My interest with essential oils was piqued when one
of my friends introduced the concept of EOs to me when both of us were at this
geology conference. I was a first-time mom so between looking after and taking
care of my 5-month old baby boy, I lurk around social media which made me aware
that some of my social media friends were already using EOs. I recently
purchased a Stress Away EO blend from a local online store BeautyMNL as a gift
to my husband but haven’t tried it myself since I was currently breastfeeding
and was afraid that some chemicals might affect my breastmilk. My friend and I
met again a few weeks later at a wedding and she gave me a Sweet Dreams blend
which she made specifically for me. I was impressed when I tried the blend. I
applied a small amount behind my ears and on my wrists, and I actually had a
good night’s sleep that night. I decided to research EOs for weeks and based
from what I’ve read, it seemed like using EOs is a good alternative in treating
and preventing some common ailments. I was convinced and so I decided to
purchase a few EOs myself.
It was my first experience with essential oils so
assurance of quality, cost, product transparency, environmental safety and
stress-free purchases were important factors in choosing which company I will
buy my essential oils from. I knew a lot of people have bought their first
essential oils from MLM (multi-level marketing) companies such as Young Living
and doTerra so these two were the first brands that I checked.
Upon searching their official websites, I was instantly
turned off because I had no interest in signing up and joining their company as a distributor (distributors have discounts). After
reading customer reviews of Young Living and doTerra, I instantly disregarded
those two companies because of the high price of their EOs and lack of transparency
of their products (no test results) in their respective websites.
I searched for other brands of essential oils with
good reviews and I was able to narrow my search into four: Rocky Mountain Oils,
Eden’s Garden, Plant Therapy and Aura Cacia (which was available here in the
Philippines at Healthy Options). These four companies have easy-to-use websites
with all their products listed on them and you just have to make an account (no
need to join their company) to purchase whichever items you like. Quality-wise
and considering environment safety, all of them have great reviews but only
RMO, Eden’s Garden and Plant Therapy have essential oil blends made especially for
kids. Cost-wise, RMO was the most expensive among the four while Aura Cacia was
the cheapest. As for transparency, only Rocky Mountain Oils and Plant Therapy
had test results of their EOs available in their website. Product transparency
was important to me (it makes me feel at ease knowing that what I’m using is
safe for my family) so after spending a few days reading more reviews and
researching, I finally chose Plant Therapy.
I made a list of what essential oils my family needed
the most and stuck to a budget of around $150.00 inclusive of shipping fee from
the U.S. to the Philippines. On January 15, 2017, I set up an account and ordered
the following from the Plant Therapy website:
- 1 set of Top 6 Organic Essential Oil at 10ml per bottle
- 1 set of KidSafe Wellness Sampler Set at 10ml per bottle
- 1 bottle of Roman Chamomile at 10ml
- 1 bottle of Geranium at 10ml
- 1 piece of convertible essential oil case for 10ml or 30ml bottles
- 1 piece dilution chart magnet for adults (this was FREE but I had to add this initially to the cart)
The package arrived here at home on January 23, 2017,
a day earlier than expected. There was really no hassle in ordering and I can choose
which shipping company I want and the type of shipping. As for my order, I
chose FedEx over U.S.P.S. although the latter has a cheaper shipping method but
had a longer delivery time. Tracking my package was also easy. I was surprised
though that I had to pay an extra PhP 560.00 (approximately $11.00) upon
delivery.
I have to say that I was quite excited to open
the package. All the items were packed well to avoid any breakage as seen on
the photos below. I checked each item and there were no damages observed.
Here are the items that I purchased.
The sets I bought came with these nice wooden boxes with
a Plant Therapy logo which can be a great gift for your loved ones and friends.
Since I bought an EO case, I was planning to just reuse the wooden boxes in the
future.
As they should, the EO bottles arrived unopened. The
labels were easy to read, with a description and basic instructions at the
back. The cap also has a sticker to make it easier for me to get which EO I
need from the essential oil case. EOs which were safe for children (i.e. Plant
Therapy KidSafe label) were also easy to distinguish so I don’t have to
research which oils my son can use. EOs which were certified organic were also
noted in the label.
I decided to make two blends using my new EOs:
- Hair and scalp massage oil blend for my dad
- Muscle ache/nerve pain/rheumatoid arthritis blend for my mom
Of course, I have no idea where to start because I
have yet to purchase any essential oil books and the recipe blends I researched
online specified many EO ingredients, most of them I don’t have. To remedy
this, I decided to email Plant Therapy’s certified aromatherapists where I
listed the EOs I currently have and asked for their suggestions on how to make
the blends I was planning to do. What I love about Plant Therapy
aromatherapists was that they replied within 1-2 days with their recommended
recipe so I was able to make the blends straightaway. I also don’t have to
concern myself if their suggested blend was safe to use or not, or if my blend
and dilution were correct because they are actually certified and properly
trained (unlike me!).
So far, I am very impressed with Plant Therapy. They
make quality essential oils within my price range and they have their own
KidSafe and certified organic line. There were many EOs and EO blends to choose
from as well as products used for essential oils (e.g. diffusers, cases,
bottles, carrier oils, etc.). The company was also transparent with their EO products’
test results. And if I have a question, I can easily connect with their
in-house aromatherapists to help me with my EO queries.
My only regret was that I didn’t order more essential
oils and now I have to wait for some of my EOs to run out before I can order
again (because the shipping fee was quite expensive!).
If you are interested, you can check out Plant
Therapy’s website: https://www.planttherapy.com/.
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