Thank you so much for your commitment to the truth. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to weed through marketing hype and propaganda to get through to the facts. I truly appreciate your investment of time, resources and your willingness to openly share with the rest of us! Debbie
This is what opened my eyes to the fact the I don’t have to pay a ton of money for my EOs and I don’t have to be a part of an MlM to get good EOs. Thanks Lea! IJulie
So thankful Lea for your consistent quest for quality, truth & safety. Also thankful to all the people that donated product for testing and the funding of the tests Laura
I think the testing is an important part of education. If you mean just blends and uses then that is fine but real education means knowing if the product you are using is good or not. Heidi
I for one hope this is just the beginning of these tests! Are you kidding? Those of us in the industry have been looking for ways to find out companies we can and can’t trust for years. I use my oils clinically and I do buy in bulk, but if my oils aren’t what I think I’m buying, then my blends and therapeutic purposes won’t work either. These are important tests and this will cause companies to pause and consider what they are purchasing as well. Ann
I think the quality of the responses is as reflective of the companies as the results themselves. Ann
Thank you Lea for keeping both the companies AND the suppliers accountable. Since this type of testing has never done before LAEO, I guess some thought there was a little wiggle room that noone would notice. I hope we can keep calm but continue these tests. Laurin
Mind blown. Jenni
Mad respect for you and what you’re doing here, Lea, mad respect! You are a game-changer, my friend, and all for the better! Major appreciation and thanks to you! Leesa
To boldly go where no man (woman) has gone before’ - this should be your tag line! Ann
I have to admit I am shocked by these results because Peppermint being one of less expensive oils, I thought it would be less prone to counterfeiting than say Tea Tree. Good call to use Peppermint. First, I would like to send a big Thank You to Lea for all the troubles she had to endure for just being the MESSENGER for the outcome of ALL the oil testings! As for myself, I know where I’m going to purchase my next peppermint essential oil from. Pauline
You are a brave woman I for one can understand the delay. Holy smokes! Sabrina
I repeat - you are a very brave and courageous woman Lea Harris. I know we all very much appreciate your efforts in our behalf. This is obviously a great deal of work, not to mention the emotional energy involved. Using Robert as an expert on this one was a very good idea. Thank you! Ann
Chin on floor Laurin
Very interesting… And that’s a LOT of information! Thanks for all of your hard work. Tammy
These results have shown that people can buy high quality essential oils for a fraction of the cost that the multi-million dollar BigPharmEO sells them for. Sher
Without this testing I would have just blindly kept spending more money than I needed to & I can’t afford to do that! Without your articles on safety I would have still been telling people to do things that could hurt them. I am forever grateful to you! Truly. Heather
You are so adored and appreciated. This is all information. And as an insane info seeker myself, you are my hero. Jenni
I think the testing is an important part of education. If you mean just blends and uses then that is fine but real education means knowing if the product you are using is good or not. Heidi
I feel bad for all the companies that are relying on their suppliers to provide them with high quality oils..but this testing shows that they may need to be doing extra testing themselves to ensure that it does not happen… because ultimately we end up trusting those we purchase from to be giving us high quality oils..I am thankful for the testing and all we are learning to help us in deciding where to buy from. Lauralee
Every time one of these test results come out it’s a little shocking but does serve to make the companies more vigilant and we the consumers a little bit more discerning than we were before! Leslie
I think all companies should be randomly tested…they should know that we as consumers are checking up on them and that we are wanting the very best. Otherwise they could become complacent and just let anything pass.. Lauralee
Random testing is an excellent idea. Leslie
I wish we had this kind of testing for every oil from every brand! Samer
I draw the line at added synthetics. Karin
Thank you Lea for all of you hard work in putting this together!! Lauralee
All I can say is WOW! Thank Lea for taking the time to do all this. It was a major overtaking. Tammy
That must have been a huge amount of work. Thanks for the very detailed report, and I was relieved to see the identity of your outside expert. Very interesting that the majority were out of compliance, and that several were in compliance by out-of-US standards. Sarah
Wow! Shocking in many areas for me. And…my learning journey continues! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You Lea! Brandee
I really appreciate these tests and hope to contribute in the next round. I currently buy from [X brand] but am seriously reconsidering that due to some recent issues I’ve had with Some of their oils. This test is icing on the cake. Missy
Wow!!! That was stunning! Lea, thanks for doing such a good job of reporting and explaining the results and giving everyone an opportunity to respond. Candi
I have watched from the sidelines the unfoldment of the testing etc. As you know, I am in the UK so I could say the results don’t affect me directly, but they are nevertheless very revealing. So I just want to say I think you are a very special person and you are an asset to the aromatherapy world. Janice
Thanks, Lea. That was worth waiting for. And I commend you…you buckled down and did what you needed to do, and as a result, you’ve made an invaluable contribution to the education of many of your readers. Well done, lady! Amy
Thanks for all the hard work you’ve done! Interesting results and now I have more research to do. I enjoyed having the company’s statements and there are several that warrant further research. Melissa
Again, thanks so much for taking the time to put all this together. I know it’s a lot of hard work. I’m looking forward to doing more research on my own and deciphering what all the results mean. Melissa
So now that the results are in we can see why everything had to be so carefully done and why the wait. Lea, I cannot say how much this testing round has meant to me and I’m sure all our group. My head is swimming right now with all that has been revealed. On the plus side I do think the reaction of various companies is interesting to say the least and it will help me in the future to make my buying decisions just as the testing results will. Big Thanks, Lea! Dee
Just want to say I’m seeing this posted on other facebook pages and a lot of people saying thank you for doing this. Melissa
This is why it is important to find a company you can trust. If they are telling you it is mixed with cornmint but you, educated, decide to still purchase that oil then that is what you decided. It’s just not OK when a company says it is one thing but it is actually something else, unless they themselves don’t know because they have been fooled by the distiller and/or distributor. Retha
I also liked viewing the comments from the companies. It really showed which ones were interested in the customer and which are just there to make money. I was too glad that Robert was the expert. Tammi
I think it’s great that the testing was done- it does encourage discussion about how to select oils and what questions to ask and that’s brilliant. Tess
I appreciate all your efforts. Karin
I see the value in using these tests as part of the puzzle in putting together things that work well for myself and my family. The goal is to learn more…and by looking at these results and seeing the difference we are all doing just that! Christina
Well done, Lea, I salute you for all of your efforts! Sue
I personally wouldn’t buy from an company who adds synthetics - that’s pretty much cut and dried. It is our own responsibility to ask the supplier for a GC/MS ourselves and check those levels we need for a particular application. Ann
The beauty and importance of what Lea Harris is doing is giving us a very good representation of the fact even GOOD companies can buy from suppliers with less than adequate oils. This is such an important work. Ann
This is a ground-breaking work. I’ve consistently been amazed and impressed with Lea’s attention to detail and explaining each and everything thing! Where does she find time to do this? Ann
I’m a detail person, but she has exceeded my expectations by far! I think it’s because [Lea] is DEVOTED compassionately to bettering our ability to find oils we can use therapeutically/clinically - NOT ‘therapeutic grade’ essential oils. Ann
The entire aromatherapy industry I think will look back in years to come and see that [Lea's] work and her ideas and her willingness to sacrifice time, money and energy will benefit us all. Ann
This is an amazing group with an amazing array of very helpful educated information! Where else can you find that? Ann
I’ve been in this industry for over 12 years and I’ve been searching, praying, hoping that someone would do exactly what Lea Harris has and is doing! Even us experts don’t have all the answers, but guess what - we can and will find the answer. Ann
Companies will be more vigilant about who they buy from! In years past, essential oils companies could pretty much just do what they wanted - these types of results in minute detail with expert opinions show they can’t!! Ann
Lea, thank you for all the hard work you have done. I am so thankful that you have put so much time and effort into it. You have been the sweetest person to work with, and I know you have worked your tail off. Thank You! Jessica
When companies dilute oils with cheaper oils, I find that disturbing. When companies spike their oils with synthetic notes I find that greatly disturbing. Elisabeth
[Essential] oil suppliers can improve their reputations by providing a GC/MS analysis of their oils for trained aromatherapists to use in therapy, by obtaining organic certifications, and by educating consultants to read and interpret these analyses and reports. Jessie
This is totally worth every cent of my donation. Jamie
The fact that it has synthetics in it doesn’t bother me nearly as much as the fact that [X brand] has been selling it under the claim of being ‘the only pure oils’ and having IPCs bash any other oil out there as being synthetic. Melissa
Another job well done, Lea Harris. I commend you for your untiring efforts to keep us apprised of the best essential oils available. Pat
Thank you for your important work. Thank you for providing consumers some way to discern the truth from all the marketing hype. Ranessa
I reviewed some of your website, and there is a lot of great information on it. You have put together a wonderful resource for essential oils. Christine, Mountain Rose Herbs
Shame on those companies who don’t measure up & choose to practice deceit. Buyer Beware. Jeanie
Thank you so much for taking the time to not only care, but to help those of us that are new to Essential oils. My wife and I are just starting out with testing and trying EO’s and have found it very difficult to learn the difference between company’s and their products. After spending lots of time and money learning, your post/research/help is very comforting when there is so much misleading information out there. Kudos to you for your work on this and keep up the GOOD JOB!! Rick
Thank you for sharing, and thank you for all the awesome work that you are doing! I continue to share this website as a starting point of sorts for people who are interested in aromatherapy and working with EO’s. Information like this is extremely important and helps to dispel those certain (and very persistent) irresponsible and negligent claims about EO use. Looking forward to the next round of testing. Justine
Fabulous post! All of yours are, but having this and rounds 1 & 2 to reference is just awesome! I am so grateful to all you hard work and willingness to share, Lea! You are a beacon of light in this arena where marketing hyperbole makes everything so danged confusing! Thank you! Dava
This is fantastic work, along with the other 2 rounds of testing! Thank you for working so hard on this. The analysis seems thorough and unbiased. I really appreciate that. As a new [X brand] rep I would love to argue with the results, but you haven’t left me with very good reason to. Gretchen
Thank you for this! I’m new to essential oils, and was contemplating starting with a brand that turns out to not be in compliance. Good to know! Tonya
Thank You, Learning About EO’s for doing what sooooo many of us have been curious about for years!
*We DON’T have to overpay.
*We CAN trust smaller companies.
*We DON’T have to pay a yearly ‘membership’ fee, an upline, and a downline to have access the the *best, certified, pure, therapeutic’ EO’s! Brandee
I’m grateful for LAEO because my introduction to aromatherapy was at an early spring 2013 wellness/health fair where two women were lecturing about EOs-both were [X brand] reps and I was fascinated with what they were saying….so I started looking on the net for blogs and FB sites, and voilà, I found you! Anyway-thanks again to you and congrats on a monumental effort to help keep aromatherapy purveyors on the straight and narrow. Sue
I want to first thank you for the work you are doing to provide the general public with unbiased, quality information about the essential oils market…We appreciate your professionalism and objectivity regarding your testing process. Dr. Cole Woolley PhD, Vice President of Research and Development, Young Living
I find exposing lies to be 100% positive and thank the group and Lea for taking this on. Sue
Very helpful in my decision making! Jill
Thanks for doing this important work Lea. Too may well intended people are being taken advantage of, and accountability to consumers is key. Lauren
Someone has got to stand up and make distillers and suppliers notice that they’re being watched, and you have been the first one to do so. I’m going to keep learning as much as I can, and I will continue to respect your honesty and transparency. Thanks a MILLION!! Sue
When I heard about your idea to perform 3rd party analysis testing of several company’s oils, I thought it was brilliant. Linda, Heritage
Thank you for all you teach how to use and enjoy essential oils. They are changing the way we live! Your work has saved us money and I have been able to order so many more oils to try because of your testing…Blessings to you! Lori
Lea Harris has woke me up here … Much needs to be done …We as consumers need to know WHAT we need, so we can hold the suppliers accountable. Larry
I wanted to tell you that you ARE making a difference. I had some doubts about a certain company I’ve been purchasing from [X brand] and your test results were the final straw. Had I known about these things ahead of time, I wouldn’t have signed up in the first place! Having ANY synthetics in your oils while touting a label of “certified pure blah blah blah” is completely unacceptable in my book. Missy
No More overpriced, dishonest oils companies will get a dime of my family’s money. THANK YOU Learning About EO’s for being a truth-teller, and coordinating the testing! Brandee
Well, i for one, appreciate your testing. Being new to EO’s, my wife and I are very leery having tried and been disappointed with local purchases of oils that we are certain were below grade and to the point of actually getting us sick. After finding your posts and do a bit of research on our own based on your information, we have decided on canceling our plans to order from [X brand] and [X brand]. Trying to order a basic “starter set” of oils, you know that this can be very expensive, and we now feel not only have your testings saved us a lot of money, we fell it also saved us a lot of disappointment, illness and showed us that we have to be extremely careful to be healthier. I, my wife and my children (especially my daughter who has learned several health/beauty tips from your posts that have helped her acne clear up as well as other tips she has learned and shared with her friends as well) thank you very much for what your doing. Rick
I will not buy from a company that is using synthetics. Especially when other companies, who’s oils are less expensive, are in compliance. Mel
Thank you for what you do, and please do not stop! Shonni
The test results were very much appreciated! Informed purchases and usage is of the utmost importance. Pam
Lea Harris is a Certified Aromatherapist with Advanced Graduate training from Aromahead Institute in July 2013, but she is not a doctor. Please consult a trained aromatherapist or your doctor before using any of the suggestions on this website, as the user's age and health conditions must be taken into account before using. The information contained in this website is for informational purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice. |
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