Ahh, brands. One thing to leave out of the dinner table conversation along with politics and religion - am I right? But it’s an important topic, and likely one of the first things we will want to know before we really get into essential oils.

A company rep messaged me years ago when I was teaching about herbs and natural health and considering looking into essential oils as another tool in the belt. I remember telling her I was not ready to sign up for her company until I did my research and determined whether or not it was truly the best brand out there or not. At the time I believed if I could unlock the secret to the best essential oil company, using them would be easy. Boy was I wrong! But it did take me on a journey that quickly put me on the trail of my certification, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Although it’s important to be sure the essential oils you are using don’t contain synthetics, additives, fragrances, or adulterants, the secret is this: safety is not determined by the brand, but by the essential oil itself. No matter which brand you decide to go with, it’s important that you use that brand safely.

Example 1: Peppermint essential oil, no matter how high the quality is, naturally contains high levels of menthol. Menthol has been shown to mimic the cold receptors in the lungs (similar to how it makes your skin feel cool in those “icy pain” blends) and cause children to feel like they can’t breathe well (this is because it can slow respiration and cause labored breathing).

Example 2: Clove essential oil naturally contains high levels of eugenol and is anti-coagulant. This can cause the blood not to clot which can be dangerous for people on blood thinners, about to have surgery, or prone to nose bleeds.

These examples are not reflective of the brand, or due to adulteration or additives, but are based on the naturally-occurring constituents in a high quality essential oil.

So, Lea, how do I know what brands to use?

I get asked a lot what my opinion is about various essential oil companies. There are so many brands out there, and new ones cropping up every month. We have so many options we can be as picky as we want! To decide which brand(s) you want to purchase from there are several factors to consider:
    • the level of accuracy of the safety information provided on the essential oil profile pages
    • the safety information provided on the label itself
    • the selection of essential oils (if they offer toxic essential oils for sale)
    • the involvement of aromatherapy professionals in their business
    • if they offer GC/MS reports right on their website
    • the quality of their essential oils (no fillers, additives, synthetics, adulterants)
    • if they acknowledge essential oils do expire and have a shelf life

I'm going to dive deeper into some of these factors in up-coming episodes.

So, how about those test results?

First, let's briefly go back about a dozen years ago, when I was first learning about essential oils. I didn't want to start using them before I had the answer to what I thought was the most important question: What brand is best?

After "doing my research" - which mean combing allll the websites of zillions of companies I came to one conclusion: they all claimed to be the best!

It was then I stumbled on certification, and during my training I learned about GC/MS testing.

It's when they take a fancy machine and check the contents of essential oils on a molecular level to determine the purity. They can see just how much menthol is in that Peppermint, and if things have been added or removed after distillation.

I was intrigued...could this be the answer to discovering which brand was best? Or at least which ones were pure, and which were not?

I took it to my followers (at the time I was focused on natural health, sauerkraut fermentation, cloth diapers, and homeschooling!) and to my surprise a lot of them were also curious to learn about essential oils! And not just learn about them, but they were willing to donate funds to get them tested - and we did!

We sent in samples of Myrrh from the two big MLM companies ($60-$90 bottles), an organic brand, one from an herb company, and Aura Cacia ($15). The results came back: the Organic one was the winner by a smidge, but just as good was Aura Cacia and the MLM brands. This meant we did not have to pay $60-$90 for a bottle of Myrrh when the $15 bottle was just as good!

We went on to test Tea Tree and Peppermint (wow, was that eye opening!), and saw the same thing: the expensive brands were not necessarily higher in quality - this was a case where you don't have to pay a premium to get a high quality essential oil!

So there you have it!