The Lavenderie: Take a deep breath of Lavender and call me in the morning.

Ahh Lavender...

The Provence region of France is renowned as a world leader in growing and producing lavender.

There are so many uses for lavender. It’s a crisp, yet slightly sedative fresh smelling scent will calm you down, relieve your headaches (you can apply it directly to the temples – it's one of the few essential oils you can put directly on your skin) and give you that peaceful optimism without a prescription.

Considered absolutely essential to the medicine chest for millennia, I still use it daily. I just dabbed it on my husband’s fire ant bites and I like to add it to my witch hazel toner for its anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properites. Traditionally, it’s been used for everything from muscular aches and pains to easing insomnia. It is the flowers (fresh or dried), that contain the medicinal properties of lavender - and there is some serious medicine in this flower. Yes it has all those "antis" and it will calm you down, but the historical anecdotes are even more telling than the laundry list (pardon the pun) of lavender.

 

During Medieval and Renaissance times, monks grew lavender in their gardens, and according to the German nun Hildegard of Bingen, (1098-1179) lavender "water,"--a decoction of vodka, gin, or brandy mixed with lavender--is great for migraine headaches. Also, in Physica, (I have a copy) she states “it constrains many evil things, and evil spirits are driven out by it.” In this matter, she is also referring to fleas, those persnickety disease carriers who were repelled by the scent.

 

In 16th-century France, lavender was also used to resist infection. Glove-makers, who perfumed their wares with lavender, escaped cholera at that time. I also read that grave-robbers tied lavender and a combination of other herbs around their wrists to resist contamination.

Lavender was also used extensively in World Wars I and II for its anti-septic properties when surgical supplies became scarce; employed primarily to disinfect the floors and walls of hospitals. Lavender farms and any grower of lavender in England for that matter, were asked to contribute their supply to the war effort.

Louis XIV bathed in water scented with it, Queen Victoria used a lavender deodorant, and both Elizabeth I and II used products from the famous lavender company, Yardley and Co. of London. Cleopatra also put it to work for its aromatically arrousing qualities.

We have a very nice selection of lavender products in the store. From the simple and straightforward dried bouquets (a nice housewarming gift) to little pouch-like sachets that you can put anywhere you want - Your dresser drawer, the car, your husbands sneakers…I would suggest the litter box, but unfortunately, lavender also repels cats as well as odors. We can’t have it all in this life can we? We have a fresh tub of lavender for you to scoop your own sachets or handsomely striped little pillow ones ready for you to toss wherever. Take a look...

Our Lavenderie: All Lavender scented: Dish Soap, Linen Mist, Laundry Soap, Hand Balm, our own signature lavender sachets, Savon de Marseille (soap cubes from Marseilles, France) scented furniture wax  and home fragrance spray, and lining the back are handmade bouquets of dried lavender from France.

For more ideas on what you can do with lavender, check out Lavender Gardening or visit The Herb Gardener for a simple recipe for Basic Herbs de Provence, and even Lavender Sugar...

 Oh, and don't forget we make lavender seltzers here too!