Organic lavender flowers

The sweet, herbal, distinctive smell of lavender flowers has been loved for centuries. Lavender is known to be antibacterial and antifungal, making it useful in cleaning, and has been shown to proffer several health benefits when used in aromatherapy, applied to skin or hair, or even drunk in tea. It is a truly multipurpose herb. 

How is it grown?
Beautiful fields of lavender and an iconic image associated with the Provence region of France, but lavender is actually grown in many places in Europe and the world. Bulgaria is the number one Lavender producer in the world. Lavender is a perennial crop, meaning it lives and produces flowers for several years once it is planted. 

Sustainability report

I have tried very hard to find any negative impacts of lavender farming on the environment and so far I have had very little success, leading me to believe that, to our current knowledge, lavender farming is likely one of the most sustainable crops out there. 

Possible negative impacts: 

• When lavender is grown in areas where it is a non-native species this could potentially cause problems, however the articles I have read about this have found that pollinators benefit from the crop and it does not become invasive in areas where it is non-native. So this does not seem to be a problem.
• As with all monocropping systems, soil health can be negatively impacted by having such large areas of a single crop. However, due to the stresses of climate change, lavender has become more and more impacted by diseases and to deal with this more and more lavender producers are using intercropping and cover cropping to support soil health and thereby reduce the spread of diseases in their lavender crops.

Positive impacts:

• Even conventional (non-organic) lavender is grown with very little pesticides or fertilisers. This is because the lavender plant is both hardy and has its own natural defences against pests. In fact lavender oil and planting lavender companion plants is often used in agroecology to reduce pests in other crop plants.
• Lavender fields support health pollinator populations.
• Lavender is drought resistant meaning it requires very little water to grow.
• As a perennial plant, lavender supports a healthier soil ecosystem than annual crops.   

Overall lavender, and even more so organically grown lavender, is a very sustainable ingredient. 

The lavender flowers in Face the Flowers are organically grown in Albania by Sonnentor.

Is it good for the skin?

Lavender has been shown to have several benefits for skin health. However, when used as an exfoliator or face mask as I have in my Face the Flowers, I do not believe that there is a very big impact of using lavender flowers. The possibility of those beneficial chemical compounds leaving the flowers and being absorbed by the skin in the short time that the facewash is being used is, I believe, very low. However the lavender flowers in Face the Flowers provide several benefits nonetheless:

• they act as a gentle exfoliator: they can rub away dead skin and clean out pores without scratching the skin,
• they smell lovely adding to the enjoyment of using the product,
• and their antibacterial and antifungal properties may possibly benefit the skin in a small way and may also ensure the facewash itself stays fresh for longer (remember that none of my products have any form of preservative so I must rely on the natural properties of the ingredients to ensure my products remain fresh). 

This image was produced using AI.