What to look for when purchasing essential oils
It is no secret that I have my favorite companies. So much so that I implemented them into my own shop and business, I love these companies so much I am willing to sell them myself. No, they are not MLMs. I didn’t join anything and have to build a downline. As a business I simply expanded my shop a little with wholesale options. My favorite companies are Simply Earth, Plant Therapy and Mountain Rose Herbs. I don’t expect everyone to love the companies I love though, and I wouldn’t expect anyone to blindly take my word for it either. So how do choose which company to purchase from? How do we know which oils are actually pure? What do you need to look for when purchasing essential oils? It might seem daunting but it’s not too hard to spot what a good quality essential oil looks like. And it doesn’t have to cost your entire bank account either.
What to look for in a quality essential oil:
GC/MS reports: this is my huge one. If they do not offer quality reports on their oils I would never buy from them. This doesn’t mean I ALWAYS look at the reports, because I don’t. But when checking out the company I looked to see if they offer the reports and browsed several of them. I also look to see if they do voluntary recalls, and believe it or not I trust a company more if they are willing to send out a recall on their own accord and let people know if something slipped by. The GC/MS reports are my non-negotiable however, these reports tell you the quality of the oil and how much of each constituent is in the oil. It also tells you if there are any impurities. If a company doesn’t offer these or they beat around the bush when asking about them, I wouldn’t trust them. A company should be open about the sourcing of their essential oils and the quality of the oil. I also dislike when a company won’t give you the reports unless you purchase first. I should be able to see what the quality is like before purchasing. I also like to ensure that the testing is done 3rd party, it means nothing to me if a company tests in house, uses someone they know or someone that works for them. Get a neutral third party to sign off on the testing to ensure total transparency.
Latin Names: Each plant has a botanical (Latin) name, and it is imperative that they include the exact botanical name on the bottle or website. There are several varieties of lavender, how are you supposed to know which lavender you are using if they do not include the botanical name. This can be important especially in cases of contradictions or safety issues. Eucalyptus Dives is kid safe but Eucalyptus Globulus is not. If it just says “Eucalyptus” you won’t know which variety you are uses and what potential concerns there could be.
Country of origin: I used to think this wasn’t a huge deal but it’s important in the sense to ensure proper sourcing as well as getting an idea of what is actually in your bottle. Different countries might offer a different variety of the plant, it could be slightly different based on where its harvested. Origin plays a role in what you actually receive. It’s also just nice to know where your oil comes from, and this plays into company transparency as well. If they can’t tell you where it comes from what else are they hiding? If you are going to sell oils you should know where it comes from. Many companies lie about their sourcing when in reality they are sourcing their oils with less than stellar methods and shady practices.
Distillation method: This is good to know because some oils can only be distilled a certain way, some can be distilled in multiple ways. The distillation method can change how an essential oil is, and sometimes the distillation method doesn’t make a true essential oil. Absolutes for example are not essential oils, they vary slightly and use an alcohol base (solvent) to extract the plant matter. This is often used for finer plants such as rose. I once saw an essential oil seller that claimed the only way to get frankincense essential oil was to use a solvent extraction (what makes the absolute) and that claim was false. Frankincense is a resin and it is steam distilled. If that company didn’t even know how to properly distill essential oils, or that frankincense could be steam distilled, what else don’t they know? It’s hard to trust a company when they share information that is wrong. Make sure you know the distillation method, and any good company is going to be honest about this.
Safety information: If you don’t see safety information I wouldn’t buy it. It is the sellers duty to ensure they share correct and safe information. Failing to provide basic safety information for the consumer leads to over use and misuse of essential oils. If you see a company sharing information such as “ingest these essential oils, put them in water, use them undiluted” etc. I wouldn’t buy those oils or trust them. Some advice varies, but generally speaking most essential oil advice is the same across the board. Some variances might be more cautious, and I actually don’t mind when a company errs on the side of caution. Like recommending peppermint over age 10 when you could safely use it at 6 or even at 3. We also need to watch out when companies don’t directly spread misinformation but they ignore when those selling their product are spreading false information. If they can’t speak up when their direct sellers are spreading false information, how can we trust that they actually care about the consumer? Products should also specify if it is kid safe, pregnancy safe, pet safe etc. You should be able to trust the information coming from the company. Look and see if aromatherapists back their information and also double check information with a trust sourced such as the Tisserand Institute.
Pricing: If all the oils are the exact same price they are fake. If a high quality oil such as Rose, Neroli, Jasmine or even Blue Tansy (among others) is at a price that just seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t a pure oil. Most likely synthetic or cut with something else. Peppermint essential oil should not be the same price as Blue Tansy. Some plants cost more to get, cost more to distill, use more to distill and the price point may vary. This isn’t to say a more expensive essential oil is better, it’s not. But all oils can’t be the same price because it is impossible to get the same amount of rarer plants for the same amount as peppermint. Peppermint is basically a weed, it’s abundant. It makes sense if that is $8-$10 but blue Tansy takes more plant matter and is a little harder to source so if that is $8 it’s a fake. While I always say you don’t have to break the bank to get quality, we also need to spend a little more for a bottle of Rose than $8 from amazon. Which is fake, trust me I learned that one the hard way.
Company Response: If you ask the company questions, they should be able to answer. I asked several companies one time what the dilution of their blends were and at what percentage each essential oil in the blend was at. I will give you two guesses at which two companies wouldn’t even tell me the dilution of their roller bottles let alone how much of each essential oil they contained. I’m sure you know, often they throw around the words “proprietary blends” and refuse to give any information on dilution. This is dangerous because different dilution is for different uses and even different people. Kids shouldn’t use high dilutions, you shouldn’t use 10%, 30% or 50% dilutions daily or for more than a week or two. If they can’t tell you this basic safety information you cannot trust them. I get wanting to protect your recipe, but people are going to find it out anyways. So just share the information so people are safe. This goes for all other information. A company needs to be able to share about their company. There is very little that needs to be hidden, if anything at all. On the other hand several other companies were more than happy to let me know the dilution percentage and even the ratios of oils in the blends they had.
So that’s it. Those are the main points to focus on when purchasing essential oils. It can be daunting at first, but once you get down what to look for it’s super easy to find a trustworthy company and purchase from them. Soon you should be able to browse a listing for essential oils and see if they have the information needed and it shouldn’t take more than a few seconds or minutes. What is your favorite essential oil company?
Thank you so much for reading, your support means a lot. If you have any questions feel free to email me at holisticary@gmail.com or call/text me at 641-631-6355
This blog post was meant to educate and entertain, it is entirely my opinion and not meant to treat or diagnose anyone or to be taken as absolute unwavering fact. Please seek proper medical care and advice. Some links might contain affiliate links, this is at no cost to you and helps the blog.