Lavender Oil

#### Lavender Oil. **Lavender**** ****Oil**** **is steam distilled from the freshly cut flowering tops and stalks of **Lavandula**** ****Officinalis**, a wild growing or cultivated plant, native to the Mediterranean countries. Distillation takes place mainly in the south of France where the plants grow at medium altitudes of this mountainous region (from 600 to 1500 metres altitude). Distilleries located at high altitude produce oils of higher ester content, not only because of the theory that the high-altitude, wild-growing plants contain more esters, but also because of the fact that high-altitude distillation means lower- temperature-boiling. Consequently, the distilled oil is not exposed to 100° C. hot steam, but perhaps only to 92 or 93° C. Even this small decrease in temperature means that the hydrolysis of the natural linalylesters take place at a much slower rate. A rapid distillation at slightly reduced pressure (high altitude) may thus produce an oil with nearly all the natural linalylesters. **Lavandula Officinalis **(in several varieties) grows wild in the south of France, in Italy, Corsica and Yugoslavia. It is cultivated widely all over the world, however not always successfully. Some of these areas are in Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cyprus, England, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, U.S.S.R., Spain, Tanganyika, Tasmania, Turkey and Yugoslavia. There is some experimental cultivation and distillation in the farwestern state of Washington, U.S.A. English distilled lavender oil from English grown lavender plants deserves special mention (see below). Of the other countries mentioned, only Italy is exporting quantities of any significance. The production in Tasmania is mainly absorbed by Australia; Japan produces 2—3 metric tons per year which is far from sufficient for its own needs, and even the Russian production does not cover local consumption. The annual production in France varies from about 50 metric tons to almost 100 tons. It is difficult, however, to establish accurate figures for the production of this oil since it is subject to very extensive cutting, adulteration and other kinds of “handling”, during which processes many other locally distilled oils and synthetic perfume materials are used in quantity. **English Lavender Oil **is distilled from a different variety of the lavender plant. it yields an oil rich in linalool, but rather poor in linalylesters. However, it is not rough or harsh like the aspic or lavandin oils, but represents an individual type of lavender which is obviously appreciated in the country where it is a common garden plant, and where its fragrance is well-known and very popular. It should be emphasized, that **English Lavender Oil **is distilled from flower material with very few stalks or leaves (compare **Rosemary **“flower” oil). **Lavender Oil **(French type) is a colorless or pale yellow liquid of sweet, floral-herbaceous refreshing odor with a pleasant, balsamic-woody undertone. An almost fruity-sweet topnote is of a very short life, and the entire oil is not distinguished by its tenacity in odor. It is used extensively in colognes (citrus-colognes or the well-known lavender-waters), in fougères, chypres, ambres and countless floral, semi-floral or particularly in non-floral perfume types. The oil blends well with bergamot and other citrus oils, clove oils (for “Rondeletia” type perfumes), flouve, liatris, oakmoss, patchouli, rosemary, sage clary, pine needle oils, etc. Also with amyl salicylate, coumarins, citronellol and geraniol and their esters, heptanolide, menthyl acetate, musk ambrette, moskene and ethylene brassylate, nopyl acetate, menthanyl acetate, isobornyl propionate, phenylacetaldehyde and its acetals in particular. Labdanum products are excellent fixatives and the oil of **Mentha Citrata **can be useful for modifications. **Lavender Oil**** **is subject to extensive adulteration, cutting, etc. Among the most common additives or “cutting” materials are: acetylized lavandin oil, synthetic linalool and linalyl acetate, fractions from the production of linalyl acetate from **Ho**** ****Leaf**** ****Oil**** **or **Bois**** ****de**** ****Rose Oil**, not to speak of the more crude additives such as terpinyl propionate, isobornyl acetate, terpineol, fractions of rosemary oil, aspic oil, lavandin oil, bois de rose oil, trace additions of ethyl-n-amyl ketone and its homologues, etc. **Lavandin Oil**** **is produced in quantities of about 10 times that of **Lavender**** ****Oil**, and at a fraction of the price of lavender. Strange as it may seem, this fact has indirectly caused a decrease in the adulteration and “cutting” of true lavender oil. Its price has come down to a more reasonable level again, and it is once more possible to obtain a true, genuine lavender oil. The latter oil will, however, remain a small item, and will probably eventually disappear from soap perfumery, being replaced by lavandin oil. True **Lavender**** ****Oil**** ****is**** **still unequalled as a popular, fresh-sweet herbal-floral fragrance in lotions, colognes, or as an additive to modern perfume types, aldehydic bases, spice compounds, etc. A **Terpeneless Lavender Oil **can be produced by careful vacuum-distillation of lavender oil. A “topping-off” of about 10 percent of the oil is usually sufficient to produce a virtually monoterpeneless oil. It is not necessary to continue distillation thereafter. The terpeneless oil is distinguished by an unequalled mellowness and softness in odor, a superior solubility in diluted alcohol and an improved stability. Its odor is somewhat similar to that of **Lavender**** ****Absolute from Distillation Water.**