A friend of mine just received an order of lavender essential oil (it is 100% pure essential oil, therapeutic grade, but I don’t know which company). She said the smell of it was not what she was expecting, but she has never smelled actual lavender essential oil before.
Can anyone here describe what lavender should smell like?
It is not the artificially sweet smell that you expect from perfumes or such. 😉 Smelling mine right now, I think it smells like a tangy crushed plant that’s been stepped on when I was hiking. I don’t really know how to describe the smells – except that the peppermint smells like a really yummy candy.
I admit that I was shocked to smell mine the first time, but as she adjusts her expectations, it will definitely grow on her. I had to retrain my nose when I first started using EO and also remember not to stick them right under my nose for a good whiff – I swear I curled my nose hairs more then once when I first started using real EO. LOL
I would describe real lavender as a soft, sort of musky, barely floral scent. It’s one of my favorite smells in the world. It’s not flowery at all. It is a potent smell, but heavenly.
Yesterday, I received a bottle of lavender essential oil that I had ordered, and aside from just opening the box to make sure the right bottles were in there, I didn’t have time to open the bottle until this evening.
So, my son was still up at 10 p.m. and came down & plopped next to me on the couch–rocking, flutter-kicking his legs, giving me big funny grins–and he said, “I’m just so full of energy tonight!” I asked him if he would take his magnesium, and he agreed. Shortly after, I walked into my bedroom and decided to open the bottle of lavender. He came bursting out of his room, asking what smelled so good. I told him, asked if I could put a tiny bit on his temples to help him relax & calm down. He let me do that…..and now, 20 minutes or so later, he is asleep.
Yay! Lavender EO is my new friend! (And I think it smells wonderful.)
It smells gross. Especially at first. It does get better as you go along–but still kind of gross. It doesn’t smell like flowers as you might expect. It is sort of plant like. You know, your tomato plant in the garden smells drastically different than the yummy ripe tomato.
LOL, I think it smells nice, but definitely not like the flowery, perfumey “lavender-scented” candles & household products you find in stores. Those do not normally use actual lavender oil, so most people don’t really know what lavender smells like. I can see where it takes some getting used to.
@Scoathy, you might want to read through the many posts contained in this thread from a few weeks ago: http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/essential-oils. There is a discussion there about various companies that sell essential oils and some comments that discuss what to look for if you want to buy them from less expensive sources. You just want to make sure that you buy 100% pure essential oils (not fragrance oils) and that the company you purchase them from is reputable. Also, check to see if the EO’s you are buying are steam distilled….you can’t just press some oil out of a plant and consider it 100% pure EO.
Also, remember that you are often just using a few drops at a time for a lot of uses, so your bottle of EO will last awhile. In general, a 10 ml bottle of EO converts to 200 drops.
HTH,
Sue
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