Gary Young is "In Love with Lavender"

The first lavender I grew in 1989 came from seeds I brought back from a trip to France. The variety is Lavandula angustifolia. This species of lavender has the most health-supporting benefits.

I can’t think of another essential oil that is as popular as lavender. A well-known saying about lavender is that it is the “Swiss Army knife” of essential oils. It is renowned for its calming effect as much as it is for its heady fragrance.

I talked with a lady who attended our annual Lavender Days at the farm in Mona, Utah, this past June. She told me about buying lavender bubble bath at a specialty shop that sold bath foam with the title of “Fresh Lavender.” On the label it said that the company had “combined this classic and traditional scent” to “take you to that beautiful and fragrant place where the calming benefits envelope you while you bathe.” The bath foam had the right soft purple color but the sweet scent hardly smelled like lavender. When she got home and read the ingredients, this lady was angry! There was no lavender in it at all! There was just a lot of chemicals and fragrance.

Up close with lavender

Sadly, this is true of many “lavender” products. A chemist can whip up a batch of chemicals that resemble lavender’s scent and this is done all the time! But a chemist cannot bottle fresh air, sunshine, pure water, and rich soil. He may duplicate the chemical constituents found in lavender: linalyl acetate, linalool, cis-beta-ocimene, etc. But his concoction will not match what natural lavender can do.

I have told the story many times of the woman who angrily accosted me at one of our conventions because the lavender essential oil she used actually burned her skin. It didn’t take me long to confirm that she wasn’t using Young Living lavender but a cheap bottle she bought in a drug store. All too often, what is called “lavender” is either totally synthetic or cut with the less expensive hybrid essential oil.

Raising lavender without the use of chemical herbicides and synthetic fertilizers is expensive. But what comes out of the distiller is so pure and valuable, it’s worth every penny. Just can ask the thousands of people who came to enjoy our Lavender Days this past June. Many of them participated in the 5K Run through the Lavender. They made lavender wreaths and bought lavender essential oil that was distilled on this very farm. It seems I’m not the only one who loves lavender!

I am excited to hear the ways you have benefited from lavender oil in your life.

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