Put simply, there are countless uses for lavender essential oils. Many refer to it as one of the “gateway oils.” And for good reason. Lavender has been used for centuries for a variety of wellness benefits. While we aren’t doctors ourselves (have to throw that in there), here are 45 common uses for lavender:
1. Spritz on your pillow to relax during bedtime.
2. Use to help with minor burns.
3. Freshen up your mattress.
4. Massage into sore or tired muscles.
5. Add to a bath to unwind after a long day’s work.
6. Dab on temples to ease a headache.
7. Enhance your recipes, particularly desserts.
8. Diffuse in your bedroom for a restful night’s sleep.
9. Rub on the back of ears when you’re feeling “clogged up.”
10. Use on cuts and scrapes to promote faster healing.
11. Need to calm down? Apply a drop or two in the palm of your hand and inhale.
12. Apply to a bee sting to decrease swelling while also offering pain relief.
13. Use with carrier oil on skin to help curb skin irritations and conditions.
14. Upset tummy or motion sickness? Use a drop or two behind the ears or on your belly.
15. Reduce the effects of a cold sore by applying a drop of lavender.
16. Use it as a natural deodorant, as it kills odor-causing bacteria.
17. Use topically or inhale to calm heart palpitations.
18. Help with adverse symptoms of ringworm.
Check out this lavender reference infographic.
19. Mix with water and spray on your body to prevent insect bites.
20. Complement a cup of tea or cocktail with a drop or two of lavender.
21. Get a handle on work or school-related anxiety. Use before exams or presentations.
22. Adding lavender, create a warm compress for menstrual cramps.
23. Soothe a cough by applying on your chest.
24. Mix a couple of drops with shampoo to eliminate dandruff.
25. Apply to lips to relieve chap.
26. Stop a nosebleed by wrapping a small piece of ice in gauze and add a drop of lavender. Place under nose.
27. Diffuse during allergy season for nasal and throat relief.
28. Rub on sinuses to reduce congestion.
29. Use with warm compress and massage breast to treat a blocked milk duct.
30. Mix with coconut oil for diaper rash.
31. Mix with carrier oil and rub on children’s feet to calm hyperactivity or in preparation for bedtime.
32. Massage into skin to relieve sunburns.
33. Refine skin and improve wrinkles. Mix with a non-scented moisturizer and apply to face.
34. Mix with lotion and rub into dry skin – great during the dry winter weather!
35. Apply topically during herpes outbreaks.
36. Put several drops in an empty veggie capsule and take internally for gas and indigestion.
37. Lavender is great for relieving excessive itching, including skin irritation, bites, or chicken pox.
38. Muscle spasms can be soothed by applying lavender.
39. Bruise relief.
40. Blister and boil relief.
41. Balance hormones by applying to feet or abdomen.
42. Heat rashes or other rashes can be improved with lavender.
43. Massage into skin to reduce the appearance of stretch marks.
44. Soothe teething. Add to carrier oil and use topically on jaw line or rub on gums.
45. Pack a spray bottle with water and several drops of lavender in your suitcase to freshen clothing on a trip.