Finding Quality Essential Oils

So you have been looking at weaving essential oils into you life, as you may have read in my previous posts essential oils are classed as a cosmetics and are therefore unregulated, there are a mass of products out there, an oversaturated market to navigate. Where do you start?

This weeks post on essential oils has a few pointers that can make sure you are purchasing the purest and therefore safest oils for you can your family. Many companies including the company I buy from claim to be 'therapeutic grade' but there is actually no such ‘industry wide certification’ to certify and grade an essential oil as this, such tests are done as part of a company’s own quality control. So how can you be confident?

1. What type of bottle are the oils in? They should be in a DARK GLASS bottle; blue, green or brown. Essential Oils should never be placed into plastic containers as they are potent enough to eat into the plastic.

2. Do they have a reducer in the cap? Essential oils require specific dilution rates for specific problems and these dilution rates take into consideration a persons health and wellbeing, any underlying medical conditions, their age and what the problem is the oils are being used for, therefore being able to measure the drops you are going to use is so important - dilution rates I will cover soon on my blog!

3. How is the essential oil labelled? Does it have the Common Name AND the botanical name on the bottle? It should have both, why? Well in the example of Lavender, one of the most common oils to use, there are many different types of lavender, Lavandula Angustifolia being the main one used in aromatherapy for its quality and characteristics. Lavendin is another type of cheaper distilled oil, which smells similar but has less potency and different properties, this oil is often used as a filler in cosmetics, creams and soaps that have a lavender scent for example as its cheaper to obtain, if your bottle of oil does not have the botanical name after the common name then I would be wary purchasing it.

4. How was the oil extracted and what part of the plant is the oil from? This should be on the label in a quality oil.

5. Testing - generally essential oils go through a common test called GC-MS testing (Gas chromatography, Mass spectrometry testing) now this test is great on understanding the properties of an individual batch of oils by analysing the volatile particles present and is done to ensure oils are unadulterated, if your oil company allows you to see these tests I think that is great and a good indication of transparency with their product. Batch testing with this is important as each oil will vary in batch to batch, depending on the plant origin, season etc. GC-MS testing WILL NOT however find pesticides, unless looked for, even farms which farm organic may have trace pesticides present in soil if neighbouring farms use them (see below for more on farming practices) GC-MS will not pick up heavy metals (make sure the company you choose tests for this separately) GC-MS will not be able to differentiate between natural and synthetic compounds so it is important that you choose a company that knows its supply chain, that tests through its supply chain and holds them to account.

6. Ethics and sustainability. This is one of the biggest things for me, we can do tests and make our oils are pure as can be, but if the ethics and sustainability are not upheld in this industry we can be doing the environment and the communities which farm these plants more harm than good. Check you oil company has policies in place for organic, sustainable and ethical suppliers, some plants are being put on endangered lists due to heavy farming for EO make sure the company you use is responsible with regards to conservation.

Where are you oils coming from? I feel it is far better for the environment and the communities if these oils come from their countries of origin, not only does it provide job opportunities in a community, plants from their natural origin will be healthier, therefore producing a better oil. There are a couple of EO companies I have researched which claim to grow most of the plants they need for oils in he grounds of their factories sot they can control the whole process, this sounds great, but I feel in practice it detracts the value of essential oils as a global product, which can improve communities and improve local biodiversity and wildlife. Accountability for supporting these farms, paying ethically for the product and ensuring in turn the farms treat their workers well is hugely important to me in an industry which is growing every day. I want essential oils to remain an industry that is patient, skilled and transparent and will support companies that do that, I don't want the EO industry to end up like fast fashion, hugely wasteful, a burden on workers, economies and the environment, the whole point of this journey for me is to a better change for my family and the world.

7. Now to the oil itself, essential oils are generally not oily, they are more a dry oil and wont feel slippery, if the oil you have is oily it has probably been mixed with a synthetic or carrier oil, which will reduce purity and potency.

8. Smell the oil, have you smelt Lemon essential oil, then smelt a lemon fragranced cleaner? sometimes it is just easy enough to tell that synthetic difference.

9. Finally the price! If its too good to be true then it probably is! Essential oils vary greatly in price due to the yield. So lavender has around a 1% yield meaning it is fairy productive for oils as a plant and therefore is priced affordably. Rose oil however one of the most expensive has a low yield of around 0.006% meaning it can take the petals from around 60 roses, to make just ONE drop of essential oil you can expect to pay £150 + for a quality bottle of Rose essential oil.

I hope I have empowered you with enough information to make an informed choice about the oils you buy, I honestly sat on the fence with oils for so long researching and considering all these facts and finally settled with doTERRA a company I felt not only were transparent with their oils, testing etc. dōTERRA has in place strict code of practice to responsibly source oils and support the farms and communities that help them. If you would like to read more about my reasons for choosing them over others I will be writing about that soon.

Otherwise, happy oil shopping and if you have any questions please do let me know!