Choosing an Essential Oil Supplier
You have numerous options when it comes to buying essential oils. But with so many companies on the market today, it can be frustrating to find an essential oil supplier you can trust.
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In this Post:
My Favorite Essential Oil Suppliers
For the past several years I have, for the most part, been buying essential oils from two suppliers: Aromatics International and Plant Therapy (also on Amazon). Since I always like to have a backup, I wanted to find another trustworthy supplier with an Amazon storefront. So, after much research, evaluation, and testing, I added Edens Garden (on Amazon) to the list. (Learn more about these suppliers.)
I’ve tried essential oils from many other companies and have found that Aromatics International, Plant Therapy, and Edens Garden check all the boxes for me.
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What to Look for in an Essential Oil Supplier
Before buying essential oils, I recommend doing a bit of sleuthing to look for demonstrations of accountability and assurances of quality. To me, the list below are all indications of a trustworthy essential oil supplier.
The Bullet Points
- provides batch/lot-specific, third party GC/MS reports (more on this below!)
- provides research-based guidelines for safe use
- is transparent about distillation dates (season and year)
- provides shelf-life of each oil (not all essential oils have the same shelf-life)
- sources from ethical, sustainable and/or organic farmers, wildcrafters, and distillers
- sources selectively based on lot chemistry and aromatics
- packages product in appropriate bottles (amber glass)
- includes full botanical name on label
- includes growing source/geographic location of plant on label
- includes batch/lot number on bottle/label
- is always willing to answer questions
- and bonus points for a Customer Reward program.
Essential Oil Price
One other indication of quality is price. Take caution if all oils being sold by a prospective essential oils supplier are about the same price. A bottle of Sweet Orange essential oil (Citrus x sinensis) should not be near the same price as a bottle of Neroli essential oil (Citrus x aurantium). Although both come from an orange tree, they are made from different plant parts and the labor and volume to make each is very different!
The peels of about 50 oranges are needed to make 5ml of Sweet Orange essential oil. That’s about 100-125 drops. In comparison, about 13 pounds (6 kilos) of the tiny, delicate orange blossoms are needed to make 5ml of Neroli essential oil. In addition, Neroli blossoms must be hand-picked in the early morning and are only available for a short time. A lot of plant material and a lot of labor go into creating that precious 5ml bottle of Neroli essential oil!
Essential Oil Education
I also truly appreciate an essential oil supplier that, in addition to providing quality products, values education. Live video presentations are fun and interactive and research-based blog posts provide continuing access to essential oil information. Both are excellent ways to learn more about aromatherapy, essential oil use in the home, and essential oil safety.
What’s a GC/MS Report?
Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry, or more simply GC/MS, is a complex analysis of the chemical constituents of a liquid. An essential oil GC/MS report tells us the percentage of each of the phytochemicals present in the oil. This tells us about the therapeutics of that essential oil and also provides information on aroma.
Additionally, the GC/MS report indicates the absence or presence of adulteration (aka tampering with the chemical makeup).
The results of a GC/MS are not proprietary. They are simply a report on the percentages of chemical constituents present in that particular batch/lot of essential oil.
Aromatherapists use GC/MS reports to inform their blending, especially for therapeutic blends, and to determine what type of safety precautions need to be taken. So, when you see this blogsite mention different phytochemicals in an essential oil or blend, the therapeutics of an oil or blend, or the safety of a particular essential oil, you know that this information has been gleaned from GC/MS reports (along with personal experience) for the individual essential oils!
The bottom line? Even if you don’t use them, having access to the GC/MS reports is important when sourcing essential oils because:
- they assure us that the essential oils we are using are pure and unadulterated, and
- they represent the company’s dedication to providing a quality product.
What About Buying Essential Oils from a Grocery or Natural Foods Store?
True, some of the bottles of essential oil sold on the shelves of your local grocery store do indeed come from conscientious essential oil suppliers. However, who knows how long those bottles have been sitting on the shelf and under what conditions.
I know it’s tempting to grab that bottle of Tea Tree or Lavender essential oil while you’re doing the rest of your shopping. Unfortunately, the quality and therapeutic value of the oil will not be close to what you can get via a reputable local or online essential oil company.
So, If Not the Local Grocer, Than Where?
Be patient. Order from your favorite online essential oil supplier. In just a few days you’ll have a tested, trusted bottle of beautifully aromatic and therapeutic essential oil in your hands!
Some excellent essential oil suppliers also have Amazon Storefronts. So, if you’re in an “I need it now” mode, this is a much better option than off your grocer’s shelf. The essential oil suppliers I recommend who sell on Amazon sometimes ship directly from their home office. Or they refresh their Amazon stock on a regular basis to ensure the essential oils you ordered are of high quality.
Now that you know what to look for in an essential oil company, learn more about Mom’s Preferred Essential Oil Suppliers!
Chris P | Author, Certified Aromatherapist, Natural Skin Care Formulator
Chris (“Mom”) enjoys formulating bespoke aromatherapy, skin care, and herbal products to support her family, pets, friends, and clients. She also loves experimenting with recipes in the kitchen. An avid reader, writer, and lifetime learner, Chris enthusiastically explores research rabbit holes and then writes about her discoveries.💚 (Learn more >>)
