Lavender Essential Oil, Herbal, 100 ml

Lavender essential oil (narrow-leaved lavender) is a fragrance ingredient for home and professional cosmetics. It comes from the plant Lavandula angustifolia and brings a herbal-floral scent to formulations that blends well with other essential oils. It perfumes creams, body oils, soaps and candles, and often serves as a base when composing custom fragrance blends.

The oil is of plant origin from European cultivation, free from GMOs and materials of animal origin. It has not been tested on animals and is readily biodegradable (OECD 301).

What makes it distinctive

• Scent – fresh, floral, with a herbal undertone, which softens the overall fragrance of the product.
• Versatility – it blends with citrus, herbal, woody and resinous essential oils, making it suitable for beginners' first blends as well as more complex compositions.
• Wide range of use – the IFRA standard for this oil covers categories 1 to 12, from lip products through creams and soaps to candles and air fresheners.

Use in formulation

The oil is soluble in oil and alcohol, it does not dissolve in water and belongs to the oil phase. For water-based products such as tonics, facial mists or water-based room sprays, it is added with a solubiliser (e.g. Polysorbate 20, Polysorbate 80). Without it, the oil will separate on the surface and the fragrance will be distributed unevenly.

The recommended processing temperature is below 40 °C. It is therefore added to an emulsion during cooling, once the cream has come together and thickened, with constant stirring. The oil is a mixture of volatile components; adding it to the hot oil phase results in their loss and a weaker fragrance in the finished product.

Dosing is governed by the IFRA standard. Each product category has a different maximum proportion, so there is no single universal value. A face cream has a different limit from a shower gel or a candle. Product category classifications under IFRA can be found in the product parameters; the maximum percentage for the given category is stated in the IFRA certificate for this oil.

Suitable for products such as

• creams, body lotions and massage oils, where the lavender scent complements the soothing character of the product (IFRA category 5),
• bar and liquid soaps, shower gels and shampoos as rinse-off products (category 9),
• fragrance oils and hydroalcoholic fragrances (category 4),
• candles and aromatic waxes (category 12),
• air fresheners and room sprays (category 10B).

What is good to know

Essential oils can affect the behaviour of the finished emulsion, so we recommend testing any new formulation in a small trial batch first.

For anhydrous products – oils, balms and massage bars – it is sufficient to stir the oil into the cooled oil phase. The need for preservation of the finished product is governed by the presence of water in the formulation, not by the essential oil itself.

Frequently asked questions