Lavender Essential Oils
When it comes to using essential oils in products, lavender is one of the most popular ones selected. Used throughout history, lavender has made its mark in the cosmetics, medicinal, and perfumery industries.
This is true for two reasons; first lavender is one of the most recognized scents worldwide. And second, with such an array of skin and health benefits from lavender, it is easily a front runner for induction in to products. There is only one problem though. As with any essential oil, it is very difficult to get an identical essential oil each time.
Any essential oil can fluctuate greatly in scent for many different reasons. These differences can be due to lots, varying seasons of harvest, the environment in which the plant was grown, soil conditions of the area, cross pollination of the plant, and even the distillation process of the essential oil itself. Any one of these factors can change the essential oil.
There are different lavender essential oils available in the market. Natures Garden currently carries two various forms of lavender essential oil. These essential oils are Lavender Essential Oil 40/42 and Lavandin Grosso Pure Essential Oil.
What is Lavender Essential Oil 40/42
This Lavender Essential Oil carries the botanical name Lavendula angustifolia, which is also known as “true lavender”. This name is also synonymous with English Lavender. When it comes to scent, this type of essential oil is produced to have what is traditionally (and commercially) accepted as the lavender aroma. More specifically, lavender 40/42 is the sweet flower smell of lavender.
The number 40/42 at the end of the essential oil name signifies the amount of linalool and linalyl acetate in the essential oil. Linalool is a natural occurring organic compound (terpene alcohol) which is responsible for the floral scent of a plant. Linalyl acetate is also a naturally occurring chemical compound found in many “flowering” plants.
When it comes to the creation of Lavender Essential Oil 40/42, it is commonly achieved by the combination of varying distilled lavender oils. These lavender oils are not only selected by their species but also by their economical cost. The natural lavender oils are then integrated together to yield an essential oil that contains 40% linalool and 42% linalyl acetate. These percentages allow the two biggest components of the traditional lavender scent, and also make for an essential oil that is cost effective and can be replicated time and time again with very little scent difference.
Both Linalool and Linalyl acetate are important factors for this essential oil because it helps to ensure a dependable aroma. Because essential oils can vary from batch to batch throughout the year, these amounts of linalool and linalyl acetate can help to produce a more consistent essential oil. For this oil precisely, a lavender essential oil with its very distinctive and well known flowery aroma.
What is Lavandin Grosso Pure Essential Oil
This essential oil which carries the botanical name Lavendula hybrid is a cross breeding of two different lavender plants; the angustifolia (English) and latifolia (spike). The resulting oil has comparable attributes to angustifolia, however, due to its distinctive and differing chemical content the essential oil has separate features. This essential oil is a refreshing more camphor like scent that does not focus on the floral aspect of lavender like Lavender 40/42 essential oil. As one of the 39 species of lavender, lavandin grosso has camphorous notes that are more evident in the essential oil as opposed to its counterpart 40/42. This is because lavandin essential oils contain a higher percentage of terpenes (particularly camphor) in it. This scent is long lasting and sharp, especially in soaps and lotions; unlike Lavender 40/42 which is considered a more sweet and subtle aroma.
The actual essential oil itself is produced by the distillation of the flowering tops of the plant lavender grosso. These plants blossom later than the Lavender angustifolia. Another advantage of these plants is that they yield a larger volume of essential oil; up to 3 times the amount of Lavender angustifolia; making it cost effective too.
Although there are some differences in these two lavender essential oils, they both maintain a plethora of wonderful skin and health benefits. If you are interested in reading about all of the wonderful benefits that lavender (herb or essential oil) provides to your products, please click on this link.
Natures Garden sells our essential oils for external applications only. In the above post, we discussed the differences between Lavender 40/42 Essential Oil and Lavandin Grosso Pure Essential Oil. Nothing in this article is to be construed as medical advice. Please consult your doctor before using any of this information for treatment purposes. We provide this data for educational purposes only.
