Lavender is the common name for a group of aromatic plants in the mint family, best known for narrow grey-green leaves and summer spikes of purple, blue, pink, or white flowers. Native to parts of the Mediterranean region and neighboring areas, many lavenders thrive in sunny sites with freely draining soils. Their flowers attract bees and other pollinating insects.[1]
Not all lavender is the same
English or true lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is especially familiar in herbalism and perfumery. Lavandin (Lavandula × intermedia), a hybrid of L. angustifolia and L. latifolia, is also widely cultivated for fragrance. It often has a more penetrating, camphoraceous quality. Plant identity matters when interpreting an ingredient called simply “lavender.”[1,2]
An aromatic herb in everyday life
Lavender flowers have been used in fragrant sachets, herbal teas, bath preparations, and distilled oils. Lavender oil has also been used in European herbal traditions for restlessness and difficulty sleeping.[3]
Its herbaceous, floral aroma is important in its own right. Lavender can provide a clean, sweet opening or middle note in natural perfumery, and its familiar scent has made it a favored material in linens and personal care.
Fragrance and constituents
Lavender essential oil often contains substantial amounts of linalool and linalyl acetate, two aromatic terpenoids associated with its floral and gently herbaceous character. The proportions vary with species and cultivar. Some other lavenders and lavandin oils contain more camphor or 1,8-cineole, which can shift the scent toward sharper, more penetrating herbal notes.[2]
These distinctions help explain why a distilled lavender hydrosol, an essential oil, and a dried bunch of flowering lavender do not smell exactly alike.
At Deschampsia
We source Lavandula angustifolia from The Lavender Connection in Sequim, Washington. We co-distill that lavender with wild-gathered California mugwort in our copper alembic still to make Dreamy Mugwort & Lavender Hydrosol. Co-distilling brings both plants into the still together, rather than mixing two finished hydrosols. The lavender contributes a floral, herbaceous aspect to the richer mugwort aroma.
The same co-distillation also yields a small amount of essential oil, which we use in Dream Balm. It brings the combined floral and herbal aroma of lavender and mugwort into the balm.
Related Library entries: Mugwort, Hydrosols, Essential Oils, and Distillation.
