We get quite a few questions about essential oil quality, with most of them falling into one of the following categories:

• Are your oils therapeutic grade? 
• Isn’t the term "therapeutic grade" or "aromatherapy grade" just marketing hype?
• I’ve heard that only "XYZ" Company has certified therapeutic essential oils.  Is that true?

We thought it might be helpful to reprint here an answer that Dr. Power gave in the FAQ section of our website.  Dr. Power, who founded Dreaming Earth Botanicals, has been working with and teaching essential oil usage for over thirty years.  Here is what she had to say:

"’Aromatherapy Grade’ or ‘Therapeutic Grade’ may be considered by some to be marketing hype but, in fact, it is not. We use the terms "therapeutic grade" or "aromatherapy grade" (same thing) to differentiate our essential oils from other essential oil "stuff". We use the terms to mean that we consider our essential oils to be of excellent quality and suitable for therapeutic applications. There is no official grading system other than perhaps the use of the term food grade or pharmaceutical grade, which often denote oils inferior to those sought by aromatherapists. You could say that all essential oils are alike. You could also say that all wines are alike. I think there is often quite a lot of difference between one wine and another and one essential oil and another.

We find that if you are looking at the therapeutic properties of essential oils, then there is often a very real difference between one and another. That is why we always review the MS/GS (gas chromatography) reports for each oil before making a purchase. No one tells us that these are are "aromatherapy grade" or therapeutic grade. This is the decision we make and the label we apply.

Some oils for sale on the market are adulterated and some have had certain components removed or come from the second or third distillation of the plant material. We consider such oils to be inferior and definitely not therapeutic grade. All our oils are pure, unadulterated, complete and from first run distillations (unless otherwise plainly stated)."

We hope that is helpful information to you.  And, as to the question of whether one company and one company only carries therapeutic essential oils, the answer is easy:  No. 

To read more about essential oil quality, and gas chromatography, click here to go to our articles collection.

Rose Oil is one of the most divine of the essential oils, with an aroma that is intoxicating, sweet, warm, and nurturing.  Many people are shocked by the price of pure Rose Otto essential oil, and it is indeed expensive.  The reason?   It takes somewhere around 60,000 roses to distill one ounce of essential oil, or sixty roses to yield one drop of essential oil.  So, while we sell the pure Rose Otto, we also offer it as a 5% solution (in jojoba) to make it available to everyone.  The 5% is a lovely way of wearing a completely natural and intoxicating perfume–dab a few drops of the diluted rose on the inside of your wrists, behind your ears, and you’ll never reach for the synthetic stuff again. 

Therapeutically speaking, Rose is a balancing, grounding oil, helping to lighten and lift the emotions.  It’s one of the most gentle essential oils, making it suitable for use with children and the elderly, and is excellent for skincare.  Rose oil is a wonderful addition to any mature skin care blend, and is a valuable oil for menstrual difficulties and menopause.  Jeanne Rose calls Rose oil the “prime” oil for women, and suggests this formula for menstrual health:  Add 3 drops of Rose Oil and 3 drops of Rose Geranium oil to 1 ounce of Calendula infused oil and use for a full body massage on a regular basis.

Since we get so many questions about essential oil quality, we thought we’d start off with some general information about the oils, and as we go along, dig a little deeper into what makes an oil ‘therapeutic’, why the quality of an oil is so important, and how to know what you’re buying.

So, first things first. What are essential oils, exactly?

In a nutshell, essential oils are mixtures of naturally occurring compounds that exist in plants which have fragrant flowers, leaves, wood, bark, roots, or seeds. From an organic chemist’s point of view, the active constituents of essential oils are composed of hydrocarbons and oxygenated hydrocarbons which can be grouped according to their molecular structure. For those of you interested in the chemistry behind what makes an oil valuable for this or that, we’ll be blogging about that soon (hopefully without getting too technical or tedious).

Essential oils may be extracted from plants using a variety of methods but for aromatherapy purposes, the only acceptable methods are those that are non-toxic. This includes distillation, cold pressing, and, in a few cases, non-toxic solvent extraction. A good therapeutic grade essential oil is produced using non-toxic procedures that preserve the life-giving vital essence of the plant.

Don’t confuse essential oils with vegetable oils, which are also sometimes called “carrier” or “base” oils. Essential Oils are volatile, which means that they evaporate when exposed to air; they are very fragrant; they do not feel slick or oily, and do not leave an oily residue. Vegetable oils, such as almond oil, apricot oil, olive oil, or avocado oil are not really fragrant; they do not evaporate readily; they do feel oily and leave an oily residue. Vegetable oils are used in aromatherapy for the purpose of diluting essential oils so that they can be safely applied to the skin.


What’s the difference between an essential oil and a fragrance oil?

Fragrance oils are synthetically manufactured chemical mixtures that mimic natural plant aromas. They may smell just like the “real thing” but are not appropriate for aromatherapy. Read product labels carefully and avoid those labeled as “fragrance oils”, “essential fragrance oils”, or “nature identical”.

Know what you’re purchasing.

Some products sold as “essential oils” are diluted in cheaper carrier oils or are adulterated in some other way. Again, read product labels carefully but be aware that labels may not disclose full information. Become familiar with the botanical names of the oils you want to use and never purchase an essential oil that is not labeled with the botanical name, as well as the common name.

Finally, is Organic always better?

Not necessarily . . . to learn more about how we choose our oils, why organic doesn’t necessarily mean better therapeutically speaking, read Dr Power’s article on organic oils at our website.

One of our favorite ways to use aromatherapy is in room sprays, because (a) they’re SO easy to make and (b) they can change the mood/aroma/of a room in minutes. They’re also very economical, since you need just a few drops of essential oil per bottle of spritzer.

Some Basic Principles:

You can vary the concentration (i.e. the number of drops of essential oil) based on what you’re trying to achieve. For example, if you want a facial spray, be sure and keep the concentration low, at around 5-6 drops per 4 ounce bottle. For body sprays, that amount can be increased to 15-30 drops, and for room sprays, you can go as high as 60-80 drops per four ounces. Some sources recommend higher concentrations for room sprays, but we recommend starting at a lower concentration and adding if needed.

Here’s what you’ll need:

* 4 oz spritzer bottles (we’ll be giving recipes for 4 ounce bottles, but obviously if you have larger bottles adjust amounts accordingly)

* 3.5 ounces distilled water

* 3 tsp grain alcohol or vodka (if you’d rather, you can use witch hazel) to help disperse the essential oils and prolong the fragrance.

* Essential Oils of your choice

* A small notebook–I strongly recommend you keep notes of what you do. Oftentimes, when dabbling, you’ll fall in love with a particular concoction and have only the vaguest idea of what you combined. This is a nice habit to get into whenever you work with essential oils and blends.

Choosing your oils:

The sky’s the limit on choosing essential oils you’d like to combine. You should decide, firstly, on your purpose. Is it a room deodorizer? Linen spray? Are you trying to create a specific mood?

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Refreshing/Citrus (a great spritzer when you want to air out a musty, closed up space)

Orange or Mandarin Essential Oil – 15 drops
Lemon Essential Oil – 7 drops
Grapefruit Essential Oil – 7 drops

If you want to add a little spice to the citrus, add a few drops of clove or cinnamon essential oil to the above.

Disinfectant Room Spray

Tea Tree Essential Oil – 10 drops
Eucalyptus Essential Oil – 12 drops
Lemon Essential Oil – 12 drops
Pine Essential Oil – 4 drops

Relaxing/Calming

Lavender Essential Oil – 8 drops
Mandarin Essential Oil – 4 drops
Roman Chamomile Essential Oil – 4 drops
Ylang Ylang Essential Oil – 4 drops

Balancing

15 drops Lavender essential oil
5 drops Bergamot essential oil
3 drops Clary Sage essential oil
2 drops Frankincense essential oil

Measure out the distilled water and add your alcohol, if using. Then add your drops of essential oils and shake well to blend. Let your creations sit for at least 24 hours to allow the oils to deepen. Shake well before using. Enjoy experimenting with making these wonderful spritzers, and let us know your personal favorites. We’d love to share your recipes with other readers.

**Cautions: As with any essential oil usage, educate yourself about the properties of oils before using, and avoid during pregnancy, around young children and with those who have asthma. Some essential oils can discolor upholstery and fabrics, so be careful where you spritz.

We started out a few months ago on another blog site, and have just moved into our new space. Our hope is to be able to post tons of information on using essential oils, do more Aromatherapy Q & A, (we do quite a bit of this by phone and email, but this way we can publish our answers more widely), post recipe ideas and tips, announce specials, and give information on upcoming new products. Most especially, we love to hear from our customers, since it’s you that give us some of our best ideas, and motivate us to try new formulations and product lines. So, please don’t be shy–ask questions, make suggestions, and share essential oil recipes.