The Wonderful world of Essential Oils
Our Range is 100% Pure therapeutic oils, which are often Organic and are exceptionally priced for the quality that is offered.
Creative Harmony uses essential oils for many things and has done so for more than 15 years.
it is part of our "go to" medicines for: the treatment of pain and headaches, maintain health while travelling, clearing parasites, cleaning wounds, cleaning the house, decreasing stress, shifting moods etc.
They are potent medicine and we are very excited to have found such a wonderful range to share with you!
What is an essential oil?
An essential oil is a concentrated, volatile, aromatic liquid that is obtained from the fruits, seeds, flowers, bark, stems, roots, leaves or other parts of a plant. There are estimated to be 10,000 aromatic plants (ie that contain essential oils) on Earth, and about 500 of these are processed commercially for essential oil extraction. These oils have been used for centuries for both their healing and aromatic benefits. This is most commonly accomplished by steam distillation (steam is passed through the plant material), and sometimes hydrodistillation (the plant is gently boiled in water). More modern methods include mechanically expressing oils from citrus fruit peel, and solvent extraction. Solvent extracted oils include CO2 extracts and absolutes, and these are not classed as essential oils (1).
Not all Essential Oils are equal in Quality
we are very impressed with these oils and have also noticed in some of the reviews on the company's website, people were comparing these products to the Young Living essential oil range. For those of you not familiar with Young Living Essential oils, they are the leading brand in EO, but they are also pretty expensive and we are not convinced the increased price tag is actually to do with increased quality, more likely just increased profit. The other "big marketing" brand DoTerra, I have also read some mixed things about with regards to the quality of some of their oils. I recommend you do your own research if you are unsure what suits you. From our experience, we can say these oils tick all the boxes especially with considering their transparency of the oil testing process (see individual oils for details).
Purity and quality are equally as important.
The supplier we buy from "Plant Therapy's" standards of quality are some of the strictest in the industry.
Before they sell an essential oil they do everything possible to establish that it is 100% pure, natural, AND of the highest quality, making it appropriate for use in aromatherapy.
To ensure that each oil meets these strict standards, they work directly with world renowned essential oil expert, Robert Tisserand, and several analytical laboratories.
Before Plant Therapy even obtain a sample, they need to know everything about the farmer, distiller or supplier. About their background, reputation, commitment to quality, and commitment to the industry. Once this has been established to Plant Therapy's satisfaction, then they move on to the oil.
The Oils
Essential oils are composed of many constituents, typically about 100, though it can range from 10 to 200. Factors that affect the composition, and therefore the quality of an oil, include where the plant was grown (country of origin, latitude, elevation) soil and weather conditions, time of day and time of year of harvest, and various parameters of distillation.
Essential oils with the same common name, such as Eucalyptus, Lemongrass or Wintergreen, may come from more than one species of plant. Others, such as Basil, Rosemary or Thyme, come from the same species, but they come in different 'chemotypes', which means there are significant differences in the composition from one chemotype to another.
All of these factors potentially affect both quality and therapeutic effect. Once the oil sample is established the manufacturer then moves on to the testing phase. They typically tests 3-5 samples from different suppliers for every essential oil that is bought. Even when oil is re-purchase from the same supplier, new batch of oil is tested.
How the Oils are tested
These essential oils are first organoleptically tested by Robert Tisserand before being sent to a third party testing facility.
Robert has been evaluating essential oils professionally for over 40 years.
Organoleptic testing means smelling the oil from a testing strip over time – some characteristics do not reveal themselves until the oil has been evaporating for 30 minutes or more. It also includes evaluating the color, consistency and general appearance of an oil, and comparing it to what a good quality oil should look like and smell like.
Following this, the oils are sent to one of several third-party laboratories where they undergo multiple tests including Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry (also known as GC/MS testing). Every batch of oil received goes through both rounds of testing, and these tests show the quality of the oil and also what is in the oil. Most contaminants or adulterants show up with these tests, and for those that don’t, if it is suspected that some of what looks like a natural constituent of an oil might be a synthetic addition, chiral analysis is used (a more sophisticated form of gas chromatography) to find out if it is in fact, a natural constituent or a synthetic addition.
Even though our supplier works with distillers and farmers who have repeatedly proven to provide excellent quality essential oils, when Plant Therapy claims that the oils are 100% pure and of the highest quality, they make sure that they are doing everything possible to guarantee that.
Essential oil batches are eliminated at each step of the quality control process until the best oil is found.
Testing Information
Every bottle of oil that you purchase will have a specific batch code that tells us exactly what batch of oil is in your bottle. This information is also directly linked to the testing reports for each batch of oil. You can see each essential oil’s GC/MS report by going to the specific essential oil’s product page and clicking on Test Reports.