Where To Buy Essential Oils
Where Can I Buy Essential Oils For Aromatherapy
If you're looking for information on where to buy essential oils, you've come to the right place. There are practically thousands of places online where you can place your order, however how do you know which online stores are reliable? And here I don't only mean reliable in terms of actually fulfilling the order and shipping it out on time, but also more importantly, sending you 100% pure essential oils that are needed for aromatherapy at home or in your practice.
Some aromatherapy practitioners already have a local supplier of pure grade oils, however many people are just starting out, or simply want some oils for making their surrounding environment more pleasing, for learning to make perfumes or simply because they're curious about how to use essential oils.
I am a long term aromatherapist practitioner (hobby wise only) and over the time I've learned which online stores to trust and what to stay away from. Here you will find some of the shops that I consider reliable, with good prices, high quality oils and great customer support.
What To Consider When Buying Essential Oils
What Do You Need The Oils For
When buying essential oils, there are a few things you should consider. The most important aspect is what you need the oils for. Is it for aromatherapy, for self-healing, for giving your room a pleasant smell and atmosphere, for making natural perfumes, for cleaning your home, for making candles? For some of these you need 100% pure grade essential oils. For others, fragrant oils or oils that are not 100% pure are more than enough.
For aromatherapy
For aromatherapy you need pure unadulterated 100% grade essential oils. Whether you are using essential oils for stress relief, in aromatherapy massage or in aromatherapy diffuser, to really get the health benefits of the oils, they should be pure distilled from the best quality plants out there.
This is why when buying your essential oils, you need to make sure that you do have, indeed, a reliable source, one that you can trust that will give you the best oils you can get, even if you have to pay a bit more for them.
For making candles or for fragrance
If you don't much care for healing benefits of the oils, but you need something that smells nice so you can add it to your home made soaps, candles, or for giving your home a pleasant fragrance, then you can use fragrance oils or even food grade oils. These are either a mix of pure essential oils with chemicals included, or are simply fragrance oils that have been synthetically manufactured. These oils are much more inexpensive than the pure aromatherapy oils.
Search Amazon For Essential Oils
Why I Think Quality Does Matter
Before getting involved in aromatherapy I used to buy fragrance oils very cheap from any seller I found nearby. However while studying the properties of oils and the differences between pure oils and not so pure ones, I've come to realize that is indeed important what we come in contact with, what we inhale and what we put on our skin.
* Did you know that if the plant was sprayed with tons of pesticides, the essential oil distilled from that plant will still contain the harmful chemicals that were in the pesticide? Imagine using that oils on your skin, or on the skin of your kids!
* Did you know that adulterated oils (those that have been chemically altered) can actually be more harmful than helpful? When the oil is changed, some of the chemical elements are basically removed - in many cases simply to make the oil more affordable. While this is OK in the perfume industry, it is NOT OK for the use in aromatherapy. Adulteration changes the natural balance of the oils thus greatly reducing the healing properties, and at times even inducing unwanted side effects.
* Did you know that essential oils sold in plastic bottles can become quite useless in quality? Essential oils have the tendency to dissolve plastic material which greatly diminishes their quality. Same with essential oils sold in clear bottles. Oils that come into contact with air and light can deteriorate quite fast, thus losing their healing properties by the time they reach your home.
Choosing The Right Company - 10 Points To Consider
Before telling you where to buy essential oils, let's stop for just a little and discuss HOW to buy your essential oils. Knowing what to stay away from can greatly enhance your positive shopping experience. So here are some points to consider when choosing vendors to buy the oils from.
If an oil is labeled 'therapeutic grade essential oil' or aromatherapy grade' oil, beware of that seller. The reason is that currently there is no such thing as 'therapeutic oil'. Every 100% oil is therapeutic. There is no oil that is MORE therapeutic than another if the process of gathering the plant and distilling the essential oil has been carefully done. This is basically a marketing ploy to get you to buy their (higher priced) oils instead of others.
Before buying the essential oils, do not be afraid to ask some extra questions from the supplier. For example you might want to know if the plants and herbs that were used to distill the oils have been previously sprayed with pesticides or other chemicals.
How are the oils tested for purity? Do they have their own testing lab, or are they using a reliable testing laboratory in order to check the actual composition of the oil? Have the crops been harvested at the right time and season to ensure the best quality oils? Have the oils been adulterated in any way?
Does the company from where you want to buy the oils have actual expertise in aromatherapy, in distilling and using the oils? Also do they have a good website that offers lots of quality information about their oils and how to use them? Do they have enough educational material on the site and is their information regularly updated?
Before you buy, don't be shy to ask for a sample of their oils. A reputable and respectable company will not have a problem in sending you a small sample for you to try out before buying.
Check the prices not only between different companies, but also within the same company for different oils. If all the oils are sold at the same (or very similar) price, buyer beware! Depending on the plant used and the difficulty in distillation from some plants, the prices will vary quite a lot. For example lavender oil will be much cheaper than a rose essential oil.
When browsing through the vendor's website, see images of the bottles of oils. At the minimum you should see the English name of the oil, the latin name and the country of origin. The reason is that there are different varieties of the same oil, each with their own special properties. For example when you buy chamomile oil, there is the Moroccan chamomile oil, the Roman chamomile oil and the German chamomile oil.
If you can afford to buy organic essential oils instead of non-organic ones, go for it. They are more expensive, however their quality is simply superior because the plants had no pesticides on them.
Check for buyer feedback and consumer reports. For example if you buy your oils at Amazon (I buy several oils from Amazon sellers), always check the feedback of previous buyers. If there are negative signals, move on to the next seller. For other websites, there are various places with consumer feedback and opinion that you can check out to see what their experience with shopping at the online store has been. Never simply buy blindly online.
Try to avoid buying essential oils at street corners, fairs, market stalls and other 'gathering' event places. If you buy something of low quality, you might never find that very seller again to complain about his product. Some sellers are simply 'off-loaders' of their oils just to make some quick money. If you do have to buy from these places, ask loads of questions from the seller about the quality, etc.
Never buy your oils from the first online seller you find. Compare stores, visit various websites and get a feel first by following the tips above before spending your money.
Essential Oils Or Fragrant Oils
Do you think the purity of essential oils matter?
Essential Oils Shop Directory
Directory List Of Essential Oils
I've personally bought essential oils from some of these shops, while others came highly recommended, and upon some research I can safely recommend them as well.
- Amazon - Aromatherapy Section
The reason I put Amazon first here is because Amazon is a trusted place - people shop here from all over the world. What is even more important, Amazon has a customer feedback and review for every product, so if a buyer was not pleased with their pur - 100% Pure Essential Oils & Aromatherapy Products
Located in the US, they offer pure essential oils without any traces of pesticides. On their website you can also find many other related products such as aromatherapy diffusers, oil blends, accessories for essential oils and what I especially like i - Arlys Naturals
Arlys Naturals is a US company that sells organic essential oils and aromatherapy skin care products. You can also find some great free information on their website including lots of great aromatherapy recipes for various problems such as headaches, - Auroma
Auroma is a US company selling essential oils, oil burners, related supplies and even household products. They also have a forum where buyers and visitors can interact with each other and discuss about aromatherapy and essential oils. - Aromatics International
You can get here essential oils, essential oil kits, diffusers, hydrosols and many more. Their website has a learning section with recipes, information about safety and blending of oils, along with a useful FAQ. - Artisan Aromatics
A US company selling high quality essential oils, natural solid perfumes, oil blends, diffusers, and some free information. On the page for each oil you get a thorough description and information that sadly is missing from many other similar websites - Base Formula
UK company selling lots of high quality essential oils. They sell all over the world. They also offer therapist courses that you can inquire about on their website. The webpages for the oils are full of detailed descriptions that is quite relevant an - Biosource Naturals
US company offering on their website pure essential oils, blends, lotions for various aches and illnesses, flower essences, etc. The main page has some useful tables on what oils help with what problem. I often use this page as a point of reference w - Dreaming Earth Botanicals
Quality essential oils and related products from this US company. Their website offers several aromatherapy articles and they also have a blog that you can read and follow. - Enfleurage
You can find here some rare essential oils such as lily, tuberose and gardenia. - Oils4Life
UK website selling internationally. One of my favorite shopping sites for essential oils and related products. They have great product information for each oil - Flora Medica
US company founded by the nurser and author Valerie Cooksley, selling high quality essential oils. They also offer various certification courses - check their website for more information. - Absolute Aromas
UK company selling pure essential oils and many related products. They sell all over the world (have shopped here several times). - Camden Grey
Us company selling essential oils, soap making supplies, absolutes, perfumery, etc. Great place to shop, however they have a minimum order of $20. I always buy more than that, so I never had problem shopping from them.
Finally eBay
Don't discount eBay when it comes to where to buy essential oils especially when price is a factor. There are many wonderful sellers there and above all, just like at Amazon, there is a great rating system whereby customers leave feedback after their shopping experience. If a product sold was less than stellar, the buyers will be quick to point it out.
Btw, I never buy from any seller with less than 99.8% positive feedback.
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The Aromatherapy Bible: The Definitive Guide to Using Essential OilsCHECK PRICE NOW
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