Choosing the Best Essential Oil Company: Key Factors to Consider
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Essential oils are used in everything from shampoo, and laundry soap, to skincare regimens. Some use them for their pleasant fragrance; others use them for their healing properties, while still, others use them for their ability to sanitize your house naturally after the flu. They are a great alternative to synthetic fragrances as fewer people seem reactive to them. They also do not contain the toxins that many non-natural fragrances have. Unfortunately, many people do not know about essential oils, like what exactly it is, what are all these tests about, and whether we can ingest them. These are basic facts one must know when choosing an essential oil company.
What is an Essential Oil?
Essential oils are a very concentrated version of a dried herb. In their purest form, they are extracted directly from a botanical plant. They use the seeds, leaves, bark, stems, fruit rinds, and flowers, among other parts of these plants. When choosing an oil, you want to choose one free of synthetics, fillers, and impurities, which many companies prove by providing the tests they do on each of their oils to assure the utmost quality.
Essential oils are diffused, applied topically, used in massage therapy, inhaled, and bathed. Due to the essential oil's potency, using it with a carrier oil such as fractionated coconut or sweet almond oil is crucial.
When choosing a company, you want to ensure it cares about quality, such as how pure the oil is and where it was grown, developed, and distilled.
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What Tests Are Done on Essential Oils?
There are several different tests that companies do to ensure that their product is of the utmost quality. It is essential to look into the tests each company uses to ensure that your oils are of the utmost quality. There are several tests to provide the products have proper coloring, appearance, fragrance, and purity. Companies will often boast these tests with pride to prove they have done their research and that their oil is one of the best. But what do these tests' names mean, and what are they testing? Here is a brief overview of the most common.
Chirality Testing - This assures no synthetic elements in the product.
Flash Point Testing - This measures the combustibility of the oil.
GC-MS Testing - GC-MS is short for Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This method analyzes different substances in a test sample. This tests how pure and potent the sample is and identifies what is in each oil.
Heavy Metal/Pesticide/Herbal Testing - This tests to assure no heavy metals, pesticides, or herbicides within the oil.
Isotopic Analysis - Measures the potency and quality of the oil by breaking it down to the atomic level and analyzing it.
Microbial Testing - This assures that there are no biohazardous microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, mold, and pathogens. This is done by taking a sample, putting it in a sterile dish, and monitoring it to see if any microbial growth occurs.
Optical Rotation - This analyzes the molecular structure of the item, which will allow the tester to ensure that there are no synthetic compounds in the item.
Organoleptic Testing - Tests the sample's smell, color, and consistency. This test is often the first test of the oil before any other tests begin because it shows the first sign that something is wrong with that batch of oils.
Refractive Index Testing - This measures the density and potency of the oil by refracting light into it.
Specific Gravity Testing - This compares the density of the oil against water.
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What Does "Therapeutic Grade" Mean?
Many companies will classify their oils as therapeutic grade. Unfortunately, this classification does not prove an item has quality because it is not an actual industry standard. The National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy states, "There is no such thing as a therapeutic grade." Unfortunately, there is no grading system for essential oils, and this term is used solely for marketing purposes.
What Essential Oils Can Be Ingested?
Essential oils are extreme concentrates of a dried herb, which means that they could be as much as 100 times more concentrated than the plant from which it is derived. Therefore, unless overseen by a healthcare professional, essential oil should not be consumed, as a minimal amount can be harmful due to its potency. Even natural products can be detrimental in large amounts. It is advisable to know how much an item should be diluted if applied to the skin or consumed.
The FDA uses GRAS to identify certain oils as "generally recognized as safe" for consumption and use in flavoring. Keep in mind one drop goes a long way. Be wary of companies that promote the ingestion of their products, as this can be dangerous without being overseen by a medical professional.
This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.
© 2020 Angela Michelle Schultz
Comments
Angela Michelle Schultz (author) from United States on March 04, 2020:
I am lucky enough that I found a store that only uses plant-based fragrances or essential oils, so even though I am allergic to some fragrances, I am not allergic to any of theirs. I know you said you are allergic to some natural fragrances, so I don't know if it would work for you though, because they do have some non-essential oil fragrances.
Doris James MizBejabbers from Beautiful South on March 01, 2020:
Very good information about essential oils here. I must be very careful not go get any perfumed oil, natural or synthetic on my skin because I'm very allergic to some of them and haven't determined the ones that I can tolerate. I've had some nasty breakouts from touching the bottle on which some careless person had left a residue. That goes for scented candles, too. I hate that because I really love the oils. A friend gave me a lava bead bracelet with a set of essential oils to dab on it. I love the bracelet, which has pretty chakra stones, too, but I wear it sans oils.
