As we have been reaching out to different stores to make our product more available, we have been asked some questions about our essential oils. We have also been told by some stores that they’re looking for “therapeutic grade” essential oils. We’ve been in this business for a lot of years, and “therapeutic grade” was not a term we were familiar with. Time to do some research!
After doing a lot of digging, and talking to several essential oil suppliers, we found out that the whole concept of “therapeutic grade” doesn’t really mean anything. It has become a common misconception that therapeutic grade essential oils meet certain criteria for both the authenticity and performance. Unfortunately there are no such standards. A lot of people have been lead to believe this because some businesses have tried to differentiate their oils from others by using the term “therapeutic grade” in their marketing. Also, some people mistakenly believe that AFNOR (French Association of Normalization) and the ISO (International Standards Organization) have developed standards for essential oils, and that only those that met these standards can be classified as therapeutic grade, but these organizations don’t have any kind of standards or grading system for essential oils (and neither does any other reputable organization).
So what does all this mean? Are all essential oils the same quality? The short answer is no, not all essential oils are the same quality. Just because there isn’t an official grading system (yet), doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to ensure the essential oils you are buying are the highest quality. It’s important to buy essential oils from places that take appropriate steps to ensure their essential oils are high quality and exceptionally pure. Some manufacturers will cut corners when extracting the oils from the plant, and some suppliers will dilute their essential oils with synthetic fillers to make them cheaper. Fortunately there are ways to test for these things. One test is Gas Chromatography Purity Testing. It measures whether basic components of an essential oil occur in a precise percentage. It can also identify oils that have been synthetically manipulated. Another test that measures the purity of an oils is called Mass Spectrometry Testing.
At Alabu, we have taken very careful steps to find suppliers that provides us with the highest quality essential oils. We don’t consider our essential oils to be therapeutic grade only because that classification does not officially exist. However, our oils all undergo Gas Chromatography Purity Testing as well as Mass Spectrometry Testing to evaluate the quality and purity of the oils.
We also go a step farther with our oils. We definitely want to have the highest quality oils, but we want to get them from the best places. All of the oils we use are from the regions that produce the best oils. These oils are purchased around the world and all of them are Fair Trade.
As you buy our essential oil soaps, you are not only getting a soap that is ultra-moisturizing, but you are getting a soap that contains pure, Fair Trade essential oils. If you want to learn more about therapeutic grade essential oils, click here.
Thanks for the honest answer…that is so hard to find sometimes. I truly appreciate the effort put forth to research this issue and to let your customers know about the quality of your products.