Buying Lavender Oil Online: What to Ask Before You Pay

You rarely learn much about a lavender oil seller from the homepage. You learn it from the product listing, and from how the seller answers a plain written question. That is true of us as well, so here is how we would read a listing if we were the one buying.

Lavender Essential Oil

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Four details a good listing gives you

These are our own checks, reasoned from the composition and quality literature, not an official standard.

The botanical name. "Lavender" covers several plants. True lavender is Lavandula angustifolia, spike lavender is L. latifolia, and lavandin is a hybrid sold by cultivar. The ISO standards are written species by species, with ISO 3515 for true lavender, ISO 4719 for spike, and separate cultivar standards for lavandin such as ISO 8902 for 'Grosso' (Lavandula × intermedia-A Bastard Lavender or a Plant of Many Values? Part I. Biology and Chemical Composition of Lavandin). A listing that gives only the word "lavender" has left out the most useful fact.

The plant part and the method. Most lavender oil comes from the flowering tops by steam or water distillation, and the review of lavender crops we cite elsewhere describes conventional commercial extraction as hydrodistillation and steam distillation (Current Trends for Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.) Crops and Products with Emphasis on Essential Oil Quality). Both are easy for a seller to state.

A batch document. A report that carries a batch number tells you more than a badge does, and one that lists constituents tells you more than one that lists appearance and smell. Our quality guide covers what a label and a report can and cannot show.

The unit. Ounces can be fluid or by weight. If a listing does not say, you cannot compare sizes or count dilutions, so it is a fair thing to ask.

How our four listings read

We sell four lavender-family oils. Our angustifolia page gives Lavandula angustifolia, flowering spikes, steam distillation. The lavandin grosso page gives Lavandula hybrida, flowering tops, steam-distilled. The spike lavender page gives Lavandula latifolia and flowering tops. The fourth, 40/42, is a trade grade name, and its page says plainly that the species is not specified. If the identity of that oil matters to you, contact us before ordering. We do not name an origin on those pages, and sizes are written as oz or lb, so ask us if you need to know which kind of ounce.

Words that describe rather than measure

"Premium", "pure" and "true" are descriptions, not measurements, and the FDA notes that it has no definitions for "natural" or "organic" in cosmetics and that a plant origin does not by itself make something safe (Aromatherapy (FDA)). One note on our own name: True Lavender Oil is the brand, not a species statement, and we sell lavandin, spike and 40/42 under it. Read the botanical name on each product page.

Authenticity matters because lavender is a well-known target for adulteration. A 2021 study of lavender, lemon and tea tree oils describes common tricks such as adding cheaper oils or synthetic compounds, and a subtler one, diluting with vegetable oil, which can leave the usual marker percentages looking normal and needs absolute quantitation to detect (Adulteration of Essential Oils: A Multitask Issue for Quality Control. Three Case Studies: Lavandula angustifolia Mill., Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck and Melaleuca alternifolia (Maiden & Betche) Cheel). That is why a report for the batch you will receive is worth asking for, as opposed to a general claim.

Questions to send before you pay

Which species is this exact product, and for lavandin, which cultivar?
Which plant part was distilled, and by what method?
Can I have the report for the batch I will receive, with the batch number?
Does it list constituent percentages?
Is the ounce a fluid ounce or a weight ounce?
If I am making a product to sell, can you give me the species, an allergen declaration, an IFRA certificate or a safety data sheet in writing?

A seller who answers these specifically, or tells you honestly that a document does not exist, is worth more than one with a longer row of badges. Keep the written answers.

What we can offer

We ship from a US-based facility, and orders go out within one to two business days, with the largest sizes sometimes needing extra handling. Sample bottles are available through the wholesale page if you want to smell an oil before a larger order. The certificate we publish covers one batch of the angustifolia oil and lists appearance, smell, density and refractive index; it does not cover the other three oils. For anything else on that list, such as GC-MS, an SDS, an IFRA certificate, an allergen declaration or species confirmation, write to us through the contact page before you order and rely on the written reply.

When the bottle arrives

Open it somewhere with fresh air and smell it before you do anything else. Check that the label matches the listing: the name, the species if one is printed, and the size. Make a note of the date, put the bottle in a cool, dark cabinet with the cap on tight, and keep the seller's written replies in the same folder. If something looks different from what you were told, write to the seller while the details are fresh. A good seller would rather hear about it early.

Price and price comparison

Compare price only after species, part and method are clear, and then per millilitre within one species. The gap between true lavender and lavandin is large enough that an unnamed species can explain most of a price difference, and our price guide explains why. Current prices are on each shop page.

Lavender oil is for aroma and craft. If you want lavender to eat, culinary buds are the answer, as our cooking post explains, and for anything medical a pharmacist or physician is the person to ask. Whoever you buy from, the best purchase is the one where the answers were in writing before the bottle arrived.

Take your time with a first order. Read the listing twice, write your questions down, and a few quiet minutes now will save you a lot of guessing later.