Garden of Wisdom: I may be a tad biased in saying that I love GOW (since I am one of the moderators on their forum, however, I am not an employee) but Markey (the owner) is awesome. She really cares about her customers, and her prices are low (pretty much wholesale prices) on a lot of her items. Her essential oils are very high quality (she gets them from a couple very good vendors). And if you are obsessed with carrier oils like I am--her selection is one of the best (in quality and price) that I've found. She carries a large assortment of make-it-yourself herbal and cosmetic (natural and non-natural) ingredients (and if she doesn't have it, ask! She is a sweetheart and is constantly adding customer requests to her stock). Many of her essential oils are organic or ethically wildharvested, though it's not listed on the site which are. I wish I had known that before I restocked my essential oils because I would have gotten them from her!
Lavender Lane:Another company that I kind of had a bad experience with (bought from them many years ago though so don't know if their customer service is the same now as it was then). When I had ordered from them, they didn't send me the right amount of melt and pour soap (I had ordered a pound, and what I received weighed a little less than 14 ounces) and (a few months later when I looked at the shipping shipment) I noticed that they had overcharged me a lot for shipping and handling (more than what their website had said. I've paid some pretty hefty prices for shipping and handling from other companies without blinking an eye but never as much as this--and this was many years ago when shipping prices were much lower). Unfortunately, I never called them to fix it though.
Mountain Rose Herbs:
Mountain Rose Herbs is one of my favorite herbal vendors (definitely in my top three). They have a very nice selection of essential oils and carrier oils (very high quality). Many of them are organic or ethically wild harvested. This company really cares about their products, have strong business and environmental ethics (they are a carbon neutral company and--though they are a small company--are one of the largest organic internet/mail order vendors). They also have a great selection of herbs; in my opinion they are the best place to get dried herbs--superior quality and fresh! Most of the herbs are organic, but much less expensive than many conventional herbs from other places. I have some herbs from them that are three years old (so need to use them asap before they go bad)--and they are still better quality than herbs from super markets or other herb stores that I've tried. They sell everything from skin care to miy ingredients. Their rose essential oil sampler is lovely and a great way to sample rose essential oils from around the world (note: rose is one of the most expensive essential oils).
Friday, October 26, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Places To Buy Essential Oils: Part 1 (Aromatherapy Information)
Here is a list of some of the essential oil companies I've tried thus far (from over 7 years of using essential oils), good and bad mini reviews. (Part 1. The rest of the list will be in part 2).
Aromaland: I tried this company many years ago, when I first started learning about aromatherapy. I thought their essential oils were very high quality--I remember their expressed lime essential oil was divine :) Customer service was good. But after a couple years, they raised many of their prices. Their prices for many of their conventional essential oils are still pretty good (some are a very good deal while others are a tad pricey), but since I now only buy mostly organic essential oils, there are other vendors I prefer. I remember I liked their sampler packs though (samples in little perfume vials).
Aromatherapy Outlet: First I have to say that their essential oils are very nice, especially their citrus essential oils. They have a great assortment (including organic choices), and the prices are pretty low. I only bought from them once (last year) but I had a pretty bad experience buying from them (and later when I posted on Delphi's Mineral Makeup Mania forum, I found out that others had too). It's a bit of a long story, but they took many weeks to ship my order (I'm usually very patient with orders--I'm the kind of person that if I get an order within 2 to 2 1/2 weeks I'm happy, but this took nearly a month--even when I had emailed them a couple times and received responses), and I never received my free samples or free bottle of essential oil from their promotion at the time (after I got my order I emailed them twice again, and even received an email from the owner saying that she would mail them to me immediately, but never got them).
AV-AT: Probably my favorite place to get essential oils at the moment :). I love their essential oils! I think they (along with the ones I've tried from Enfleurage) are the best quality I've tried so far (and most of the places I've tried have been great, if not excellent). I think it is because the owner (Butch Owens) has close relationships to the distillers he buys from, and he lab tests his products to check for their purity. Most of their essential and carrier oils are organic or ethically wild harvested and their prices are excellent (considering they are organic which is usually more expensive). Their ylang ylang complete and cocoa absolute are heaven on earth. You can also get free samples (a fews drops in a glass vial--not full).
Camden Grey:This vendor is great! Large assortment of all kinds of ingredients. They have a good selection of essential oils, including many organic ones, at awesome prices (wholesale prices). The best thing you can buy very small to very large amounts of essential oils and all their ingredients. Everything I've tried there has been good, though I've heard on a forum that some essential oils are hit or miss. They also tend to have a lot of sales.
Enfleurage:I haven't bought from their online store but I've been to their store in NYC. Their prices are a tad more than other companies but the prices for certain oils are pretty good. They carry many of the more unusual essential oils, and their essential oils are very high quality, and many are organic too.
Aromaland: I tried this company many years ago, when I first started learning about aromatherapy. I thought their essential oils were very high quality--I remember their expressed lime essential oil was divine :) Customer service was good. But after a couple years, they raised many of their prices. Their prices for many of their conventional essential oils are still pretty good (some are a very good deal while others are a tad pricey), but since I now only buy mostly organic essential oils, there are other vendors I prefer. I remember I liked their sampler packs though (samples in little perfume vials).
Aromatherapy Outlet: First I have to say that their essential oils are very nice, especially their citrus essential oils. They have a great assortment (including organic choices), and the prices are pretty low. I only bought from them once (last year) but I had a pretty bad experience buying from them (and later when I posted on Delphi's Mineral Makeup Mania forum, I found out that others had too). It's a bit of a long story, but they took many weeks to ship my order (I'm usually very patient with orders--I'm the kind of person that if I get an order within 2 to 2 1/2 weeks I'm happy, but this took nearly a month--even when I had emailed them a couple times and received responses), and I never received my free samples or free bottle of essential oil from their promotion at the time (after I got my order I emailed them twice again, and even received an email from the owner saying that she would mail them to me immediately, but never got them).
AV-AT: Probably my favorite place to get essential oils at the moment :). I love their essential oils! I think they (along with the ones I've tried from Enfleurage) are the best quality I've tried so far (and most of the places I've tried have been great, if not excellent). I think it is because the owner (Butch Owens) has close relationships to the distillers he buys from, and he lab tests his products to check for their purity. Most of their essential and carrier oils are organic or ethically wild harvested and their prices are excellent (considering they are organic which is usually more expensive). Their ylang ylang complete and cocoa absolute are heaven on earth. You can also get free samples (a fews drops in a glass vial--not full).
Camden Grey:This vendor is great! Large assortment of all kinds of ingredients. They have a good selection of essential oils, including many organic ones, at awesome prices (wholesale prices). The best thing you can buy very small to very large amounts of essential oils and all their ingredients. Everything I've tried there has been good, though I've heard on a forum that some essential oils are hit or miss. They also tend to have a lot of sales.
Enfleurage:I haven't bought from their online store but I've been to their store in NYC. Their prices are a tad more than other companies but the prices for certain oils are pretty good. They carry many of the more unusual essential oils, and their essential oils are very high quality, and many are organic too.
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