As with most things in life, quality matters. Essential oils are no exception! In fact, quality and purity are of the absolute utmost importance if you're going to be putting them on your skin or even taking them internally.
Did you know that there is no industry standard for essential oils? They are not currently regulated and there is no industry agency to make sure everyone is on the same page. Lots of cheaper essential oils are cut with additives to make the oil more affordable or just to cut down on production costs. Common additives include carrier oils, and synthetic fragrances. In some cases you may be getting a nice dose of pesticides and other chemicals too! And of course those pesticides will not be listed on the label since they're not technically considered an "ingredient." That is definitely not safe!
The plants from which an essential oil is derived should be grown organically (to avoid pesticides and other nasty chemicals) and should be grown natively in order to get the strongest and most pure essential oil possible. When a plant is grown in it's native environment, the plant is at it's "optimum health" - it's growing where God intended it to!
So where can you get truly pure, top grade essential oils??
Thankfully there is a company out there committed to providing the best essential oils on the market! doTERRA was formed by a group of individuals who were very experienced within the essential oil industry. They weren't satisfied with the quality of oils that was already available, so they created their own company so they could produce oils that had a quality surpassing anything else on the market. All doTERRA oils are grown natively - they aren't grown in a greenhouse, or on a farm in the middle of the desert, they're grown where they grow best! The oils all undergo strict third-party testing (5 different tests to be exact) just to ensure that they are completely pure and free of any pesticides or chemicals. Because there is no industry standard and because doTERRA wanted a way to distinguish their unparalleled testing methods, they created the term Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade ® . You can read more about this distinction here.
The bottom line: make sure your oils are pure & therapeutic grade! Nothing less is safe for topical or internal use!
