aromatherapy

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quality control

For effective use and safety it is imperative that only pure essential oils are used. No matter the pleasant aroma, reconstituted products or chemical copies will not work for medicinal purposes. This is a particularly important distinction to make now that perfume manufacturers are jumping onto the aromatherapy "bandwagon" and producing products not worthy of the name.

One obvious method of distributing an impure product is to dilute the essential oil in a carrier or base oil, whilst passing it off as a "pure" natural essence. Generally this will be easy to spot, as the end result will appear oily - when most essential oils are actually not, despite the name!

Product Testing

Blotting paper can serve as a simple tool for checking consistency. Dropping the oil onto the paper should see it impregnate the surface and disperse, leaving no oily patch at all.

Another, less obvious check is on the price of a range of oils. Some Essential Oils such as Jasmine are much more expensive, owing to the difficulty of their production - if these are sold at the same price, then it is unlikely that they are the genuine article.

To avoid the more unscrupulous traders, rely on word of mouth and your own experience in choosing the source of oils. The directory features a number of reliable online suppliers based across the world.

Essential Oil Storage

Essential oils should be strored in brown or dark coloured bottles away from heat, light and damp. The tops should be kept tightly closed when not in use, to ensure that the oils do not react with the air and dilute their effectiveness. The average shelf life of essential oils is around two years.