Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Essential Oils: A Skeptics View

by Kathy Hutson 2/2016

Yes, I know…you are seeing them everywhere! I have never been a trend-rider, but I have always gravitated toward more natural (aka alternative) health remedies.  

The biggest buzz surrounding essential oils seems to be which brand has the best oils. I am a natural skeptic and never just run with what someone says until I’ve looked into it. So, I did some research and basically this is what I have discovered: as is true with everything I have run into; you get what you pay for.  However, at the same time, that DOESN’T mean that the most expensive (and most touted) essentials oils out there are the best of the best either. There is some middle ground.

The bottom line is that some of the oils are more expensive because of the materials they are made from, for example Helichrysum Italicum, Melissa, and Sacred Frankinsense to name a few. You can shop around and compare prices…but if you find a company that offers all of their oils at the same price point, or the price is too good to be true…RUN!

Essentially, you want a company with several or all of these attributes:

·         On the small side (not a corporation)
·         One geared toward aromatherapists or those educated in essential oils
·         One who has a certified aromatherapist on board; ideally they would be the owner
·         One who has a batch-specific MS/GC spec report readily available on each essential oil sold
·         Have MSDS readily available
·         Well established and with an excellent reputation
·         Has a relationship with their distillers

I have and use several different brands of oils, and the brands have grown as my essential oil education has grown. As far as I can tell, they all seem to work. J  I particularly like Native American Nutritionals which has joined with Rocky Mountain Oils. I also have several of Plant Therapy oils, which I purchased on Amazon (yes, I know…but free shipping is free shipping). Many of them were less expensive than other companies, not rock bottom, mind you, but they met my financial need at the time and I have been getting results from them, which is the whole reason for using them, so there you go.



In a later post I will go into what oils I use most. I will also include my cheat sheet of which oil treats what condition.

Here are some excellent articles that helped me in my research:

The Quality of Essential Oils (2010) by Jade Shutes, B.A., Dipl. AT, Cert. Herbalist

How to Choose High Quality Essential Oils (2015) from the Herbal Academy of New England



Now…go out and get oily!!! J

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