Essential oils are the plants natural “essence”. The oils extracted from these plants are volatile, meaning they evaporate when exposed to the air. You want to use quality, pure essential oils. Read on to find out how to tell if your essential oils are fake.
Essential oils are extracted from plant parts such as leaf, seed, flower or even wood. There are a few ways to extract the essential oils from the plant. They are steam distilled, cold pressed or solvent extracted.
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This information is intended to educate and inform. Please do not replace this information with the advice and guidance from a doctor. This information is not intended to treat, cure, diagnose or cure any disease. Please consult your health care professional if you have any questions.
It is important that these oils remain pure to be able to benefit from their natural properties.
Why is it important? Because you want to be sure you are using 100% pure, unadulterated essential oils. Non pure oils, sometimes called fragrance oils, can be filled with chemicals are fillers. Using these “non oils” on your skin might cause burns or rashes. They are synthetic and are only meant to be used to scent the room and even as a scent for a room it can cause unwanted health issues.
Again, you want to use pure essential oils that are from a reputable company.
Read more about choosing quality essential oils in this guide – Ultimate Guide to Choosing Quality Essential Oils.
So how to you tell if an essential oil is pure?
There are several ways to tell if your essential oil is pure.
- By the bottle and it’s labeling.
- Consistency in scent, color or thickness of oil
- GC/MS Report
- Cost of essential oils
- The Paper test
By the bottle and packaging or label
First sign of a fake oil is by the bottle. You want to see a dark amber bottle that is made from glass. A clear bottle allows UV rays to enter the bottle and degrade your essential oils. This changes the essential oil into something that it is not. Essentially, a damaged essential oil.
You do not want to see a plastic bottle because most essential oils will eat through the plastic causing plastic particles to float in your essential oils or making a hole in the bottle causing leakage. This is a waste of essential oil and something you want to avoid.
Also, on the bottle the company should state the botanical name or Latin name of the essential oil. Many essential oils have different species or types of essential oil. For instance, Frankincense has four different types. You want to be sure you are using the correct essential oil for your purpose.
To be pure, the only ingredient listed on the bottle should be the essential oil you are buying. Meaning no fillers. This is where you will usually find the botanical or Latin name. An exception to this is if you are buying a pre-diluted roller ball. In this case is should list the essential oil or oils in the blend and the carrier oil it is used to dilute it.
Consistency in scent, color or thickness of oil
Another big factor in determining if your essential oil is fake is the oil, if pure, will not be consistent in scent, color, or consistency from bottle to bottle. This does not mean you should expect every bottle of peppermint to be drastically different. These differences are subtle and often not even noticeable. But sometimes you can see or smell a difference.
Why are there subtle differences from bottle to bottle? Essential oils, as we discussed earlier, come from plants, naturally occurring plants. From season to season and year to year the plant will see different soil conditions, weather patterns such as different amounts of rain, sun and other seasonal contributions. Evening being harvested at a different time of the year will affect the consistency and scent of the oil.
For example, I once received a bottle of peppermint essential oil that smelled a little bit off, like peppermint, but not sweet and minty like the previous bottle. I called the company, and they explained all this to me. The environment an essential oil is grown in can produce a slight difference in the scent, color, and consistency. It still has all the same properties and benefits.
GC/MS Report
If an essential oil company has quality, pure essential oils they will provide a third-party testing or a report called GC/MS or “gas chromatography/mass spectrometry” report. This report will not only tell you if it pure, but if the correct constituents, or what the oil is made of, is in your essential oil.
For instance, Lavender is made up of linalyl acetate and linalool. The amounts of these constituents will vary from report to report but will fall within a certain range. A good company will provide these GC/MS reports on their website. At the very least it should be able to provide them if you ask for them.
One of the reasons I like Plant Therapy so much is that they provide the reports for the last four or five batches of an essential oil.
If a company can’t provide you a GC/MS report or won’t, it’s quite possible their oils are fake or are diluted unnecessarily.
Cost of essential oils
Another reason to take into consideration is the cost of your essential oil. This can be tricky too. If the cost of your essential oil is to good to be true, meaning super cheap, then you probably have found a fake oil.
However, I have bought a bottle of patchouli for $30-$40 from a MLM company that is pure, only to find it from a non- MLM company for way less. You can expect some oils to be more expensive such as Frankincense, rose, chamomile, and sandalwood simply because of their rarity or cost to produce them.
Another little hint is if all their essential oils are the same price. I’ve seen this at a craft store, they were all the same price, but they all had other signs of being a fake oil (clear plastic bottle, fillers etc.).
Keep Reading: Fantastic Frankincense: What are the benefits and uses of this awesome essential oils?
The Paper test
One final “test” to determine if your essential oil is fake is to try the paper test. To do this you would take a piece of white copy paper and place a drop of your essential oil on the paper. Let dry completely. If a ring is left behind, it may be fake.
There is an exception to this test. Some essential oils are thicker and leave behind a ring. Some of these oils are sandalwood, German chamomile, patchouli, and vetiver.
Wrapping it up
So there you have it. Five ways to determine if your essential oils are fake. Taking into consideration the bottle information, product consistency, the availability of the GC/MS report and the cost of your essential oil you should be able to determine if your oil is fake.
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Do you need essential oils? Want to add to your essential oil stash? Shop at Plant Therapy! They have high quality, pure essential oils. I trust this company and buy from them regularly. Click the logo below. This is an affiliated link.
This information is intended to educate and inform. Please do not replace this information with the advice and guidance from a doctor. This information is not intended to treat, prevent, diagnose or cure any disease. Please consult your health care professional if you have any questions.