Lavender
I've been a fan of the use of essential oils for a long time, and Lavender has to be said to be one of the staple contents of my oils box. Partly this is because it's so safe to use, but also because it has so many excellent properties and is such a useful oil to include in mixes.

Uses
Most people are aware that lavender is relaxing - and many people find it helps them to sleep too. Having said this, for some people lavender doesn't make them sleepy at all and they'll find that although they feel relaxed by it, it can leave them feeling more energised than sleepy. Despite this, you'll find it in many natural sleep aid products.

Actually lavender can be found in a very wide variety of things from candles to bath products, body lotions to headache relief products and more. I think that as long as you enjoy the smell these are worthwhile buying, but it's also important to note if the product is chemical based with added lavender, or if they're using the lavender as one of the key ingredients in something much more natural.

An example of a very good ready made remedy that uses lavender is the migrastick - it's a blend of lavender, peppermint and isopropyl myristate and so it's the lavender and peppermint that are the 'active' ingredients in this. Alternatively a regular bubble bath might be full of chemicals, but just use the lavender as a scent to make it smell nice.

My favourite uses
I find lavender to be a very calming essential oil, and I also find it excellent for helping to relax muscles, so one of the main uses I have for lavender is as a muscle rub or massage oil mixed with a simple carrier oil of sweet almond oil (my normal preferred carrier oil). 10ml of sweet almond oil with 10 drops of lavender in it is about right for me personally I find. Because I have fibromyalgia, my muscles have a tendency to knot up and go into spasm very easily and as lavender has antispasmodic properties too I find this a great rub for tired aching muscles. I also use this when I'm getting tummy cramps from my period too, just rubbing it over my belly area often helps to ease these nicely, although an alternative for this is to pop the lavender in the bath.

My second favourite use for lavender has to be as a method of keeping the insects away in the summer time. It can be used alone for this, or mixed with a number of other oils - personally I prefer to mix it with rosemary and either add it to purified water (just 5 drops of each to 500ml of water) and then spray it round the room, or burn it in an oil burner for a more intense smell and purpose. It works quite well to keep the mosquitoes and other bugs at bay on a summer evening when the backdoor is open.

My third method is to use actual lavender flower heads in with wheat or rice in a heat bag. I do tend to add the essential oil to the rice as well to infuse the smell better, but then when I make the bags, I add actual lavender too. They're sooo easy to make and make lovely gifts for people. Simply take some regular long grain rice, and add some lavender essential oil to it in a glass jar - leave this for a few days turning it daily and then add some more drops and do the same again. After a few weeks the rice is then ready for use. Make up your heat bag as a long sausage like affair around 12cm by 36cm and fill it about 2/3rds full of the infused rice. Add a small handful of dried lavender and then stitch the end up. To heat, microwave in bursts of 30seconds at a time till it's hot enough and then use it for neck, shoulders, feet etc.

Cost & Availability
Lavender oil is available in all sorts of places these days, but you do have to watch what you are buying. As with most oils there is a difference between essential oil and oil designed just for use in an oil burner. Where essential oil can be burned, burner oil cannot be used on the skin! Most essential oils you get you're likely to only want small containers of, but lavender I find is one I use so much that I actually buy mine in 50ml or 100ml bottles instead of the usual 10ml containers. It's also cheaper this way as a 10ml bottle will generally cost around £2-4 depending on where you get it and if it's organic or not, whereas the larger bottles work out much more cost effective. The last 100ml bottle I bought cost me about £18 - it wasn't organic however and that tends to be about twice the cost.

Dried lavender is a little harder to get hold of, but can be bought off the internet fairly easily. I think the last lot I got came from ebay, and cost me about £10 for 500g and that goes quite a long way too.

My suggestions
If you have never indulged in trying out essential oils and all their uses, then I would recommend lavender as a very good starting place. It's one of the safest oils you can buy and can even be used direct onto the skin although this isn't recommended it will not at least cause you any damage the way it would if you did it with many other oils. It's got plenty of uses, and you can get lots of books from bookshops or the library which give you a great starting point for learning how to use it most effectively.