Key facts
- Linalool is a terpene: the compound that gives lavender its scent. It's also found in hemp.
- Sleep Formula is three ingredients: hemp isolate, linalool extracted from lavender, and cold-pressed Australian hemp seed oil.
- Linalool isn't a cannabinoid and isn't part of any standard drug screen.
If you've smelled lavender, you've smelled linalool. It's one of the most common aromatic compounds in the plant world, found in more than 200 species, and it's one of the ingredients in our Sleep Formula Hemp Oil. People ask us what it is and why it's there. This post answers the first question fully and the second as far as the rules let us.
The short answer
Linalool is a terpene: a small, volatile molecule that plants make, mostly to attract pollinators and deter pests. It has a floral, slightly spicy scent. It's the dominant aroma in lavender, a major note in coriander seed, and present in smaller amounts in basil, bergamot, birch and the hemp plant. It's also one of the most widely used fragrance ingredients in the world.
In our Sleep Formula, linalool extracted from lavender is added to hemp isolate in cold-pressed Australian hemp seed oil. That's the whole formula: three ingredients.
What terpenes are
Every plant has a scent, and terpenes are most of the reason. They're a family of several thousand compounds built from the same five-carbon building block, and plants produce them in tiny glands on their leaves and flowers. Pine smells of pinene. Citrus peel smells of limonene. Lavender smells of linalool. Hemp, depending on the variety, carries all three and a dozen others.
When you buy a full spectrum hemp oil like our King Gee, its earthy, grassy taste is the terpene profile the plant grew. When you buy an isolate, the terpenes have been refined out along with everything else, which is why isolate tastes milder. We cover that difference in Full spectrum vs isolate.
Where linalool comes from
Commercially, linalool is produced two ways. It can be extracted from plants (lavender, coriander seed and the ho wood tree are the main sources) or it can be made synthetically. Both give the same molecule. The molecule exists in two mirror-image forms: lavender's linalool is mostly one form, coriander's mostly the other, and the two smell slightly different to a trained nose.
The linalool in our Sleep Formula is extracted from lavender.
How it's measured
Because terpenes are volatile, they're measured by gas chromatography: the sample is vaporised, and each compound is separated and counted. On a lab report for a full spectrum hemp oil, this shows up as a terpene panel, a list of a dozen or so terpenes with an amount for each, usually in mg/g. Linalool is nearly always on the list.
Why it's in our Sleep Formula
Here we have to be careful, and we'd rather be careful than vague.
Linalool has a long history of use in aromatherapy and traditional preparations, and it has been studied in research settings. We're not going to summarise that research, because Australian law doesn't allow a food product to make or imply therapeutic claims, and a blog post about a food product is held to the same standard. If you want to read the studies, they're searchable, and we'd encourage you to read them yourself rather than take a brand's word for it.
What we can tell you is what we did: we took our isolate oil and added one terpene, extracted from lavender, at a measured amount. Sleep Formula is the product's name, not a promise. The oil is a food. Whether it suits you is your call.
Linalool and drug testing
Linalool is not a cannabinoid and isn't something a workplace drug screen looks for. Sleep Formula's base is our isolate, a single purified compound with the THC refined out, so it carries the same drug test friendly label as our Isolate Oil. We explain exactly what that label means, and what it doesn't, in "Drug test friendly": what it means on our labels.
Frequently asked questions
What is linalool? A terpene, an aromatic plant compound, with a floral scent. It's the dominant aroma in lavender and is found in more than 200 plant species, including hemp.
Is linalool natural? It occurs naturally in many plants. Commercially, it's either extracted from plants or made synthetically; both give the same molecule. Ours is extracted from lavender.
Is linalool used in food? Yes. It's widely used as a flavouring. As with any ingredient, people with specific sensitivities should check the label.
Does linalool show up on a drug test? No. It's not a cannabinoid and isn't part of any standard drug screen.
What else is in the Sleep Formula? Hemp isolate and cold-pressed Australian hemp seed oil. That's it.
Is linalool in your other oils? In small amounts in King Gee Full Spectrum, as part of the plant's natural terpene profile. Not in the plain Isolate Oil, where the terpenes have been refined out.
Written by the Nimbin Hemp team in the Northern Rivers, NSW. Last updated 21 October 2026.