Choosing the Right Essential Oils

by April Anderson
Just Another Natural Nut

How I make my purchasing decisions when it comes to essential oils​

RED FLAGS

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1. States the EO can be used for topical use without giving me guidelines on how to safely dilute before using
2. Mentions I can drink it without suggesting I see a trained professional first
3. Claim EO’s do not expire
4. No mention of phototoxic EO’s (important for anyone who needs to take care in the sun)
5. No mention of negative reactions with medications
6. Sell EO’s that should never be used
7. Sell EO’s that are potentially carcinogenic without warnings
8. Encourage using on pets and children without any kind of safety cautions
9. No warnings on EO’s that should not be used if pregnant or breastfeeding
10. They do not provide the Latin name of the EO
11. No mention of the extraction method (this is important when I need to know if an EO is phototoxic or not)
12. No mention of the part of plant being used
13. No mentions of the origin of country (Tea Tree EO can come from China or Australia)

The biggest red flag is when a company states their product is a special “therapeutic grade” superior to all other brands.  There are no ‘grades’ of oils and by definition all are therapeutic.

Excerpts from…The Quality of Essential Oils By Jade Shutes, BA, Dipl. AT., Cert. Herbalist

The truth is that there is no such thing as ʻtherapeutic gradeʼ

A grading system, quite simply, does not exist for essential oils.

It is a product of marketing and marketing alone.

CERTIFIED PURE THERAPEUTIC GRADE: is a trademark by a multi-level marketing company DoTERRA. 
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It gives the appearance of being approved by some kind of higher authority and it has been said that the company states it is a FDA approved to use this label.

According to Elston (2009), “This registered word mark has not been provided to them by the FDA as they claim and is meaningless in proving that an outside certifying body has declared or designated that DoTERRAʼs essential oils are certified pure therapeutic grade.

DoTERRA, LLC owns the right to exclusive use of the mark (however not the exclusive right to the actual words “Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade” which is revealing)
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This seal or word mark is nothing more than a commercial trademark that they have registered and paid a fee for”.