I use essential oils for many things, but care MUST be taken. Most things you read will advise you to dilute your oils before use. Occasionally you might come across something telling you that Lavender is safe and can be used neat (undiluted). Wrong! No oil is safe undiluted.

Lavender is great for calming. It's an anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant, bactericide. It's great for muscle aches and pains, acne, sunburns, insect bites. It's one of few oils that is sometimes directed to use without dilution. But that is a big mistake.

In the past I used lavender for many things, it was great for relieving my headaches and just in general calming the house down. About a year and a half ago, I had a headache that would not go away. Lavender was touching it, but not enough. So, I thought, hey, lavender is gentle, I'll just not dilute it and surely that will help. It did. But it did more harm than good.

I have now sensitized myself to lavender. I absolutely can not use lavender (also known as lavendin or lavandula) in any form with out a horrible rash. Until you have to search it out, you have no idea just how many products contain lavender. Not only that, but companies that simply list "essential oils" or "fragrance" on ingredient lists, can not be trusted.

I thought eliminating gluten was hard, eliminating lavender and gluten together is a big challenge. Most "natural" and "organic" bath and beauty products contain lavender. Since it's not always disclosed, I'm very limited on the items that I can use now. I have not attempted using lavender in a diffuser and I often wonder if I will be able to tolerate that. But for now, I have to avoid at all costs.

Any use of essential oils should be done with extreme caution. Lavender is not the only oil one can become sensitive to, any oil that you use for extended periods of time, without diluting, can harm you. Extreme caution should be taken when using oils of any type. While they are natural and very useful, they are dangerous as well.