Article: The Essential Facts About Essential Oils

[Guest guest]

From a natural foods trade magazine .... this is the stuff the " big

name " folks the retail industry are putting out there as selling points

and training info to the buyers in the stores to pass along to their

customers.

 

Comments anyone?

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

 

Last 2 Days - Vanilla Co-ops

Green Tea Seed Oil Pre-Buy

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The Essential Facts About Essential Oils

Bryce Edmonds

 

 

9/1/2003

 

Meet your customers' aromatherapy needs by understanding essential oils.

 

 

Aromatherapy, like much in the world of natural healing, is predicated

on a long history of anecdotal evidence, but scant or conflicting

science. Achieving therapeutic results from essential oils requires

effort, energy and commitment, which are often unfamiliar concepts to

consumers used to the quick fixes of conventional medicine. Add to that

the volatile mix of me-too product development and marketing, and

disseminating useful information becomes difficult.

 

Marketing aromatherapy, therefore, requires effort, energy and

commitment-just like the therapy. With the following information, you'll

be able to demystify the world of essential oils for your customers and

introduce them to another healing method.

 

Start With Quality

 

According to the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy in

Seattle, an essential oil is a highly concentrated extract distilled

from aromatic plant material. There are two main processes used to

create essential oils. Most are made from steam distillation. Other

oils-primarily citrus-are made by expression, also known as cold

pressing.

 

Essential oils come in three different grades, but the classifications

are a bit murky. Kolinka Zinovieff, founder and owner of NHR Organic

Oils Ltd. in Brighton, England, uses the terms food, perfume or

aromatherapy, and clinical grades to designate them. Robin Block,

co-owner of Minneapolis-based Wyndmere Naturals Inc., uses the terms

commercial or food, therapeutic, and pharmaceutical for the three

levels. Although the terminology varies, the definitions are quite

similar.

 

The lowest quality oils may include synthetics and are produced using a

high-pressure, high-temperature, fast-distillation process. Block says

producers making this level of oil are not concerned about getting all

the natural chemical compounds from the plant. She says this

distillation process is much less expensive and the oils have a stronger

aroma and a narrower, or thin, bouquet.

 

The second level of oil is the industry standard, according to

Zinovieff, yet quality often varies. The therapeutic effects are not

guaranteed and the oils may not always be pure or unadulterated, he

says. They are generally processed at lower pressures and temperatures

for longer periods.

 

The highest quality of oil is processed using very low pressures and

temperatures and long distillation periods. Block says producers using

this technique are interested in an oil's chemical components for

healing use. And Zinovieff and Block agree these oils are always

produced organically and are primarily used by professional

aromatherapists.

Quality Counts

 

When an essential oil is distilled, a number of chemical constituents

can be removed from the plant material and collected in the oil. The

slower and lower heat distillation process leaves the most chemicals in

the oil. " Low-quality essential oils do not have the full range of

natural ingredients and therefore have little or no therapeutic value, "

Zinovieff says. Industry consultant Joni Keim Loughran, who is also

technical adviser to the Petaluma, Calif.-based Oshadhi USA, agrees. " It

won't work therapeutically if it's not a quality oil. "

 

Tom Havran, a consultant for Norway, Iowa-based Aura Cacia's product

development, says an oil's chemical makeup affects its efficacy. " For

aromatherapy to work, all the constituents must be there, " he says.

" Take tea tree, for example. The constituent cineol is irritating to the

skin, but not in concert with all the other constituents. "

However, as evidenced by the various grades, manufacturers have

different motivations and goals for their essential oil production.

Someone doesn't necessarily need a high-quality oil with all its

chemical constituents to make home cleaning supplies.

 

To further confuse things, quality depends on more than just proper

distillation. How the plant was grown is a big factor. " It is a bit like

winemaking, " Zinovieff says. " You get good and bad years. " Differences

in how and where the plant was grown, harvested and distilled change the

constituents in the final product. Loughran uses rosemary verbenone

(Rosmarinus officinalis) to illustrate. " Rosemary verbenone comes from

Corsica, but if you transplant it, it will no longer produce the

verbenone constituent. " In fact, Loughran-who prefers to use the term

" quality " instead of " grade " for essential oils-looks at the whole

environment when speaking of oils. " You have to have vital healthy

plants, growing where they are grown best and properly distilled at the

site, " she says.

 

But How Can You Tell?

 

Gas-liquid chromatography is the most scientific way to test oils for

quality. This technique measures an oil's constituent types and levels.

Zinovieff recommends retailers ask to see the manufacturer's gas-liquid

chromatography analysis for each oil. Block warns, however, that relying

too heavily on GLC is a mistake.

 

" GLC cannot pick up some types of adulterations, " she says. " For

instance, rose oil is quite often adulterated with a chemical that can

be taken from geranium. Most people can't tell, and the GLC can be

fooled. It's not the end-all and be-all. "

 

Havran says GLC is a powerful tool, but it's only as good as the person

reading the results. Aura Cacia's chief scientist, Denys Charles, Ph.D.,

tests each batch of oil for optical rotation, refractive index, specific

gravity and GLC, and the company claims even the region of the country

where the plants were grown can be detected. " There is an ongoing

argument about whether to go directly to the source-who knows it's

good-or to do scientific testing, " Charles says. " We do both. "

 

Buying organic is another way to know you're getting a quality product.

In fact, both Zinovieff and Loughran believe organic oil is the only way

to go. " Organic matters enormously, " Zinovieff says, " because the purer

the essential oil, the stronger the therapeutic effect. "

 

Loughran agrees: " Is organic better to be breathing and putting on your

skin? Absolutely. How could it not be? " But she also says some oils are

not available organically, making conventional versions the only

options.

 

Ultimately, it comes down to trust in your supplier. Loughran uses her

company as an example: " Oshadhi plants are grown specifically for

aromatherapy, and each batch of oil is coded back to the farmer. They

are grown, distilled and shipped directly to Oshadhi, " she says.

 

Education Sells

 

Although aromatherapy is a popular buzzword, consumers still need

education-they need to know how the healing system works. The long-term

effect will be a satisfied-and returning-customer. " No. 1 and very

succinctly, " Loughran urges, " aromatherapy requires education and

guidance. Any time a customer comes in, you should think, 'What is the

aromatherapy solution?' "

 

Taking time to work with a customer is also important. " Often the

emotional response to an oil is extremely subjective, " Block says. " If

you have a bad memory associated with a smell, it will come back up. "

Sometimes it takes trial and error to find the right oil for the

individual's needs. Test a few oils recommended for the customer's

specific situation to find the best match.

 

Zinovieff also recommends posting information near the oils. " Display

organic certification for your customers, " he says. " Display customer

feedback from the supplier of your oils. "

 

Havran suggests retailers communicate how different elements come

together, such as displaying the massage carrier oils with the essential

oils. " I think a lot of people are perplexed by these small bottles of

oils, " he says.

 

Both Block and Loughran agree demonstrations are a challenge because

there is no immediate reward as with a food demo. Block recommends

turning a demo into an opportunity to show consumers one easy way they

can incorporate essential oils and aromatherapy into their lives. " If

you can show them how easy it is to use [oils] and then give them a

small bit of educational materials, then you've done something, " she

says.

 

The Full Spectrum

 

Block believes organic, quality oils are best, but if simply smelling a

pleasant fragrance triggers a mood-lightening response, then it's fine

to use cheaper oils. " Essential oils are like wines; everyone can tell

the difference between a $5 and a $100 bottle of wine. " If a customer

simply wants to use oils to scent cleaning products or candles and isn't

so concerned about therapeutic effects, Block recommends steering them

toward the lower-end oils. " If they care how the oils will affect their

bodily functions rather than just mood, then go for the higher-end oil, "

she says. Others, like Loughran, believe true aromatherapy means always

using the highest-quality oils. " People say 'I didn't think aromatherapy

worked,' but those people probably haven't used a quality product. "

 

Distilling the Facts

 

From plant to oil, Scott Goyne of Vertigris Ventures in Northern

California is intimately involved with the art and science of distilling

essential oils. He and his partner, Carole Addison, design stills and

distill oils either at the grower's location or theirs. A portable still

makes the process available to farmers without their own stills or those

who don't have the time and skills to distill their own oils.

 

The process is a labor of love. In the case of lavender, the most

popular essential oil, approximately 20 pounds of plant matter is needed

to fill the 15-gallon still. " We distill at a very low pressure, around

one psi [pound per square inch], just enough to get the steam through

the plant matter, " Goyne says. This low pressure and accompanying low

temperature (higher pressure increases temperature), combined with a

long distilling time, ensures the greatest quantity of plant

constituents are distilled to produce a therapeutic-grade oil.

" Ultimately, the process depends on what constituents you are attempting

to extract, " Goyne says. Approximately 2.5 hours of distillation yields

50 to 200 ml of lavender oil and one gallon of hydrosol.