Looking at Essential Oils

Photo by Chelsea shapouri on Unsplash

Recently I was approached by a company in the USA called Consumers Advocate who had come across my previous blog post on the benefits of essential oils https://www.meadowsweetmassagetherapy.co.uk/blog/2019/2/13/the-natural-healing-benefit-of-essential-oils

I guess they are a little bit similar to our equivalent of Which? The UK online site and magazine that tests and looks into the quality of products so that consumers can make an informed choice with their buying decisions.

Please note I received no money to write this post nor did I receive any gifts from Consumer Advocate.

As a Holistic Practitioner I tend to use essential oils in my diffusers, and ceramic warmer. I also dot them onto fabrics to enhance the wellbeing atmosphere in my healing cabin space. I also use pre-blended massage oils which contain essential oils from companies that I trust to give an added health boost when massaging. I am not a trained aromatherapist and do not advertise as one, all my massage treatments that use oils with essential oils in them are clearly stated as a pre-blended oil. Yet I do have an interest in essential oils and how they can help cleanse and aid our everyday wellbeing, as I also sell products from Neals Yard so it made perfect sense to review the findings that Consumer Advocate had found in their research.

Naturally their research findings are mainly across American companies. They go into depth looking at a cross section of essential oil companies. Looking at the safety of the oils supplied by getting them tested by an independent laboratory to see if the oils are in a pure form and do not contain any adulterations. Which means.

Adulteration is the action of lowering the quality of a substance by adding another substance to it. When an essential oil is adulterated, it means that a natural or synthetic component has been added during the production process, so the original oil is no longer pure, and the oil quality is now lower. Source: sourcetoyou.com

For instance certain companies had their Lavender and Peppermint oils tested by Consumers Advoacte and the results were shown to contain the following traces of synthetics. ‘The lab results detected synthetic markers of linalyl acetate on their lavender oil and addition of menthol and menthyl acetate on their peppermint oil.’ Source: consumers advocate.org

This is a small part of their research, as they also look into the way the companies promote their products through their website wording and the claims they make alongside how they source their ingredients to their ethical standards.

If you are interested in reading their full report here is the link https://www.consumersadvocate.org/essential-oils

From a UK point of view. I am a user and consultant with Neals Yard Remedies. Their products, ethics are amongst the best not only here in the UK but worldwide. I completely trust their sourcing and manufacturing processes and have repeat customers to prove how effective their skincare and body care range is.

I use the professional massage oil range from Neals Yard in most of my treatments. Their bath oils with my children and their skincare range in my holistic facials. So if you are looking at a UK product that you can trust please feel free to visit my consultant website for Neals Yard here https://uk.nyrorganic.com/shop/meadowsweet or you can email me here at melita@meadowsweetmassagetherapy.co.uk and I will gladly send you a complimentary sample pack to try.