Essential Oil Information Page

A lot of Essential oils sold in the US have concealed labeling.  They may say they have a 100% pure essential oil and then dilute it with extenders such as almond oil or safflower oil.  This causes them to be slower acting and much less effective. It gives the body a short false change and cannot help your body heal or feel better. In many cases, they do more harm than good.  Please read this article from NAHA Spring 2013 issue of Aromatherapy Journal on labeling to learn more about what regulations might be in place on product labeling. You can also read NAHA’s journal on Quality to learn more. The following methods are ways that can help you know if you have a Pure, Quality Essential Oil.

Index Card Testing
A crude way to test an essential oil is by Index testing. The process of Index testing is taking a drop of oil and placing it on an unmarked Index card (not paper). Wait until the essential oil completely drys, about 30 minutes. There should be nothing visible left on the index card. If there is no “oil ring” left behind, then there should be no carrier oil (olive oil, jojoba oil, vegetable oil, etc.) that has been used to extend and dilute the essential oil.

The only problem with this process, is that there are some essential oils that can leave a ring, just from the very nature of the plant. Heavier essential oils, like Patchouli or Myrrh, can leave a ring, for example. Most citrus oils should evaporate completely. You will need to understand the different essential oils and there constituents and weights to properly do this method of testing. It is not 100% full proof to test this way.

Smell testing
Smelling an essential oil can also tell you if it is pure or not. For the untrained nose, this method may be a little more difficult, but there are a couple of things to feel for with this process. Take the essential oil bottle and smell directly from the bottle. If there is an immediate “bite”, from the essential oil smell, then something may be wrong with the oil. Otherwise, continue to breath deeply for about 30 seconds. If a headache pain forms over either eye, then something is wrong with the essential oil. If the pain is over the right eye, the essential oil has been distilled or processed wrong. If the pain is over the left eye, then the essential oil has been adulterated or something has been added to it.

Keep in mind that smelling directly from the bottle can quickly overwhelm the nose and force a “smelling detox”.  Also, please refer to the document of “Understanding the Healing Crisis”, by Dr. Leo Roy, for more information. Again, this process is not 100% guaranteed to work, especially if you are not trained in essential oils. A “smelling detox” , as a headache, should not be confused with a reaction to the skin. In other words, if you get a rash or burn from putting oils on your skin it is because it’s irritating the skin and the oil should be diluted or discontinued, not because of a “detox”. A patch test should always be conducted before using essential oils on the skin.

GC or MS Testing
The only true way to know if you have a Pure Essential Oil, is to have it tested in a lab. The two main ways to test Essential Oils are Mass Spectrometry (MS) and Gas Chromatograph (GC). Either testing can be costly.  GC stands for Gas Chromatograph. In simple terms, a GC separates an essential oil into individual components. The oil is vaporized upon entry into the device, and the oil passes through a column assisted by a carrier gas (usually helium or hydrogen). The column itself sits within an oven; here change in heat over time is managed. Different chemical compounds react at different speeds within the column, and this information is captured on the Gas Chromatograph.

GC reports are unique, and in many publications, they are referred to as fingerprints of that particular batch of essential oil. They help purchasers protect their quality by ensuring major constituents are within generally accepted guidelines, as well as providing quantitative proof that received product matches approved samples. Still, it is important to note some of the limitations with GC’s. While a GC may produce a unique fingerprint of an essential oil, this result is often unique to the GC device and the skill of the user. Even when conditions such as the type of column being used, ambient temperature, retention rates, etc are held equal, results may have slight variations.

MS stands for Mass Spectrometry. MS is often used in conjunction with Gas Chromatography as it can aid in determining if a sample contains any adulterants. Each compound, after passing through the gas chromatograph machine, is fed into the mass spectrometer. The Mass Spectrometer ionizes the compounds, sorts each by their massto-charge ratio and then measures their molecular weights. The results are then charted.

Sometimes, without Mass Spectrometry (MS), a device significantly more expensive than even a GC, individual components cannot be identified. In recent years this has become less of an issue as libraries of reference are being compiled and made available. Sources are typically Food and Flavor journals, and by replicating conditions with a GC, major constituents can now be reasonably identified.

Process Methods
Understanding how an essential is obtained, may help understand why an essential oil can be processed wrong. These processes don’t matter, if the plant is processed rotten and dying. This will also cause the “eye headache”, mentioned with the “Smell Testing”.

• Steam Distillation is the most common process of obtaining an essential oil. It is a process that isolates the aromatic, volatile element of the plant with steam. If there is too much pressure and the temperature is too high, then the constituents, from the essential oil can be destroyed.

• Expression or Cold pressing, is used primarily for citrus fruits like orange and lemon, where the essential oil is obtained in tiny pockets in the peel or rind. Not much can go wrong with this process, but it can not be used for all oils and the oils obtained by cold pressing are the most volatile of essential oils and can evaporate quickly when exposed to air.

• Solvent Extraction is used for plants/flowers too delicate to be processed with heat or pressure, and are soaked in a spirit of solvent (like hexane) that extracts the volatile elements. The solvent is then evaporated at high temperatures, leaving only the most fragrant constituents behind. This process produces what is called an “absolute”. If the solvent used, is not of highest quality, then the essential oil will not be, and the constituents will be lost or not completely pulled from the plant. The CO2 Extraction method is another type of solvent extraction. In certain conditions at a low temperature Carbon Dioxide or CO2 can be pressurized to become a liquid. This liquid then acts as a solvent and is used to extract the oil from plants. After extraction is completed, the extraction vessel is brought back to normal temperature and the CO2 rapidly converts to gas. This process is expensive and most company’s don’t use it.

Understanding More

• Know your Supplier-Unless you know what to look for in an essential oil, and have been trained in Aromatherapy or have Third party lab tests done, you will not know for sure if the essential oil has been adulterated or not.  Ask your supplier if there is a third party lab testing, using the GC or MS method, done on their essential oils. Knowing more about your Essential Oil supplier will be the best way to get a pure essential oil.

• Learn what’s behind the cost- Most people seeking to buy essential oils will also understand that sometimes you get what you pay for. That doesn’t mean Essential Oils always have to be the most expensive to be the best. Learn about the plant, of the Essential oil, you are searching for. If it is hard to grow, has a limited growing season, or produces little oil, chances are it is worth more. Learn about the company that is supplying the Essential oil. A networking company may have great distributor rewards and discounts, but the products are generally marked up to compensate. Independent company’s have their setbacks too, and can have higher priced products as well. Seek out Essential oil prices that are in the middle. Not too high or not too low.

• Ask Questions- A fragrance oil manufacturer does not automatically make an essential oil supplier. The very first step to making sure you’re getting the most out of your suppliers of essential oils is to confirm that they are, in fact, selling you essential oils distilled from natural plants with no synthetic fragrance. Plants can vary in color and smell depending on the amount of water it had, the time of day it was picked, or the country it came from. If the color or smell is always consistent, chances are you have a fragrant or synthetic oil. Ask to have a sample of the essential oil, then evaluate it for yourself, using the above methods, or have it tested in a lab.

• Take advantage of a free education– Essential Oils are not always widely understood. Taking advantage of free educational opportunities from essential oil suppliers helps to ensure that you know and understand how to use them. Just remember that they are promoting their own products and some information may be biased.