In our previous article we talked about the amazing health and wellness benefits offered by essential oils. But to get all these benefits we must make sure to use only oils of the highest quality. Here we'll tell you why that top quality is crucial when it comes to essential oils and why the ones certificated as pure are the only ones that will ensure overall efficiency and safety.
Few are pure and reliable
No matter where you live in the world, very few essential oils that we acquire meet the highest standards in their manufacturing processes, and these high standards differentiate really pure oils from others.
The world's largest production of essential oils is intended for perfume and food industries, which do not require such careful methods as the ones needed if we are to use them with the intention of promoting our health.
That is the reason why most of the products called essential oils that are on the market, are artificial or synthetic products with little or no therapeutic quality, which can even cause allergies and skin burns in the worst cases, and the reason oils with added fragrances, fillers and traces of chemical solvents are marketed.
Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils: the best essential oils
Therapeutic-grade essential oils are the only ones that can offer the highest quality and safety.
For starters, their manufacturers acquire the raw material of each specific plant, only in those areas of the world with the ideal conditions (altitude, temperature, soil quality) to grow that particular plant.
They ensure that while the plant grows, the growers give them the best care at the right times, avoiding the use of pesticides, and that they are harvested at the right time, collecting only the right parts of the plant.
Then they give the next and crucial step of oil extraction or distillation to only the most experienced distillers.
The method of cold pressing is often used with citruses. But the method used for most essential oils is the steam distillation process where the plant material is placed in a chamber and slowly, in another compartment with boiling water, a vapor is released and the essential oil is thus liberated. Then, the vapor and the oil are stored in another chamber and since the oil is naturally hydrophobic (it does not mix with water) upon cooling, it can be separated and easily extracted.
The process of distillation of these certified pure oils is carried out very carefully and meticulously. Chemical solvents to shorten and cheapen the process are never used, and the exact degree of heat is always assured: if very low not all components of the oil in question would be released, if too high, the natural chemical composition would be damaged.
5 scientific tests to ensure purity
Finally, manufacturers of these exclusive therapeutic-grade essential oils along with the support of independent laboratories, verify the process before placing their products on the market:
1) Gas chromatography test: It enables quality control engineers to know what compounds are present in each oil and at what levels.
2) Mass Spectrometry: it safely rules out the presence of foreign substances such as heavy metals or other pollutants.
3) Scan FTIR: After a period of quarantine, the sample is subjected to the light of an instrument, which redetects components and checks them against a database to confirm the expected composition of every essential oil.
4) Microbial Analysis: After a period of quarantine, and again after packaging and labeling. It ensures the absence of microbes in the final product, and thus its stability upon storage.
5) Sensory analysis: Through sight, touch, smell and taste, each batch of finished product is evaluated with the experience and wisdom of an expert panel, adding the irreplaceable human touch and confirming what science and art there is in the development of certified pure essential oils.
The best essential oils at your fingertips
As you can see, only essential oils with the strictest standards (therapeutic-grade essential oils) can give us security and reliability with all these wonderful health benefits. If you want to know more or are interested in getting them, do not hesitate to contact us!