Lavender essential oil is made by steam distillation using only the flowers of the lavender plant. Lavandula officinalis makes a more complex and desired essential oil, but is more expensive because of the difficulty in creating it. Lavandula angustifolia is easier to grow, but the essential oil derived from that variety is slightly more limited in its uses.
Lavender essential oil has soothing, calming, and restorative properties. The essential oil is antiseptic, cooling and mild. Considered the universal oil, lavender is readily used neat, or undiluted, and combines well with almost all other oils for a wide variety of benefits. Many aromatherapists say lavender is the first essential oil to get.