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It literally has beneficial effects. You can buy it in pharmacies, drugstores, and health-food shops. But if you make it yourself at home, it will cost you a few crowns. With our instructions anyone can do it.
Do you also love that wonderfully intoxicating scent of lavender?
Whenever I smell it, I immediately picture endless purple fields in the French Provence, where it is grown on a large scale. And although it originates from the western Mediterranean, it also thrives in our climatic conditions. This beautiful semi-shrub has been gaining popularity in the Czech Republic in recent years. It adorns many a garden, balcony or terrace, and is also grown in window boxes and pots on the windowsill.
Many of us use dried lavender flowers against wardrobe moths, which the aromatic oil, unlike us, literally repels. The bonus is that clothes and laundry smell wonderful. Not everyone knows, however, that the tiny purple flowers have medicinal effects.
Lavender oil helps with headaches, migraines, rheumatism, and inflammations. It lowers blood pressure. It chases away nervousness and stress, and helps with insomnia.
Czechs have not yet learned to use facial oils regularly. However, they often help the skin more than classic creams. They nourish and brighten it for a long time. In the following video we reveal who they are suitable for and how to apply them:
In addition, as one of the few essential oils it can be used locally on the skin and mucous membranes. It reduces pain and acts anti-inflammatory. It supports the healing of burned skin and open wounds. It is suitable for patients suffering from venous leg ulcers. Used in massage, it will deal with strained muscles. It has also proven useful after injuries.
In short, it is almost a miraculous product. Paradoxically, you can make it yourself at home with minimal cost. With our detailed step-by-step guide you can do it too. We are bringing you two methods. This way you can choose whether you want the oil ready during one afternoon, or you prefer to wait a few weeks.
Lavender oil made by heating
You will need:
- fresh lavender flowers
- oil (preferably olive, but you can also use cheaper sunflower oil, or conversely more expensive ones, such as almond or jojoba)
- a pot with a double bottom
Attention! Not every lavender will survive our winter outside!
Procedure:
1. Chop the lavender flowers finely, put them in the pot and pour oil over them so that they are completely submerged.
2. Bring carefully to a boil.
3. When the temperature reaches one hundred degrees, reduce the heat and let the contents simmer slowly.
4. After three hours, remove the pot from the heat and let the contents cool.
5. Strain the oil, press the flowers with a skimmer and then squeeze out all the remaining oil from the flowers and mix it into the already strained oil. Finally pour it preferably into dark glass bottles. Kept in a cool, dark place it will last about nine months.
Lavender oil made cold
You will need:
- fresh lavender flowers
- oil (preferably olive, but you can also use cheaper sunflower oil, or conversely more expensive ones, such as almond or jojoba)
- a preserving jar
3 tips against slugs
Procedure:
1. Chop the lavender flowers finely, put them into a large preserving jar and pour oil over them so that you obtain a thick homogeneous mixture.
2. Close the jar tightly, place it in a sunny spot and let it infuse for at least four weeks. If you want the oil to have a higher concentration of essential oil, wait ten weeks. Once a day, gently shake the contents.
3. After the appropriate time has passed, open the jar and strain the oil. Then thoroughly squeeze all the remaining oil from the flowers. Strain it and add it to the already strained oil.
As with the warm variant, store the finished oil in a cool, dark place, preferably in dark glass bottles.
