amazing lavender

Headache?  Bad burn?  Insect bites?  Dig into the first aid kit and pull out any number of ointments, pills and creams.  An alternative?  A nice natural hippie alternative?  Lavender oil!!

If there is no lavender oil in your house, you are crazy.  Not only is it a natural antibiotic, antiseptic and antidepressant but it also promotes healing and the growth of skin cells as well as helping to prevent scarring.  It can be used to help manage high blood pressure, is a natural sedative and is extremely calming.  In addition to all of those benefits, lavender oil smells incredible. 

what are essential oils

Essential oils are extracted from plants and are extremely concentrated.   Lavender oil is derived from the flowers of the lavender plant.  It is a very potent oil and you often only need a drop or two.

how to use it

As it is very concentrated and powerful, lavender oil should be used with care.  Here are some ways you can use it:

Burns – after applying ice cold water to the burn area for at least 10 minutes, put a couple of drops of neat lavender oil directly on the burn. 

Insect repellent – mix lavender oil with a carrier oil such as sweet almond oil and apply to your skin to keep insects such as mosquitoes away.  A good ratio is 1 drop per 30mL.  At this ratio, a little oil goes a long way. 

Insomnia – a few drops of lavender oil in a bath before bedtime will help you wind down.  Don’t use any more than 3 drops however as any more than that and the oil could become more of a stimulant than a relaxant.  You could also put a drop under your pillow. 

Headache – massage some lavender oil on your temples and along the hairline at the back of your neck.

Insect bites – apply neat lavender oil to the affected area.  For more aggravating bites such as ticks, apply a drop of lavender every 5 minutes up to 10 times.

Blisters – apply neat lavender oil to the blister and pat gently. 

Body oil/moisturiser – add some lavender oil to a carrier oil such as grapeseed oil and use it all over your body as a massage oil or even as a moisturiser.  As lavender oil promotes skin cell growth it is a good anti-ageing oil.    

Acne – dab some lavender oil onto acne blemishes to assist with healing and prevent infection.

what now

You can buy lavender oil from any health food store.  Just make sure that you are buying lavender essential oil and not fragrant oil.  Fragrant oil is all synthetic and will have none of the health benefits of the essential oil. 

Lavender oil is one of the most versatile essential oils around and has many more uses than what I have mentioned here.  So throw out your burn cream, sleeping pills, horrible insect sprays and any other tubes of rubbish that you will no longer need.  Once you have some of this miracle oil, you can take another giant step on your purification journey.