Lavender oil is an effective essential oil to provide relaxation. Unfortunately, contrary to popular belief that lavender oil is safe and beneficial to your skin, researchers have found that lavender oil is toxic to skin cells at a concentration of 0.25% and above. At the same time, lavender oil shows no scientific evidence to accelerate wound healing or benefit skin.
Although such research was published years ago, more and more women have started to use products with lavender directly on their skin. According to the research conducted in the University of Westminster, London, the major components of lavender oil, linalyl acetate and linalool, pose toxic effects to human cells. It is likely that lavender oil gives rise to membrane damage. Unlike Eucalyptus oil, Balsam of Peru, Spearmint oil, Jasmine oil, and Ylang-ylang oil, which tend to cause an immediate reaction, lavender oil might seem to be a safe oil at the beginning. But because of the damage it causes, it is likely that the skin only starts to show contact dermatitis or sensitivity after some time. And at that point, you might think that it is some other product that is causing the problem.
Generally, certain natural skin care products tend to have lavender, which you can easily tell from their names or ingredient lists. Regarding the two major components of lavender oil, linalyl acetate is not widely used while linalool appears in a wide range of skin care brands, especially the high-end ones.