Step 1

Obtain dried lavender flowers. It is important to start with 100% dry flowers.

Step 2

Fill a clean glass container about ¾ full of dried lavender buds.

Step 3

Pour your choice of oil over the dried lavender flowers, until the container is full and/or until the flowers are completely submerged.

Step 4

Place a lid on the container, and store it in a sunny, warm location to enhance infusion. A bright windowsill is a popular choice! Allow the oil and flowers to infuse for at least one week, up to several weeks. Shake/turn the jar on occasion to keep the floating flowers coated with oil.

Step 5

When the time is up, strain the flowers from the oil. Line a fine-mesh strainer or canning funnel with cheesecloth (or use a reusable nutmilk bag), place it over a clean glass container, and then pour the oil and flowers in to drain. Squeeze the cheesecloth sack of flowers to extract every last bit of oil!

Step 6

Optional: Add lavender essential oils for little extra oomph of aroma. The commonly recommended safe dilution ratio for essential oils is about 2%, or 12 drops of EOs per fluid ounce of carrier oil. Yet since the oil was already infused with whole lavender flowers, you can use far less here - whatever suits your sniffer!

Step 7

Store the finished lavender oil in a cool, dry location. It can also be stored in the refrigerator to extend the shelf life. Read the information on your carrier oil bottle to determine the recommended shelf life of your lavender oil.

Step 8

Enjoy! Use your lavender oil as a daily facial moisturizer (only a few drops needed), as a massage or body oil, as part of your oil cleansing method, an ingredient in other homemade skincare recipes such as salve or soap, to condition hair, as a makeup remover, as marinade or in baked goods (if an edible oil was used), in homemade cleaning products, or give it as a gift!