When you’re stocking up your aromatherapy starter kit, one of the first oils to add to your collection is lavender.
It’s affordable!
Because lavender is easy to grow and harvest, the essential oil is very inexpensive. It takes around a hundred pounds of flowers to produce one pound of oil… compare that to jasmine, that needs more than a thousand pounds of flowers to produce one pound of oil!
You should be able to get a 10 milliliter bottle of lavender essential oil for under five dollars – and its cousin lavandin will be even cheaper. Lavandin (spike lavender) has more or less the same properties, but the smell is a little bit harsher than that of true lavender.
It’s versatile!
Lavender essential oil has many different uses. The scent is said to have a harmonizing effect. And people have been treating headaches with lavender essential oil for centuries!
You can spray a lavender mist on your pillows and linens to promote peaceful sleep. Pick up a small spritzer bottle at your drug store or dollar store, fill it with water and add 2 drops of lavender essential oil. Shake well and spray liberally!
And though most floral scents are attractive to annoying bugs… lavender is actually an insect repellant!
It’s one of the few oils that are safe to use undiluted!
Apply neat lavender oil to a sting or burn – the oil is antiseptic and antibacterial, and mildly analgesic to help ease the pain. Rub lavender essential oil on your temples to ease a headache. You can even use lavender oil on achy muscles.
If you’re not ready to experiment with essential oils yet, you can still reap some of the benefits of lavender. Dry lavender stalks and flowers, and then put them into a small sachet. Tuck the sachet into your pillow and the heat of your head will make the flowers release their scent all night long!