Authentic Oils

The world of essential oils is huge, complex, profitable, and oftentimes, misleading. While we would all like to believe it is always pure, natural, and above all, healthy, these are not the only factors driving the industry. The reality is, that as a consumer of essential oils, you are engaging with a multi-billion dollar industry.

Extraction of essential oils from plants has been going on for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Components of plant oils are used in many industries (think food, cosmetics, perfumes, household cleaning products,) thus requiring industrial/commercial extraction of these chemicals on a very large scale. In this context, words like natural and organic lose much, if not all, of their contemporary meaning, as the plants which go into these processes are by all accounts natural and organic.

As a relative newcomer to the business of essential oils, one of the first revelations is that a good deal of the marketing language is, simply, marketing language. The essential oil industry is largely unregulated and without standards, except as it relates to industrial processes. This gets us to descriptions such as food grade, medicinal/pharmaceutical grade, commercial grade, etc. Those industries which use plant based oils in their production processes expect and require a consistent product, so that the outputs from production are consistent. These labels are designed to speak to consistency, rather than any specific quality.

As essential oils have become increasingly a consumer product, manufacturers have added labels in efforts to appeal to, and reassure these consumers. Several have opted for the label therapeutic grade. While this label sounds, well, therapeutic, with therapeutic use being the goal of personal essential oil usage, it is important to understand that no established or regulated standard defines this label. There exists no government agency or industry regulatory body to verify this standard. Any standard applied by a manufacturer for this label is self imposed, and self regulated. This isn't to say that manufacturers using this label are producing inferior oil, only to point out that this label was created by the manufacturers for use in their marketing.

Forgive the long prelude, but it was necessary to get me to the gist of this post. How do I describe the oils we are producing? Any of a wide variety of labels could be applied to our oils, but any of these do not paint the whole picture. An article I was reading, by Dr. Kurt Schnaubelt, (link here: http://www.kurtschnaubelt.com/the-human-element-iii/) discusses oils that are authentic. Authentic describes an oil that is true to the species, the region, and the growing environment, making it at once unadulterated, and unique. He lists the following to describe an oil that is authentic: 

1. 100% Natural : no additives, synthetic or natural, phthalates, emulsifiers etc
2. 100% Pure: no similar essential oils added to extend or strengthen the oil
3. 100% Complete: Oil should not be rectified to change color, consistency or aroma

This certainly applies to the oils we are producing, and gives us a label that describes our oils without embellishing or omitting relevant facts. Authentic also serves to distinguish our oils from most that are available, mass produced using cultivated source plants. As the article notes, authentic oils are becoming less available, simply because of the ever growing demand for consumer oils, and the industrial scale required to meet this demand.

So what makes our oils authentic? They are unique. The plant materials which go into our oils are all native to our stand of forest, and unique to the area of the forest and season of the year. As we gain experience with the process, small seasonal variations are becoming apparent. Each batch is hand picked. Our distilling process adds only the plant material and pure water. Our stainless steel and copper distilling apparatus is meticulously cleaned before each batch, using mechanical and steam cleaning processes. Oils are handled using exclusively hygienic glass process containers, and bottled within hours of completing the distilling process. The final product is pure, unadulterated, and unique. It is truly authentic, in every sense of the word.