What to Look Out For When Purchasing Essential Oils
Essential oils are absolutely excellent if you want to keep yourself and your loved ones healthy and in high spirits.
Essential oils are natural, safe and very potent, which is why they can easily be applied in treating most medical conditions and some mild mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. As great as that sounds, many people purchase essential oils excited about the myriad of possibilities, only to be disappointed by consequences such as irritated skin or other unpleasant reactions. Unfortunately that can happen if you have stumbled upon a product that is not natural and has chemical ingredients. To avoid choosing a product that is not real essential oil, we have prepared this short guide for you. Keep to these basics and you are nearly guaranteed to stay away from fakes.
Firstly, trust the label. Many products, foods and fake essential oils included, have been manufactured through the use of harmful chemicals. But even this cloud has a silver lining – companies must list all ingredients on the label. So, carefully examining the label of your essential oil is one of the best ways to figure out what you are about to buy. Real essential oils should have the Latin name of the plant on the front, below the common name and should be labeled as “100% essential oil”. If you see anything such as “made with natural products”, “perfume oil”, “fragrant oil”, “natural oil”, etc. know to stay away from it – this is certainly a fake.
False essential oils often have an aroma closely resembling the real thing, especially if your nose has not yet been trained to recognize the difference. However, the chemicals that fake essential oils contain could easily distress your skin or have results different from those desired in Aromatherapy.
Another giveaway for fakes is the price. A steep price is certainly no guarantee for a high quality product, as some imitations could be sold at a price much higher than what they actually cost, but you should still stay away from very cheap essential oils.
This is not a cheap commodity but the good news is that the liquid is always very concentrated and you never need more than just a few drops for any purpose.
You may be wondering why essential oils are not that budget-friendly, since they are an all-natural product. The reason is that it is rather difficult to produce them. A lot of labor and plant material is required to produce just a small quantity of a certain essential oil. Of course this varies according to the plant that is being used, as some plants are easier to extract and distill than others.
A popular example is the Bulgarian rose – one of the highest quality essential oils in the world. Hundreds of pounds of roses are necessary to make just a few ounces of rose essential oil. Moreover, the plants need to be grown and picked in a specific way, which requires many hours of hard physical labor.
The same is true for Jasmine and so oils such as these are rather expensive when pure.
Still if you use the 100% pure version you are guaranteed optimal results and you only need a drop or two whenever you use your essential oil, so always opt for the real thing and stay away from the fakes.
Another thing to remember is to not buy essential oils online unless you know and trust the company that is selling them. Sadly, some retailers sell expired essential oils online and you cannot really do anything until you receive the package. Of course there are also many reputable retailers but you should always take caution when purchasing.
Lastly, make sure that every essential oil you buy is in a dark glass bottle. This is the only way to safely store essential oils. Plastic releases toxic chemicals that interfere with the purity of essential oils, while sheer glass allows sunrays through the bottle and can also contaminate the product.
Essential oils are a fantastic alternative to pharmaceuticals and other chemical-ridden products. Aromatherapy is can bring a lot of calm energy into your life and help you deal with many physical and mental issues.
However, this can only happen when you use pure essential oils. Even if you feel you do not have the budget for an elaborate collection of oils, choose a few basic ones rather than spending money on many fake ones.
Best Aromatherapy and Essential Oils
