Lavender is one of the most versatile essential oils. It can be used in the bath to fight tension, sprayed on a pillow help ease you into slumber, and even applied to the skin to heal and fight infection. Here are 10 fun facts about the history and origins of lavender.

 

1. Lavender was said to have been brought over from Arabia to sell to Greek traders approximately 600 BC, later reaching the Hyeres Islands off the coast of France.

 

2. Lavender was used 2500 years ago in the mummification process in Ancient Egypt.

 

3. It is also speculated that Cleopatra used a perfume infused with lavender to seduced Julius Caesar and Mark Antony!

 

4. Romans used the lavender flower to scent their homes, in the bath, to ward off insects and even cook with.

 

5. The name lavender originated in its Latin form as either lavare--to wash, or livendula--livid or bluish.

 

6. Queen Victoria used to require that her furniture be polished with a lavender-based solution, and she also sipped tea infused with lavender to settle her stomach and ease her headaches.

7. During London’s great plague, people would tie bunches of lavender to their wrists to fight infection and bacteria.

 

8. In Europe, lavender’s cultivation dates back to the middle ages and even as far back as the Mediterranean.

 

9. Today it is farmed across the globe. Lavender farms are situated everywhere from Australia, England, Asia, Europe and the United States.

 

10. Rene Maurice Gattefosse was one of the first people to document the healing powers of lavender in the early 1900s.

 

Click here to learn about the full benefits of Escents lavender line.

Introducing Escents for Him. This new line offers men a 3-step program designed specifically with men's skin in mind. Infused with the essential oils of Frankincense and Patchouli.

 

Step 1: Face Scrub - Wet skin and apply a moderate amount over the face. Gently massage over the face for no more than 60 seconds. Rinse throroughly with warm water. Use before shaving to help prevent razor burn and irritations. Use Escents face scrub 2-3 times a week to help exfoliate and renew skin.

 

Step 2: Face Wash - Wet skin and gently massage over the face with fingertips. Once a light lather forms, rinse off with warm water. This product can also be used as a shave gel. Use this product in the morning and night to cleanse skin of impurities.

 

Step 3: Face Lotion - Apply over face and neck to clean skin. Use this lotion day and night to renew and revitalize the skin.

 

 

 

 

This makes a diffuser blend, but you can reduce the amounts and make it a mood shot, or customers can add it to coconut milk (about 15 drops per cup of coconut milk) for a skin and mind soothing after-sun bath.

Long, hot summer days and nights call for some tropical relaxation. Not everybody can spend weeks by the beach, so the next best thing is this luxurious custom blend. Its sweet, fresh, and relaxing, making it the perfect choice for everyone who spends their days dreaming of cool waves and mai-tais. Our new Rice Milk blend is a great base; its subtly tropical, with sweet notes of peru balsam (deeply grounding and relaxing) and jasmine (has a balancing effect on hormones, helping with anxiety and insomnia). Add to that neroli (a fresh, clean floral with fabulous anti-anxiety properties), rosewood (exotic and calming), and orange (light, summery, and a great anti-depressant).

Learning aromatherapy can be overwhelming. While a beginner can do a lot with a small set of oils and just a little knowledge, lavender and tea tree aren't cure-alls; eventually even beginners want to branch out beyond the basics, but its a wild world out there. What's the difference between niaouli and neroli? Does it matter? If you don't have any lemon, can you substitute a different oil?

Classifying essential oils into families is one great way to make learning aromatherapy a little easier. After learning some basic families and how to recognize them, approaching a shelf of unknown oils isn't overwhelming — it's fun! It's still important to learn the properties of individual oils, but learning the uses of geranium is a lot simpler if you know what most floral oils are like.

In fact, floral oils are an ideal place to start. Many of the most familiar oils fall into this category: rose, jasmine and neroli are all florals, as are geranium, ylang ylang and many others. Certain flowering herbs (such as lavender, roman chamomile and clary sage can also be helpfully classified as floral oils, since their uses fall neatly in line with the others.

True florals tend to be sweet, heady, and well-rounded. Think of a rose mid-bloom, rather than a rose bud; there's rarely any sharpness to true florals, although a sharp 'green' note can show up in rose geranium. Herbal florals tend to be a little sharper and more 'clean' smelling, although they still have the characteristic sweetness of all florals.

This is the family to reach for when youre looking to balance hormones, cultivate romance, or lift mild depression. All floral oils — particularly rose, jasmine, and clary sage — have a strong balancing effect on hormone levels, making them ideal for PMS and cramps as well as less-obvious hormonal issues (such as sleep disorders). However, this strong effect means that pregnant women should stay away from most florals; please check in with one of our staff to learn about which oils are safe during pregnancy.

Floral oils are also a great choice for skin care, where they soothe irritated skin and have a balancing effect on oil production.

Although there are plenty of benefits to using floral oils, there are some cases where they should be avoided. For instance, diffusing is a great way to enjoy the benefits of all oils, but the heaviness of true florals can make small rooms feel even smaller. They're also not a great choice when the goal is to kill bad smells — florals have a tendency to blend with scents rather than cover or eliminate them.

Check back soon for our introductions to the other oil families!

This amazing blend was used by ransacking thieves (hence the name) during the age of the black plague. Thieves would cover themselves in these oils to protect themselves against the terrible sickness while they pillaged the houses that were abandoned after their inhabitants fell victim to the plague.

With this in mind, it is wonderful for the immune system and acts as a very successful deodorizer. Plus! This oil combination is highly useful when dealing with the nasty smell of skunk spray! Put it in an unscented aroma mist bottle and use it as a room spray or dilute it with carrier oil and apply it to the skin.

 

 
 

There's no substitute for shea butter. Rich without being greasy, deeply moisturizing and capable of preventing stretch marks and soothing eczema, shea butter has very quickly become the golden standard for natural skin care. However, few people have seen shea butter in its unrefined form—thick and light yellow with a deep, nutty scent — and even fewer still are aware of the long history the shea tree has in its native Africa.