Essential Nose Lavender
Genus Lavandula
The genus Lavandula encompasses over 45 species of flowering plants in the mint family (Lamiaceae), native to the Mediterranean, Macaronesia, and India. Lavender essential oils have been used for millennia in perfumery and traditional medicine, and their biological properties - including antibacterial, antifungal, sedative, and antidepressive effects - have been extensively reviewed in scientific literature.[1]
True Lavender
Lavandula angustifolia
- Also Known As
- English Lavender, Fine Lavender, Common Lavender
- Family
- Floral
- Perfumery Note
- Middle
- Intensity
- Medium
- Extraction
- Steam Distillation
- Plant Parts
- Flowering tops
- Origins
- France, Bulgaria, England
- Effect
- Balancing, Calming & Relaxing
- Aroma
- Floral, Fresh, Herbaceous, Sweet
- Applications
- Aromatherapy, Perfumery, Massage, Skincare, Bath & Body, Medicinal, Candles & Soap
- Price
- $$$$"Butterfly Lavender" has a higher camphor content and a different growth cycle than true lavender
True lavender (L. angustifolia) is prized for its gentle, sweet-floral aroma and clinically studied calming and anxiolytic effects. Inhalation has been shown to reduce anxiety in animal models,[2] and regular use has demonstrated measurable improvements in sleep quality and emotional well-being in clinical settings.[3]
Lavandin
Lavandula x intermedia
- Also Known As
- Dutch Lavender, Bastard Lavender
- Family
- Floral
- Perfumery Note
- Middle
- Intensity
- Medium
- Extraction
- Steam Distillation
- Plant Parts
- Flowering tops
- Origins
- France, Spain, Croatia
- Effect
- Energising, Clearing
- Aroma
- Floral, Camphoraceous, Herbaceous
- Applications
- Aromatherapy, Perfumery, Massage, Skincare, Bath & Body, Cleaning
- Price
- $$$$The most common commercial lavender hybrid; extremely hardy with a very high oil yield
Lavandin is a sterile hybrid of L. angustifolia and L. latifolia with a sharper, more camphoraceous character than true lavender, owing to significantly higher camphor and terpene content.[4] This chemical profile underpins its more stimulating, clearing biological activity — including antioxidant, antimicrobial, and neuroprotective effects — distinguishing it clearly from the gentler L. angustifolia.[5]
Spike Lavender
Lavandula latifolia
- Also Known As
- Broad-leaved Lavender, Portuguese Lavender
- Family
- Floral
- Perfumery Note
- Top
- Intensity
- Medium
- Extraction
- Steam Distillation
- Plant Parts
- Flowering tops
- Origins
- Spain, Portugal, France
- Effect
- Stimulating, Clearing
- Aroma
- Camphoraceous, Herbaceous, Fresh
- Applications
- Aromatherapy, Massage, Medicinal, Inhalation
- Price
- $$$$Lavandula latifolia yields a high-camphor oil in abundance across Mediterranean hillsides; widely available and less prized in fine perfumery than true lavender
Spike lavender is notable for its high camphor content, giving it a more medicinal, stimulating character than true lavender. Its essential oil has demonstrated synergistic antibacterial effects against Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes, supporting its use in topical and pharmaceutical antimicrobial applications.[6]
Spanish Lavender
Lavandula stoechas
- Also Known As
- French Lavender, Topped Lavender, Italian Lavender
- Family
- Floral
- Perfumery Note
- Middle
- Intensity
- Medium
- Extraction
- Steam Distillation
- Plant Parts
- Flowering tops
- Origins
- Spain, Morocco, Turkey
- Effect
- Antimicrobial, Calming & Relaxing
- Aroma
- Camphoraceous, Sweet, Herbaceous
- Applications
- Aromatherapy, Perfumery, Massage, Bath & Body
- Price
- $$$$Lavandula stoechas grows prolifically across the Iberian Peninsula with a decent oil yield, but its strong camphor-heavy scent limits demand in fine perfumery, keeping the price modest
Spanish lavender has the most distinctive aromatic profile in the genus, characterised by its prominent bracts and high fenchone content. Traditional use as an anticonvulsant has been validated in pharmacological studies showing calcium-channel-blocking activity,[7] and its essential oil has demonstrated significant anticandidal activity across multiple wild populations.[8]
Bulgarian Lavender
Lavandula angustifolia
- Also Known As
- Bulgarian True Lavender, Bulgarian Fine Lavender
- Family
- Floral
- Perfumery Note
- Middle
- Intensity
- Medium
- Extraction
- Steam Distillation
- Plant Parts
- Flowering tops
- Origins
- Bulgaria
- Effect
- Calming & Relaxing, Balancing
- Aroma
- Floral, Sweet, Herbaceous, Honey-like
- Applications
- Aromatherapy, Perfumery, Massage, Skincare, Bath & Body, Medicinal
- Price
- $$$$Lavandula angustifolia from Bulgaria's Rose Valley is considered among the finest true lavenders; the cool highland climate produces a particularly delicate aroma that commands a slight premium
Lavandula angustifolia produced in Bulgaria — primarily from the Rose Valley region — yields an absolute dominated by oxygenated monoterpenes (52-80% of total composition), with linalool (27-38%) and linalyl acetate (26-37%) as co-dominant constituents across industrial lots.[9] GC/MS analysis of seven Bulgarian industrial samples identified 111 individual compounds, confirming that the Bulgarian crop consistently meets pharmacopoeial benchmarks of 20-45% linalool and 25-47% linalyl acetate that define authentic L. angustifolia oil.[9]
Lavandin Abrialis
Lavandula x intermedia 'Abrialis'
- Also Known As
- Abrialis Lavandin
- Family
- Floral
- Perfumery Note
- Middle
- Intensity
- Medium
- Extraction
- Steam Distillation
- Plant Parts
- Flowering tops
- Origins
- France
- Effect
- Energising, Clearing
- Aroma
- Floral, Camphoraceous, Herbaceous, Sharp
- Applications
- Aromatherapy, Perfumery, Massage, Skincare, Bath & Body
- Price
- $$$$The most common commercial lavender hybrid; extremely hardy with a very high oil yield
Lavandula x intermedia 'Abrialis' is an older French hybrid cultivar whose essential oil is characterised by elevated camphor (11-16%), borneol (~10-12%), and 1,8-cineole (~9-16%) relative to true lavender, alongside moderate linalool (~19-26%) and linalyl acetate (~13%).[10] This camphor-rich profile — which varies with geographic provenance — confers documented antimicrobial activity, including inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus at a minimum inhibitory concentration of 6.25 µg/mL.[10]
Lavandin Grosso
Lavandula x intermedia 'Grosso'
- Also Known As
- Grosso Lavandin
- Family
- Floral
- Perfumery Note
- Middle
- Intensity
- Medium
- Extraction
- Steam Distillation
- Plant Parts
- Flowering tops
- Origins
- France, Spain
- Effect
- Calming & Relaxing, Clearing
- Aroma
- Floral, Fresh, Camphoraceous, Herbaceous
- Applications
- Aromatherapy, Perfumery, Massage, Bath & Body, Cleaning
- Price
- $$$$The most common commercial lavender hybrid; extremely hardy with a very high oil yield
Lavandula x intermedia 'Grosso' is the dominant commercial lavandin cultivar — accounting for an estimated 75% of global lavandin production — and yields an essential oil with linalool (27-33%) and linalyl acetate (31-38%) as principal components, accompanied by comparatively modest camphor (6.5-7.7%) and 1,8-cineole (4.5-6.6%).[11] Cell-based assays show that 'Grosso' oil at 0.0001% upregulates the antioxidant-response genes NQO1 and CYTB in SH-SY5Y neuronal cells, a profile distinguishable from both 'Abrialis' and L. angustifolia oils tested under identical conditions.[11]
References
- [1]Biological activities of lavender essential oil — Cavanagh HMA, Wilkinson JM. Phytotherapy Research, 2002
- [2]Anxiolytic effects of Lavandula angustifolia odour on the Mongolian gerbil elevated plus maze — Bradley BF et al. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2007
- [3]Efficacy of inhaled Lavandula angustifolia Mill. essential oil on sleep quality, quality of life and metabolic control in patients with diabetes mellitus type II and insomnia — Nasiri Lari Z et al. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2020
- [4]Lavandula x intermedia — Part I. Biology and Chemical Composition of Lavandin — Pokajewicz K et al. Molecules, 2023
- [5]Lavandula x intermedia — Part II. Biological Activities and Applications of Lavandin — Pokajewicz K et al. Molecules, 2023
- [6]Synergistic antibacterial combination of Lavandula latifolia Medik. essential oil with camphor — Karaca N et al. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C, 2020
- [7]Ethnopharmacological evaluation of the anticonvulsant, sedative and antispasmodic activities of Lavandula stoechas L. — Gilani AH et al. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2000
- [8]Chemical Profiling and Biological Properties of Essential Oils of Lavandula stoechas L. Collected from Three Moroccan Sites — Benali T et al. Plants (Basel), 2023
- [9]Exploring the Chemical Composition of Bulgarian Lavender Absolute (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.) by GC/MS and GC-FID — Nedeltcheva-Antonova D et al. Plants, 2022
- [10]Comparative study of the chemical composition, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils extracted from Lavandula abrialis and Lavandula stoechas: in vitro and in silico analysis — Radi M et al. Frontiers in Chemistry, 2024
- [11]Phytochemical Characterization and Potential Anti-Oxidative Activity of Lavandula angustifolia subsp. pyrenaica, Lavandula x intermedia cv Grosso, and cv Super Essential Oils Compared to a Commercial Lavender Essential Oil — Pérez-Sánchez A et al. Plants, 2025