Lavender Gifts to Make

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Lavender has long been a favoured herb for cosmetics, cleansing, repelling insects, and relaxing muscles. To soothe headaches. Try sprinkling a few drops of oil on a handkerchief and inhale deeply, rub a little on your temples or use it in an aromatherapy burner.

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Herbal lavender based toiletries and cosmetics that are just as good as bought ones can easily be made at home as treats for the skin or gift giving to family and friends.

Lavender Soap Balls

Ingredients

• 2 bars unscented soap

• 1/4 cup rosewater

• 10 drops of Lavender oil

Grate the soap. Heat the rosewater and pour over soap and let stand for 10 minutes. Knead together thoroughly then add 10 drops of lavender oil. Leave the mixture for a couple of days then form into small golf sized balls and leave to dry in the sun. When the balls are fairly hard polish them with your hands, moistened with rosewater. Put aside for six weeks to fully harden.

Lavender Summer Spritzer

Ingredients

• 10 drops of lavender essential oil (bought or homemade)

• 2 Cups bottled water

Combine all ingredients and pour in to a pump bottle – spray your face when you need to cool down.

Lavender Bath Salts

For bath lovers perfumed bath salts make an ideal gift. Pluck petals from lavender flower heads and air dry in a basket out of the direct sunlight. Gently toss daily to ensure there is enough air movement through the basket to dry them properly.

To make the salts

Mix together equal quantities of Sea salt and Epsom salts.

Then add 20 drops of Lavender Essential oil to each cup of bath salt mix.

To package your bath salts place the lavender and salts in alternate layers in a pretty clear glass jar.

Note: Epsom salts are high in magnesium to relax any tension in the body and sea salt contains minerals from the sea that are beneficial for the skin.

Lavender Skin Tonic

Ingredients

• 2 handfuls of lavender flowers (fresh or dried)

• 225ml cider vinegar

• 700ml rosewater (distilled from roses- not synthetic extracts)

Put lavender in a screw-top jar and add liquid ingredients. Shake well and put in fridge. Allow lavender to infuse liquid for a week or two, and shake jar once daily; tonic will become a surprising rose colour. Strain liquid and pour into a pretty bottle. Drench a cotton wool pad in the liquid and use to remove last traces of cleanser. Keep in fridge and make a fresh batch every few weeks.

Lavender Foot Rub

This is great for sore feet or makes a great gift for an athletic friend.

Ingredients

• 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 3 tablespoons pure sunflower or avocado oil

• 30 drops essential oil of lavender

Mix ingredients together in a glass jar and stand in a roasting pan of hot water. Heat the water gently until hot, stirring until the ingredients are blended together.

Allow to cool. Cap the jar and shake well then remove the cap until the mixture is cold. When cold replace the cap. Shake well before using.

Lavender foot rub is useful for preventing blisters and cracked skin.

Homemade Lavender Oil

Using scented lavender such as L. Augustifolia, L. Munstead or L. Grosso half fill a bottle or jar with lavender spikes and cover with olive oil and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar.

Place on a sunny window sill for a least 14 days and shake the bottle at least once a day. After 14 days check the see if scent is to your liking. If a stronger scent is desired strain off the flower heads and add new ones and repeat the process. Once made remove the flower heads. A couple of new flower heads can be added at this stage for decoration.

Use as a scented bath oil or in the kitchen as a salad oil. Rub Lavender oil on as an insect repellent or use to soothe a stinging or itching insect bite.

Lavender Body oil

Pick some lavender (roses, violets or calendulas) on a sunny day and make a sun-infused oil.

Semi dry the herbs before putting into a clean sterile jar and adding a light cold-pressed oil such as sweet almond oil.

Note 1: It is important to semi-dry herbs. If there is too much moisture in the herbs, the oil can become cloudy.

Note 2: Homemade lavender oil is not as strong as the commercially made essential oil of lavender exacted by steam distillation process.

Related Pages:

How to Grow Lavender

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