How to shop for essential oils

Essential oils support a variety of issues, ranging from anxiety to pain relief. And you see them everywhere these days, even at the grocery store! How do you know which ones to buy? And which company should you trust? As an aromatherapist, I’m asked these questions a lot. If you’re not sure where to start, this article is for you.

Keep reading to learn

• What are essential oils?

• How essential oils are extracted

• What to look for when buying essential oils

What are essential oils?

Essential oils are extracted from plants. They are the aromatic oils produced by the plant to protect the plant, attract pollinators, or warn potential predators. The extraction methods presented below capture these oils.

An essential oil is NOT an infused oil herbal oil. This is a common misconception. An infused herbal oil is when the plant part (dried or fresh) is steeped, or infused, into olive oil, jojoba, sweet almond oil, or any other carrier oil.

How are essential oils extracted?

There are 3 main methods used to extract essential oils, depending on the plant part used.

Distillation Method

Most essential oils are produced through the distillation process. Heat and water break open the plant part containing the essential oil, so it can be captured. The essential oil rises with the steam and can is collected during the cooling process.

This process is most often used when extracting essential oils from different plant parts, including flowers, leaves, barks, roots, and resin.

Cold pressed Method

This method is most often used for citruses, where the essential oil is found in the peel. Try smelling a lemon before you cut into it. When you cut into the lemon you’re breaking open some sacs containing the essential oils. There’s a big difference in the aroma’s intensity once you cut into the lemon!

During this method, the peel of the fruit is removed and mashed to break open the plant part containing the essential oils. Then the oil is collected.

Solvent extraction

Some plant parts, such as the petals of jasmine or rose, are too delicate to undergo distillation or pressing. Solvents are then used to extract the oils.

Plant material is mashed up and combined with a solvent, usually hexane, alcohol, acetone, propane, and others. The chemicals attract the essential oil and then the oil and chemical are separated.

The result is often called an “absolute” instead of essential oil.

How to shop for essential oils

It’s important that you buy high-quality, pure, essential oils from a reliable company that uses ethical and sustainable practices. That’s a mouthful, I know.

Why does this matter? Essential oils contain different components. These components give the oil its therapeutic effects

If the quality of the essential oil is compromised then so are the therapeutic benefits.

Let’s start with labels.

Words to watch out for

• Fragrance oil, natural identical oil, perfume oil – these terms are a red flag that the essential oil may not be a pure single essential oil.

• Natural, “pure” essential oil – though these terms suggest that the company knows the importance of pure oils, these terms are not regulated by any organization. It could be that 70% of the oil is pure, but it’s combined with something else.

• “Therapeutic grade” or “aromatherapy grade” – both of these terms sound great, right? Again, there is no regulation of these terms. It’s a marketing claim. This doesn’t mean that companies using these terms are trying to deceive you, but you have to do your own research on the company. Don’t take these words at face value.

What you WANT on the label

• The botanical name (Latin name) – Some plants include several species. Each species can have different properties, so you want to know exactly what kind of essential oil you are purchasing. The botanical name tells you this.

• The price of the essential oils SHOULD vary! If a company is selling its oil at the same price, be wary and dig into the company. Certain oils, such as rose, jasmine, neroli, simply cost more.

• Country of origin – if not on the label then you should be able to find this on their website. Sharing this information tells you that the company pays attention to the origin of its oils. They may even know the specific distillery and farmer.

• Distillation date – This is important since it helps you determine the shelf of the oil. If not on the label then you should be able to search for it on their website.

Company practices

It’s important that we support companies that use ethical and sustainable practices. The following information gives you important clues about the company.

Look for a lab test! The fact is every company is going to claim that their oils are 100% pure. It’s your job to make sure this is true. How? A lab test.

The most reliable test is the gas chromatograhy/mass spectrometry, or GC/MS test. The lab report identifies the individual components in the essential oils and the amounts. You can easily see if any unwanted substances are in the oil.

As an aromatherapist, I use this lab test to confirm the purity of the essential oil. It’s also helpful to determine potential uses of the oil based on the percentages of the components.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to use the lab report. The fact that the company tests AND freely shares it with the customers tells you that they care about purity and quality. If the lab reports are not on the website, you can email the company about them.

What about packaging? Can you recycle or compost it? Or does most of it end up in the landfill?

Lastly, does the company have a relationship with the distillers and farmers that produce their products? These are hard-working communities. When you buy from a company that values these communities it’s a way for you to also support the farmers and distillers.

To purchase quality essential oils that suit your particular needs you must do some digging into the company. I don’t want this list to scare you off from purchasing essential oils. I want it to empower to know what to look for in the essential oil and also the company selling it!

Do you have essential oil companies that you trust? Post a comment below!