Aromatherapy vs. Essential Oil Therapy

January 28, 2009 by Curt Siters

There is a growing body of research from laboratory and clinical studies that points to the remarkable healing properties of therapeutic essential oils. While most essential oils are safe and free of adverse side effects when used properly, it is important for you to pay attention to dosage, purity, administration, and possible interactions with other medications you might be taking. You should also look for quality products, as there can be big differences between what a professional aromatherapist would use and what is sold in retail stores. This is why I only use Young Living Essential Oils, I know they’re the highest quality.

What’s the difference between “aromatherapy” and “essential oil therapy”?

Today these terms are used interchangeably. However, the term “aromatherapy” is a bit of a misnomer because it implies that all essential oils smell nice. On the contrary, there are many therapeutic essential oils that do not have a pleasant scent. Smell can be very subjective, German chamomile is an example of an essential oil that may not smell good to many people. The name “aromatherapy” implies that smelling, or inhaling, essential oils is the only way to get therapeutic benefit - the reality is there are a number of ways to use therapeutic essential oils.

Aromatherapy is the use of aroma to stimulate the body into healing, whereas essential oil is the use of essential oils in any number of ways to promote healing. These methods include not just smelling the aroma but also application to the body as well as ingestion.

NOTE: Not all essential oils are safe to take internally, even if they are therapeutic grade. With Young Living Essential Oils single oils will contain a "supplement facts" box on the label. The blends of two or more oils do not contan this box so you will have to do a little research to ensure all the oils in a blend are GRAS (generally regarded as safe by the FDA) before you ingest them. Be sure to follow directions given.

What is an essential oil?

An essential oil is a natural liquid extracted from a single plant species. Do you know when you peel an orange sometimes you can see a fine mist going into the air and you can smell that fresh orange scent… that’s the essential oil from an orange (the essential oil in this case comes from the “peel” and not the inside fleshy part we juice or eat).

Not all plants produce essential oils. In the plants that do, the essential oil may be found in the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, or peels.

It is important to note that essential oils do not feel oily; they are called “oils” because they contain the oil-soluble chemicals in the plant (usually 100 to 200 chemicals per essential oil, or more). This complex chemistry gives essential oils their therapeutic properties and explains why different essential oils may have overlapping effects.

Be an educated consumer.

If you see a bottle of Gardenia or Lilac essential oil for example let me assure you it is not an essential oil - it is 100% synthetic. There is no one in the whole world capable of distilling either one. Not all plants and flowers that smell nice or are healing can be distilled.

If you see a company with either one be very suspicious about the rest of their oils as they may either synthetic or diluted with other chemicals.

Know the difference by reading the label.

A high quality essential oil used for therapeutic benefits will have of the following on the label:

• the latin name
• meets “EC AFNOR standard”
• “100% therapeutic grade”
• if the particular plant is edible and can be used in cooking or internally there will be a “Supplements Facts” box and instructions for internal use.

Any essential oil that does not have any of the above ‘combination’ clearly featured on the label is just not a quality essential oil and you do NOT want to use it the same way you would use a Young Living essential oil.

An inferior aromatherapy essential oil label

These are sure-fire clues that tell you that the essential oil contained in the bottle is inferior and may not actually be an true essential oil at all. If the label states things such as:

• do not take internally (when you know the plant is an herb used in cooking (like oregano, lemon, orange, thyme, cinnamon, etc)
• no latin name (means it is 100% synthetic, chemical mixtures do not have botanical latin names)
• nothing that indicates the oil has been tested (i.e., therapeutic grade, AFNOR, GC indicate each batch was tested and passed high standards)
• “pure” - in the world today this word means nothing. It used to but it’s been abused and no longer has any value in regards to quality or even purity for that matter
• if the essential oil feels greasy or oily - it’s been cut with a fatty oil (fatty oils are not essential oils and do not have therapeutic benefits)

Smell it.

You don’t have to be an expert, your sense of smell will tell you when you have a high quality essential oil or an inferior oil. Of course, you will need to have a real high quality essential oil in your hands to smell and know the huge difference. A high quality oil will smell right, even if it doesn’t smell pretty.

It will also have different notes. Meaning that when you open the cap, hold it down low near your navel and smell, slowly move the opened bottle slowly up the front of your chest, every couple of inches you ’should’ smell something different.

For example, at one stage it might smell earthy, at another stage it will floral, at another earthy and so forth. These are the notes, you’re smelling the different constituents. If the scent of an aromatherapy essential oil does not change when you do this you know you’ve got a 100% synthetic oil in your hands. A synthetic and/or cheap quality oil will smell exactly the same no matter what.

What’s the shelf life?

A high quality aromatherapy essential oil will have an indefinite shelf life. Meaning that if you keep it out of sunlight and away from heat and cold extremes it will out live you. Seriously, put your essential oils in your Will so your heirs won’t fight over them.

An inferior aromatherapy oil will have a shelf life of about 6-8 months. At which point it starts to smell funky and maybe the consistency will change and the oil will become thick and/or sticky - YUCK!

Before I started using Young Living Essential Oils I tried to buy many of the oils that were sold in supermarkets or drugstores or health store. It was one of those things that after smelling them you just knew something was wrong. After I found Young Living and was able to sample their oils I knew I was right to not try those other oils.

I have saved so much money by switching over to YLEO that I feel bad for those who are still going to the health food store or a box store and see them waste their money on something that can be harmful to their physical body on a product that has an extremely limited shelf life. Some of my YLEO’s are 6 years old and they are as good as the day I bought them and I know if I never finish a bottle that it will still be as good when someone opens the bottle long after I’m gone. Now that’s a true value. 

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Curt Siters is an Independent Associate for Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. He is also aYoung Living Essential Oils Independent distributor and publishes articles on YourWebReference and at TheVeryEssence. He also does web work such as website design, website maintenance and SEO for websites.

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