Musings on Lavender

Lavender is a lovely thing. There are so many versions of it from different countries -- literally different soils. Then there are the hybrids and cousins. And different extraction techniques, too. At Snowdrift Farm, we sell 3 different kinds of lavender essential oils, plus spike lavender, lavender absolute and lavandin. I would love to stock more varieties, and we just may, if I have my way. We also stock the No. 1 lavender buds -- did I mention that? We really like lavender.

I like lavender. It has a clean, green scent with a touch of floral, but not too sweet. And yes, I do find it relaxes me. Not to the point of unconsciousness, but I do like to inhale deeply of it. Especially when I find a lavender with a wonderful bouquet.

Happily, I have found three examples of really nice lavender from three different countries. All three are L. angustifolia. My favorite is the English. We procure it from a co-operative distillery in Norfolk, England. The soil where it is grown is near sea level. A moist, peat-y soil gives the lavender a round, sweet note. It's used extensively in perfuming, and many local farmers distill lavender for sale in small amounts to the tourist trade. Just about everyone has heard of English Lavender. It's the only lavender oil I use in perfuming.

Our Bulgarian lavender is grown on higher ground than the Norfolk. It too has a rounder, sweeter note than the French, but not as sweet as the English. I like to blend the Bulgarian with the Norfolk in certain soaps and in most lotions. The Bulgarian is expensive enough, but if a private label customer asks me to quote on an English lavender batch, I always recommend using the Bulgarian, and maybe adding in a small amount of the English.

Our French 40/42 is our biggest seller. It's got a stronger camphorene note than the Bulgarian or the English. At around 7% camphorene, compared to 1-3% with the Bulgarian or English, it needs a little sweetening up, in my opinion. I use it as is in cold process and melt & pour soaps, and in some lotions. I like to blend it with other linalool heavy oils, such as basil or rosemary. I'm OK with it in a rose fragrance, but have a hard time justifying the use of rose absolute or otto with the 40/42.

Spike lavender (L. latifolia) has a sharper, more pungent scent than any of the other lavenders we sell. Personally, I find it inferior to the others. Still, it blends well and because it is a little bit less expensive (generally) than the others, it's cost effective. It's good to blend with green oils, as well.

Then there's lavandin. A hybrid between L. Officianalis and L. latifolia, lavandin can be grown at lower elevations than common lavender. I like the clean scent of lavandin. I use it in soap -- a lot -- and recommend it to my soap customers, too, instead of common lavender oil.

Finally, there's the absolute. A dark blue color, lavender absolute can add color to your perfumes. I doubt many soapmakers, including myself, would use it in soap, but if we did, it would add a lovely color to the base.

What's your favorite lavender?

Harvesting Lavender

At one point in the past 10 years, I noted to my business coach that if I had to rename Snowdrift Farm, I'd probably choose The Lavender and Shea Butter Company. Lavender essential oil outsells almost every other essential oil, absolute and CO2 extract that we sell, nearly 2:1. There's a reason for that.

Of course, I'd love to boast that Snowdrift Farm sells an oil apart from others that are available on the market today, but the truth is that our best-selling lavender essential oil, our French lavender 40/42, is a standardized material. This means that the lavender 40/42 you purchase from Snowdrift Farm should be of the same quality as any lavender 40/42 in the world. The numbers 40/42 refer to the linalyl acetate/linalool count -- that odor which makes lavender oil smell like, well -- lavender. Essential oils of citronella and eucalyptus are similarly categorized.

What makes Snowdrift Farm's 40/42 different from others out there is our consistency. We have been purchasing from the same source for over 10 years. From distillery to distillery, oils differ, even if ever so slightly. There's a lot to be said for consistency. The same with our Bulgarian lavender essential oil. It's a beautiful oil, with a rounder, sweeter note than the 40/42. Our Bulgarian lavender has a camphor count of about 2%. That's pretty low and its relative absence adds to the sweetness. By contrast, the 40/42 is in the 6-8% range. I use the 40/42 for soapmaking and reserve the Bulgarian for perfumes, lotions and other such goodies.

Lavender grows all over the world in the temperate zone. They say the 'best' lavender is cultivated in the Mediterranean, where the soils are rocky or sandy and drainage is optimal. Hot weather encourages the plants to flower and bloom. Harvest and distillation take place quickly during the summer months, June through September. Here in the USA, plenty of good lavender is cultivated and celebrated. There seem to be an awful lot of lavender farmers located in Washington and Oregon, though. Our friends at Pelindaba Lavender and Sequim Lavender celebrate lavender yearly with festivals and fairs. Now, that would be a fun road trip.