How to distinguish synthetic essential oils. How to distinguish real essential oil from synthetic one

Not all essential oils from store shelves and pharmacies are suitable for aromatherapy, since not all of them are 100% natural products. And if conscientious manufacturers (distributors) honestly indicate on labels and in certificates what area their product is intended for, then unscrupulous ones hang the label “100% natural” essential oil» for dubious, low-quality, or even synthetic products.

The risk of practicing aromatherapy with synthetic fragrances is especially high in the CIS countries, where, due to a lack of consumer awareness and a quality control system, all essential oils hitting the shelves are sold as aromatherapy products.

This is sad, but in almost every pharmacy we can encounter a situation where an outright fake, where even the liquid level in the bottles does not reach the required level (of course, there are no traces of first-opening rings), is sold as an aromatherapy product. Moreover, if you ask a pharmacist what kind of substance he sells, you are unlikely to get any intelligible answer, because even the pharmacists themselves have a very weak, superficial understanding of what aromatherapy is.

Therefore, under no circumstances should you blindly trust labels. In this article, I will tell you about some signs that will help you distinguish high-quality (100% natural) essential oil from a fake. Please note that the described method does not provide a 100% guarantee that following it you will buy high-quality essential oil. Such a guarantee can only be provided by chromatographic analysis (chromatogram) of an essential oil - an expensive and difficult-to-find procedure. The signs I have given will help you weed out a significant part of the counterfeits that fill the essential oils market, and thereby significantly increase your chances of purchasing a real aromatherapy product.

The first sign is price and manufacturer

100% natural essential oils are premium products and, according to various sources, account for 2 to 5% of the global aromatic products market. Their cost depends on several factors:

  • on the cost of raw materials (the most expensive are jasmine, neroli, rose, tuberose, lotus, iris, sandalwood);
  • from percentage aromatic substances in the plant (from several percent to several thousandths of a percent);
  • from environmental restrictions on production;
  • from (enfleurage, extraction are the most expensive methods, pressing is the cheapest).

Approximate retail prices for 100% natural essential oils from the world's leading manufacturers (per 10 ml bottle) look like this:

  • Citrus fruits (orange, lemon, grapefruit, etc.) and woody fruits (spruce, pine, cedar, eucalyptus, etc.): USD 5−15;
  • Herbal and floral (lavender, thyme, chamomile, geranium, ylang-ylang, etc.): USD 10−50;
  • A separate series - especially exclusive oils - jasmine, rose, tuberose, neroli, narcissus, iris, lotus: from USD 20 per 1 ml. Upper bar for individual species can exceed USD 100, again for 1 ml.

At first glance, these numbers look scary. But look at it this way: the yield of Damask rose essential oil from steam distillation is typically in the range of 0.01-0.02%. This means that to obtain one milliliter of essential oil, 5 to 10 kg of fresh petals are required, i.e. several hundred roses. Agree that the price of $50 in this case looks quite appropriate.

Now go to your nearest pharmacy - there you will most likely find rose essential oil Russian production at a price of about 15-20 dollars per 10 ml, which is tens of times cheaper than the normal price. Still have doubts about its quality?

Of the trusted manufacturers of essential oils for aromatherapy, the following can be identified as the most affordable for purchase in Belarus:

  • Vivasan (Switzerland);
  • Karel Hadek (Czech Republic);
  • Styx Naturcosmetics (Austria);
  • Iris, Aromarti (Russia).

Read more about how to purchase high-quality essential oil in Belarus.

The second sign is the label

First of all, on the label of 100% natural essential oil it should be written: “100% natural essential oil” (in the English version “100% essential oil”). The remaining inscriptions (100% essential oil, 100% pure, 100% aromatic, 100% concentrated, etc.) do not contain comprehensive information about belonging to the class of aromatherapy drugs.

The label should not be replete with advertising slogans such as “unique”, “exclusive”, “elite”, etc. It must indicate the manufacturer and/or distributor. Sometimes the country of origin of the raw materials is indicated. The name of the plant from which the oil is made must be written in the language of the selling country, as well as in Latin. The Latin (botanical) name is very important, since only it tells us exactly what type of plant the oil is made from.

A good manufacturer will write on the label how to obtain the essential oil. The label must indicate the expiration date and batch number. If there is secondary packaging (box), then this information should be duplicated on it.

Some absolute oils (jasmine, rose), in order to reduce the cost of the product and also increase ease of use, can be sold diluted in another, cheaper, essential oil. This is not a fake, but the composition must be indicated on the packaging (example: 10% jasmine, 90% jojoba).

You can also find mixtures of various essential oils in one bottle, combined based on the principle of synergy (Greek synergia - cooperation), i.e. harmonious interaction that enhances the effect of each oil in the mixture (example: tea tree with manuka and kanuka). It is also not a fake, provided the composition is indicated on the packaging.

The third sign is the bottle

All essential oils are very sensitive to light. By international standards the bottle must be made of dark glass (minimum 50% shading) and must have a dispenser (dropper). In addition, all self-respecting manufacturers seal the bottles (there is a first opening ring). Some also provide them with child protection (like in medicines - to open the lid, you have to press hard on it). Many essential oils evaporate very quickly in open air, so the bottle must be tightly closed.

Often at various exhibitions and markets you can find essential oils packaged in transparent glass tubes of 1-1.5 ml. Transparent glass is a sure sign of a fake! Most likely it is synthetic. Natural essential oils change their chemical composition when exposed to light, and this can produce substances harmful to humans. Therefore, it is unlikely that producers of natural oils will take such risks.

You should also pay attention to the variety of packaging. Most quality essential oils are packaged in 10 ml bottles. There is no point in pouring more for the reason that 10 ml of high-quality oil, if used correctly, lasts for six months to a year, and the shelf life of some oils can also be limited to 1 year (citrus fruits, conifers). Particularly expensive oils can be packaged in 1 or 5 ml bottles (also in a dark glass bottle). But if the manufacturer offers a wide range of packaging - 2, 5, 10, 15, 50 ml - this is also a sure sign of a fake. The fact is that setting up equipment for bottling essential oils is an expensive procedure. It adds an average of 30-50% to the cost of oil. Therefore, the variety of packaging indicates the cheap cost of raw materials.

The fourth sign is a certificate

Copies of certificates for essential oils must be available at any point of sale of essential oils. And if they don’t want to show you the certificate, then that’s it. bad sign. If they showed it to you, then it’s worth reading it. All aromatherapy oils must be certified according to international standards ISO or GMP(Good Manufacturing Practice). If the manufacturer does not have an international certificate, then he produces oil for anything, but not for aromatherapy. Certificates for cheap essential oils usually say: “for use in for cosmetic purposes", "for use in Food Industry" etc. If the certificate says “for aromatherapy”, but there is no reference to the corresponding international standard, then this is a fake. If the certificate contains the word “refurbished” (“restructured”), then it is a synthetic product.

The fifth sign is aroma

Sellers of quality essential oils should have test bottles that you can smell. Try a scent that you are familiar with. A quality essential oil has a clean aroma: eucalyptus smells like eucalyptus, not mint, and orange smells like orange, not tangerine. Once sniffed quality product, next time you are unlikely to confuse it with a synthetic analogue.

So, if an essential oil receives a positive assessment according to all five criteria, then with a very high degree of probability it is a high-quality aromatherapy drug that can be safely added to home first aid kit. If at least one of the five signs causes you doubts, then it is better to seek advice from a professional aromatherapist.

Chemical industry in modern world has gone so far that it is capable of counterfeiting others from some ingredients. Today we'll talk about essential oil crafts. What is it and how to distinguish a fake from a real essential oil.

To begin with, we will define what we will consider a fake. IN in this case a product is considered a counterfeit essential oil Low quality, in the manufacture of which chemical components were used. Thus, the fake is very different in composition, and can also cause serious harm to health if used as an “essential oil.” Please do not confuse fake with cosmetic oil.

Main signs of essential oil authenticity

Below we will analyze in detail each of the signs by which you can distinguish the original from a fake essential oil.

Manufacturer and price

It is safest to buy essential oils from trusted manufacturers. The main producers of quality essential oils are the following European companies:

  • Vivasan, Just - Switzerland
  • ATOK (Karl Hadek) - Czech Republic
  • Styx Naturcosmetics - Austria

The fact is that in Europe there are quite strict requirements and checks not only for raw materials, but also a thorough check is carried out before certifying the product. In Russia, the requirements for raw materials and the final product are the most flexible, therefore domestic companies do less quality oils, which naturally affects the price.

We moved on to another important point - the price for a jar of essential oil.

The fact is that the production of essential oils is a fairly technological process. And in order to produce a concentrated product, quite a lot of raw materials are required. This is why real essential oil cannot be cheap. Narrimer to get 700-900 gr. Essential oil of fragrant chamomile requires approximately 100 kg of raw materials.

  • Lemon, orange per 10 ml jar. asking on average from 9 to 17 $
  • Eucalyptus or lavender for 10 ml - $11-22
  • Geranium, ylang-ylang per 10 ml. 22-45$
  • absolute oils (i.e. absolute, highly concentrated essential oils) for 1 ml - from $55

Label

Yes, yes, the label should say “100% natural essential oil” or “100% essential oil”. Other variations of these words indicate counterfeiting. Also, a self-respecting manufacturer will indicate on the label the country of manufacture, the country of origin of the raw materials, and, if any, the importer. There should also be information about the method of obtaining the oil, the name of the raw material in the language of the country where the oil is sold, as well as the exact name of the type of raw material in Latin. A positive sign is the presence of instructions for use, oil characteristics, expiration dates both on the packaging and on the jar.

Bottle size and type

Since essential oils are quite expensive and their shelf life, depending on the type of oil, ranges from 1 to 3 years. And since essential oils are used drops, then one jar is 10 ml. enough for about a year of use. That is why there is no point in making larger bottles. For very expensive essential oils - so-called absolute oils, they are distributed in 1 ml bottles.

The procedure of pouring oils into different containers is quite expensive, so you should be wary if the manufacturer has different variations of bottles other than the generally accepted 1 ml and 10 ml.

Also, the jar itself should be made of dark glass, since essential oils are volatile and sensitive to sunlight. Remember, if you are offered an essential oil in a transparent glass, it is a fake, since real essential oil loses its properties when exposed to light. beneficial features, and some oils may form under the influence sun rays harmful substances.

Manufacturers also specially make protective caps on jars - a ring for the first opening, as well as child protection (to open the lid you need to press on it). Plus, the bottle has a dispenser or pipette with which you can measure the number of drops.

Certificate

Any distributor must have copies of certificates for essential oils, which must comply with international standards according to ISO or GMP. This is a sure sign that essential oils can be used for aromatherapy. Cheap essential oils usually have certificates stating that they can only be used in the food industry or for cosmetic purposes.

Presence of three different scents over time

Firstly, real essential oil, if dropped onto a sheet of paper, will not leave a greasy residue, unlike vegetable or cosmetic oils. Second, real essential oil has a complex aroma that is easy to test.

Essential oil aroma test on paper

To do this, take a white sheet of paper and drop the first drop onto it. After 10-15 minutes the second, after the same amount of time - the third. Now try to smell each drop in turn. With a real essential oil, each subsequent drop will have a completely different bouquet of aroma: the first drop will be light and fresh, the second will have a deeper sandy aroma, the third will have a rich earthy hue. A fake will not have the depth of aroma, and each drop will smell the same, only with different intensity.

I probably won’t be mistaken if I say that everyone has a strong association with the use of baths or saunas. aromatic essential oils. The diversity of their species is shocking in its scale. They are sold in packages of different sizes, and the range of prices is, to put it mildly, surprising. But we don't all like to be surprised, especially if we're talking about that you bought a fake instead of natural essential oil. What is important is not the fact that you paid more, but the fact that you were deceived. Let's talk about how you can independently distinguish counterfeit essential oils from natural product.

Aromatherapy is not just inhaling pleasant smells for the nose, but also treatment with aromatic oils. Oils are concentrated products of living nature. The smell in this case is secondary, and the esters are medicinal products, which provide strong influence on endocrine system body.

How to use essential oils?

Inhalation is the most common way to use oils. Less common is their use as additives to massage cosmetics. Oils contain components that affect biological and chemical processes in the body. The human lungs are the largest in volume human organ. Blood flows from it to all points of the body. When using oils externally, the effectiveness is somewhat less, but not so much as to neglect the use of essential oils in bath massages. When using oils internally in the form of teas and tinctures, it is necessary to adhere to a strict recipe to obtain an effective effect on the body without harmful consequences.

It should be noted that if you need to buy highly concentrated oils when purchasing, then they should only be used in a diluted state. Lavender oils and tea tree can be used without reducing their concentration in solutions due to mild action. Therefore, these two types of oil are used to produce many types of bath cosmetics and soap.

It is obvious that the development of molecular chemistry in the field of creating synthetic odors has produced many substances that completely replicate the odors of essential oils, but no longer have any value. They cannot be used for massage or internally! For treatment, only natural essential oils should be used.

Let's learn: how to distinguish counterfeit essential oils?

As already noted in the article, practically by smell it is impossible with a high degree of probability distinguish synthetic fake from natural oil. Of course, there is special equipment (chromatograph), which is available only to a narrow circle of specialists. But this is far from a household appliance for the average bath lover. But still, I will offer some tips that I found on the Internet for determining the differences between synthetic and natural essential oils at home.

  1. Essential oils, unlike vegetable oils, do not leave greasy stains on paper
  2. The cost of a natural product is high, so scammers most often fake this indicator without difficulty.
  3. Natural products are poured into small small containers.
  4. For natural oils that consist of hundreds of different essential components. What is characteristic is that they change the bouquet of their odor over time, while “synthetic” oils smell the same, but with different intensities.
  5. Natural essential oils are bottled in dark glass containers with a transparency of no more than 50%. The cap on the dish is double, with a dispenser.
  6. All fruity sweet aromas that you can find in the trade are “synthetic fragrances” since there are almost no essential oils in strawberries, lilacs, lilies of the valley or citrus fruits.
  7. On the packaging of natural oil it will not be written that it is intended for external use only. Fraudsters try to protect themselves in this way. Inhalation - oral use!

Historical fact. Natural oil is an expensive product, which is why the Queen of Sheba expressed her respect to Solomon by offering him sandalwood oil, once again admiring his intelligence and virtues.

Counterfeit bath oils

Chromatogram of West Indian sandalwood essential oil. Components.

Inscriptions on the packaging that contradict the principles of production of natural products ():

  • environmentally friendly oil,
  • oil for professional aromatherapy;
  • best quality oil

Inscriptions on the packaging that indicate the authenticity of the essential oil:

  • 100% pure;
  • 100% artifisces (essential) oil;
  • 100% pure;
  • 100% essential oil

A mixture of essential oils with a low concentration is not considered counterfeit or counterfeit oil if this is directly indicated on the packaging. These are the so-called “Aromatherapy oils” - compositions consisting of a mixture of essential oil (10-20%) with minerals cosmetic oils or alcohol (85-90%). Such products are not considered counterfeit if the composition is written on the bottle label. But you are unlikely to find an inscription on the bottle like in the picture on the right. This is the result of the chromatograph. which is used to analyze oil content.

The standard dosage of essential oils is 10 ml. It is normal to use 1-5 ml containers for especially valuable oils of rose, verbena, mimosa...

Counterfeit essential oils with odor are called synthetic fragrances. This is not to say that they are not at all useful. Like starch tablets, they are useful for psychotherapeutic effects, which are based on associations and self-hypnosis healing effect, on pleasant aromatic sensations. But not on the therapeutic effect on the body. The likelihood that such counterfeits are harmful to us is much higher. They may cause skin irritation, allergic reactions and even toxic effects.

For falsification, cheap analogues of essential oils can be used, which are similar to natural ones even in name: pine, lavandin, cananga, dill and others. These are also aromatic products, but they are cheap and not as healthy as juniper, ylang-ylango, fennel or lavender. Selling them under other names is considered counterfeit.

If the cost of a whole range of aromatic essential products V trading network differs from each other by a penny, then most likely they are selling mixtures of fragrances, since the cost different oils- very different!

Essential oils and fragrances

I will give a list of herbs and plants that by their nature are not carriers of esters: apple tree, violet, lilac, apricot, lily of the valley, cucumber, peach, linden, melon, magnolia, banana, kiwi, strawberry and some others.

Mint, pine, rosemary and other plants have many types in nature and the oils from them are very different in composition and price. Therefore, read the description carefully: if it is not indicated which pine or which mint, most likely it is a fragrance. It even matters from which part of the plant (stem or flower) the oil is obtained! Read. study, gain experience and you will learn correctly distinguish fake from natural oil.

Many producers breed natural oils neutral, odorless oils, such as jojoba. In some cases, it is necessary to dilute the oil! I didn't make a mistake. It is difficult to pour out all the essential oil from a 1 ml container. Most of it will remain on the walls of the vessel. Therefore, it is diluted directly in the factory glass container so that the precious product does not remain on the walls of the glass flask. It may be advisable to immerse the glassware directly into a container of water or neutral oil to completely clean the bottle of the precious aromatic product. So beware of this beautiful word JOJOBA! They are being cheated out of what we pay money for.

Chromatograms of essential oils

Only a device that produces (produces) chromatograms can accurately determine the composition of an essential oil.

Sandalwood Oil Chromatogram (Analysis)

This “spectral” analysis allows you to sort out all the components of an essential oil and unambiguously identify it. When carrying out chromatographic analysis, a volume (0.04-0.06 µl) of essential oil is diluted at a temperature of 230-250 0 C into a chromatograph evaporator and analyzed in a narrow quartz capillary tube. Only specialists can read such tables. And the composition by components is presented in the article above. Real manufacturers can provide you with this information, but resellers cannot.

Buy essential oils from a direct manufacturer or distiller (a private individual who independently distills essential oils from plants). Breathe for your health!

The concept of 100% essential oil is not legally defined in Russia, therefore any aromatic substance of a plant or synthetic origin may be called an essential oil. All essential oils are divided into three groups:

1. NATURAL ESSENTIAL OILS
The best, providing real therapeutic effect and real benefits are considered to be natural essential oils obtained from natural environmentally friendly plants in compliance with all manufacturing technologies and degrees of purification. There are also cheap natural essential oils, of low quality (second-class raw materials, violation of manufacturing processes), such oils are useless.
2. ESSENTIAL OILS IDENTICAL TO NATURAL
Oils identical to natural ones, like the first group, can be obtained in laboratory conditions, but with the aim of recreating a composition similar to natural ones. They have extremely low therapeutic value.
3. SYNTHETIC ESSENTIAL OILS
Synthetic essential oils have a very simple composition (fragrance + cheap solvent), do not have medicinal properties, are inexpensive, and are often sold in pharmacies. Their smell is sharper and rougher than that of natural esters, in some cases they can even smell like a completely different plant.

For use in aromatherapy and for adding to cosmetics, it is necessary to use natural essential oils; only in this case can a therapeutic and cosmetic effect and safe use be guaranteed.

A few signs that distinguish real high-quality essential oils:

1. SCENT
Apply one drop to the cloth or skin of your wrist. Inhale the aroma at regular intervals. Natural essential oils have many components, so immediately after application, after half an hour and after an hour the aroma will be different. Synthetic oil will smell the same, but the aroma will only weaken over time.
2. SHELF LIFE
Natural oils do not last long; they quickly lose their properties and instantly evaporate in a poorly closed container.
3. PACKAGING
Natural essential oils are packaged only in bottles made of dark glass, most often brown, with a capacity of usually 5-10 ml (for expensive oils, this can be 1-2 ml), with a first opening ring (like medicines) and with a special dropper or pipette (except for small volumes).
4. RAW MATERIALS
If you see natural essential oils of peach, strawberry, lily of the valley, lilac - pass by! All fruit scents (except citrus) are synthetic fragrances. And lotus essential oil should be avoided altogether. It is listed in the Red Book. There are no plantations all over the world, so lotus oils are fake.
5. PRICE
Natural esters cannot cost the same, with a difference of several rubles per 10 ml. The raw materials are different and they get it in various ways. The production technology itself and the yield of the final product are different - from 5% to 0.1% by weight of the raw material. Therefore, the price of various natural essential oils fluctuates tens or hundreds of times.
6. INFORMATION ON THE PACKAGING
The label should not say:
“100% essential”, “fragrance oil”, “aroma oil”, “perfume oil”. Such inscriptions indicate that the bottles contain synthetically produced aromatized mixtures. The label should read:
“100% natural essential oil” or “Essential Oil, Pure and Natural”.
The botanical name of the plant from which the oil is obtained must be indicated in Latin and the language of the trademark, the manufacturer, its address, and expiration date.
7. OILY STAINS
There is a misconception that if you drop natural essential oil onto paper, the stain will completely evaporate after half an hour. This is wrong. However, a drop of oil on paper can give approximate information about whether the oil is diluted with a fatty solvent or not. An hour after you drop the essential oil, there should be no obvious residue left on the paper. grease stain. Please note that some oils will not evaporate completely (frankincense, myrrh), and some will stain the paper (patchouli, chamomile, yarrow).

Conclusion: all of the listed points are recommendations and will not protect you 100% from incorrect purchases; the guarantee of the naturalness of the oil is the presence of certificates from the manufacturer, so find a trusted supplier of natural essential oils and you will no longer have questions about the quality, safety of their use and purchase.

All essential oils sold under the Saflora brand are of the highest quality and are isolated from natural raw materials obtained from organic farms. Their quality is marked by certificates from the Lacon Institute, Bio-Siegel, and the Euroleaf eco-label.

And finally: if you find cheap essential oils for baths in your home, purchased in regular supermarkets or pharmacies, or cheap synthetic oils with labels that do not contain a word about naturalness, use them to aromatize rooms and under no circumstances use them for cosmetic purposes .

Friends, a huge hello to everyone.
Look, I'm just shocked. It turns out that those essential oils that we find on the shelves in cheap stores and public pharmacies absolutely cannot be called essential oils. All these products are completely chemical composition and synthetic origin. When I found out about this, my hair stood on end, is it that I still added chemicals to my soaps!? Horrible! I, who grew up in the USSR, was used to believing in the honesty of the pharmacy structure and did not pay much attention to information about counterfeits. I thought that if I live in a small village, the sorrows of big cities do not concern me, naive,

What types of essential oils are divided into, and what is this division based on?

Examining the signs by which natural essential oils should be distinguished from synthetic ones, that real essential oils come in only two types:

  1. Actually true essential oils, extracted from essential oils of flowers, herbs and shrubs.
  2. Aromatic oils extracted from the same plants, but through secondary processing.

In the first option, that is, when creating true essential oils High Quality, flowers, aerial parts of herbs and leaves are steamed, and citrus peels are cold pressed. Oils extracted in this way have valuable medicinal properties, are approved for use by pregnant and lactating women and can be used not only in cosmetics, but also taken orally.

Naturally, for the latter they must be mixed with base oils, otherwise you can get an overdose and burn the mucous membranes of the digestive tract.

The second option, that is, aromatic oils, is a product from the same essential plants, but obtained by extraction, that is, by exposing the raw materials to special solvents. This method quite new, it allows you to obtain from a plant maximum amount ether, as well as collect the remaining oils from “greedy” plants.

Such “greedy” people, for example, include the beloved by many fragrant jasmine, its flowers are first steamed, and then the remaining oil is separated through extraction. Disadvantage of this modern way that it does not allow obtaining pure essential oils. Before release for use, they have to be distilled, that is, cleaned of chemical impurities.

Because of this they are lost medicinal properties, and aromatic oils no longer have that effect therapeutic action on the body, which essential oils have. But it is still a natural substance with a bright, persistent, rich herbal or floral scent that will never come out of mixing chemical compounds. Aromatic oils have found their use in elite cosmetology; they are widely used in creating spa mixtures for home baths and salon procedures, they are gladly included in homemade recipes for soap, masks, shampoos, creams and tonics. In a word, aromatic oils are also beneficial, beautiful and a sign of good taste.

But now there are so many places where you can buy so-called natural essential oils good quality, that a natural question arises, how not to get into banal synthetics? To find out this question, I went to seek information from aromatherapists, and this is what they told me.

How to distinguish natural essential oils from synthetic ones

It turns out that in order to distinguish natural essential oil from synthetic one, you need to look at 4 main criteria, namely:

1. From which plant the oil is extracted

The fact is that not every plant contains essential oils, although there are many essential oils found in nature. Among them are such groups as:

  • Apiaceae (anise, fennel, coriander, etc.);
  • Lip flowers (mint, lemon balm, lavender, sage);
  • Rosaceae (rose, rose hips);
  • Geraniums (geranium, pelargonium);
  • Amaryllidaceae;
  • Myrtaceae (eucalyptus);
  • Citrus fruits (lemon, orange);
  • Conifers (fir, pine, cedar, larch).

But there is no essential oil of olive, lily of the valley, lilac, melon, cucumber and many other representatives of the flora, bottles of oil from which are lined with pharmacy shelves. You know, my dears, I really like the smell of lily of the valley, and I almost bought this oil in our village pharmacy, can you imagine how ignorant I was? What saved me then was that I had no extra money, and I needed expensive medicines, otherwise I would definitely have coveted this lily of the valley scent. Now, when I hear about an essential oil from a plant, the first thing I do is open a reference book and look at the composition of this herb. If the reference book says that a given plant contains esters in its flowers, fruits or leaves, then okay, but if not, then I immediately conclude that this is a pathetic synthetic fake. Of course, many plants also contain fatty acids. base oils, but then that’s how it’s written in the reference book, and they have nothing to do with noble ethers.

2. How the packaging and container are designed, and whether there are any documents, quality certificates and chromatograms

According to the practicing aromatherapists with whom I consulted, the packaging of truly natural, good quality essential oil must contain the following information:

  • The line “100% natural essential oil” or 100% Essential Oil, Pure Essential Oil, Pure and Natural”, if even one word is different, it’s worth thinking about.
  • The name of the plant from which this essential oil is produced, both in Russian and in Latin.
  • Manufacturer's company name, legal address and contact information.
  • Date of manufacture and expiration date of the product itself.

The same data must be present on the label, and no decorations in the form of grass, leaves and flowers, there is simply nowhere to place them, all the space is taken up by the above information. As for the container, according to international standards, all vials are made of dark glass and have a special dosimeter pipette on the neck. And, of course, the product must be accompanied by documents such as:

  1. Certificate of conformity;
  2. Detailed summary;
  3. Chromatogram with detailed description components contained in the oil.

Moreover, as they explained to me, a chromatogram must be requested first of all. Indeed, at present, only she can guarantee that what you have in front of you is truly a natural essential oil of good quality, and not a cheap fake.

3. At what price and in what packaging weights the offered products are available

I said “cheap” for a reason; the price of natural essential oil cannot be lower than 10 dollars or 700 rubles, and here’s why. To extract at least 100 grams of oil, for example, from the same rose, you need to process a whole ton of its airy petals, which weigh almost nothing. Can you imagine how many rose bushes you need to grow for this? The whole plantation. And I mentioned in my other articles that my family owns a large summer cottage plot Therefore, I know firsthand how much work, effort, love and patience one has to put into growing the same potatoes, and then roses.

But growing is just the beginning. We still need to collect the valuable petals, without being too late, evaporate the precious aroma from them, seal it in appropriate containers and transport it to points of sale. Agree that all these manipulations cost a lot of money. And also, by going through online stores selling essential and aromatic oils, I noticed that the weight packaging is the same everywhere, 5, 10 and 15 grams. Occasionally we came across exhibits weighing 1 gram, but these were very valuable species such as jasmine or tuberose.

From this I concluded that the low price and weight above 15 grams are direct instruction for synthetics.

4. What company produced this product, whether it is known on the market, whether there are user reviews about it and what kind of reviews they are

I won’t lie, saying that such and such a company is the best, I haven’t found my favorite manufacturer yet. If you, dear readers, know a trusted company that you have already used more than once, please write about it in the comments to this article, I will be sincerely grateful. Here I will list a few companies that I saw in the online stores I liked:

  • Aura Cacia (I looked at their lavender essential oil, I really love its smell, but not a single one negative feedback, all customers are happy, share recipes and positive emotions);
  • Nature’s Alchemy (I noticed geranium essential oil from them, also only positive reviews, recipes home use and statements that you definitely can’t buy this in a pharmacy)


In general, I concluded that there are not so many responsible companies offering natural essential oils of good quality; it is much easier to run into a fake than to find something worthwhile. But you shouldn’t despair, because there are still trusted places where honest manufacturers work. I, by at least, I found 2 such places, here they are.

Where to buy natural essential oil, 2 online stores that interested me

After wandering around the Internet a lot and reading a bunch of sites, I identified 2 interesting stores for myself:

  1. Iherb
  2. I learned about it on Alena Yasneva’s blog, went there and stayed for a long time. There’s a lot of stuff there: creams, herbs, products for children, and, of course, a wide range of essential oils. In short, I liked it there.

  3. vesex
  4. I found this site myself and also got stuck on it, because not only oil products are presented here, but there are also useful articles from practicing aromatherapists. It was here that I began to learn the science of how to choose the right natural essential oil, and how essential and aromatic oils differ from each other. You can also go here free consultation from a specialist, because the store has its own aromatherapist.

Oh, I almost forgot

a specialist from this store said that all tests with spots on pieces of paper and similar experiments are nothing more than a myth and delusion. Sometimes truth can be ethereal aroma you can tell by the smell, real oils reveal themselves in a new way every time, and you want to inhale them endlessly, while synthetic products have a burning effect on the sense of smell.

One aromatherapist said so when you bring it to your nose synthetic oil, then the first reaction is to shrink away from it, as if from a hot flame. But only specialists or seasoned experienced people who have been fiddling with ethers for decades can feel the difference in smells so subtly, because a competent combination of chemical compounds provides a wide opportunity to imitate natural smells so skillfully that you can’t complain.

But now you and I know where the dog is buried, right? Now our home recipes will definitely bring health and contain only natural ingredients. By the way, what do you most often like to make with your own hands when it comes to homemade cosmetics? I love massage creams, hair masks and toothpastes. You can look at the recipes for massage creams and oils, and how did you like the toothpaste recipes? I will write recipes for my favorite hair masks in one of the upcoming articles, subscribe to blog updates so as not to miss this material, and I will also give you a surprise for subscribing. And I also ask you to write in the comments what essential oils you prefer, where you buy them, by what criteria you choose, your recommendation is very important to me, because one head is good, but many are better. Well, that's it, friends, I say goodbye, thank you all for your attention and pressing the social network buttons, and see you soon in new posts. With love yours