Essential Oil Quality - Why it Matters

I use essential oils every day for various purposes, and while they definitely aren't a necessity they do come in handy for a number of uses.

Essential oils are a natural form of fragrance in many products, including soaps, cosmetics, cleaning products, incense, and perfumes.  Because they are derived from plant sources, they are a wonderful alternative to artificial fragrances, derived from chemicals, which, according to research by the Environmental Working Group, have been found to be harmful to human health. 

In addition to being used as fragrance in everyday products, essential oils also serve many therapeutic purposes, and can help with conditions ranging from insomnia, headache, and irritability to sunburn, wounds, and toothache.  Essential oils can also be used as natural healing agents for those seeking everything from a decongestant or astringent to an anti-depressant or anti-anxiety remedy. 

How Essential Oils Are Made and Why Quality Matters

Several methods are used for extracting essential oils from plants, including steam and hydro distillation, carbon dioxide distillation, and cold pressing.  Different plants will benefit from different extraction processes.  Therefore, there is not one process that is the best over the others.   

Whether you are looking for essential oils to bring a lovely fragrance into your home or if you are seeking a remedy to a physical or mental ailment, you want to ensure that you purchase the highest quality essential oil to be certain you derive the most benefits from the most natural source.  With all of the essential oils available on the market today, it is difficult for consumers to determine which are the most pure.  Using the purest oils will provide the highest level of benefits, especially if you are planning on using these oils in aromatherapy.  For those working in holistic medicine, it is also important that the essential oils are derived from plant sources that are organic. 

Low quality or adulterated oils, will provide minimal benefits along with the potential for unwanted side effects.  The quality of essential oils can be compromised if the plants from which they are derived are grown under the wrong conditions, such as in poor soil, or if pesticides and other chemicals are used on the plants while they are growing.  In addition, many essential oils are sensitive to environmental conditions, such as heat, light, and oxygen, which can degrade them during distribution, storage, and while they are sitting on a store shelf.

How to Find the Highest Quality Essential Oils

It is important to do your best to determine the quality of essential oils, especially since quality control standards are not set in countries like the United States.  Read labels, ask questions, and buy from reputable sources to ensure you are getting the best value for your money, as well as the most benefits possible from the essential oils that are meant for healing purposes. 

Here are some tips from Aroma Web and the University of Minnesota that will help you find the highest quality essential oils possible:

1. Keep in mind that, though price is not always indicative of the quality of an essential oil, vendors who have spent money on testing the quality of oils and who have put the time into finding the right sources for the oils they sell may very well charge you more, unlike vendors who get their oils from the cheapest sources and can then resell them at lower prices.

2. For the highest quality, always purchase organic oils.  Also, look for 100% pure essential oils that have not been mixed with other oils or altered in another way.

3. Purchase oils that are labeled with important information, including the oil’s botanical Latin name, country of origin, and method of extraction.  Keep in mind that there are many different forms of certain flowers, such as lavender, chamomile, and many others, so you want to get the Latin name to ensure you are getting the exact essential oil you need for your therapeutic purposes.

4. Make sure the oils are bottled properly, including not having any dust on them.  Bottles that have sat too long on a shelf will probably contain oils that have become damaged from heat, oxidation, or even from simply being there too long and losing potency over time.  In addition, essential oils should be stored in dark glass bottles, so if you receive your oils in clear glass or plastic bottles, be sure to transfer them to preserve them. 

5. Do not be fooled by misleading terminology, such as “therapeutic grade” or “aromatherapy grade,” because there are no regulating bodies that inspect and analyze these products.   

6. Terms that tell you an oil is not pure include “perfume oil” and “fragrance oil,” so be sure to stay away from products with these words on their labels. 

Finding Brands You Trust

It may be difficult at first to find the most pure essential oils for your needs, but once you find the brands that you can trust, it is easy to continue giving your business to them, since you have already discovered that they are reputable sources for oils.  Just make sure that you always check labels and ask a lot of questions, to make sure that the vendors and brands you choose are knowledgeable and honest about their products and that they will continue using only the highest quality oils available.   

I've purchased some essential oils that ended up not being pure. It's really annoying! Two brands that I have come to trust are Aura Cacia and Eden's Garden.

Please feel free to mention your favorite brands in the comments, as well - as well as those that have completely missed the mark!