To learn more about these powerful compounds, we turned to Jade Shutes, founder and director of education for The School for Aromatic Studies, who says, “Essential oils have a wide range of therapeutic benefits. Essential oils can support emotional well-being, reduce inflammation in the skin, enhance immunity, support wound healing, respiratory and digestive health, and much more.” Essential oils can be inhaled, applied topically after dilution, or popped into a diffuser or humidifier to infuse your home with fragrance. Ahead are our picks for essential oil companies that fit every budget and need. Planet Therapy’s offerings cover the entire caboodle, including tailor-made kid-safe and Pup & Pony Safe selections. Apart from essential oil sets and samplers, you can buy body care, household, CBD products, and even essential oils in bulk, along with other doodads at this one-stop site. Plant Therapy sells direct-to-consumer, keeping prices competitive, and many oils are available for less than $10. If you’re not satisfied, you can return the oils, even after 90 days. We love the elegant, minimal packaging for the vegan, cruelty-free essential oils. The bottles are UV-protected, printed using plant-based ink, and bundled in biodegradable packaging that can be recycled and reused. Vitruvi’s oils make perfect gifts; you can pick single oils or blends with dreamy names such as Slow Dance, a grounding aroma with notes of fir, cedarwood, and pine wafting through. Shop online, or buy from retailers such as Anthropologie and Nordstrom. Committed to sustainability, Rocky Mountain Oil is in the process of switching to sustainable packaging and has even initiated a bottle recycling program. Regular customers can benefit from the Rocky Mountain Oil rewards program, which earns you points on purchases and referrals. What’s more, the company offers a 90-day hassle-free return policy, even after using the products. Nose through the extensive list of best sellers, including a fresh lavender and a tart lemongrass, and find your new favorite scent. While Pura D’or offers a few basic essential oils in 4-ounce bottles, such as tea tree, lemon, lavender, cedarwood, ylang ylang, and more, it’s the brand’s nifty and affordable essential oil kits that we really like. You can choose either the box sets featuring 10 or 16 10-milliliter bottles of essential oils for dabbling in aromatherapy or boosting your vitality. The brand’s product selection boasts an impressive variety of single and blended oils, USDA certified organic and premium oils, all starting at reasonable prices. You can also shop a collection of diffusers, mists, and bath and skin products for adults and kids. To boost your mood, try the Uplifting Kit with a selection of four citrusy oils (namely lemon, lime, grapefruit, and sweet orange oil) that’s a refreshing and invigorating gift. Apart from the broad array of medicinal and feel-good blends and products, Edens Garden gives you an option to pick and choose to create your own sets. While the brand’s oils are slightly pricier than its counterparts, this women-led company has a strong giving back program, called Seeds of Goodness, that supports nonprofit organizations such as The Angel House, a rescue for abandoned children, and Feeding America, which provides over 4 billion meals annually to those in need. Newbies can try the wellness concoctions available in beautiful amber-hued roll-ons, such as flu season hero Fortify; the tackler of niggling aches Pain Release; and Saje’s first-ever formulation, the best-selling Peppermint Halo, a soothing blend of peppermint, eucalyptus, rosemary, and lavender to nix stiff shoulders and a throbbing head. Aromatherapy Associates’ blends are natural, made from sustainably sourced ingredients from natural environments, such as lavender from the Alps. The oils are free from synthetic fragrances, artificial colors, sulfates, parabens, and mineral oil, and they aren’t tested on animals. Aromatherapy Associates is a certified B Corp, meaning there’s a special emphasis on the people and planet before profits. This includes using recyclable and reusable packaging, giving back to the community, and using renewable energy at the company’s headquarters. A great place to start is the brand’s essential oil starter kit, which features the most popular picks like lavender, peppermint, lemon, and tea tree essential oils. You can use these oils for a range of purposes, be it for meditation, a body massage, or for DIY home products. The company’s repertoire of essential oils is vast, with hard-to-find scents, such as the rose oil, where 10,000 rose blossoms are plucked to create 5 milliliters of precious oil priced at a pocket-emptying $366.67 (though there is a wholesale discount). Apart from the oils alone, doTERRA offers a whole smorgasbord of offerings, including skin and hair care products, supplements, diffusers, and other accessories to keep you hooked. The depth of the brand’s catalog spans not only essential oils but also teas, herbs, and spices, bath and body products, and much more. We love the simplicity of the kits, such as the Lovers Essential Kit with five organic oils, including ylang ylang and Australian sandalwood. If you’re in the mood to splurge, shop for the rare-to-find pure oils, such as Jasmine Absolute and Vanilla Absolute, which cost well over $1,000 for four ounces. But it’s the price you pay for rarity and perfection. Revive Essential Oils created its own versions of popular blends as well as signature blends for you to pick from. An easy option is to pick up the starter kit, which includes 10 full-size bottles and an ultrasonic diffuser. Revive also offers a generous 100-day return policy, and you can return even opened bottles of essential oil for a full refund.
Ingredients
A great place to start your search for quality essential oils is the list of ingredients on any given bottle. You can look at the ingredients used by specific brands or take a closer look at what’s inside an individual bottle. This is key, as it’ll allow you to determine what, exactly, the oil is made with. Pure essential oils, which tend to be the most expensive, have nothing beyond the oil itself. However, many oils can come with unexpected surprises, like fillers, water, and additives. For the most natural options, look for short ingredient lists and brands that offer full transparency around what’s inside every bottle of oil.
Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry testing
“Batch specific Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) testing is essential to show that there is no adulteration and to highlight the purity of the tested essential oil,” says Marge Clark, founder of Nature’s Gift Aromatherapy and author of “Essential Oils and Aromatics.” Rigorous and independent third-party GC/MS testing helps analyze the chemicals that constitute an essential oil; it also helps you understand what, exactly, goes into various oils and blends. Thus, look for the test reports so you can make an informed decision before purchasing.
Certifications
Certifications offer additional insight into essential oil brands and their products. For example, an organic certification such as USDA organic indicates that an essential oil is made almost entirely from organic ingredients and free from fertilizers and pesticides. Other third-party certifications to consider include PETA’s Vegan & Cruelty Free certification and Leaping Bunny Cruelty Free certification. Another common certification is Non-GMO, which means the essential oil was produced without genetic engineering and its ingredients are not derived from GMOs.
Scent
Scent is no minor detail—it can make or break an essential oil! You want to seek out oils that give off pleasant fragrances and choose products that smell nice to your nose. But it’s not always as simple as choosing a singular scent that you already know and love. Essential oils can be blended together, either in a single bottle or inside a diffuser for a more customized mix. To get an idea of which scents complement each other, starter kits and prepackaged blends are a great place to start and seek out some inspiration.
Why Trust The Spruce?
Neeti Mehra writes about sustainability for The Spruce. As a researcher and consultant, she has edited three magazines during her career covering a broad range of topics. She is committed to sustainable, slow, and mindful living. She personally uses essential oils as a mood booster and particularly enjoys tea tree, rosemary, lavender, and lemongrass, using them in baths, a diffuser, or applied on her skin after diluting them. You can also add a drop of essential oil to water. “If the water becomes discolored or turns milky, then it has been diluted with water and an emulsifier has been used to keep the essential oil and water together,” she says. Finally, Shutes recommends using your sense of smell. “Our sense of smell is often underrated as a tool in determining the quality of an essential oil, but it is perhaps the most powerful tool we have.” With practice, you can strengthen it. “For instance, first smell an excellent-quality essential oil, then immediately smell a questionable or low-quality essential oil. There should be a distinct difference in the quality and effect of the aroma,” she explains. · Lavender: An all-around beneficial essential oil for first aid, luscious lavender promotes sleep, helps heals wounds, and supports healthy skin · Eucalyptus globulus or Eucalyptus radiata: Great essential oils for cooler months, these freshly scented oils support immunity · Peppermint: A strong, minty oil, peppermint is used to boost energy, ease aches and pains, and traditionally, to support the digestive system · Sweet orange: A calming yet uplifting addition to your home kit, sweet orange can enhance emotional well-being · Tea tree: The microbial tea tree oil is a forerunner in a first aid kit, treating zits, insect bites, and much more · Rose or neroli: Though pricey, these delicate floral oils can support emotional well-being during periods of high stress or grief · Frankincense: A comforting, aromatic oil to allay turbulent emotions and relieve skin concerns For this article, she researched and shortlisted reputed essential oil brands based on their offerings, transparency, reviews and other key criteria. To get a complete perspective, she also spoke to experts Jade Shutes, founder and director of education, The School for Aromatic Studies, and Marge Clark, founder of Nature’s Gift Aromatherapy and the author of “Essential Oils and Aromatics.”
