Spike Lavender Oil

#### Spike Lavender Oil. ##### Aspic Oil: Spike lavender oil, also called **Lavender**** ****Spike**** **or just **Spike**** ****Oil**** **(= Spanish spike oil) is known in France as Aspic. The oil is steam distilled from the flowering tops of the stout plant, **Lavandula**** ****Latifolia **which, together with true lavender, are the parents of the hybrid **Lavandin**. The spike or aspic plant grows wild in or around its homeland, the Mediterranean countries, particularly in Spain, France, Yugoslavia. Italy, and scattered in many places in North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean countries and islands. Italian plantations in Ethiopia have not been very successful in that the oils produced were substantially different in composition. The main producer is Spain, with France following far behind in quantity, but producing an oil of more delicate odor. The Spanish oils are generally produced by a water-and-steam distillation, while all French oils are steam distilled. It seems likely that Spanish plant material is collected with less respect to uniformity in botanical specimens than the French. **Spike Lavender Oil **is a pale yellow (most Spanish oils) to almost water-white (most French oils), mobile liquid of transitory camphoraceous (eucalyptus-like), fresh and herbaceous odor, reminiscent of lavandin and rosemary oils and with a somewhat dry-woody undertone. Until the appearance of large quantities of lavandin oil in the 1930's, the oil was one of the most popular soap perfume materials. It has power, good stability, radiation and a generally popular freshness, applicable in a multitude of perfume types, varying from lavender over fougère and "new mown hay" to pine and woody, Oriental and aldehydic or cologne-like fragrances. It seems conceivable that if lavandin oil remains at less the half the cost of spike oil, the latter will slowly be forced out of soap perfumes. With cineole, eucalyptus oil or rosemary oil added to lavandin oil, effects can be obtained which are similar or even superior to those obtained from spike oil in soap perfumes. This suggestion refers mainly to the Spanish spike oil. The French oil —more delicate, uniform and, usually more expensive—is used in room sprays, deodorants, air fresheners, disinfectants, insecticides, etc. Spike oil blends well with all the related oils, e.g. rosemary, sage, lavandin, eucalyptus, lavender, bois de rose oil, petitgrain oil, and also with countless other common perfumery materials: spice oils (clove oils in particular), pine needle oils, amyl salicylate, isobornyl acetate, coumarin, etc. Cedarwood oil, oakmoss products, patchouli oil, etc. are important and necessary fixatives. Partly because of its comparatively high price, partly because of the availability of tempting substitutes, **Spike Lavender Oil **is very often adulterated or "cut" with e.g. Spanish sage oil (grown in the same areas in Spain), rosemary oil, lavandin oil, eucalyptus oil, fractions of these oils, fractions from terpineol production or from Chinese camphor oils, saponified lavandin oil, etc., etc. Besides, there are a number of other lavandula species which yield essential oils of composition similar to that of spike oil, and most of these plants grow in the Mediterranean area. The annual production of spike oil exceeds 100 metric tons, but if the price cannot be brought down to a reasonable level in comparison to lavandin oil, it is quite likely that spike oil will meet a decreasing demand on the world market.