Lavender (Lavandula) is an interesting thing. Either you love it or you don’t. There is no inbetween. The only other option is that you don’t know about lavender. But as soon as you get to know it, you fall in one of two camps.
I count myself lucky to be in the lavender fan club. That gives me an opportunity to experiment with it to my heart’s desire. Further, during my summer holidays I can observe the steam distillation of lavender oil. So I can be completely sure about the quality of my oil and safely use it in any way possible. And lavande oil is the best option to experiment – very potent, mixes relatively well with a number of liquids, does not leave stains and it smells heavenly. There are so many uses and options for lavender oil, I decided to list them all in order to have them at hand.
Lavender oil as a fragrance
First, the most obvious one, lavender oil can be used for the fragrance. But there are so many options also for its use, I need to make a special sublist.
- First, you can rub it on your body. This is not obvious, since many essential oils can cause irritation on your skin. Lavender oil is not a strong irritant, but nevertheless, keep it away from sensitive parts like your face. But to freshen up your hands, it’s perfect!
- The wardrobe or your bed will certainly benefit from a drop or two of lavender oil. Just sprinkle lavender and it’s done. In theory you shouldn’t worry about the oily stains – lavender essential oil evaporates completely in about an hour. If there are oil stains left on your bed, then your lavender oil was diluted with regular vegetable oil. So do try first a piece of cloth to see the effect, before proceeding to your bedsheets.
- Putting a drop or two in your shoes will also freshen them up, while the oil itself also can also act as antiseptic, further removing the smell from your shoes.
- Lavender hydrosol (or hydrolate) is usually a byproduct of lavender oil distillation. It is perfect for ironing, if you are also using steam while you iron and want your clothes to smell nice. The only problem is that lavender hydrosol is relatively hard to get. A perfect solution is to make your own and in the exact amount that you need. Just add a drop of lavender oil to 100 mL of water (tap or distilled – depending on your iron) and shake vigorously. Finished.
Lavender oil in foodstuff
And now for the fun part. As expected lavender oil can also be extensively used for making a lot of delicious sweets and drinks.
- First option is lavender syrup. A great starter for many drinks like Lavender hugo or Lavender fizz. You do not have to make the syrup from scratch. Just mix sugar and water in the desired quantity – 30% sugar for a light syrup or 50% sugar for a more microbiologically stable, but much sweeter syrup and add lavender oil. About 2-3 drops per mL should be enough – bu it all depends on how much taste you want in your syrup.
- Baking with lavender oil is another great idea. Just a few drops give the flavor and aroma of a summer France. For instance my recipe for Lavender brownies is super tasty with that dreamy mediterranean note.
- Lavender ice cream is super easy to make. And it tastes super fresh making it a perfect treat for hot summer days. Just take two scoops of vanilla ice cream, add a drop of lavender oil and mix thoroughly.
- Lavender pastilles are another great idea. Similar to my mint pastilles, they are easy to make, just exchange the mint oil for lavender oil. The taste is super fresh and strongly tasting of lavender.
- With lavender oil you can also add extra flavor to the honey and use it for relaxation and calming down, as I already noted in my Flavored honey post.
I am sure there are a myriad of other ways that one can use lavender oil. If you have something to add to my list, I would love it if you can drop me a comment below.
