The Best Essential Oil Brand? How to Tell if an Essential Oil Brand is Any Good
Note: This article is an excerpt from a lesson in our Herbal Aromatherapy™ Certification Program and is protected by copyright. It is really long, so I recommend setting aside 30 minutes to really be able to read through it. I cover a lot of questions I commonly receive about essential oils and how to tell if a brand is reputable or not throughout the article. I think it is important to note that I do not sell essential oils. I use many brands of essential oils, and I distill many of my own using fresh plants I grow in my garden. I am a professionally trained, NAHA-certified aromatherapist and clinical herbalist, and I feel that I am able to write this article without any brand connections or bias. If you are new here, welcome! I hope you'll find this helpful.
Essential oils are widely available in a vast array of levels of quality ranging from authentic to completely synthetic. Being able to critically evaluate a brand to determine its reputability and the quality of the products it offers is essential for anyone who is going to be working with purchased essential oils.
A pure essential oil is technically one that is straight from the still without any additives. Nothing has been altered or added to it. The only thing in the bottle is the essential oil from the plant from which it was gathered. The problem, though, is that the word pure in relation to essential oils is not regulated, so seeing the word pure on a bottle or website really does not mean anything. I have seen bottles of “pure essential oil” that contained no essential oil at all. Because of this, many companies have coined their own terms or phrases to describe the quality of their products. These terms are also unregulated, as we will discuss more in a moment.
I prefer to use the term authentic to refer to truly pure essential oils that are nothing but the unaltered essential oil straight from the still – grown, harvested, and distilled as the plant was meant to be.
As we move forward with this lesson, I think it is important for you to know that I do not care which brand(s) of essential oils you choose to work with in your home or practice as long as you are choosing to work with authentic essential oils that are produced ethically. I do not personally sell essential oils so I have nothing to gain in persuading you to work with any one particular brand and I personally purchase from several different brands, including many small farmers and independent distillers. I distill essential oils myself, but I do not sell them to the public. It is more important to me that I teach you to accurately evaluate an essential oil brand yourself so you will be equipped to make sound decisions regarding the companies you choose to support than it is to tell you which brands you should or should not be working with.
There are a few different ways you can obtain essential oils for your apothecary.
Grow the plant and distill it yourself. (We cover distillation for hydrosols and essential oils in module 8.)
Purchase or wild-harvest the fresh plant material locally and distill it yourself.
Purchase distilled products directly from a local farmer or artisan distiller who grew the plant and distilled it on-site.
Purchase distilled products from a company that acts as a distributor.
This includes companies with large catalogs of essential oils sourced from around the world, as well as the popular MLM companies. Most companies that act as a distributor are not the same company that grew and distilled the plants themselves, though this is not always the case. Some companies that act as distributors also own farms where they do grow and distill some of the essential oils in their catalogs.
Purchasing essential oils is going to involve a lot of trust on your part, especially if you are purchasing from a company that acts as distributor rather than directly from the farmer who grew the plant and distilled it on site. When you purchase directly from a farmer, you can visit the farm and witness the harvest and distillation process yourself. You can purchase the essential oil directly from the person who distilled it. You can verify the purity of the product with your own eyes, especially if the farmer is willing to sell you an essential oil straight from the still. (You may need to let it age before using it if you do this.)
When you purchase essential oils from a company that is acting as a distributor, you will not usually have the opportunity to witness the harvest and distillation of your product before you purchase it and you have to rely on other means to measure quality.
How Essential Oil Brands Work
A company with a wide catalog of essential oils is usually purchasing them from different farms around the world. Sometimes in such cases, the farmer and the distiller are separate entities. The farm grows the plant material, sends it to the distiller, and the distiller distills the plant material. From there, the products might go to a broker or a cooperative that then sells the products in bulk to the distributors, who then repackage the product in smaller bottles that can be sold at wholesale or retail.
The entities acting as brokers are sometimes responsible for adulteration or standardization of the products. Adulteration happens when synthetic ingredients or isolated essential oil constituents or carriers are added to the essential oil to “stretch” it or add to the total volume of it so the sale price for the batch can be higher. Standardization happens when a company wants an essential oil with a specific percentage of certain constituents – isolated constituents are added to the essential oil to meet those requirements.
By the time the essential oil purchased through a distributor gets to you, it has usually changed hands multiple times. In general, the more times an essential oil changes hands, the higher the chance that it will be adulterated. This is one of the reasons why I recommend purchasing directly from local distillers or distilling yourself whenever possible.
Reputable distributors will have every batch of the essential oils they sell tested by an independent third-party laboratory to confirm its authenticity and purity prior to listing it for sale. The two standardized tests that are usually used to do this are called Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry tests – abbreviated GC / MS or GCMS. Many companies make the results of these tests publicly available on their websites so you can view them prior to purchasing their products. We will talk more about these tests and how to understand them when we reach the phytochemistry modules. For now, know that they can be incredibly helpful for the aromatherapist but are not the gold standard of quality and are not always an indicator of the integrity of a company. Some companies post GC/MS results on their websites to increase trust with their customers but some of them also alter the test results before uploading them to their websites and as a customer, you would not be able to tell when this is happening without either knowing a chemist or executive who works with/within the company and has witnessed it themselves or without seeing conflicting test results on the same batch of the same product from an independent third-party lab.
Some companies have purchased their own farms to help reduce the risk of adulteration of their products and to better control quality, but this does not necessarily guarantee the integrity of the company.
How to Understand Brand Messaging and Evaluate a Brand Yourself
Essential oils are unregulated products, which means that a brand or salesperson can describe their products pretty much any way they want to, with few exceptions.
Because of this, many of the words and phrases that brands use to describe their products do not actually mean anything industry-wide because there is no national or international standard to qualify the meaning of those words or phrases.
A brand could claim that their essential oil is pure, but that same product might also have other ingredients in it that are not the essential oil. The word pure does not mean that the product inside the bottle is 100% authentic essential oil from the species on the label.
The words and phrases that a brand chooses to use to describe their essential oils fall into two categories:
Marketing Claims
Claims made by the company that have no quantifiable link to a certifying agency, governing body, or cited scientific research.Legitimate, Verifiable Claims
Claims made by the company that have a direct, verifiable link to a certifying agency, governing body, or cited scientific research.
Remember, because essential oils are unregulated, these two categories are really important when it comes to evaluating an essential oil brand.
Here are some of the things you can look for to help you tell what you are looking at.
Words and Phrases That Do Not Actually Mean Anything (Marketing Claims; not Reflective of an Industry-Wide or Regulated standard)
Pure
This word has no standard to qualify its meaning in relation to essential oils and I have even seen it used to describe “pure” 100% synthetic products sold as essential oils. Some reputable brands do use this word to describe their high quality, authentic essential oil products. This descriptor is not a red flag, but it also does not mean that the product in the bottle is authentic essential oil. It does not represent a universal standard or certification awarded by a certifying agency or governing body of any kind.Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade® or CPTG®
This is a phrase that one multi-level-marketing essential oil brand has trademarked for use to describe their products and their process for bringing them to market. It describes their own approach to their products, but it is, again, an unregulated phrase that has no standard qualifying its meaning across the board. No regulating body is awarding this qualification to the brand or its products; the brand is basically awarding it to their products themselves. It is a marketing tool, not an indication of adherence to an industry standard.Therapeutic Grade
A shortened version of the above that is not trademarked and is therefore adopted by many brands and salespersons to describe the products they are selling. It is also unregulated, not awarded by a governing body or certifying agency, and has no quantifiable meaning.Medicinal Grade / Clinical Grade
Some brands use this phrase to describe their products in an effort to position their products with a higher perception of quality, but it is also an unregulated phrase.Pharmaceutical Grade
Again, some brands use this phrase to describe their products in an effort to position their products with a higher perception of quality, but it is also an unregulated phrase.
It is important to note that essential oils are not pharmaceuticals. Using this phrase to describe essential oils in our country is not only unscrupulous; it can also be dangerously deceptive.
Words and Phrases that Do Mean Something (Quantifiable Claims; Industry-Wide Regulated Standards)
USDA Certified Organic
The use of this seal is regulated. You can read more about the standards required to earn this certification here, here, and here. Products with this seal on their label have been through a rigorous verification process and awarded this certification by a governing federal agency.ECOCERT Certified Organic
The use of this seal is regulated. You can read more about the standards required to earn this certification here. Products with this seal on their label have been through a rigorous verification process and awarded this certification by a governing agency.
Note: It has become popular amongst salespersons for the two larger MLM essential oil brands to claim that organic certification seals on essential oil bottles do not indicate that the essential oil in the bottle is actually organic. However, if these individuals would spend some time speaking with a certified organic farmer, grower, or business owner and could see the amount of paperwork, careful recordkeeping, meticulous business practices, and biodynamic processes necessary to earn this certification, I believe they would change their opinion quite readily. I think the only reason this myth has been circulated in their communities is that it is true that you can buy a bottle of “organic” shampoo or lotion or some other product that also contains small amounts of other, non-organic ingredients. Maybe that is what they are thinking of when they make these statements. Perhaps they are assuming that a bottle of certified organic essential oil can also contain other ingredients. However, they are mistaken in their assumption that these ingredients would be undisclosed on the label. When the product is a bottle of certified organic essential oil that only contains essential oil, these seals are absolutely the highest regulated standard available.
What You Want to See on the Bottle’s Label or Sales Page
The common name and the botanical name of the plant from which the essential oil is derived.
If the label only has one of these, you want it to be the botanical name. Botanical names are universal, are often in Latin, and should be italicized. Examples: Lavandula angustifolia (true lavender) and Mentha x piperita (peppermint)Certified organic seal or other growing information
A USDA or ECOCERT certified organic seal indicates the highest regulated standard available for essential oil. It also indicates that the plants that were used to gather the essential oil were cultivated or responsibly wildcrafted according to monitored regulations, which is becoming more and more important in this industry.
When you choose to purchase certified organic essential oils, you are not only supporting organic farmers; you are also supporting organic and biodynamic land cultivation practices that are focused on replenishing the soil rather than depleting it.
Some essential oils are not currently available in a certified organic option. They may only be available from smaller farms who practice organic growing but are not certified or they may come from wildcrafted sources. You will want to know how the plant was grown prior to purchasing. Many bottles now have this information on the label.Country of Origin – Where was the plant material grown, harvested and distilled?
Some companies will tell you that plants need to be grown in specific countries in order to yield the highest quality essential oil, but this is not always true. It is usually just marketing.
Most plants do need specific growing conditions or to be harvested at a certain time of year to produce an essential oil consistent with what the market has come to expect, but many plants can be grown in your own area with the right conditions and yield just as good a product.
For example, there are a few companies that claim that the best lavender essential oil comes from high-altitude, pristine mountain regions of France. I have sourced a few of those products and have found that, when compared to a high-altitude US-grown lavender that is also especially fine, the US-grown version is just as excellent, if not better, both experientially and in testing. My absolute favorite lavender essential oil comes from a family-owned farm in Oregon and I have tried dozens of different lavender essential oils.
My own focus has largely transitioned to more bio-regionally available essential oils, produced from widespread, readily available, easy to grow plants that are grown and processed at least in my own country whenever possible.Chemotype (if applicable)
Within plant species, there can be plant varieties that produce natural variations in the chemistry of their essential oils. For example, there are hundreds of varieties of thyme plants and each of them offers some small variance in chemical constituents. One species might have more thymol than another while another might be higher in linalool. At one time of year, the same species might have a higher concentration of one constituent than it would later in the year. These chemical variances show up in the essential oils and are categorized as chemotypes.
If you are looking at a plant that is known to have many different varieties that differ slightly in chemistry or that is known to produce harvests with different amounts of constituents at different times of the year or in different growing conditions, you will want to also know the chemotype of the essential oil before purchasing it.
The chemotype will be what you need to look at to determine proper dilutions, safe use, contraindications, and other safety information about the essential oil prior to using it.
Chemotypes are often abbreviated as CT or ct. on the label. The part that comes after the CT is the chemical constituent that is more dominant in that bottle of essential oil.
Examples: Thyme ct. linalool or Rosemary CT verbenone.Ingredients
This is one of the parts of the label that can be a bit tricky. Ideally, an essential oil bottle will not need to list its ingredients on the bottle because the only ingredient is the essential oil. However, there are a few things of which to be aware.
One: Essential oil manufacturers/sellers that are not selling certified organic products are not required to list all of the ingredients in the bottle on the label (remember, these are unregulated products), so something might be labeled “100% pure lavender essential oil” with no other ingredients listed on the label but could actually contain synthetics, additives and adulterants.
Two: Some essential oil sellers choose to standardize their products, which means that they might have started with pure, authentic lavender essential oil, but that before bottling, they added isolated constituents like linalool to alter the chemical composition of the finished product. The added linalool may or may not have come from the same plant species and usually is not listed on the label. (Standardization is common with lavender essential oils, which is why I have used lavender as the example here, but other species can be standardized or altered as well.)
Three: Some brands will dilute their essential oils with carrier oils, adulterants or synthetics to stretch them before bottling and selling. If the company is reputable and lists all the ingredients on the label along with the dilution rate (it should be listed as a percentage), this is not always a negative thing.
It is a common practice with some of the more expensive essential oils like high quality rose or orange blossom (sometimes called neroli) essential oils so that brands can make these precious essential oils more accessible to their customers. A 5ml bottle of authentic rose essential oil could retail for over $200 dollars, but a 5ml bottle of rose essential oil that has been diluted in organic jojoba could sell for under $30.
However, since all ingredients do not need to be listed on the label, unscrupulous companies could dilute their products without any indication on the label and this can potentially be dangerous if you are not aware of it.
What to Look for on the Company’s Website
Endangered species (red flag)
If I see products that have been gathered from endangered or at-risk species, that is a huge red flag for me. If the plant has been organically cultivated or at least cultivated by a grower, that is one thing, but I do not recommend ever purchasing products made from wildcrafted species that are at risk or endangered in their native environments. We have seen plant species become endangered and even reach extinction because of a lack of sustainability in this industry and where we choose to spend money on essential oil products makes a big difference in our future moving forward. I encourage you to support companies that are committed to sustainable practices – companies that refuse to stock products that were made from wildcrafted endangered or at-risk species.
More Information Than What Is On the Label
Usually the website will have more details about the product than can fit on the label. These are some of the things I like to see on the website for each individual essential oil I purchase:
Method of Extraction: This tells you how the essential oils were gathered from the plant material. Steam distillation, cold pressing, CO2 extraction, etc. are all methods that you might see often. The method of extraction used is important because it can indicate certain things to be aware of regarding safety. For example, lemon essential oil that has been cold pressed can cause photosensitizing reactions when used on skin that is then exposed to sunlight, but steam distilled lemon essential oil does not have the constituents that cause the photosensitivity and can therefore be used at a different dilution rate on the skin without the same risk. Absolutes can also have different safety considerations and recommended dilutions than essential oils from the same plant can.
Plant Part(s) Used: Different parts of the plants can yield different essential oils with varying chemical compositions and therefore, different safety considerations. Cinnamon bark and cinnamon leaf essential oils, for example, have different safety considerations and different recommended dilutions. Common plant parts you will see include leaves, flowers, seeds, fruit, wood/bark, roots, rhizomes, resins, etc.
Contraindications and Safety Considerations: If the supplier does not have this information on their website, it can be a potential red flag (but not always). It can also be concerning if the information they have provided is either not referenced (no footnotes / citations telling you where the information came from so you can verify it yourself) or if the references that are cited are referring to literature produced by the company or its employees or salespeople. Some information that might be included in this section: recommended dilution rates, possible interactions with medications, contraindications, information about safe use when pregnant, etc.
Month/Date of Extraction: This is important because it tells you about the shelf life of the product. Some essential oils oxidize faster than others and using oxidized essential oils increases risk of an adverse reaction, so it is important to know when to expect to replace your essential oil.
Note: Some people base the shelf life of the essential oil on the date it was distilled (or cold pressed, etc.) and others base it on the date they open the bottle. There is no general consensus in the industry about whether one of these methods is superior to the other.
Shelf Life: Some sellers will provide an estimate for you. This can be affected by how you choose to store your essential oils. Generally, storing them in the refrigerator with as little headspace in the bottle as possible increases their shelf life.GC / MS reports
These are two tests used to determine the chemical composition and authenticity of essential oils. Most reputable companies perform these tests on their essential oils as soon as they arrive and publish the test results on their website.
Unfortunately, some dishonest companies also publish these reports on their websites, but they are not always accurate. I have seen doctored test results (even in GC/MS reports from the big brands), stolen test results, and outdated test results all provided by companies to their customers to try to instill a level of confidence in their products. So, GC/MS reports are not the end-all-be-all. That a company provides these is not a sole indicator of quality or integrity of the brand.
However, accurate batch specific GC/MS reports are good to have because they can tell us that the company (if reputable) is committed to ensuring consistent quality in the products they are offering. They also break down the chemical makeup of that batch of essential oil for us so we can use that information to discern how best to work with it in blends. Chemistry can vary from batch to batch depending on the weather, harvest time, and growing/soil conditions each season, so this is especially important for practitioners who are offering clinical services with custom blending or who are selling products.
Note: Some reputable companies do not publish these test results publicly yet (it used to be that test results were kept secret or seen as proprietary or unnecessary for the consumer to see, so some of the older brands have been reluctant to begin publishing them), but many do make them available upon request. Some have adopted an in-between approach, providing just the few most dominant constituents from each essential oil.
Ultimately, GC/MS reports are only as valuable as the integrity of the company.
You may also see a Certificate of Analysis for the essential oil made available on the website. This can provide useful information but is not the same thing as a GC / MS report. Companies will often include a breakdown of the dominant constituents in the essential oil in this certificate.Unsafe usage recommendations (red flag)
Be wary of any seller that recommends any of these methods of use on their website or in their marketing material:
– Ingestion of essential oils in water or application directly to or under the tongue
– Casual, regular, preventive, or daily ingestion of essential oils
– Regular undiluted use of essential oils on the skin (with few exceptions, i.e. lavender essential oil on a bee sting, etc.)
– Application of essential oils to the skin of a newborn or very young child
Contrary to their claims, these methods are not rooted in historical uses of essential oils, have no scientific confirmation of their safety when performed as recommended, and do have documented adverse effects.
We will talk more about the language some salespersons use to justify these methods of use (and why they can be a red flag) in a minute, but for now, just know that if the brand’s website or their representative is making recommendations along these lines, you need to think critically and use wisdom and discernment to further evaluate what is being said or recommended before you accept it as accurate, effective, or safe.
Product Placement Considerations
It is important to educate yourself about how much an essential oil of high quality typically sells for so you can recognize red flags in product pricing. If you know that authentic rose essential oil can sell for $200+ per 5ml bottle, you will automatically know when you see “rose oil” at the big box store for $10, it is not the real thing. You will also know that if you see “rose oil” being sold for the same price as orange essential oil (which can sell for as little as $5 for a 5ml bottle with an organic certification), it is not the real thing.
Big box stores have become increasingly aware of the trendiness of essential oils and have started stocking “essential oils” on their shelves, but the products are usually synthetic, even when they are labeled as 100% pure. Know how much authentic essential oils cost to produce (it varies by species – about 30 roses are needed to make 1 drop of rose essential oil, but peppermint offers much higher yields, which makes it much more affordable) and you will be able to spot the imposters more readily. If you ever see a line of different “essential oils” that are all about the same price, that is another red flag.
Big box stores and discount stores are generally not good places to find authentic essential oils. Nor are sites like Amazon.
A Simple Test You Can Do Yourself
One simple way to test an essential oil to see if it has unlisted carrier oil added to it is to place a drop from the tester bottle onto a sheet of uncoated paper. If the product has a carrier oil added to it, it will leave a greasy looking stain on the paper, but an essential oil will usually evaporate away and not leave any trace of its presence after a little while. This is not a fool-proof test because essential oils can be diluted with isolated volatile constituents, etc., but it can help you determine if an unlisted carrier oil is present.
The presence of an unnaturally strong, sweet, or chemical scent could also be a red flag, as could be the lack of a potent aroma.
Use Critical Thinking When It Comes to Evaluating All Claims
In a college class I took a few years ago as an adult, one of my college psychology professors discussed how important it is to think critically and to be a bit skeptical when we come across new information. In the past, inaccurate pseudoscience has sometimes been largely accepted by the masses before being completely disproven by the scientific community in later years. We can avoid trusting inaccurate information about essential oils when we hear it by learning to think like a scientist – to use our critical thinking skills to evaluate information and to turn to primary sources of information to research claims before accepting them as truth.
Reliable primary sources of information relevant to aromatherapy are usually scientific studies. You must read the whole scientific paper to verify the claim being made by another source of information. The abstract alone is not adequate. When we are looking at historical contexts, primary sources might also include historical literature. Think about a primary source of information as being like a person who broke a world record. They were there. They did it. They know exactly what happened and how they felt that day.
Secondary sources of information would include just about anything else: most aromatherapy books, essential oils brands, company literature, information on websites, things you learn in a class, some research papers (particularly those that are reviews or analyses), etc. When you learn something from one of these sources, you always want to trace it back to the primary source(s) so you can evaluate it yourself. Reliable secondary sources of information will always have thorough, properly cited resources. If a secondary source of information does not have properly cited sources or cites sources that when followed, do not confirm the claim being made by the secondary source, that is a huge red flag. Think about a secondary source of information as being like a person who was in the audience on the day the primary source broke a world record. They observed the primary source’s accomplishment but did not have the same first-hand experience the primary source did. Different audience members would have all had different experiences on that day and might tell the story in different ways.
Tertiary sources of information in the aromatherapy field might include word of mouth, essential oil brands, family, friends, fellow essential oil enthusiasts, classes, or mentors who are sharing information they have learned about with you. They could also include lesser quality books or websites that either do not cite their sources or that cite other books or their own company literature as their sources rather than scientific research. Think about a tertiary source of information as being like a person who was not there the day the primary source broke the record but they did hear about it from a secondary source.
The farther away from the primary source of information we get, the higher the likelihood that something said will not be entirely accurate.
Whenever you hear something about an essential oil (especially regarding health claims), you should trace that information back to its primary source to evaluate it before accepting it as true or sharing it with someone else. Doing so will not only help you to ensure that what you believe about essential oils is accurate; it will also increase your credibility in an industry rife with misinformation.
Making it your own personal policy to always trace information to a primary source to verify its accuracy will keep you from falling into one of the main pitfalls of modern aromatherapy: believing widely circulated myths and misinformation about essential oils. We will talk more about evaluating scientific research in a future lesson.
The Problem of Widespread Misinformation
Sometimes Salespeople Do Not Have Accurate Information and Might Not Even Realize It
People who love essential oils generally mean well. Most people are not going around intentionally spreading false information and they are usually genuinely excited to share more about these beautiful products with their friends and loved ones. Many people find essential oils because they want to support their families’ health with something natural and uplifting and that is wonderful.
Unfortunately, even though the majority of essential oil enthusiasts are well-meaning, there has been a lot of false information and propaganda spread throughout the community. This happens so easily because as humans, we usually trust our friends and family. We love them; we accept them; we believe what they say because we know they are credible people. They are in our inner circle so that is our natural human reaction. But when it comes to essential oils, this has not been such a good thing.
Somewhere along the way, a company or a sales representative said something that was not true about the product they were selling (perhaps unknowingly). That person shared it with a friend who trusted them and believed them and they in turn shared that information with their other friends who did the same. Because the information-sharing network was built on trust between friends (which is brilliant from a marketing perspective,), this misinformation spread rapidly and became so widespread that it has now been generally accepted as truth in some circles. It is not that people were trying to deceive their friends in the process – they were just trying to share something they were excited about and thought was true with people they cared about. Clever marketing messaging also appealed to the natural human response and was effective at instilling trust in companies as well.
Here is the issue, and I do not mean this unkindly. Salespersons are very seldom professionally trained, qualified aromatherapists. Most of them learn how to sell essential oils from their friends or family members, whom they trust, but who are also rarely professionally trained, qualified aromatherapists. They may have received some preliminary training from the companies they work with, but the material provided by those companies is often inaccurate. There is a disconnect between the information they are being taught and what is true. They are trained to sell essential oils and to use them a lot, but not necessarily to use them skillfully, safely, or effectively in ways that will both accomplish their goal and do so safely and according to scientific research. Some salespersons are diligent enough to ferret out primary sources of information before spreading what they learn to others but most do not. They trust what they are told and readily share it.
Ultimately, you cannot always trust what you hear or read about essential oils, even from your well-meaning, beloved friends; even in books; even on websites and blogs; and even from essential oil companies. You need to think critically, examine primary research sources to verify claims, and use wisdom to discern what is true from what is misinformation.
There are many widespread untruths that commonly circulate in the essential oil communities. Let us look at a few of them.
The False Marketing Claim: “Our brand is the only brand that offers pure essential oils.”
The Truth: There are many brands, companies, and artisan distillers that offer 100% pure, authentic, high quality essential oils for sale. This claim is entirely false.
The False Marketing Claim: “Other brands/professionals say that it’s not safe to ingest essential oils because their products aren’t pure. Ours are, so that’s why we can recommend these application methods.” OR “Our brand is the only brand that is safe to ingest.”
The Truth: Implying that the brand name is what makes the essential oil safe to ingest is misleading. Brand names are not what make essential oils safe to ingest. The authenticity, quality, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and chemistry of each individual essential oil combined with the level of education the practitioner has received, the method of application, the dosage and duration, and the factors the client brings to the table (their age, constitution, medications, pre-existing health conditions, and current state of health), determine whether or not a particular essential oil is safe to ingest in any given situation. A reputable brand may have several essential oils in their catalog that are ‘safe’ to ingest, but they will most likely also have many others that are not safe to ingest because of the plant species and the chemical makeup of the essential oil.
Additionally, safe ingestion of essential oils is incredibly nuanced. To practice it safely and effectively involves first completing advanced aromatherapy education at a Level Four training standard (Level Two certification requires 200+ hours of education; Level Three clinical training usually involves an additional 100-200 hours, and Level Four training in aromatic medicine and internal use is offered on top of this). Without this training (or the guidance of someone who has received this training), it really is not safe to ingest essential oils because you will not be educated in the proper methods of application, dilution and dosage rates for internal applications, pharmacology and pharmacokinetics, contraindications, and duration, etc. Licensed physicians and healthcare professionals who are also trained in aromatic medicine are qualified to prescribe essential oils this way, as are clinical aromatherapists who have completed these levels of training and who are practicing within the laws of their own local regions. (In some countries, aromatherapists cannot prescribe essential oils this way unless they are also licensed physicians.) Books and educational materials provided by essential oil sales representatives are not adequate sources of information for this method of application.
Salespersons often recommend ingesting essential oils daily, regularly, directly on or under the tongue, and/or in plain water. None of these methods will ever be recommended by a qualified, trained aromatherapist or someone who is actually trained in aromatic medicine.
Essential oils are not meant to be treated as tonics or water flavorings. There are proper, safe ways to ingest them, but when used internally, they are always used for a specific purpose, in a specific way, and for a specific amount of time.
Please do not take essential oils internally at the recommendation of anyone other than someone who has received Level Four training in aromatic medicine on top of their levels two and three training or medical training.
Note: That someone is a medical professional does not automatically qualify them to practice aromatic medicine. Aromatic medicine is not something that is covered in medical school. It is a separate field of training. There are several celebrity medical doctors and chiropractors who are well known for their public affiliations with essential oils. While I deeply respect medical professionals, it is important to note that some of them are not reputable sources of information regarding essential oils. I have heard several of them spout outright lies in their educational materials about aromatherapy, sometimes even referencing scientific literature that does not say what they are implying it does.
The False Marketing Claim: “The soles of the feet are the best place to apply essential oils.”
I do not know where this idea originated but is a popular one in the MLM circles. Amy Kreydin has written an excellent article addressing this issue – click here to read it.
The Truth: Aside from the things she mentions in her article, the feet are not usually a great place to apply essential oils. Two of the main reasons we use essential oils are for their physical and mental effects. To benefit from their physical effects when applying them topically, we either need to be able to inhale them or apply them to the location where their effects are needed or where they can quickly be absorbed so they can enter the bloodstream. Very rarely is there an ailment of the sole of the foot that requires local essential oil application to improve it. When we mean to inhale the essential oil, placing it on the soles of the feet is not exactly a conducive place from which to breathe in the aroma. It is almost always better to use smelling salts or to apply the blend to the skin of the arms or chest or to use a steam application when inhalation is the goal.
The False Marketing Claim: “Essential oils were used in the Bible.”
The Truth: We covered this one in the history of aromatherapy lesson. Aromatic plants were used in biblical times. Aromatic plants were certainly used to make infused herbal oils in biblical times. Stills did exist but we have no solid evidence to indicate that any biblical references to aromatic plants are referring to the essential oils that come from them, with the one exception provided in that lesson.
The False Marketing Claim: “Adverse reactions to essential oils are detox symptoms.”
The Truth: Adverse reactions to essential oils are adverse reactions to essential oils. If you have an adverse reaction, such as a skin reaction or a respiratory, mental, or other physical reaction to an essential oil, you should immediately discontinue use of it and seek medical care if necessary.
You can have an adverse reaction to a 100% authentic, high quality, pure essential oil. Every person’s body responds differently to them – remember, they are highly potent! You can have immune system-driven reactions and they can cause negative physical or mental effects when they are not used properly. Skin reactions are the most common.
The False Marketing Claim: “Essential oils contain nutrients / vitamins / are nutritious / are nourishing.”
The Truth: While the plants from which essential oils are derived may contain vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, those constituents do not make it through the extraction process into the essential oil. Essential oils do not contain vitamins, minerals, nutrients, etc. and are therefore not nourishing.
The False Marketing Claim: “Pure essential oils are safe for everyone to use.”
The Truth: Not everyone should work with essential oils. This is a complex topic but suffice it to say that some people should avoid using them at all, not because of the quality of the essential oil (or lack thereof), but because of their own body and their current state of health. (This is something we talk about in class throughout the certification program.)
The False Marketing Claim: “Essential oils are natural, so they’re much safer to use than…”
The Truth: Authentic essential oils are technically (scientifically speaking) naturally derived, not natural, but even if they could be classified as natural, that would not make them automatically safe. They are highly potent and strong and when not used properly, can be dangerous, toxic and even poisonous. That something is natural does not automatically qualify it as safe. Poison hemlock is completely natural, but it will still kill you if you eat it.
Where to Look for Third Party Information About a Brand
There are a few consumer reports type communities where you can look up independent, third-party test results of many different essential oil brands and products. Large companies tend to publicly refute their findings when they are not great for the brand and the links to their test results do not always work, but I think they are worth looking at. (Some of them are no longer active groups but their archived posts and files are still available for you to see.)
Healthy Lifestyles Consumer Reviews (click on the Files tab and then click on ‘Testing Results’)
Essential Oil Analysis (click on the Google Drive link)
Keep in Mind:
Some companies produce lovlely, high quality essential oils but offer educational materials that are not consistent with safety standards. Good quality educational materials / safety information and high-quality essential oils are not always available from the same place, though it is nice when they are!
My Personal Checklist
Green Light Items:
Ethical catalog of essential oils (no wildharvested endangered or at-risk species, etc.)
Published, batch-specific GC/MS test results from a third-party lab (even better if I can find independent third party test results shared elsewhere on the web, i.e. in one of the consumer reports groups or via a chemist)
Botanical name of the plant
Growing practices involved in its production
Country of origin
Properly cited information, especially regarding health-related claims
Safe usage recommendations and contraindications
Shelf life and other information shared on their website
Organic certification
Small or local independent farms and distillers
Method of extraction
Shelf life
Red Light Items:
Health claims without clearly cited references to scientific papers that actually say what the claim says they do. (This is a deal breaker for me.) This applies to claims on bottles, on websites, via salespersons, and in the company’s printed or online literature or in literature provided by someone affiliated with the company.
Endangered or at-risk species listed for sale, especially if the plant material was wild-crafted.
No organic certification of the product. If I am purchasing directly from the farmer who grew the plants and distilled the product themselves and am able to discuss their growing practices with them personally, this may not be a concern.
Lack of information I want to see on a label or sales page (botanical name, extraction date/method, GC/MS reports, etc.)
Unsafe usage recommendations
Rhetoric that claims adverse reactions are normal, expected, or desirable
Unrealistic pricing
Citations that only refer to the company’s own literature
Third party test results showing undisclosed ingredients or the presence of adulterants / synthetic markers in products.
About the Author
Hi there, I’m Erin! I am the main instructor here at Floranella. I am a clinical herbalist, aromatherapist, artisan distiller and organic gardener based in the Pacific Northwest. Here at Floranella, I teach people how to work with plants safely and effectively from the garden to the apothecary. Thanks for being here! I’m glad you stopped by.
