In Essence AU Reviews

Uneducated, Overpriced, Secretive CompanyAs much as I would love to give this Aromatherapy company a postive review, I cannot do so. My biggest issue with this company is the lack of transparency and information provided to customers and the clear lack of understanding by the employees of In Essence when it comes to the field of Aromatherapy and what they are selling. As a Clinical Aromatherapist, I require clear documentation for my business, specifically Certificate of Analysis (COA), SDS (Safety Data Sheets, used to be called MSDA) and GC/MS Analysis reports. There are all documentations which In Essence should be able to provide to customers upon request. When I have reacheds out to them multiple times, I am given the following responses by their team: 1 - This is brand trade secret information. 2 - This is proprietry information. 3 - This information is confidential between us and the supplier. This is 100% inaccurate misinformation. SDS are REQUIRED to be supplied upon request from a Supplier/Manufacturer to customer as it contains clear and essential information about the chemical, including its hazards, safe handling procedures, and emergency measures. . COA's in Australia, is a document that verifies the quality and safety of a product, often required for regulated goods like food, chemicals, and medicines. It provides detailed test results, demonstrating compliance with specific standards and regulations. A customer can typically demand a copy of a (COA) from a supplier, especially when purchasing products that require quality assurance and compliance with regulations. COAs are crucial for verifying the quality, safety, and composition of a product, and businesses often provide them to demonstrate adherence to standards and specifications. Finally GC/MS Analysis Report. This stands for Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry and is a report done at a labratory which provides a full listing of all the chemical constituents found within an essential oil, at what percentage that chemical constituent is at for that particular batch. This is really important for an Aromatherapist to know as it helps to inform us of safety and efficacy of our formulations when using an essential oil. For example, a GC/MS report will tell you that in a bottle of Rosemary Essential Oil (Rosmarinus officinalis), you can typically find the following chemical constituents: TRICYCLENE 0.32% ALPHA-PINENE 24.16% BETA-PINENE 4.11% PINADIENE 0.27% FENCHENE 0.13% CAMPHENE 8.77% CAMPHOR 18.48% BETA-MYRCENE 3.320% ALPHA-PHELLANDRENE 0.370% ALPHA-TERPINENE 0.500% GAMMA-TERPINENE 0.630% TERPINOLENE 0.480% TERPINENE-4-OL 0.530% ALPHA-TERPINEOL 1.590% LIMONENE * 4.080 % etc...... The percentages will vary depending on batch, country the rosmary plant was harvested in, temperator, soil type, weather, climate, altitude, etc..... The GC/MS does Not reveal 'trade' or 'industry' or 'proprietry' or 'confidential' information as I expect to see most of these chemical constituents within rosemary essential oil at various percentages with some minor differences here or there. The GC/MS also tells you what CHEMOTYPE (if applicable) an essential oil is which is EXTREMELY important for safety. For example, In Essence sells Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) essential oil, but nowhere on the label or their website does it tell you what chemotype it is. A chemotype stands for chemical type and based on the above mentioned factors, country of origin, climate, etc, certain aromatic plants can produce chemical types within the same genus and species of aromatic plant. In the case of Rosemary, you can get 1,8 cineole chemotype, camphor chemotype or verbenone chemotype. In Basil which In Essence also sells, you can get methyl chavicol (estragole) chemotype, linalool chemotype, methyl eugenol chemotype, and methyl cinnamate chemotype. Why is this important? Depending on the chemotype, you would use the essential oil differently and the safe dilutions for that essential oil and potential drug interactions also differ greatly. Example - Basil linalool chemotype is considered the gentlest and most safe with no known safety issues though its best to dilute it at a maximum of 1.5-3.30%. Basil methyl chavicol (estragole)chemotype however can be very very dangerous and has a maximum dermal dilution of 0.005% according to IFRA and the EU or 0.01% by Tisserand & Young.AVOID IF... This essential oil is anti-coagulant, which means it can thin the blood. Avoid inhaling, using topically, or ingesting if using aspirin or other blood thinners, or before and after surgery (estragole chemotype). This essential oil is potentially carcinogenic (estragole chemotype). As you can see GC/MS is VERY important for an Aromatherapy company to provide. WHy is it that the Australian company Perfect Potions can provide GC/MS for their oils, and various internatinal aromatherapy companies such as Swiss Aromatics, Florihana, Aromatics International, Plant Therapy, Oshandhi, NHR Organics, Still Point Aromatics, etc can ALL supply these documents, and infact, you DONT EVEN NEED TO ASK as at the minimum, GC/MS reports are instantly available to download as PDF documents from their website for EACH batch of essential oil and for those who don't have COA's or MSDS/SDS on their website, you can ASK them for a copy and they will happily send you one. Not make BS excuses and lies like In Essence and their other brand Oil Garden does. They only reason I can think they are not wanting to provide GC/MS reports would be if their essential oils are NOT natural, containing synthetic or adulterative ingredients which the GC/MS can reveal to a certain extent. Outside of this lack of transparency, their oils are overprices for getting 9ml bottle of essential oil. Example, their 9ml Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) conventional essential oil from France costs $24.95 AUD where as I can purchase 17.05mls of a very high quality high altitude and certified organic Lavender from Florihana (French company) for $18.74 USD. 8mls of In Essence Tea Tree costs $16.95 where as Ahimsa Oils (Australian company) you can get 20mls for $13.90. 9mls of their Lemon Myrtle costs $21.95 where as Essentially Australia (Aussie company), sells a 25ml higher quality lemon myrtle for $24.95. Ontop of that, MOST of their therapeutic blends have the same old essential oils in them and their Diffusers are the worst on the market. I have purchased a few of their diffusers over the years for example their Alarm clock diffuser which stopped working within a year. The only thing In Essences seems to know how to do is create a new look to their label. They claim to be innovative and trend setters yet their range of indivduals oils has not changed in YEARS, their diffusers are over-priced versions of diffusers that were previously avaialble on the market BEFORE inessence stocked them. Example, Florihana, Aromatics International, etc sold Waterless Diffusers YEARS BEFORE In Essence ever sold them.