Wintergreen & Sweet Birch ** Was: Quality of EO

[Guest guest]

Hi Susanne,

 

>>Actually .. everyone is not looking for the best products .. many

>>are looking for the best price .. maybe due to necessity .. maybe

>>due to lack of understanding of the EO market.

>

> Thank you Butch for your extensive explanation on EOs, their

> pricing, purity and quality relation. Not at all boring. That's the

> stuff someone needs to know.

 

Welcome you are and glad I am the information was of some value to you.

 

> I've been working with EOs for longer then I can count, and still

> don't have all the info. Over the years I've gotten better in

> judging them, but only through experimentation.

 

It does take time .. but it comes together much sooner when we have to

fork out a lot of money to purchase large volume .. there is little room

for error there.

 

> It's much like buying produce in the store..... we're produce

> farmers, so we know what certain things should taste like, and I

> can't even bring home tomatoes for example, because nobody will eat

> them - they don't taste like they should.

 

Yes ma'am .. I hear you. We're getting that slowly here now .. all

summer the local tomatoes were fantastic .. now we're getting those

grown in Hot Houses and picked/shipped green .. no taste.

 

> Bananas - we don't know, we only know the better or worse from the

> stores.

 

I hear you. Lucky we are to have small but tasty ones here in Turkey.

 

> I know what the EOs I distill smell like, how they work, and that's

> only relative to NE climate, still with variations depending on the

> soil grown. I wouldn't know what something should be like from Egypt

> or India, but there are some factors I'm looking for, since I

> experienced the difference.

 

There are differences in the chemical composition of various EO .. some

of the differences are slight .. some are major .. and its pretty much

universal knowledge as to which Origins produce the finest quality of

this or that aromatic. This is true for all plant life .. look at the

difference between a Vidalia onion from that small region around

Vidalia, GA, and an onion from KY or NC, etc. Being able to produce

one's own EO is good .. and lots of fun .. but it limits the variety one

can have available.

 

> Price is a factor, yes. I don't have a whole lot to spend, BUT if

> what I have is spent on something inferior, it really is a waste.

 

Thank you ma'am .. I have often written on Soap lists that when one buys

a Commercial Grade EO they can get it for a lot less .. and maybe that

EO is sufficient for making soap .. BUT .. if that EO is adulterated

with a cheap adulterant then they are not getting their money's worth.

 

> I find that especially if there is not a lot of money, quality matters

> even more.

 

For sure .. I am serious when I say I would rather have an ounce of Rose

Otto from Turkey or Bulgaria than I would a kilo from Russia.

 

> But as you said, Butch, there is so much going on with EOs, it's

> hard to know who is who, doing what, unless people talk about it on

> list like this and NP.

 

Yes ma'am .. that's the value of these lists. I know pretty much all

the sellers of EO on this list .. and though I don't always believe all

of the claims on many web sites .. I do believe that those here who are

selling EO are doing their best to find and offer the best they can.

One can't survive on a list like this if they don't have their ducks in

line .. its easy to identify those who are using smoke and mirrors.

 

> And yes, people like you need to be advertised all over the place,

> so people can learn about EOs, and make an educated choice. There is

> too much hocus pocus going on, with not all that many reputable

> sellers.

 

Yep .. its the hocus pocus, smoke & mirrors, wild butt claims for this

and that healing capability .. and marketing spin designed to make one

company's products unique that should alert folks to the fact that those

who are using such tactics are not to be trusted. How many times do we

need to see an organization get caught in a lie for folks to realize

that the organization is probably dishonest?

 

> That's why I am really, really glad Anya talks about you and Chris

> in NP. I'm not just being nice LOL.

 

Thankee ma'am .. but its just not Chris and I who have quality products.

No company will have the best of everything .. there will be some who

have items that are less pleasing than the same item from another

company .. but we have to do our best to offer the best of all products

if we want to survive in this competitive industry. And one thing that

makes life difficult for those who do seek the best .. is the cost ..

because those who offer far lower quality can sell for less.

 

> Glad you're going to stop in more often, or we all have to come over

> here to meet you......

 

Hawhawhaw. I reckon folks on Natural Perfumery should also be members

of this list anyway. ;-)

 

As for how to determine quality .. I've been writing on that for many,

many years .. on this and other lists. In the next day or so (maybe

even today) I'll post a few old ones .. lots of new folks on the list

now and hopefully these posts will be of some value to them.

 

>>And I see that folks are more concerned about the realities of

>>dermal application of this or that percentage of EO than they are

>>about the hypothetical, extrapolated data that comes from sterile

>>lab tests using mice and such and then speculating that under the

>>best of conditions, a normally unsafe EO (like Wintergreen) is safe

>>if used in a dilution that is too complicated for 99% of the lay folks

>> in the industry to ever be able to calculate or measure. ;-)

>

> I know you're rally, really busy, but since you mentioned

> Wintergreen, I just have to ask......

 

I reckon I'm always busy .. but taking time to write is almost as

relaxing to me as taking time to visit the Papsi Pub and shoot the crap

with my buddies. ;-)

 

> I've heard much lately about the boo hoo on using Sweet Birch. All

> the research I have done, only showed Birch tar as restricted, which

> is not the same thing of course.

 

Not the same thing .. but its the chemical Methyl salicylate in Sweet

Birch (Betula lenta) and Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) that is

harmful .. and besides that, I question the availability of REAL

distilled Essential Oils from either of these sources .. I don't believe

there is a seller around offering either of these oils that is not

selling totally synthetic product. If they are selling an authentic

product then the cost will be prohibitive and there is no reason to

produce or sell .. or purchase .. them in a pure state anyway because

the body uses Methyl salicylate badly in all cases .. matters not if its

natural or synthetic.

 

Will these sellers claim their product is authentic? Yep! Do these

sellers know (or care) what the difference is? I doubt it!

 

> I'm using sweet birch EO in combination with other herbs and EOs in

> a massage lotion. It started with my husband's back surgeries, and

> came to the point where we were done with surgeries, when I

> discovered what that stuff can do. We all have been using it for

> years now, and it really keeps us going. I have a few regular

> customers which wouldn't want to do without it either. No problems

> in all that time and use with sensitizing or any negative side

> effects. It is dilluted in the lotion, but I'm using a good amount.

 

Lucky these people have been for sure. Matters not a lot how much we

dilute Sweet Birch or Wintergreen .. IF .. it is used frequently. Its a

bit like driving drunk .. folks can sometimes get away with it for a

long time but odds are that it will eventually catch up with them.

 

> What is your oppinion on Sweet Birch EO?

 

I'll send a few posts to the list. When I write on Sweet Birch and

Wintergreen it upsets some folks and they wanna shoot the messenger ..

but I don't sell these products .. and you will see why soon. Does

Methyl salicylate stop pain? Dang betcha it does .. so will Morphine

but that doesn't mean its safe to use.

 

> Thanks again for all the info, and wait with the reply to this

> question, until you have some time.

 

My pleasure for sure and thanks for the nice note. I'll send a few

posts now on Wintergreen and Sweet Birch .. in fact, there is really no

big difference between the two.

 

> Susanne

 

Y'all have a good one .. and keep smiling. :-)

 

Butch http://www.AV-AT.com