Essential Oils, the series- Part 3

Howdy Soapsmith Nation! I hope all are well and enjoying their summer (winter if you are in the Southern Hemisphere of course). 

I seemed to have skipped right over part 2 of my essential oil series and dove right into the heart of part 3 so here you go. I sometimes eat dessert before dinner.....so....yeah. This post really digs into one specific term that is often heard and very misused.

I am frequently asked what brand of essential oils I use in my products and always happy to answer the question. However I sometimes believe that the person asking is hoping I will say I use the oils of one or another of the large and well known MLM companies which have a serious foothold on the aromatherapy industry at the moment. Let me tell you something, if I used the oils from those companies my products would not be affordable. Those companies do not sell in bulk and are intended for individual use only (oh and also, they prohibit the marketing of their oils in products intended for resale.) So for many reasons I do not use their oils. 

While I assume their oils are as good as many other companies I do not believe them to be superior, I also typically find their reps to be un- or undereducated in the safe use of essential oils which ticks me off because the reps are totally passionate about their products, these companies should invest in them by properly educating them. 

That's for another post on another day though. Today I want to write about a specifically misleading marketing term. The term is Therapeutic grade. This term popped up at some point in the 90's and many companies jumped on the bandwagon stating that their oils were also therapeutic grade. There are no quality standards for authentication and no tests and determines the grades of ANY essential oils. In fact have you ever seen a grade A, B, C or D? Nope because it's not a thing. 

I am going to drop a link into the bottom of this post because the woman who wrote it was very clear and concise, I couldn't have written it any better (nor would I have written it differently so why plagerize her work?) There are a few other terms that she brings to light with really great explanations. Please take a look and expand your knowledge base. Next time someone starts spouting off about therapeutic grade (blah, blah, blah) you can smile that smile that people do when they know a really great secret  ;)

because what is cuter than this!?

The quality of essential oils 

Man we are a smart bunch of cookies today! 

TaTa my friends
~Soapy