How to Be Sure Your Essential Oils Are Pure, Therapeutic Grade
How can you be sure that your essential oils are pure, therapeutic grade? Start by asking the following questions from your essential oil supplier :
• Are the fragrances delicate, rich, and organic?
Do they “feel” natural? Do the aromas vary from batch to batch as an indication that they are painstakingly distilled in small batches rather than industrially processed on a large scale?
• Does your supplier subject each batch of essential oils to multiple chemical analyses to test for purity and therapeutic quality?
Are these tests performed by independent labs?
• Does your supplier grow and distill organically grown herbs?
• Are the distillation facilities part of the farm where the herbs are grown (so oils are freshly distilled), or do herbs wait days to be processed and lose potency?
• Does your supplier use low pressure and low temperature to distill essential oils so as to preserve all of their fragile chemical constituents?
Are the distillation cookers fabricated from costly, food-grade stainless steel alloys to reduce the likelihood of the oils chemically reacting with metal?
• Does your supplier personally inspect the fields and distilleries where the herbs are grown and distilled?
Do they verify that no synthetic or harmful solvents or chemicals are being used?
• How many years has your supplier been doing all of this?
How to Maximize the Shelf Life of Your Essential Oils
The highest quality essential oils are bottled in dark glass.
The reason for this is two-fold.
First, glass is more stable than plastic and does not “breathe” the same way plastic does.
Second, the darkness of the glass protects the oil from light that may chemically alter or degrade it over time.
After using an essential oil, keep the lid tightly sealed.
Bottles that are improperly sealed can result in the loss of some of the lighter, lower-molecular-weight parts of the oil. In addition, over time oxygen in the air reacts with and oxidizes the oil.
Essential oils should be stored away from light, especially sunlight—even if they are already stored in amber glass bottles.
The darker the storage conditions, the longer your oil will maintain its original chemistry and quality. Store essential oils in a cool location.
Excessive heat can derange the molecular structure of the oil the same way ultraviolet light can.
Diluting Essential Oils
Most essential oils require dilution with a vegetable oil when being used either internally or externally. The amount of dilution depends on the essential oil.
For example, oregano will require four times as much dilution as that of Roman Chamomile.
Vegetable oils such as V-6 Vegetable Oil Complex are specifically formulated to dilute essential oils and have a long shelf life (over two years) without going rancid. For more information on specific usage instructions for each essential oil, please see the “Personal Usage Guide.”
Source :
Life Science; Publishing, Life Science. Essential Oils Pocket Reference 8th Edition