What “Really” is a Pure Essential Oil: Dissecting the Truth

Everyone’s saying the same thing, using the same marketing terminology, and the word ‘pure’ seems to be the most popular word around. Oh yes, “PURE” is passed around in all the chit chat or at all the essential oil parties no matter which one you happen to attend. Well, there is good reason! If you’re using an essential oil [...]

March 1 2020

Well, there is good reason! If you’re using an essential oil for medicinal use and healthful benefit, you most definitely want and need an authentic, or what we prefer to call a ‘true’ oil. Nothing else is going to perform in the way you expect. Further, since we are already exposed to so many environmental toxins and pollutants, we are all looking for a true, natural, non-chemically touched or altered alternative to assist in relieving the very things we are trying to expel — and find a different result without loads of side effects!

As touched on previously last week in our Blog: How to Find a Genuine Essential Oil in a Saturated Market. We let you know due to the surplus of choices on the market, we do the checking for you to ensure the integrity of an oil.

How can you tell what is a PURE oil just off the shelf?

Before we get to the ‘purity’ talk, we offer a few tips to consider.

Things to consider when purchasing an essential oil for therapeutic use.

Today, there are a plethora of essential oil companies on the market, and a large portion are all new in the industry. You can get oils just about everywhere and that may be the first red flag to warrant a more discerning eye when choosing your medicine. The fact is, in the last handful of years, essential oil companies have sprouted out of thin air. Some with well-meaning intentions, others just jumping on the bandwagon to capitalize on the wave, and others taking the therapeutic applications to a whole other profiteering level. The point is everyone and their cat is selling essential oils it seems.
The largest amount of essential oils grown on the planet today are for the food and perfume industry, NOT for aromatherapy or therapeutic use.The large productions of those oils are not cultivated for quality of efficacy medicinally, or for aromatic superiority. They’re grown mainly for bulk, or rather… for the largest harvest output.
The food industry (flavoring use) for example, does need to meet the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) standard for ingestion. Due your research. Don’t get bamboozled into thinking just because it’s been considered ‘safe’ to consume, that it means it’s of a therapeutic quality or benefit. This is comparing oranges to apples. Just compare a peppermint essential oil to the peppermint extract at the grocery store–uh, not even comparable!
There IS NO standard of essential oils, or even a standard of ingestible essential oils. Therapeutic grade is not qualified anywhere. It is a trademarked term, and now widely recognized and used to describe those oils used for health.
Aromatherapy is a serious medical practice. Certified Aromatherapists and Natural Medicine doctors exist for this reason.
There are quantifiable cautions for ingestion, and likewise, warranted precision in blending for therapeutic use. Knowledge of chemistry is behind this form of natural medicine. Many have studied years to be a practitioner of this type of pharmacopoeia.
Knowing how to use a true medicinal quality oil is critical. While many oils are now sold for aromatic wonders, enjoyment, and health boons, this is a keep out of children’s reach type of awareness.

Just know the very best essential oils are true, or what is often to referred to as called ‘pure’.

What does a pure oil really mean?

The term is itself is over used and many times misused. A pure oil means the oil came straight from the farm to the distiller and its offering (or it’s output) was not touched or altered in any way. Meaning… it was allowed to remain in it’s original pure state, or rather, true to it’s origin, as is. Nothing was added to it, not another oil or additive; nor was it diluted or thinned out by the same means. It was not mixed with several other harvests of the same species from different farms. Nor was it doctored or perfected in a lab to chemically or molecularly effect the same aroma year after year or hit certain peaks on a GC/MS machine.

While the latter is not technically a contaminant and the oil itself is intact from all chemical constituent aspects, it is still in fact, adulterated,because it has been meddled with of its original, organic nature.

Example: If you buy Lavender this year, the Lavender you buy from next year’s harvest, from the same place/farm, will not, nor should not smell exactly the same.

It is impossible for a true essential oil to be exactly the same aromatically all the time, year after year. It can be similar, sure. However, there are variations in weather and soil conditions from year to year to consider.

Some of our customers over the years have called us wondering why their last bottle of oil smelled like “x”, and this new bottle of oil smells like “y”. We’re happy to respond with: “Oh Good! It shouldn’t. It’s a completely different batch (harvest).”

Your nose will tell you the truth. Some may think it’s not ‘as good’ or ‘it smells funny’ or ‘it is not pure’ because of this organic variation. Yet, this may be the best test you can do all by yourself.

KNOW ONE THING: Nature isn’t a franchise. Nature’s flowers are never the same, not the harvest output, not the aroma, not even a blossom can be the exact formation year to year.

In commercial grow operations, or the more massive farms, it is not unheard of to ’standardize’ things for products to sell. That’s a practice we have been conditioned to accept: that this thing tastes and smells like this, ALWAYS. But nature isn’t constant, it is always changing.

To make therapeutic essential oils, the plant they come from needs to have been grown and harvested the right way. To extract an essential oil it must must be done with precision using the correct method, skill, artisan-ship and temperature mastery. Here at Ananda we are just thrilled to work directly with the farmers and distillers who make it all possible to have natural, high quality, plant medicines. No middleman. No layered tiers of pricing. Just an awesome, true product.

So how does a newcomer or layman really know if the essential oil they have is Pure and True?

Follow your nose.
Your nose will know. Instantly.

Your sense of smell is your captain. Trust it.
Compare oils of different companies, your own nature will recognize nature itself.
Notice it’s aroma from first note detection to it’s last. You’re not looking for a perfume smell that’ll stay in your nose like a perfume will. You’re looking for a wide array of aromatics that naturally dissipate.
Tune into how it makes you feel — if it activates a certain energy shift about you: a happy feeling, some chills, pleasure, calm, etc. YOU WILL FEEEEEEL an essential oil. It’s not just a smell.
Look for subtle variations in aroma year to year. Weather conditions have a significant impact on each harvest. It’s the little things… slight, yet assuring. Turn into your own best detective!
Ideally, the oil should all come from one single farm, if you want a completely true oil. This means there are not 5 different lavender fields all mixed together for a distillation. Check your sources. But that’s another subject for another time.

A true essential oil is the ‘essence’ or Spirit of the plant itself. It is alive, and living! That’s the whole reason artisan farmers take such care… to ensure they get it perfectly intact! The aromatic will move you – or can, depending on your sensitivities. That’s why they are so mighty. Notice their givings. Remember, Nature isn’t a controlled substance. They work through, in and with you.

You can’t fool Mother Nature! as it has been said…. Well it’s hard to fool your own nature… follow your nose and notice how you feel.

Let your nose show you the difference. Get to testing now!

Click here to learn more about any of our oils. When you buy all three of the oils below (in any size, including samples), we’ll toss in a pocket diffuser! No coupon code needed.
You’ll definitely want these exquisite oils for natural perfume use. The pocket diffuser is an excellent choice for other quick therapeutic favorites such as Lavender to calm nerves, Lemon for a mood lift, and Peppermint to quell headaches.