Essential oils were a staple in people’s homes in ancient times. They would use the best essential oils to rid themselves of numerous physical ailments. But as modern medicine took charge, aromatherapy was pushed to the side.
We’ve only recently started turning our heads towards these incredible oils. The new-age folks are rediscovering the countless benefits of essential oil blends. And with that, countless brands have popped up that are claiming to provide the purest oils.
Have you also been introduced to the wonderful world of aromatic oils? Do you want to try them out but are scared of getting a low-quality product? We’ve reviewed some of the most popular brands on the market. We’ve outlined their product quality and purity in detail to help you buy from trusted companies.
Top 3 Picks for Essential Oil Brands
- Vitruvi: Overall Best Pure Essential Oils in the Market
- Mountain Rose Herbs: Best Essential Oils Brand for Relaxation
- Plant Therapy: Best Value Scented Oils for Aromatherapy
#1. Vitruvi: Overall Best Pure Essential Oils in the Market
Vitruvi was established in 2013 by a pair of siblings, Sean and Sara Panton. These two built this company in their apartment and used to hand-fill and package every order they received. They were introduced to simple and natural living at a young age, which has been their brand motivation forever. The company is now headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.
Vitruvi is known for creating non-toxic, all-natural, pure, and cruelty-free essential oils. On their website, you can purchase their classic essential oils for great prices. They also offer unique oil blends for bedtime routines, cozy days, and dinner parties.
Vitruvi has always catered to folks who want to indulge in natural ways to include essential oils in their daily lives. With their excellence, they have featured in notable media outlets like The New York Times, Marie Claire, and PopSugar, to name a few. Their sophisticated essential oil products are all designed in Canada using traditional blending methods that are safe for the environment.
Features
Safe Formulations
Vitruvi is led by a team that believes in living simply and naturally. They make sure their essential oils are free of silicone, sulfates SLS and SLES, parabens, formaldehyde, and formaldehyde-releasing agents. The oils are also free of phthalates, oxybenzone, retinyl palmitate, coal tar, triclosan, and hydroquinone. Not only that, but these products are vegan and non-GMO.
Philanthropic Partnerships
We love Vitruvi’s considerate approach as a global brand. Vitruvi has partnered with the body: a home for love, which is a donation-based membership community for Black women who are survivors of sexual trauma. This brand helps Black women practitioners to do creative workshops and sessions and gain restorative experiences.
Vitruvi does its part by providing monthly financial support to the body. Vitruvi also makes product donations to this foundation and is actively partaking in helping Black women heal with pride.
Cruelty-Free Practices
They not only keep their oils pesticide-free but also do not conduct animal testing of their products. Vitruvi is transparent about its formulations and testing methods.
Widely Available
Vitruvi is one of the few brands that are not hard to get your hands on. Their essential oils and other products are widely available at multiple retailers like Nordstrom and Anthropologie. This brand also offers essential oil subscriptions, so you can keep your home smelling great while saving some money. After all, who doesn’t like a good discount?
Pros
- Special blends for a variety of occasions
- 100% cruelty-free
- Wide variety of diffusers and essential oils to choose from
- All-natural products with no fillers, diluting oils, or artificial scents
- 15-day return policy for essential oils
- 30-day return policy for diffusers
Cons
- Limited international shipping
- Slightly higher price compared to other brands
Customer Reviews
Various online product review portals have awarded Vitruvi an outstanding rating. Customers have complimented the brand for its 100% pure essential oils, especially those with alluring scents. Some customers chose Vitruvi essential oils as a gift for someone else and have been happy with their purchase.
Some client reviews mentioned that their single-origin essential oils are a bit costlier than the market standards. Other than that, their user reviews are pretty flattering.
⇒ Visit the Official Website of Vitruvi
#2. Mountain Rose Herbs: Best Essential Oils Brand for Relaxation
Here’s another great brand that’s committed to providing the best essential oils. This company has been in operation since the 1980s, but the owners only established a strict organic policy and got their organic certification in 1999. They’ve since grabbed various awards and certifications for their green practices and excellent product development.
This brand ensures that its ingredients are sourced from organic and free trade sources only. They’ve established themselves as a leader in this industry by following sustainable practices from seed to sale. All their products are free of pesticides, sulfites, herbicides, and heavy metals, so safety is actually at the forefront.
They’ve got a varied selection of essential oils that are therapeutic grade and highly affordable. On their website, you can find 11 ready-made essential oil blends that have been purposefully crafted. Some of these are Skin Care Blend, Bug Blend, Calming Blend, Breathe Blend, Sleep Blend, and Shield Blend.
Features
First-Rate Sourcing and Extraction
To obtain a high-quality and pure essential oil, the source material used must be top-notch. Mountain Rose has a strict organic program to ensure its sources are of the highest quality.
Essential oils are extracted using various methods, and the process a brand chooses affects the quality of its oil blends. Mountain Rose Herbs uses steam distillation, CO2 extraction, and cold-pressing to extract the purest and the most aromatic oils.
Comprehensive Labeling
Mountain Rose is one of those brands that value brand transparency. They make sure to fit a lot of helpful information on their product labels. General warnings and product ingredients are printed right on the labels. This information is vital if you are buying topical oils or planning to make your own blends.
Quality Assurance
If you are purchasing a wellness product, you want to be sure that it has been tested properly. Mountain Rose Herbs was one of the first herbal product brands that set up full microbial and analytical labs on-site. Since their products are organic and natural, their labs ensure that botanical contaminants are correctly identified and analyzed.
Mountain Rose Herbs makes sure all herbs and spices are confirmed through processes like HPTLC. They maintain the purity of the product by doing macroscopic testing for identifying and eliminating extraneous material. Their lab equipment also enables them to produce consistent quality products regardless of the variance usually seen amongst botanical samples.
Wide Range of Products
On the Mountain Rose Herbs website, you can find a vast array of essential oils and other products available at reasonable prices. Their more common oils are lavender, lemon, bergamot, and pine. Their special oils include Manuka, Vetiver, Hyssop, and more. This brand is great at keeping its prices in the reasonable range so that more people can benefit from the goodness of their products.
Informational Website
Mountain Rose Herbs’ website is home to a wealth of knowledge about essential oils and related topics. And this is what we love the most about this brand.
If you are planning to make your own oil blends, this brand gives you information on how to properly label your blends. They also inform their clients about which of their essential oils make for great blends.
Pros
- Non-GMO project certification
- First Zero-Waste Certified business in Oregon
- A large list of certified organic essential oils is available
- Sourced from reputable essential oil distillers
- Highly informative website
Cons
- No beginner or starter product kits are available
Customer Reviews
Mountain Rose has reaped a lot of great customer reviews for its excellent customer support service. Their users are delighted with how quickly and efficiently their concerns were addressed through email and live chat.
Users have also appreciated the brand transparency. They like the fact that they can click on any oil and find out information about its extraction method and other details.
⇒ Visit the Official Website of Mountain Rose Herbs
#3. Plant Therapy: Best Value Scented Oils for Aromatherapy
Plant Therapy came into place when a son-in-law bought his mother-in-law’s small beauty products company in 2011. It is based in Twin Falls, Idaho, and has been ranking high on the lists of the most reputable essential oil companies globally. They’ve made their mark in the industry by ensuring every product sold passes the highest quality standards.
Plant Therapy does a lot of in-house and independent testing to ensure 100% purity of their essential oils. They get test results from outside sources and also do gas chromatography to achieve greatness in each bottle. They also put their blends through an organoleptic test that ensures a premium look and aroma in the product.
Their premium essential oils have healing properties and a luxe feel, so you never regret purchasing from the Plant Therapy website. They’re proudly transparent about their product’s safety. A lot of their oil blends have been certified organic through ECOCERT ICO. They also have certified aromatherapists on their team to answer your questions and spread awareness.
Features
Brand Transparency
It’s easy to get scammed in the essential oil market, so we always appreciate brands that are transparent about their products. Plant Therapy manages this by mentioning a particular batch code on each product label. This code contains information about the oil ingredients and links you to the GC/MS test report.
Assured Purity
Plant Therapy essential oils are not just tested in-house for purity, but they also do third-party lab testing. Their quality control department located at their manufacturing plant is very thorough when it comes to testing. They make sure their therapeutic-grade products are of top-notch quality across the board.
Affordable Selection
Plant Therapy has fetched popularity across the globe because this is one brand that’s marrying quality with affordability. Their essential oils are some of the best ones on the market and are still relatively well-priced. You can find hundreds of singles, including roll-ons, organics, and blends on their online shop.
Additionally, this company has a line of essential oils specially designed for men. This includes packages containing essential oil, dropper, and balm that are good for beard growth. Similarly, they have a line of products catered to children as well. And the wide variety of products and price points means that there’s something for everybody.
Sustainable Approach
Plant Therapy has plant suppliers present across the globe, but the brand doesn’t let this blur their sustainable vision. They work closely with their suppliers to make sure that they only get oils sourced from organically grown plants. Their oil supplying partners are committed to providing the best for Plant Therapy.
Pros
- Oils are sourced from all over the world
- Products undergo multiple tests at third-party labs, including GC/MS testing
- Test reports are published on the company website
- 90-day money-back guarantee
- Loads of information available on the company blog
- Organic essential oils are USDA-certified
- Offers customer loyalty program
Cons
- No returns on bulk orders
Customer Reviews
When verifying Plant Therapy’s reputation online, we came across hundreds of excellent reviews written by their satisfied clients. Their product users commended the brand for being customer-friendly and approachable.
Many clients have also appreciated that they have a 90-day money-back guarantee in place. Having this gave them the confidence to try out the brand, and most of them ended up being happy with what they received.
Another thing for which Plant Therapy stood out amongst customers is their line of kid-safe synergies. They have a variety of essential oils specially put together for children. They’ve carefully avoided oils that might not be suited for kids.
⇒ Visit the Official Website of Plant Therapy
How to Shop for Essential Oils?
- Quality and Credibility
When browsing through the endless essential oil brands, you want to look for the one that stands behind the quality of its products. Look for documents called analysis certificates and safety data sheets. These documents mention the essential oil components in detail and outline any health risks associated with the product.
The essential oil brands must make these records publicly available on their websites. If you can’t find them on the brand website, there should be a way for the customer to request them from the distributor. Transparent essential oil sellers usually stay on top of these reports.
- Price
Essential oils come from plants that can be costly to grow and harvest. This is why essential oil prices vary widely when it comes to pricing. However, the price for a specific oil won’t be very different among esteemed brands. You should compare the prices of your desired essential oils among different brands.
You may want to see a similar general price range. If you find a very cheap oil, make sure you proceed with caution. Don’t run after saving a little because it might come diluted and with ingredients you might not want. By buying such a product, you run into the risk of getting a less effective version of it.
- Sample Product
Never hesitate to look for sample products. Various brands offer small bottles of essential oils as a trial pack. This usually costs way less than their actual product. It’s a good idea to get these to see if the oil works for you before making a big purchase. Some brands might also send you samples on special requests, so make sure to ask.
When you get your sample essential oil bottle, it’s imperative that you carefully look at the label. Take your time to browse through the ingredients. Pure essential oils shouldn’t have any additives.
- Carrier Oil
If you are new to the world of essential oils, you might not know about carrier oils. Carrier oils are oils that are used to dilute the essential oils. This is done if you are planning to use the essential oils topically, like massage oil or moisturizer. This process ensures you don’t develop skin irritation from the concentrated essential oil.
You can buy a new bottle of carrier oil that goes with the specific essential oil you’re planning to purchase. You can also use sunflower oil, olive oil, almond oil, jojoba oil, and others as carriers.
- Packaging
Don’t rush into buying essential oil because of the flashy advertisements. One thing you must do is pay close attention to the bottle. Best essential oils are sold in dark glass bottles so that no light can pass through the oil. This ensures that their quality is maintained over time.
Safety Considerations for Essential Oils
- Essential oils are usually extracted from non-toxic plants. However, they should never be considered safe to eat since they are very concentrated, and that can be dangerous for your health. It’s advised only to use them topically or externally.
- Essential oils blends that are made to improve sleep, like cedarwood, may increase your sensitivity to bright sunlight. It’s a good idea to check whether an oil blend is phototoxic before using it.
- It is advised to keep essential oils away from the eyes. So, avoid using them under or around your eyes.
- Those with skin allergies or underlying conditions must consult their physician before trying out essential oils. It’s also a good practice to read the product labels before purchasing any essential oil if you have sensitive skin.
- If you live with family or pets, or children, make sure the oil aromas in your room/house are safe for everybody.
- It’s best to consult your doctor before using essential oils if you are pregnant.
- If you are planning to use an essential oil blend on your skin, always dilute it. A rule of thumb for achieving appropriate dilution is to use 1 tablespoon of a carrier or mixing oil for each drop of concentrated essential oil.
Most Popular Essential Oils
- Tea Tree
Tea tree is one of the most popular and widely used essential oils worldwide. It is also known as melaleuca, and it has powerful antiseptic properties. Various studies have shown that pure tea tree essential oil may kill many harmful microorganisms. Tea tree oil may also be an effective mosquito-repellant.
It’s also used as a common home remedy ingredient for reducing acne. To make your own anti-acne face wash, just mix 4-5 drops of tree tea oil with some raw honey. Another great use of tea tree oil is as deodorant since it may keep bacterial underarm growth at a minimum.
- Chamomile
Chamomile has been around for centuries, and its benefits have been described in medical texts of ancient civilizations. It has been used to remedy various ailments like indigestion, ulcers, gas, nausea, sores, etc. Applying pure chamomile essential oil on your skin may help calm down eczema, pimples, and skin rashes and may even assist in wound healing.
It’s no secret that chamomile promotes sleep. Having some chamomile aroma going around in your bedroom at nighttime can be part of a great sleep ritual. Suffering from aches and pains but don’t want to take pills? Chamomile essential oil may help to alleviate some symptoms if you have arthritis or back pain.
- Lavender
We know lavender aroma from shampoos and beauty products, but its benefits go far beyond that. The lavender essential oil has got impressive anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties. A topical oil blend containing pure lavender works great to soothe minor burns and bug bites.
Since it’s an antioxidant-rich oil, you can also add it to your homemade skin-care concoctions and reap potentially great benefits. Losing hair? Why not try some lavender oil. Research has shown that lavender can amp up hair growth by a significant percentage if used consistently.
- Rosemary
You might have heard of Rosemary as a popular seasoning, but that’s not all it is. Rosemary is one of the best essential oils that has been used in folk medicine for decades. Inhaling Rosemary blends have been shown to improve cognitive function in older adults.
Research suggests that diffused rosemary may reduce cortisol levels, thereby controlling stress and anxiety. Rubbing Rosemary essential oil on your fingertips and toes may amp up the blood circulation in your extremities. This is beneficial for those who experience numbness in their fingers and toes.
- Frankincense
Frankincense, also known as Olibanum, is famous for its use in places of worship and spiritual practices. Studies have shown that using Frankincense essential oils may slow down the production of compounds that cause inflammation and joint pain. It may also reduce cartilage loss to some degree and prevent osteoarthritis.
Frankincense oil may be great for those with respiratory ailments like asthma. Pure Frankincense inhalers may reduce the amount of medication required to manage asthma. Some studies have also suggested that this essential oil may have anti-cancer properties.
- Lemongrass
Lemongrass has been used in the healthcare industry to treat digestive ailments for decades. But it does much more than just clear your gut. lemon essential oil is effective against various drug-resistant bacteria. These microbes usually cause blood infections and skin infections.
The antioxidant properties of lemongrass make it a potent therapeutic option for non-surgical dental procedures. It may also help regulate your blood sugar and also decrease bad cholesterol levels. It’s also been a potential pain management oil for those with arthritis and joint aches.
Common Essential Oil Mistakes to Avoid
- Not Being Careful
One of the most common mistakes people make when dealing with essential oils is thinking that they are harmless. You can suffer dangerous consequences if you don’t take the time to read about and understand the usage of your essential oils. Essential oils can cause burns and trigger allergic reactions if not used properly.
Some essential oils may also interfere with certain medicines. It’s always a good idea to consult a physician before using an essential oil if you have underlying health conditions. If you’re pregnant, you should be extra careful about incorporating essential oil blends into your wellness routine.
- Not Diluting the Oils
As mentioned in the previous point, essential oils can be risky too and should be used with caution. One way to use them responsibly is to dilute them to a strength that’s the safest for your use. Diluting an essential oil with a carrier oil (coconut oil, almond oil, eucalyptus essential oil, etc.) lessens the potency of the essential oil.
The standard dilution is 2%, which is about 12 drops of essential oil per ounce of carrier oil. You can also go 1% or lower if you have sensitive skin or are new to this process. The best essential oils usually come with dilution instructions on the label that you can refer to.
- Taking It Too Seriously
Yes, safety is essential, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have fun with your essential oils. After all, they’re there to improve your overall well-being. So, after you’ve taken the precautions and carried out the dilution, you can experiment with them. You can create your own perfume by mixing the scents you love the most. You can have a few drops of essential oil mixed with water in a spray bottle and carry it with you to freshen up throughout the day.
- Not Having a Clean-Up Plan
You accidentally spilled some undiluted essential oil. And now you don’t have a clean-up plan in place. Accidents happen, but you need to have a plan to avoid adverse reactions or injuries. When this happens, your first step shouldn’t be running to the tap to get it off using some water. Instead, reach for a carrier oil that’s available at home, like coconut or olive oil, and dilute the spilled essential oil. After that, you can wash the area with soap and water.
- Using It All-Day
You are excited about the new essential oil you’ve bought, and now your scent diffuser is running all day, every day. Essential oil research shows that it’s possible to overdo it with exposure. It is advised that you shouldn’t leave your essential oil diffuser on for hours at a stretch. Ideally, you should use it for 1-2 hours and let the scents dissipate before turning it on again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Does it matter what brand I buy the essential oil from?
In simple terms, yes, it does. The quality of the product can vary drastically from brand to brand. You should thoroughly check the extraction practices the brand uses and where they’re sourcing their oils from. A brand that’s organic and adequately certified is the one that you want to go for.
Q2. Are essential oils FDA approved?
You will not find any FDA-approved essential oils, but you can find the ones that are FDA compliant. The FDA regulates the labeling process of these products to keep the brands from sharing misleading information.
Q3. Do essential oils have an expiration date?
Most essential oils available on the market stay good for around 3 years. However, essential oils expire and go rancid if they are not kept in a tightly sealed container or bottle. Essential oils lose their life because of oxidation that’s caused by moisture and oxygen coming in contact with the oil.
You should be keeping your oils in a cool place, but not in the freezer. If you see your essential oil becoming viscous or cloudy and funky smelling, it’s time to throw it away. That’s because it’s probably expired.
Q4. Why do we need to dilute essential oils?
Essential oils are highly concentrated and hence quite potent than the plants they’re extracted from. Some oil blends are gentle when applied directly on the skin, while others are considered hot. The hot ones like Oregano and cinnamon bark need diluting.
Q5. What are carrier oils?
In aromatherapy, carrier oils are similar to vegetable oils. Carrier oils are fatty oils, unlike volatile essential oils. These are usually cold-pressed and derived from fatty regions of botanicals like nuts or seeds. They’re mild on the skin and usually don’t have a powerful aroma.
Conclusion
The essential oil market is highly unregulated, so finding a quality product in this sea of brands can be exhausting. If you’re looking to incorporate some therapeutic essential oils into your everyday life, then you need to be extra careful.
Have you recently come across the magical world of essential oils but don’t know where to start? Well, we’ve created this guide keeping folks like you in mind who are looking to dial up their knowledge about essential oils.
