Sourcing the Best Lavender in the World

Say the word lavender and most of us immediately know the scent - or at least we think we do. That soft purple flower has become synonymous with clean linens, beautiful baths, old gardens, Provence, and the comforting ritual of winding down at the end of the day. But lavender is not one single scent, and the lavender growing in a sun-drenched field high in Provence can be remarkably different from the lavender growing in England, Spain, Bulgaria, Australia, or even another field a few miles away. There are dozens of species within the Lavandula genus and hundreds of cultivated varieties, each influenced by genetics, altitude, soil, rainfall, temperature, harvest time, and the way the plant is processed. Much like wine, where it grows matters.

The lavender most people imagine when they think of fine lavender is Lavandula angustifolia, commonly called true lavender, English lavender, or fine lavender. Despite the name “English lavender,” the species is native to the Mediterranean region and is particularly celebrated in the mountainous areas of southern France. True lavender tends to be a smaller, more delicate plant than its vigorous relatives, with slender flower spikes and a fragrance that is beautifully balanced: floral, sweet, herbaceous, fresh, and softly green without being aggressively medicinal. It is the lavender prized for fine fragrance, luxury bath products, aromatherapy, linen preparations, and formulations in which the beauty of the lavender itself is meant to be noticed.

In Provence, true or fine lavender grows naturally at higher elevations, traditionally between roughly 600 and 1,400 meters. Haute-Provence even has a protected designation for qualifying essential oil produced from fine lavender grown within its designated region. The higher-altitude plants are smaller and yield considerably less than the enormous fields of hybrid lavender many travelers associate with Provence, which is one reason authentic fine lavender oil commands a premium. It can take as much as 200 kilograms - about 440 pounds—of fresh lavender flowers to produce a single liter of essential oil.

Then there is lavandin, usually Lavandula × intermedia, a natural hybrid of true lavender and spike lavender. Lavandin is bigger, tougher, and far more productive. Its bushes tend to form those large, beautifully rounded mounds and long, dramatic purple rows that make spectacular photographs. It produces considerably more aromatic material and therefore can be less expensive to distill. Its fragrance is stronger, sharper, and more penetrating than fine lavender, often with a noticeable camphoraceous quality. Lavandin can be wonderful in laundry products, household fragrance, candles, cleaning preparations, and soaps where a powerful lavender scent is desired. But powerful is not necessarily the same thing as refined. Provence grows both fine lavender and lavandin, and the two should not be confused simply because they come from the same region.

Spike lavender, Lavandula latifolia, thrives in warmer, generally lower-elevation Mediterranean conditions. The plant has broader leaves than true lavender, and its essential oil is typically much more camphoraceous and eucalyptus-like. It smells fresh, brisk, herbal, and almost medicinal compared with the soft floral sweetness of fine lavender. That character can make spike lavender particularly useful when a formulation calls for a crisp, invigorating herbal note rather than the romantic fragrance most of us associate with a Provençal lavender field.

Spanish lavender, Lavandula stoechas, is immediately recognizable by the whimsical petal-like bracts sitting above its flower heads - almost like tiny purple rabbit ears. It grows throughout parts of the Mediterranean and has a much more assertive aromatic personality. Depending upon the variety and origin, it can smell resinous, herbaceous, earthy, camphoraceous, or even slightly fruity rather than traditionally “lavender.” Some related Iberian lavender oils have remarkably unusual notes reminiscent of dried fruit, hay, leather, and tobacco. Spanish lavender is beautiful ornamentally and fascinating to perfumers, but it is not interchangeable with fine Lavandula angustifolia.

Bulgarian lavender is usually Lavandula angustifolia as well, yet terroir gives it a different personality. Bulgaria has become an important lavender-growing region, and its oils can be rich, sweet, floral, herbaceous, and somewhat deeper or more assertive than certain French oils. Bulgarian lavender can be beautiful in soap, body care, aromatherapy blends, and fragrance. The important point is that botanical name alone does not tell the entire story. Two bottles can both say Lavandula angustifolia and still smell noticeably different.

Lavender is also cultivated in places such as England, Croatia, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. English-grown lavender can have a beautifully fresh garden character, while different climates and soils elsewhere can shift the proportions of the naturally occurring aromatic molecules within the plant. There is no single universally “best” lavender for every purpose. A sharper lavender may be perfect for a home fragrance; a strong lavandin may shine in laundry products; a highly aromatic spike lavender may be desirable in a particular herbal blend. For luxury soap and fine personal fragrance, however, we wanted something softer, more nuanced, and unmistakably elegant.

How lavender becomes an aromatic material is equally fascinating. Essential oil is most commonly produced through steam distillation. Harvested flowering tops are packed into a still and exposed to steam. The heat releases the plant’s volatile aromatic compounds, which travel with the steam into a condenser. As the vapor cools back into liquid, the aromatic oil separates from the aromatic water. The oil is collected as lavender essential oil, while the fragrant water remaining from the process is lavender hydrosol. Essential oil is therefore not simply “lavender juice”; it is a highly concentrated collection of the plant’s volatile aromatic compounds.

Timing matters tremendously. Lavender is generally harvested during the summer flowering season, but exact dates vary with elevation, weather, species, and the desired aromatic profile. In Provence, flowering can stretch from late June into August, while harvesting commonly begins during the second half of July. Distillation in the region generally takes place from July through the end of August depending upon the species and location. The farmer and distiller must judge the plant at precisely the right stage because the aromatic composition changes as flowers develop and mature.

An absolute is something different. Rather than relying on steam to capture volatile oils, absolutes are produced through an extraction process designed to capture a broader range of fragrant plant material. Traditionally this involves solvent extraction to create a concentrated aromatic material, followed by further processing - often with alcohol - to produce the finished absolute. Because the process can capture heavier aromatic molecules that steam distillation may leave behind, an absolute can smell fuller, deeper, and sometimes closer to the living flower. Absolutes are particularly treasured in fine perfumery.

A tincture is different again. A tincture is made by steeping botanical material in alcohol for an extended period, allowing the alcohol to extract aromatic and other alcohol-soluble compounds from the plant. After filtering, the resulting liquid carries an impression of the botanical. Tinctures are generally much less concentrated than essential oils or absolutes, but they can lend fascinating depth and natural character to artisanal fragrance preparations.

And then there is perfume. Perfume is not an extraction method at all; it is a finished composition. A perfumer may combine essential oils, absolutes, tinctures, natural isolates, aroma molecules, fixatives, and other fragrance materials to create something entirely new. A lavender perfume might contain genuine lavender essential oil, lavender absolute, both, or neither. The word lavender on a fragrance label describes the intended scent impression; it does not necessarily tell you where that scent came from.

This distinction became very important to us at Southern Luxe Savon. Lavender is available from suppliers all over the world and at dramatically different prices. It would certainly be easier - and considerably less expensive - to buy a generic lavender oil in bulk and simply list lavender among our ingredients. But we did not want lavender merely as an ingredient. We wanted to understand what exceptional lavender actually smelled like.

We kept coming back to Provence.

There is something extraordinary about fine lavender cultivated in the dry air, brilliant sun, limestone-rich landscape, and elevation of southern France. Provence has cultivated lavender for generations, and its distillation traditions are inseparable from the region's history of fragrance. Fine lavender from Haute-Provence is so culturally and economically significant that qualifying essential oil has its own protected designation of origin.

So we made the decision to import our lavender oil from Provence. It costs us substantially more than purchasing ordinary lavender oil domestically or choosing a higher-yielding lavandin. Shipping, importing, limited harvests, agricultural variation, and the extraordinary quantity of flowers required to make genuine essential oil all add to the expense. Fine lavender simply does not give up its oil cheaply.

For us, it is worth it.

When you open a beautiful Provençal lavender oil, the difference is not necessarily that it screams lavender more loudly. In fact, the opposite can be true. Fine lavender has nuance. It unfolds. There is floral sweetness, a clean herbal freshness, a soft green quality and an elegance that lacks the harsh, overly camphoraceous character people sometimes associate with inexpensive “lavender” products. That refinement allows us to use lavender as part of a sophisticated fragrance rather than allowing it to overpower everything around it.

Lavender also deserves a life beyond soap and perfume. At home, dried lavender buds can be tucked into linen sachets and placed among sheets, towels, and drawers. A handful can be incorporated into a warm bath inside a muslin bag so the flowers do not float down the drain. Dried lavender can be added to homemade bath salts, wreaths, or lavender wands; France has a long tradition of weaving fragrant lavender wands for wardrobes and linens. A few drops of properly used essential oil can scent a diffuser, while lavender hydrosol can lend its delicate aroma to linens and rooms. Dried culinary-grade lavender can even appear in shortbread, tea blends, honey, lemonade, ice cream, and sugar - although culinary lavender should always be specifically sold for food use rather than taken from a decorative bouquet or cosmetic ingredient supply.

One of our favorite ideas is beautifully simple: fill a small breathable sachet with dried lavender and tuck it inside a pillowcase or bedside drawer. Another is to combine dried lavender with other fragrant botanicals for a natural drawer sachet. And for gift giving, a bundle of dried lavender tied with ribbon alongside a beautiful bar of lavender soap makes something wonderfully old-fashioned and luxurious.

Perhaps that is why lavender has endured for centuries. The Romans famously associated it with bathing and fragrant linens, and generations since have used it in homes, gardens, perfumery, cosmetics, and personal rituals. Provence continues that heritage today, with its lavender and lavandin cultivated for essential oils, fragrance, cosmetics, soaps, and even gastronomy.

At Southern Luxe Savon, sourcing Provençal lavender is one of those decisions that costs more and takes more effort but reminds us exactly why we began making luxury soap in the first place. Luxury is not simply adding more. Sometimes it is choosing one extraordinary ingredient instead of an ordinary one.

And when that ingredient happens to carry the scent of a sun-warmed field in Provence, we think it is worth every drop.