| Personal Care Corner | |
Producer Profile: Aura Cacia
by Carrie A. Corson, from the June 2004 newsletter
Aura Cacia's commitment to providing 100 percent pure essential oils has made it a leader in the field of aromatherapy for over 20 years. I recently had the opportunity to talk with Tim Blakely, an aromatherapist, herbalist and educator for Aura Cacia's parent company, Frontier Natural Products Co-op. Tim came to Moscow in July to visit the Co-op and give a lecture on the wonders of aromatherapy. Tim had a great presentation detailing the process the folks at Aura Cacia go through in order to insure the purity of their essential oils. From traveling to far away places such as Provence, France or Bulgaria to visit lavender fields, overseeing essential oil distillation, to the four step testing process that every batch of essential oil goes through once it reaches Aura Cacia.
Why is all of this important? Because only 100 percent pure essential oils provide therapeutic aromatherapy benefit, and sadly many suppliers adulterate their oils with synthetic fragrance or chemical solvents in order to increase their profit margin. Aura Cacia feels that it is very important to preserve the therapeutic benefits of these oils and so they test every batch of oils, from every supplier. They use everything from specific gravity testing (which actually weighs active constituents in oils) to gas chromatography. "This test confirms an oil’s botanical identity by comparing presence and amount of each constituent. This test can screen for non-natural or missing constituents, or constituents occurring in unnaturally high ratios, signifying adulteration," (Essential Oil Quality, Frontier Natural Products Co-op).
Those attending the lecture given by Tim were surprised to learn that even though an essential oil bottle says "100% pure essential oils" on the label, does not guarantee that that is what you are getting. There is no regulation in this particular field, so manufacturers can basically say whatever they want on their label. A company might try to rope you in with the bold "100% pure essential oil" on the bottle. But looking carefully at the listed ingredients, you might be surprised to see the words "synthetic fragrance." It's definitely a "buyers beware" market when it comes to essential oils and body care products claiming to be made using 100 percent essential oils. That is a situation that Aura Cacia would like to see change and they encourage other companies to begin testing for purity.
If the art of aromatherapy intrigues you, check out the large selection of Aura Cacia essential oils and body care products here at the Co-op. Enjoy the benefits to body, mind and spirit.
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