Essential Oil Buying Guidelines

Since aromatherapy has been accepted as a legitimate medical and therapeutic approach for treating various ailments, the demand for essential oils has been continually on the rise. Although there are options to make one at home especially if you have a garden full of potential plant sources to extract essential oils from, some still opt to purchase those pre-bottled ones for their convenience.

Therefore, it is important to look into your buying habits. Since it will be used on your body, it is important to ensure the safety and authenticity of the product you are buying. You need to make it your own responsibility to purchase only the highest quality essential oils that are safe and effective. Before going out to buy one off the nearest health shop, you need to know exactly what you should be looking for and what signs indicate that you need to find a better quality product.

These reminders must be kept in mind especially for those who are buying essential oils for the first time. It is easy to let your guard down and assume that all oils are the same. However, not only must you specifically choose essential oils that have properties suitable for your condition, you also need to make sure that these aren't synthetic kind of oils being branded as pure essential oils.

To ensure that you only get optimum benefits from the oils you are buying, take note of the following:

• You must first identify the condition or ailment that is to be treated with aromatherapy. With several essential oils available, this will help you narrow down your choices. Performing substantial amount of research to see what oils contain properties that would heal a specific illness would really help you. Or, you can seek advise from the staff at the health shop you are trying to purchase the oil from.
• Allow a few minutes of break from every sniff as smelling different kinds of aroma over a period of time can make your nose insensitive. Therefore, it depletes your ability to properly distinguish one type of smell from another.
• Be keenly aware of what pure essential oils are and what are made from synthetic chemical compounds. Only pure essential oils contain safe yet effective therapeutic components while synthetic ones can put you at risk of developing skin irritations and other complications.

Most people will tell you to always read labels when buying something. But, rarely would anyone tell you what you should be looking for. This piece of advice is very important when you are dealing with substances that affect your health, so you really have to be extra careful.

To make it easy to remember exactly what you should be taking note of in essential oil labels, they are outlined below:

*Pure essential oil guarantee – Commercial manufacturers are regulated by law to ensure the honesty of their labels. Hence, you should be more inclined to go for products labeled with “100% pure essential oils” to ensure that the oil was extracted from natural plant materials instead of synthetically produced in laboratories.

*Essential oil category – Essential oils are categorized into three depending on their usage and type: carrier oil, fragrance oil, and essential oils. The latter is what brings about healing due to its therapeutic properties. It is, however, often confused with fragrance oils. So, if you intend to use the oil for healing various ailments, make sure that it you do not buy fragrant oils.

*Botanical or Latin name – Most plants have different varieties and not all varieties are suited for essential oil extraction that are used in aromatherapy. Hence, always check the botanical name of the essential oil in the label to ensure that you are purchasing exactly the oil that you want.

Importance of Price

Aside from ensuring that you stay within your budget, there is another reason why you should keep a close eye on essential oil price tags. Indeed, it can be an indicator of the authenticity of a given essential oil.

First-time buyers or those who lack the knowledge to make informed buying choices will automatically opt for cheaper priced essential oils. However, genuine essential oils undergo an intricate and difficult process of extraction using natural plant materials. This explains why essential oils can be quite expensive, particularly for rare plant materials. So, when oil prices are strangely a lot cheaper than the usual, then you need to be vigilant about it.

Essential Oil Vendor

Apart from the factors already listed above, you also need to consider closely where you are buying essential oils from. In fact, there are multiple sellers online which make it really convenient to buy one for your own use.

However, you need to purchase from certified sellers who are distinguished for producing quality health products considering that essential oils are one. Avoid buying them from cosmetic shops since these are most probably made out of synthetic ingredients.

This is important for storing your essential oils such that you avoid the oil from spoiling quickly and also to extend its shelf life.

The ideal storing container or bottle for essential oils are those dark colored glass bottles. These types of bottles offer as little amount of light from penetrating as possible. Hence, you can avoid the medicinal and therapeutic properties of the oil from being destroyed.

Impact of Good Customer Service

When choosing health shops or stores to buy essential oils from, good customer service is one important factor to consider. The staff must be willing to accommodate any questions you might have whether you are trying to decide which type of oil to buy or if you have already made up your mind.

Their ability to provide assistance is an important indicator of the store's reputation, which branches out to the quality of product they are selling.

Here are more tips on how you can safely store your essential oils:

• Aside from using dark colored glass bottles, make sure to store your oils in a cool and dark area where it is away from direct sunlight exposure.
• Make sure that the storage space for your essential oils offer the lowest possible temperature.
• Avoid storing essential oils in plastic bottles where the chemical compounds of the plastic material can add toxicity into the oil.