The essential oils market is murky and full of corruption. Every company claims to have pure oils, and some claim to have the best oils, but the truth is there are plenty of companies that are sadly selling fake essential oils.
Of course no one wants to waste their money on essential oils that aren’t the real thing. So let’s talk about how to avoid this situation. Here are 14 tips to spot fake essential oils so you know what essential oil brands to avoid and how to spend your clean living and wellness dollars wisely.
The essential oils market is huge. In 2024, it was estimated to be $24.94 billion USD, and it was expected to grow at a CAGR of 9% through 2034. That means that in 2034, essential oil shares globally are expected to be 59.04 billion. That’s a lot of money being spent on essential oils, and that doesn’t include inflation (source)!
The hype around oils doesn’t seem to be quite like it used to be; it’s still a massive business. Companies are moving away from artificial fragrances (source), plus there’s an increased focus on wellness in many countries. It makes sense that companies want to be part of this growth, but it also makes the marketplace more cluttered.
Some big players (and a few smaller ones) in the industry claim to have the best oils. That’s really just silly. Unless they were the only company that knew how to make the best essential oils or had exclusive access to the best oils in the world, it just can’t be true.
Here are ways to avoid the scams out there to ensure you’re spending your wellness dollars wisely.
Enter your email & I’ll send it straight to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get healthy living updates too.
14 Tips to Spot Fake Essential Oils
1. Pricing
The saying “if it’s too good to be true” can for sure be the case when it comes to essential oils. Now, just because essential oils are reasonably priced doesn’t mean that they’re low quality or adulterated, but the opposite is true as well.
Oils that are grossly overpriced aren’t necessarily better quality either. The multi-level marketing essential oils come to mind here. I’m not completely anti-MLM, but let’s face it, there are a lot of people getting paid, and sometimes the pricing in those companies is just way out of line with the market.
It’s a good idea to compare the prices of any one company with other essential oil companies to see if the oil you’re considering buying is in range. If it’s significantly less expensive, then the oils are more likely to not be quality or to be adulterated.
2. Company History
Another thing to consider is how long an essential oil brand has been around. While a company’s newness doesn’t mean that they’re selling fake oils, a company with a longer history is easier to check out based on reviews and their relationship with organizations. Of course, reviews can be falsified, but it’s at least one more resource to check.
More reputable brands are also more likely to exhibit at trade shows or to be involved with other training endeavors. You can also check to see if the company is registered with any professional aromatherapy organizations.
3. Packaging
Essential oils should always be stored in dark-colored (either amber or blue) glass bottles. The reason for this is that essential oils degrade from exposure to light, so they need to be packaged in glass that prevents light from hitting the oils. Also, neat (undiluted) essential oils are strong, and they can react with the plastic over time, leading to contamination of the oils.
Glass is inert and will not react with the oils. If the oils have been diluted heavily into carrier oils to be used as is on the skin, then it’s fine for them to be stored in plastic.
4. Botanical Information on Label
An essential oil label absolutely should include the Latin name of the essential oil. If that’s absent, you won’t really know what you’re buying in many cases. Plants that have the same common name may not share the same benefits or contraindications.
Orange essential oil is one good example of this. Sweet Orange Essential Oil (Citrus sinensis) is not phototoxic, but Bitter Orange Essential Oil (Citrus aurantium L.) is. So knowing the Latin name can be very important.
5. Paper Test
Most pure essential oils won’t leave an oily residue after doing the “paper test.” For this test, you put one drop of the oil on a piece of paper and let it dry. After several hours, there should be very little sign that the oil was there. If there’s an oily residue, that indicates that the oil might have been diluted with a carrier oil.
The reason this test works is that essential oils aren’t really oils, and they evaporate into the air, but a carrier oil won’t evaporate.
There are, however, a few important things to keep in mind. First, this test won’t work for resinoid oils, like myrrh, which will leave a residue on the paper.
Second, just because there’s no trace of the drop on the paper doesn’t mean that the oil is pure; it could be adulterated in some other manner. Most “bad actors” in the essential oil arena these days are doing much more sophisticated things to rip you off than just adding diluting with carrier oils.
Third, some essential oils, such as blue tansy, sandalwood, bergamot, lemongrass, patchouli, and German chamomile, will leave a color residue that could be misinterpreted as an oily ring.
6. More Label Information
In addition to the botanical name, a bottle of essential oil from a quality company will typically have the country of origin, ingredients (if there are any in addition to the oil itself), expiration date, processing method (cold-pressed, steam distilled, etc.), safety and storage information, and full company contact details on the label, including a website. Some of these are preferences, while some are legally required by the country of distribution and/or manufacture.
7. Smell
The smell of an essential oil can also give you a clue as to whether it’s a quality essential oil or not. Organoleptic testing is the term for testing an essential oil’s scent. It’s of course a subjective test, but with a little experience, even amateurs can become at least fairly good at it.
When you sniff the oils, think about if it smells like a real essential oil should smell. Keep in mind that essential oils are all-natural products and plants don’t smell like candy.
Essential oils also shouldn’t smell like chemicals or alcohol. And hint: there are no essential oils of “apple” or “mint chocolate chip.” So if your essential oil smells like some of the above, or like a fake scented candle or something from a “body shoppe,” you just might be dealing with a bad essential oil.
8. Feel
When you rub a drop of the essential oil on your body or between your fingers, check to see if it feels oily or sticky. If it does, it’s likely that the oil has been diluted with a carrier oil. For the most part, pure oils shouldn’t feel that way.
There are some exceptions to this situation, however. Some thick oils, like patchouli, vetiver, myrrh, sandalwood, German chamomile, and cedarwood oils, are thicker than most essential oils, and so they can sometimes have a sticky feel to them. Also, when oils oxidize, they can get sticky as well, so the oil might not be fake or adulterated; it just might be expired.
9. Pouring Mechanism
The best kind of pouring mechanism to have on the top of a bottle of essential oil is an orifice reducer. An orifice reducer is a plug that will still allow the oil to come out of the bottle drop by drop but also prevents air from getting into the bottle and oxidizing the oil.
What you don’t want is a top that has a pipette with plastic sitting in the oil. Because essential oils are so strong, the plastic from the pipette will likely leach into the oil.
10. Growing Conditions
Since essential oils are so concentrated, it’s very important to oils that have been contaminated with pesticides. You can do that by purchasing essential oils with the USDA seal, but wild-crafted oils are another good option.
Wildcrafted oils are made from plants that are typically unsprayed in contrast to oils from farmed plants. If the price point of organic and wildcrafted oils is a bit too much for your budget, at least make sure to avoid farmed citrus oils as they have been shown to be contaminated by pesticides (source).
11. Avoid Amazon and eBay
Yes, I know. It’s convenient to buy on these sites, but just don’t do it. So many rogue companies are selling there, and you literally could be buying who knows what. Even if the labels look good, unless a reputable company has their own site on there, you just can’t know what you’re getting.
12. Compare With Other Oils
You don’t have to do this with all of the oils that you purchase, but it’s a good idea to experiment with various essential oils from different brands. Since essential oils are natural products, they will vary some by season and where the source plants are grown, but some things shouldn’t change.
If you have an essential oil that seems a lot different from others you’ve tried, and the supplier can’t give you a good answer as to why that is the case, you might not be dealing with a quality oil.
13. Readily Available GC/MS Testing
Any reputable essential oil company should have GC/MS reports available for customers, and those reports should be done by a reputable third-party lab. Of course, it’s not a simple task to read GC/MS tests, but knowing that they are there is comforting because a company can be called out for having a bad GC/MS report by experts.
At the same time, GC/MS reports can be falsified. I’ve heard from reputable sources that companies will get GC/MS reports for different oils and will then put the report for whatever oil they want on their site. In addition, essential oil adulteration has become very tricky to test for because the “bad guys” are better and better at manipulating oils so that they’ll test well.
14. Customer Service
A company’s response to questions can also be a good indication of their quality. A trustworthy and reputable seller will be open to questions and will be able to provide detailed answers that make sense.
Of course not every customer contact can be expected to be stellar, but if you get the feeling that a company is hiding something, they just might be.
At some point, we need to trust someone, of course, but in this confusing world of essential oils, it’s important to consider all of these factors when trying to figure out whether an essential oil is pure or not.
It’s just not worth skimping on essential oils to save a few bucks. If you’re using essential oils responsibly (not putting multiple drops in your water throughout the day), you won’t be going through bottles that quickly, so spending a bit more to make sure you’re getting good products is worth it.
I sure do hope that this list helps you use your healthy living dollars wisely.
The moral of this post is that friends don’t let friends buy fake essential oils.
