
A whiff of lavender oil can trigger various sensations, and its sweet fragrance brings to mind rows and rows of beautiful blue-violet flowers under the summer sky. But if you look beyond lavender oil's aroma, you'll find that there's more to it than meets the eye — or your sense of smell.
Lavender has been used for over 2,500 years. Ancient Persians, Greeks, and Romans added the flowers to their bathwater to help wash and purify their skin. In fact, the word "lavender" comes from the Latin word "lavare," which means "to wash." Phoenicians, Arabians, and Egyptians used lavender as a perfume, it was used as an all-around cure, while in Medieval and Renaissance Europe, it was scattered all over stone castle floors as a natural disinfectant and deodorant.