Steam-distilled from the flowering tops of Lavandula × intermedia, the 'Grosso' cultivar. Fresh, sweet and floral with a herbaceous, faintly camphorous edge — brighter and sharper than true lavender, and immediately familiar to almost everyone.
The lavender you have almost certainly been smelling all your life
Lavandin is the natural hybrid of true lavender (L. angustifolia) and spike lavender (L. latifolia), and it is worth knowing three things about it.
First, it is the plant in the photographs. Those endless rows of tall purple Provence — the Valensole plateau, the picture on the calendar — are overwhelmingly lavandin, not fine lavender. It grows lower down, in bigger plants, in tidier rows.
Second, it yields far more oil. A hectare of lavandin produces several times what a hectare of true lavender does, which is why lavandin is a fraction of the price — and why most soaps, detergents, candles and "lavender" products in the world are scented with lavandin, whatever the label implies.
Third, you can tell them apart in a field. True lavender has one flower head per stem; lavandin has three — a central spike with two smaller ones branching below it. Once you have seen it you cannot unsee it.
None of this makes lavandin inferior. It makes it different, and honestly priced. Its higher camphor content is exactly what gives it that clean, bracing lift, and for scenting a house, a wardrobe or a cleaning spray it is arguably the better choice.
What an essential oil may and may not claim
Lavandin is often sold as "a lovely choice for easing aching muscles and joints and supporting healthy circulation" and as "a welcome support for easy breathing". Neither appears here. Claims about muscles, circulation and breathing are health claims, and none is authorised in the EU for any essential oil.
How to use it
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Diffusion: a few drops in a ventilated room, twenty to thirty minutes at a time.
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Household: this is where lavandin genuinely earns its place. A few drops in a vinegar-and-water surface spray, in a homemade laundry rinse, or on a wooden block in a drawer. Keep it off unsealed wood and painted surfaces, and off fabric directly — essential oils stain.
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On skin: one to two per cent in a carrier oil (6–12 drops in 30 ml). Patch test and wait 24 hours.
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Because of the camphor: not in pregnancy, not on young children, not around a sleeping baby, and caution with epilepsy. It is meaningfully lower in camphor than spike lavender but meaningfully higher than true lavender, so if you want the gentlest of the three, buy the angustifolia.
- Not around pets — cats especially.
A note on skin sensitisation
Linalool and linalyl acetate — the compounds lavenders are built on — oxidise in air into hydroperoxides that are genuine contact allergens. Linalool and limonene are both on the EU list of fragrance substances that must be declared on cosmetic labels for this reason. An old, half-empty bottle is far more likely to irritate than a fresh one, so keep the cap tight and store it cool and dark.
Safety — the essentials
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Never swallow essential oils without the direct supervision of a qualified health professional.
- Keep out of reach of children, in the original bottle with the child-resistant cap.
- In eyes: flush with plain vegetable oil rather than water.
- Accident or swallowing: in Portugal call CIAV on 800 250 250 — free, 24 hours. In an emergency, 112.
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