DIY Make Lavender Infused Oil - Healthy Life You

Lavender Infused Oil

Lavender is probably the most well-known and widely used medicinal plant, and for good reason. It grows right across the temperate and semi-arid world, is very safe, and is a soothing treatment for anxiety, insomnia, headaches, and even depression.

Unlike many other medicinal herbs, lavender is safe for most people, too, including children and pregnant women. Though many people use simple sachets of dried lavender, the scent and plant properties can quickly fade. To preserve both, you can make lavender oil from fresh or dried lavender flowers. 

It’s effortless to do and will create a skin-therapeutic oil that you can use neat or mixed into salves, creams, lip balm, soap or even poured directly into bath water.

There are two types of lavender oil; the one you may be more familiar with is lavender essential oil. Lavender flowers are rich in volatile oils we can extract using a few methods. That includes tinctures, infusions, glycerites, and oils.

The type of lavender oil you usually find is lavender essential oil, a concentration of lavender’s fragrant volatile oils. It’s made by harvesting lavender flowers and extracting their oil using steam distillation. When I say oil, it’s different from a carrier oil such as olive oil. Most volatile oils have the consistency of water and are incredibly high in natural plant chemicals. Most people won’t be able to make it themselves because it requires a professional still and around three pounds (1.36 kg) of fresh lavender to get just 0.5 fl oz (15 ml) lavender essential oil.

The other type of lavender oil is lavender-infused oil, which I will show you how to make. You don’t need expensive equipment or ingredients to make it either – just lavender, a carrier oil, a sealed jar, and a few everyday kitchen utensils. Homemade lavender oil, made using the oil-infusion method, is not as potent as lavender essential oil but still contains many skin-soothing properties. Its main ingredient is vegetable oil, though, so you don’t want to get it on your clothes. You can, however, use it on your skin, in food, and in many skin care recipes.