Lavender essential oil is everywhere in the soap, skin care, detergent, cleaner, and home fragrance realms. But why? It’s so expensive!
Lavender essential oil is a concentrated extract made by distilling the flowers of lavender plants (Lavandula species). For centuries, people have used it for fragrance, relaxation, skin care, and traditional remedies.
Today, research backs many of these uses, especially for reducing stress, supporting sleep, and improving skin health, helping consumers make informed, evidence-based decisions. But it isn’t everyone’s favorite essential oil.
What Does Pure Lavender Essential Oil Smell Like?
When I first started making soap, I didn’t know much about lavender. It was the first essential oil I ever experienced. When I opened the bottle, and that strong camphor/floral/medicinal scent hit me like a wet sock to the face, I believed I had made a very costly mistake (it was a 16-ounce bottle and cost me $130).
The smell was stronger, sharper, and more herbal than the soft floral aroma I expected, and it wasn’t something I was naturally drawn to. But because customers wanted it, I had to suck it up and figure out how to make it work.
It took about a year for lavender to become a staple in my soapmaking. I just kept using it, and over time, my feelings changed. I learned more about lavender’s remarkable herbal properties and experienced its gentle benefits firsthand. I began to appreciate not just the scent but also its incredible versatility.
How Is Lavender Essential Oil Made?
Most lavender essential oils are made by steam distillation. Steam passes through freshly picked lavender flowers, releasing their fragrant compounds. The vapor then cools and condenses, separating the oil from the water.
This method preserves the delicate chemicals that give lavender its scent and healing properties (source).
Other methods include:
Hydrodistillation submerges plant material directly in boiling water, allowing essential oil vapors to be captured during evaporation (source).
Newer methods, such as ultrasound- and microwave-assisted distillation, have been developed to improve extraction efficiency, protect heat-sensitive compounds, and save energy. These techniques are mostly used in industrial and research settings, not in small-scale production (source).
What Types of Lavender Are Used for Essential Oil?
There are about 45 lavender species worldwide, but just 2 account for over 95% of the essential oil produced commercially (source).
Here is a brief overview of these two:
Lavandula angustifolia (True or English Lavender)
This species is considered the highest-quality lavender for therapy and cosmetics. Its oil has high levels of linalool and linalyl acetate, which help calm the mind, reduce inflammation, and fight microbes.
It’s mainly grown in France, Bulgaria, Australia, England, and the US.
Lavandula × intermedia (Lavandin)
Lavandin is a natural hybrid of L. angustifolia and L. latifolia that yields much higher oil. It has more camphor, which gives it a sharper smell. Because it’s affordable and strong, it’s often used in cleaning products, soaps, and industrial applications rather than for therapeutic aromatherapy.
Other lavender species serve specialized regional, medicinal, or traditional roles but contribute only small amounts to global essential oil production (source).
Know Your Labels: Not Everything Labeled “Lavender Oil” Is An Essential Oil
Lavender essential oil is a pure, concentrated extract made through distillation. It contains only natural aromatic compounds and should be diluted before applying to your skin.
Oil of Lavender usually means lavender buds infused into other oils to create an infused oil with the plant’s herbal benefits. It’s mostly used to make herbal creams, oils, and salves for topical use.
Lavender oil, on the other hand, is an unregulated term and can include anything from diluted essential oils to infused botanical oils, fragrance blends, or synthetic products. Their purity, strength, and therapeutic value can vary a lot.
How Do You Know If Your Essential Oil Is Real?
Unfortunately, cutting essential oils with cheaper oils is a lucrative plot. The more you know about your essential oils, the less likely you are to be duped.
As far as soap labels go, consumers should look for:
- “100% pure lavender essential oil”
- Botanical name: Lavandula angustifolia
- Extraction method: steam distilled
- Single-ingredient labeling
How Can Lavender Essential Oil Support Health and Wellness?
If you listen to the marketing, lavender essential oil seems like a miracle oil that makes your children go to sleep without fussing, relieves your anxiety, and relaxes tight muscles. Are any of these popular claims true?
Let’s see what research has to say. I’ve added links to trusted sources so you can continue doing your own research.
Aromatherapy Benefits
Research shows that inhaling lavender can reduce anxiety, lower stress, and improve sleep. Its compounds affect brain pathways linked to relaxation, helping you feel calmer and rest better.
Common ways to use it for these benefits include diffusing, inhaling, or adding it to baths (source).
Topical & Skin Benefits
Lavender essential oil demonstrates anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant activity, making it valuable in skin care applications. Studies support its ability to calm irritation, reduce redness, and inhibit certain bacteria associated with skin imbalance.
When properly prepared, lavender oil can support sensitive, dry, or reactive skin and is widely used in soaps, creams, lotions, and healing salves (source).
Medical & Therapeutic Applications
Clinical studies support lavender essential oil’s role in managing mild anxiety, improving sleep quality, reducing tension headaches, and assisting wound healing. It has been proven to be effective and with little or no side effects.
It excels as a complementary therapy for stress-related conditions and minor dermatological concerns (source).
Lavender’s gentle sleep-supporting effects come from its main natural compounds, linalool and linalyl acetate, which work with the nervous system to promote relaxation and emotional balance.
When you inhale lavender’s scent, it helps calm an overactive mind, ease anxiety, and reduce nervous tension, creating the perfect mental state for falling asleep. Instead of forcing sedation, lavender supports the body’s natural relaxation, making it easier to drift off peacefully.
Unlike many common sleep medications, lavender doesn’t cause dependency, heavy sedation, or grogginess the next day. This makes it a safe and attractive option for people looking for a natural way to improve sleep, especially over the long term.
Research keeps showing that lavender essential oil is a gentle, well-tolerated, and effective way to improve sleep quality and encourage deeper, more restful sleep (source).
This is why I added lavender to 6 other amazing essential oils to create my Essential 7 blend. Learn more about it in The Power of Cadron Creek’s Essential 7 Blend.
Safety Considerations and Who Should Avoid Lavender Essential Oil
Lavender essential oil is usually safe when diluted properly and used carefully. But some people should be cautious or avoid it, such as pregnant women, infants, young children, those with hormone-sensitive conditions, people with respiratory issues, and anyone taking sedative medicines.
It’s best to talk with a qualified healthcare professional in these cases.
In a Nutshell
My first experience with lavender essential oil in soapmaking was not as pleasant or relaxing as it should have been. Its sharp, herbal smell was overwhelming and a tad nauseating for me. But over time, as I learned more about its chemistry, versatility, and proven therapeutic effects, my view changed.
Now, I appreciate lavender not just for its scent but for its unique balance of power and gentleness. It supports skin health, emotional balance, and overall wellness for people of all ages—from young to old. This makes it one of the most reliable and versatile botanical oils out there.
Lavender essential oil has earned its place through both tradition and science, and it remains a key ingredient in natural personal care.
Peer-Reviewed Sources (2022–Present)
- Msaada, K., et al. (2024). Novel hydrodistillation and steam distillation methods of essential oil recovery from lavender: A comprehensive review. Industrial Crops and Products, 211, 118244.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926669024002218 - Hedayati, S., et al. (2025). Towards a greener future: Sustainable innovations in the extraction of lavender essential oil. Foods, 14(1), 100.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39796388/ - Crișan I, Ona A, Vârban D, Muntean L, Vârban R, Stoie A, Mihăiescu T, Morea A. Current Trends for Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.) Crops and Products with Emphasis on Essential Oil Quality. Plants. 2023; 12(2):357. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12020357
- European Medicines Agency (2023). Lavandula angustifolia flower monograph.
https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/herbal-report/final-assessment-report-lavandula-angustifolia-mill-flos_en.pdf - Mori HM, Kawanami H, Kawahata H, Aoki M. Wound healing potential of lavender oil by acceleration of granulation and wound contraction through induction of TGF-β in a rat model. BMC Complement Med Ther. 2016;16:144. doi:10.1186/s12906-016-1128-7
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4880962/ - Carrasco A, Tomas V, Tudela J, Martinez-Gutierrez R. Lavender essential oil: Phytochemistry, pharmacological properties and clinical applications. Healthcare (Basel). 2022;11(22):2978. doi:10.3390/healthcare11222978
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/22/2978 - Katsoulis IE, Kotsou K, Bougioukou D, et al. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of Lavandula angustifolia essential oil. ACS Omega. 2024;9(5):4912–4922. doi:10.1021/acsomega.4c00313
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.4c00313 - Yoo, O.; Park, S.-A. (2023). Anxiety-Reducing Effects of Lavender Essential Oil Inhalation: A Systematic Review. Healthcare, 11, 2978.
https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11222978 - Ghaderi, F., Banihashemi, S. A., & Khosravi, A. (2022). Effect of lavender essential oil on sleep quality: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 18(5), 1397–1405.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35708558/ - Katsoulis, I. E., et al. (2024). Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of Lavandula angustifolia essential oil. ACS Omega, 9(5), 4912–4922.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.4c00313 - Alaoui, M., et al. (2023).
Ethnobotany and phytochemistry of Moroccan Lavandula species. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 317, 116682.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378874123003837 - Pérez-Sánchez, R., et al. (2024).
Lavandula species of the Iberian Peninsula: Distribution, chemistry and applications. Molecules, 29(1), 144.
https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/29/1/144