Known since ancient times for its pleasant scent and medicinal properties, true lavender is used in the composition of many skin care products under its INCI name “Lavandula Angustifolia Oil”. Its flowers provide an essential oil with soothing, purifying and anti-inflammatory properties. In this article, you will find the key information you need to know about this botanical extract: its production process, its biochemical composition, its benefits and its contraindications.
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All About True Lavender Essential Oil.
Summary
- A Few Words About True Lavender Essential Oil
- How Is Lavandula Angustifolia Essential Oil Made?
- What Are the Properties of True Lavender Essential Oil?
- True Lavender Essential Oil: Instructions for Use and Contraindications
- In Which Care Products Can I Find True Lavender Essential Oil?
- Sources
Published February 29, 2024,
by
Pauline, Head of Scientific Communication
—
13 min read
A Few Words About True Lavender Essential Oil.
True lavender essential oil is extracted from the dried flowers of Lavandula angustifolia. Unlike most essential oils, lavender oil can be used pure. It is used in the composition of several care products because of its calming and purifying properties.
True lavender belongs to the Lamiaceae family. This plant grows wild between 600 and 1,400 m of altitude. It is found in Provence and throughout the Mediterranean basin, but also in Spain and Italy. Lavandula angustifolia has the particularity of having only one flowering head on each stem. Its mauve inflorescence give off a pleasant characteristic perfume.
How Is Lavandula Angustifolia Essential Oil Made?
Lavender essential oil is obtained by hydrodistillation from the dried flowers. Only the flowering tops are used for its manufacture. Here are the different steps:
The flowers are dried and placed in a large container hermetically sealed and connected to a boiler. The steam produced in the boiler is sent to the container holding the dried flowers. The heat generated allows the extraction of the essential oil and the hydrosol.
The steam is then cooled in a coil bathed in a cooling tank. This change in temperature liquefies it. The water and the oil, of different densities, are separated in an essencier. The pure essential oil, less dense than water, constitutes the upper phase of the liquid and can be collected after this stage. It must then be kept in a closed container, protected from light and too much heat.
From an organoleptic perspective, true lavender essential oil is a light yellow to orange liquid with a floral and herbaceous fragrance. It contains mainly esters (about 30% linalyl acetate), monoterpenols (linalool) and monoterpenes (terpinene, limonene).
What Are the Properties of True Lavender Essential Oil?
In topical application.
Lavandula angustifolia oil is known for its soothing and relaxing properties, due to the presence of linalool and linalyl acetate in its composition. These molecules are indeed able to inhibit certain nociceptors, receptors responsible for the transmission of pain in the body. It is thus ideal for the sensitive or irritated skins, and can also be used in the event of itching or insect bites.
In addition, the essential oil of true lavender is said to have regenerative and healing properties thanks to its camphor content. However, studies contradict each other on this subject, but some suggest that its application to the skin promotes the proliferation of fibroblasts to produce collagen-rich healing tissue.
The use of true lavender essential oil is also recommended for skin prone to imperfections or acne. The active ingredients act in synergy to limit the proliferation of bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus or Cutibacterium acnes, the latter being involved in the acne process.
In capillary application.
True lavender essential oil can also be used as a hair treatment. In particular, it helps to soothe irritation and redness of the scalp and relieves itching. It also helps to limit desquamation and thus prevent the appearance of dandruff.
Note also that its use in synergy with essential oils of thyme linalol, rosemary, and Atlas cedar would seem to help fight against alopecia. Finally, the Lavandula angustifolia oil is particularly appreciated for its anti-lice virtues. It acts as a repellent towards these parasites thanks to the camphor and linalool it contains.
True Lavender Essential Oil: Instructions for Use and Contraindications.
True lavender extract, widely used in aromatherapy, is suitable for all skin types and all hair types, and is not irritating. It is not listed as an endocrine disruptor and is not considered a SVHC (Substance of Very High Concern) by the European REACH Regulation.
Even though it is very mild, it is not recommended for pregnant and breastfeeding women, or young children to use true lavender essential oil. For people with sensitive skin, it is also recommended to dilute it.
In addition, it contains biochemical compounds that are potentially allergenic. It is thus preferable to carry out a tolerance test before using it. To do this, apply two drops to the hollow of your elbow and wait at least 24 hours. If you do not observe any skin reaction, true lavender essential oil can be integrated into your skin or hair care. However, like all essential oils, Lavandula angustifolia oil should not be applied around the eyes or on mucous membranes.
In Which Care Products Can I Find True Lavender Essential Oil?
Because of its soothing and purifying properties, true lavender essential oil (INCI name: Lavandula Angustifolia Oil) is used in several of our products.
Our exfoliating night cream combines the action of lavender oil with two AHAs, glycolic acid and mandelic acid. This composition gives it exfoliating virtues and restores the skin's radiance by helping day after day to tighten dilated pores and reduce the number of open comedones.
Our firming body serum is rich in active tensors such as retinol and oily extract of borage (INCI name: Borago Officinalis Seed Oil). This composition allows him to act against the first signs of cutaneous relaxation. It helps to firm and smooth the skin of the neck and décolleté, and can also be used on other parts of the body.
Sources
MORETTI M. D. & al. Anti-inflammatory activity of linalool and linalyl acetate constituents of essential oils. Phytomedicine (2002).
WILKINSON J. M. & al. Biological activities of lavender essential oil. Phytotherapy Research : PTR (2002).
VILJOEN A. M. & al. Linalool – a review of a biologically active compound of commercial importance. Natural Product Communications (2008).
ALTMAN P. M. & al. An ex vivo, assessor blind, randomised, parallel group, comparative efficacy trial of the ovicidal activity of three pediculicides after a single application--melaleuca oil and lavender oil, eucalyptus oil and lemon tea tree oil, and a "suffocation" pediculicide. BMC Dermatology (2011).
LIM S. H. & al. Membrane disruption and anti-quorum sensing effects of synergistic interaction between Lavandula angustifolia (lavender oil) in combination with antibiotic against plasmid-conferred multi-drug-resistant Escherichia coli. Journal of applied microbiology (2014).
DE OLIVEIRA J. R. & al. Antioxidant, analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of lavender essential oil. Anais de Academia Brasileira de Ciencias (2015).
NOBAKHT Z. & al. Effect of aromatherapy massage with lavender essential oil on pain in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee: A randomized controlled clinical trial. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice (2016).
HOLLINGER J. C. & al. The use of natural ingredients in the treatment of alopecias with an emphasis on central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia: a systematic review. Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology (2020).
WYSONG A. & al. The effects of lavender essential oil on wound healing: a review of the current evidence. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (2020).
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