Lavender Essential Oil is derived from Lavender, which is an evergreen woody shrub that has pale green, narrow linear leaves & violet blue flowers. Blending well with all citrus oils, Lavender Oil has in it properties for treating ailments & infections including asthma, halitosis, colds, laryngitis, throat & whooping cough.
COMMON NAMES
Garden oil.
BLENDS WITH:
Cedarwood, geranium, clary sage, pine, nutmeg & all citrus oils.
CONSTITUENTS
a-pinene, limonene, cis-ocimene, p-cymene , beta-myrcene, terpinene-4-ol, borneol , linalool , camphene, 1,8-cineole, trans-ocimene, camphor, geranyl acetate, 3-octanone, linalool, linalyl acetate, terpinen-4-ol, caryophyllene and lavendulyl acetate.
USES
Lavender oil has in it properties for treating asthma, colds, halitosis, laryngitis, throat infections & whooping cough. Further, it also helps digestive system deal with colic, nausea, vomiting & flatulence. Lavender oil, which has long been used in the production of perfume, can also be used in aromatherapy. The scent has a calming effect which may aid in relaxation and the reduction of anxiety, stress.
It is also said to treat a variety of common ailments, such as sunburn and sunstroke. It can also be used in massage oil mixtures, which may be effective in the relief of joint and muscle pain, or in chest rub mixtures for the relief of asthmatic and bronchitic spasm. It is also said to treat head lice when used in a hair rinse mixture, or on a fine comb to eliminate nits.One study suggests application of lavender essential oil instead of povidone-iodine for episiotomy wound care.
In vitro, lavender oil is cytotoxic as well as photosensitizing. A study demonstrated that lavender oil is cytotoxic to human skin cells in vitro (endothelial cells and fibroblasts) at a concentration of 0.25%. Linalool, a component of lavender oil, reflected the activity of the whole oil, indicating that linalool may be the active component of lavender oil. The result of another study showed that aqueous extracts reduced mitotic index, but induced chromosome aberrations and mitotic aberrations in comparison with control, significantly. Aqueous extracts induced breaks, stickiness, pole deviations and micronuclei. Furthermore, these effects were related to extract concentrations.
Oil of spike lavender has also occasionally been used as a solvent in oil painting, mainly before the use of distilled turpentine became common. For instance Francisco Pacheco mentions the use of lavender oil in his book “Arte de la pintura