Laura Thomas Soy Candles: Lavender

Lavender farming in the UK was a topic of discussion with our Sunday visitors today. Does the UK actually have lavender farms? Well, after I’d done some research the answer is yes.

A sea of purple gently swaying in the wind for as far as the eye can see conjures up images of regions in France, such as Provence. Even the English word lavender is generally thought to be derived from Old French; lavandre.

My Mother-in-Law’s best friend was the first woman in New Zealand to set up a lavender farm in the late ninety’s. So I’ve heard some lovely pioneering stories about farming lavender in the Southern Hemisphere. It had never occurred to me that Lavender was a farming practice in the UK.

( Cotswold Lavender, Gloucester, UK)

Best Known Sleep Aid

Lavender is a fragrance I simply adore. From cute vintage fabric bags filled with lavender flowers for my drawers as a child to drops of lavender oil in my bath as an adult to aid relaxation, there is something deeply comforting, as well as invigorating about the scent of lavender that makes me feel charged and alive.

It was for this reason that when I introduced my new Laura Thomas Soy Candles in October 2013 (read about them here) the obvious first scent I wanted to use was lavender. One of the best known sleep aid and treatment of insomnia, I can’t recommend enough going to bed with a room filled with the smell of lavender.

What We Know About the Benefits of Lavender

Research shows that the scent of lavender eases
anxiety and insomnia.

In one study done at the UK’s Southampton University tracked the sleep patterns of 10 adults. For a
week, half of the participants slept in a room where lavender essential
oil was diffused in the air throughout the night. The other half snoozed in a
similar room where a placebo of sweet almond oil was released. After a
week, the groups switched rooms. At the end of the study, the volunteers
ranked the quality of their sleep 20% better on average when in the
lavender-scented room.

In another study, Psychologists at Wesleyan University in the US asked 31 men and women to sniff
lavender essential oil one night, then distilled water the next, for
four 2-minute periods just before bedtime. The researchers monitored
their sleep cycles with brain scans. On the night they whiffed the lavender,
subjects slept more soundly and they also felt more energetic the next
morning.

The researchers found that lavender increased slow-wave sleep, the very deep slumber in which the heartbeat slows and muscles relax. During this phase, the brain is thought to organise memory, as well.

Laura Thomas Soy Candles

My candles are now back in stock in store at Laura Thomas Linens. Made with essential oil of lavender (made in New Zealand) and no artifical fragrance they are definitely smelly and I can guarantee they will create a sophisticated scent and dress any room or bedroom. They are 100% soy wax and have a high burn time and are great value for money.

Laura Thomas Linens
www.laurathomaslinens.com

6 oz / 170g £10 burn time approx 27 hours | 8 oz / 227g £13 burn time approx 30 hours

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