Putting a price on essential oils

Many of you may be wondering why essential oils vary so much in price. In a nutshell, the easier it is to extract the oil and the cheaper the plant source, the less expensive the final product is to purchase. From the many plants on earth, there are hundreds capable of having their essential oil extracted; and some that simply don’t yield enough. Therefore, it stands to reason that the amount of oil that a particular plant is capable of producing will have a direct affect on the price of that particular product.

For example, it takes 4000lbs of rose petals to make just 1lb of pure essential oil of rose. Considering how little a rose petal weighs, can you imagine how many this would be? With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that rose is one of the most expensive oils available. 

Interestingly, only a small percentage of essential oils from the essential oil industry are used for aromatherapy; the majority going to industries such as perfume, food manufacturing, cosmetics and cleaning. Unfortunately, these industries do not require pure organic oils, as their focus is consistency, volume and low costs. In fact, within the cosmetic industry, essential oil ingredients are often at such low percentages (I've seen 0.02% on an ingredient list) that the effectiveness of the product is lost in the pursuit of higher profit margins. The same can also be said for many cleaning products (yes even that “lemon” fresh toilet cleaner). And when it comes to producing perfume, chemical enhancers and additives are often used to ensure smell consistency. So always be very aware of the source of your essential oils.

How do you know if an essential oil is pure? 

In order to identify authentic oils from the fakes, here are a few things to look for:

1. The full botanical name of the plant should be listed on the label (e.g. not just “Lavender”)
2. The product should be packaged in a glass bottle. Pure essential oils dissolve many plastics, causing the plastic chemicals to mix with the oil and ultimately get absorbed into your skin.
3. The glass should be dark (not clear) as essentials oils are light sensitive.
4. If there is no price variation between oils in the range (e.g. lavender costs the same as rose and sandalwood), then forget it!

If you’re still in doubt, contact the company and ask about their purity and testing facilities. In the end, it really comes down to being able to trust the authenticity of the supplier.

Overall, when choosing essential oils, try not to be too deterred by the price. It’s important to consider that the oils your purchase are about 70 times more concentrated than their plant of origin, which means you will only need to use a very small amount. In fact, a small 10 ml bottle (about 2 teaspoon) contains over 200 drops. It’s also important not to forget that these products will enter your body, which is why it’s imperative to only use quality, purity-guaranteed, essential oils. 

In other words, the quality of the essential oils you use can have a profound affect on your health – which is something you simply can’t put a price on.