It’s not as easy as it sounds to truly know what you're buying. Oh, look right here, on the bottle. It says 100% pure therapeutic grade lavender oil and it’s only $10 for a 30 ml bottle! NO! I know how badly we all need and want to save a buck while being safe and healthy for our families, but Please. Essential oils are not the place to save that buck. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Remember how much plant it takes to extract just a small amount of oil (for example patchouli oil. It takes 200 KG of patchouli to make just 1 KG of oil!) and now remember that people have to plant and care for these crops, then harvest and distill and bottle them. You also want to be sure these people are being paid a living wage.
There is absolutely no agency that governs the essential oil market. There is no requirements for someone to be able to put 100% pure or therapeutic grade on their bottle. THere’s not ever anybody making sure that what’s on the label is whats in the bottle. Many essential oil companies can and do take advantage of this fact and alter their oils in order to make them less expensive. These alterations or what are actually called adulterations can be downright dangerous. They increase the risk of an adverse reaction and lessen the likelihood of the health benefits you were using the oil for in the first place. There are many ways a company can adulterate their oils to save money:
There is absolutely no agency that governs the essential oil market. There is no requirements for someone to be able to put 100% pure or therapeutic grade on their bottle. THere’s not ever anybody making sure that what’s on the label is whats in the bottle. Many essential oil companies can and do take advantage of this fact and alter their oils in order to make them less expensive. These alterations or what are actually called adulterations can be downright dangerous. They increase the risk of an adverse reaction and lessen the likelihood of the health benefits you were using the oil for in the first place. There are many ways a company can adulterate their oils to save money:
- Alcohol or a vegetable oil is added to stretch the volume of essential oil.
- A synthetic chemical constituent is added to the main oil to increase its volume. Bergamot and lavender oils are a common victim of this method.
- A cheaper essential oil is added to or distilled with the main essential oil.
- A completely synthetic product is produced in a laboratory and can be marketed as natural.
- A cheaper essential oil is outright substituted for a more expensive essential oil.
And they don’t have to tell you! That’s right, they don’t have to put this on the label!
After all this, you STILL have to worry about the quality of the oil itself! Such as What extraction method does the company use? Do they have plant quality standards to qualify for distillation? Do they use pesticides? And other factors.
How to avoid purchasing poor quality or adulterated essential oils:
Purchase directly from the company or a direct company representative. Contact the company or representative directly and ask about their planting, care, harvesting and distilling practices. Even better, are you able to go and see their practices for yourself?
Avoid purchasing essential oils from the grocery, department or even a health food store as they are not likely to know anything about the company and their practices. It is also a good idea to avoid purchasing essential oils from websites such as Amazon or Ebay and other such sites as you really don't know who is selling them. Yes, even if you find a known reputable brand for sale on these sites, please avoid them. They may be legit, but they could equally be old or at worst the contents emptied and replaced partially or completely with something else, and that is dangerous. You want to be able to communicate with the grower and distiller about their plants, oils and practices and know that they are coming directly from them or from a reputable and legitimate representative.
So, what brands do I trust?
I take this VERY seriously as I use essential oils in my diffuser as well as topically and internally. I use them on myself, on and around my pets as well as my children. HOURS upon HOURS of research and there are 3 brands of essential oils I trust and use with confidence. I use essential oils in my diffuser as well as topically and internally.
#1 Young Living: I personally trust my Young Living Essential Oils Completely. They are my first choice when using essential oils. So many people shy away from this company because of the direct sales aspect and that is a true shame. So many people have a wrongly negative association with Direct Sales companies. I honestly think this makes a company like Young Living MORE trustworthy because direct sales companies are under such scrutiny just because of how they choose to operate without a brick and mortar establishment. I made this choice for SO many reasons, but a big one for me, that no other company does. They have been in business for 25+ years. While Young Living may not be certified organic, they actually go beyond the requirements of organic practices and does not use any pesticides on their farms! They use essential oils for pest control and they do all weeding BY HAND! That, to me, is dedication to quality and purity right there. They also cultivate with as much care and only choose the best material for distillation. They also only distill their plant material once. Many other companies will distill, then add more plant material and do a second and sometimes even a THIRD distillation making a lower quality product. I love that you can go and visit their farms and see for yourself and even participate in the cultivation and distillation processes. The only downside is they are a bit pricy, HOWEVER there are so many ways to get product at a discounted rate and even for free. I will add that I do wish they would bottle their hydrosols Or at least use them in the fields or something rather than discarding them.
#2 Florihana: I discovered Florihana during my level 1 aromatherapy certification course I took with The New York Institute of Aromatic Studies. They are a French based company. They have separate websites for different countries so make sure you are at the correct one. you can click the name above and you will be taken to the Florihana website for the United States. Shipping is outrageously expensive. Understandable since they are shipping internationally, however, they offer free shipping for order over $100. I initially started out using their hydrosols. Their prices are very reasonable. I honestly think the prices are lower because they are not in the US lol. They are certified organic in accordance with the European, Japanese and US guidelines. Their technical data sheets are available on their website and it is very easy to navigate.
#3 Mountain Rose Herbs: I love Mountain Rose Herbs. I get the majority of my dried herbs from them and have never been disappointed. They take such amazing care in their products and everything is processed in small batches. Their products are all organic or ethically wild harvested, kosher, non-GMO, fair trade and so much more. They will send you the scientific data on their oils if you ask.
I'm Positive there are many other brands of essential oil out there that are wonderful and true as well. These are just my most recommended out of the essential oil companies I have researched and used.
The bottom line is, that no matter what brand of oils you choose to use, make it a decision based on research and education and not by how much you can get for your buck. All those viral posts you have seen going around social media about sick or dying pets caused by essential oils all start the same.. "I got this set of essential oils from Amazon, or Bed Bath & Beyond (or insert other unknown entity here)"..... Anyway, before I go off on another tangent, I'll say goodnight! Another post will be coming soon about the reality of using essential oils near and even FOR animals!
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