that if a variety favors the angustifolia parent it might be more relaxing and if it favors the latifolia parent it can be more energizing.
According to The Herbal Academy, "Lavandin may sometimes offer the best of both worlds, being calming yet strongly antibacterial, but that also means that it is a weaker performer than either one of its “parent” plants.” While the intermedias still have most of the calming properties of the angustifolias, they are slightly less therapeutic, though still wonderful to use in a diffuser to create a calming atmosphere.
'Grosso' essential oil is the most commonly used lavender essential oil in the bath/beauty industry and is great for use in soaps, salves, and other bath/beauty products.
Both intermedias and angustifolias contain some powerful components that aid in relaxation and sleep: linalool, linalyl acetate and camphor.
Both intermedias and angustifolias contain terpineol-4 which make it helpful in treating skin conditions with its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties.
The difference comes in the amount of each of these components they contain. For example, intermedias contain much more camphor than angustifolias, contributing to its more medicinal smell.
I hope this has helped you narrow down your choices!
Maybe you’ve been in this situation: you’re at your favorite lavender farm or shop, wanting to buy some lavender essential oil because you’ve heard about all of its wonderful benefits, but you are faced with 2 or 3 or 12 different varieties to choose from. And you don’teven know where to start.
Well let me help you out with some basic differences between the two larger categories of essential oil you will most likely be confronted with: lavandula angustifolia and lavandula x. Intermedia.
The first category, Lavandula angustifolia, sometimes called English lavender or “True” lavender produces a very therapeutic essential oil that is great for easing headaches, decreasing anxiety, and supporting sleep. It has been well studied with much evidence to support these claims. (A good study to start with is “Lavender and the Nervous System.”) It is most often ingested via inhalation by using a diffuser or even adding a few drops to bath water. It is generally held that, unlike other essential oils, lavender essential oil can also be applied in small amounts to the skin, where it is quickly absorbed into the body. (If you are pregnant or nursing, check with your doctor first.)
Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, it is also therapeutic for respiratory issues. Not only that, but a 2016 study provides compelling evidence for lavandula angustifolia’s wound-healing properties: “These data suggest that lavender oil [specifically L. angustifolia] has the potential to promote wound healing in the early phase by acceleration of formation of granulation tissue, tissue remodeling by collagen replacement and wound contraction through up-regulation of TGF-β”(Mori et al. 2016).
The second category, is Lavandula x. Intermedia, often called French lavender or Lavandin. Intermedia is a hybrid lavender that combines properties of its parent plants (L angustifolia and L. Latifolia) in varying degrees, meaning, for example, that if a variety favors the angustifolia parent it might be more relaxing and if it favors the latifolia parent it can be more energizing.
According to The Herbal Academy, "Lavandin may sometimes offer the best of both worlds, being calming yet strongly antibacterial, but that also means that it is a weaker performer than either one of its “parent” plants.” While the intermedias still have most of the calming properties of the angustifolias, they are slightly less therapeutic, though still wonderful to use in a diffuser to create a calming atmosphere.
'Grosso' essential oil is the most commonly used lavender essential oil in the bath/beauty industry and is great for use in soaps, salves, and other bath/beauty products.
Both intermedias and angustifolias contain some powerful components that aid in relaxation and sleep: linalool, linalyl acetate and camphor.
Both intermedias and angustifolias contain terpineol-4 which make it helpful in treating skin conditions with its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties.
The difference comes in the amount of each of these components they contain. For example, intermedias contain much more camphor than angustifolias, contributing to its more medicinal smell.
I hope this has helped you narrow down your choices!
