Grades of Essential Oils

Essential oil grades are not controlled by the USDA, like grades for meat or dairy are. They are simply terms used by essential oil manufacturers and distributors to describe the quality and intended purpose for their oils. Essential oils are used in many industries for a wide variety of purposes. Some oils are designed to be mixed into other products, and some are designed to be used straight from the bottle. The grade of the oil will tell you what the oil is well suited for, and if it can be used for your intended purposes. RainShadow Labs only carries pure, therapeutic grade oils. Read more about oil grades below to help you find the best oil for you.

Adulterated Oils

These are the worst grade of essential oils because they are not pure, nor do they meet client expectations for healing or other use. The companies selling adulterated oils to the public obviously won’t mark them as such, so you’ll have to do a bit of investigation to find out if your oil is pure. It is normally as simple as looking at the ingredient list. Many companies selling expensive oils will “stretch” their oils by mixing them with cheaper and readily available oils like lavender, or worse, fragrance. If you want essential oils for aromatherapy, adulterated oils will not work because the main oil is too diluted. They are also a poor choice for manufacturing because they’re formulas vary too much. If there is no ingredient list on your oil, avoid it. You should know what you’re buying.

RainShadow Labs never desaturates our oils to save costs. We offer only pure, 100% essential oils.

Standardized Oils

Standardized oils are the kind of oils most commonly used in the manufacturing of other products as a minute ingredient. Essential oils that are not being used for aromatherapy do not need to contain any certain amount of botanical properties, and are valued for other traits like flavor or scent. Therefore, they can be diluted and mixed without consequence, because the consistency of the flavor or scent is more important than the potential therapeutics. Many essential oil suppliers that market beauty products sell standardized essential oils. Standardized oils will work for adding a pleasant smell to your bath and beauty products, but won’t lend any of the other unique benefits of the plant to your products. Standardized oils are a cheap alternative to pure essential oils if you are only concerned with the surface traits, but are no match for pure essential oils.

Unlike many essential oil producers, we do not sell standardized oils. Even our bulk essential oils are 100% pure (unless otherwise noted).

Therapeutic and Medicinal Grade Oils

Therapeutic and medicinal grade oils are created with the therapeutic benefits of each botanical essence in mind. They are designed to be used in aromatherapy, or as herbal remedies. Therapeutic grade oils are undiluted and preserve the benefits of the plant they are extracted from. Medicinal grade oils are normally sold as single oils so that they are easy to work with, but therapeutic grade oils may be sold as pre-mixed formulas, with each oil playing a vital part in the therapeutic experience. Therapeutic and medicinal grade oils are the only acceptable option for aromatherapy, and they are vastly superior to any other oil grade when used in natural beauty products.

RainShadow Labs has 96 different therapeutic grade essential oils. View our product selection here: https://www.rainshadowlabs.com/Essential-Oils_c_11-8-3.html

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RainShadow Labs sells only the highest quality therapeutic grade essential oils, many of which are sourced right here in the PNW, as well as greater North America.