A hard lesson learned in buying EOs

[Dana89]

I have been buying some really great Fragrance Oils every once in a while from an Ebay supplier. The name is Ribby Rue if you are interested in checking those out.
I usually get Essential Oils from Piping Rock and have been very happy with them, good oils great price, sales all the time, but I have been sticking to Lavender, Lemon, Peppermint, rosemary and Eucalyptus. That's as much as I can afford since there is no return on what I make.
Anyway back to Ebay, I was checking out Ribby Rue's EOs and thought while the prices are not bad, I wished they were cheaper, and of course there are ads for other EO suppliers so I checked one out and was thrilled to see 8oz 100% pure Lavender EO for 17 dollars and Rosemary 4 oz for $8. (Yeah I know I should have know better)
To be fair I did look at the feedback for unsaid company, I don,t know the exact #s but out of around 5000 feedback the negative FB was around 200 so I thought that was pretty good.
To make a long story even longer, when they arrived they smelled like Diesal or something petroleum, just so bad,:sick:.
My question is what is that smell? That happened to me once before/different company. Do the EOs smell like that when they go bad?
On the upside they have a money back guarantee so I sent them back a couple of weeks ago and was refunded my money. They are sooo condasending, on their replys to others with this same complaint they always say "our oils are so pure some people just cannot handle the smell".:evil: Anyone know what that Turpentine/petro smell is or if that can be caused naturally?

 

[lsg]

I have several essential oils in my basement that are a couple of years old and they don't smell like diesel. I am guessing that these oils were extracted using solvents.

 

[Dana89]

If using solvents for extraction makes them smell that bad, then I have know clue as too why anyone would buy them.
They said they were steam distilled. Not that I believe anything they say.

 

[galaxyMLP]

Solvent extracted EO's should not smell like that either. The solvents (often hexane) are evaporated off. There should be no residual smell at all. If so, they were extracted improperly. It sounds like these were either adultered with a solvent or (less likely) really really old and kept improperly.

ETA: I have also purchased at piping rock and have been very happy. My first (and only) experience with them was when they had a sale right after the holidays and so many EO's were so cheap I was afraid that they would be cut with something. They really are great though. I spent $26 and got 2 oz each, tangerine, grapefruit, cinnamon bark, and cedarwood oil.

 

[lsg]

You can always contact the supplier and ask to return the products for a refund. If they sell on Ebay, they surely won't want a bad review.

I did some research and came up with this:

"The use of solvents in the boiler water: This increases oil production by as much as 18 percent. However, when you put a chemical into the water and force it with steam into the plant, it causes a fracturing of the molecular structure of the oil, altering its fragrance and constituents. It is also impossible to separate out the chemicals from the oil after they come through the condenser. It should be noted, as well, that the chemical contamination resulting from this will totally wipe out the energentic benefits of the oil.
the adulteration of essential oils with synthetic chemicals or "extenders" is of even greater concern."


https://secure.eznettools.net/D305742/X367200/refs/cheapOils.html

I don't know if this is why the oils you purchased have an off smell, just a guess.

 

[Dana89]

@Galaxy-Yeah Piping Rock is great, not a big selection but they have BOGO sales all time and that is when I usually get some.
@ISG- They already refunded my money. They do have a no questions asked return policy, it is a hassle I wish I didn,t have to go through.
I guess I am looking for an answer other than someone is cutting the oils and selling them, but I really think they must be, Where else could you buy 8oz of French Lavender for 17 dollars. They could not be making a profit if they weren't doing something wrong is what my gut tells and I that there are people at every corner trying to rip people off.

 

[Cjchrissy]

8 ounces 17 dollars?

Is this an essential oil or a fragrance oil? I pay about 20 an ounce if not more for lavender...canadian dollar...I will have to check this company out although it can bea problem bringing essentials oils into canada...

 

[Dana89]

@Chrissy- it was supposed to be EO but that is the problem, it smelled terrible, like gasoline. I do suggest Piping Rock and signing up for their sales and you can get good EOs at a fair price.
You should be able to get Lavender EO for much cheaper than 20 dollars an ounce at a lot of places.

 

[tbeck3579]

I know you can buy oil cheaper, but it really depends on the oil -- where, who, what, and when harvested, etc. I like being able to choose where my oil comes from, and I've found this source to be good. Mind you, when I can I process my own, which isn't "therapeutic" grade by any means, I do. My experience with this company has been limited to a few selections. So far, it is "as advertised".

 

[Obsidian]

I've smelled EO's oob that were terrible. My lemongrass has a almost turpentine like smell, its from being so concentrated. In soap, its a wonderful pure lemon scent.
There is a soap supply store nearby I go to once in awhile. I always smell their EO's and am surprised by the awful oob smell. The soaps they make with them smell great though. You can't always judge EO's by oob scent, they aren't like FO's.

 

[tbeck3579]

I've smelled EO's oob that were terrible. My lemongrass has a almost turpentine like smell, its from being so concentrated. In soap, its a wonderful pure lemon scent.
There is a soap supply store nearby I go to once in awhile. I always smell their EO's and am surprised by the awful oob smell. The soaps they make with them smell great though. You can't always judge EO's by oob scent, they aren't like FO's.

My experience with concentrated EO's are limited to the label expressly stating something like "5X's". I'm wondering if putting a few drops of the highly concentrated oil in some water and checking the fragrance before you use it will give a better indication of the final result??? Some things stink, but after "cooking" they are great. Some things stink, and after you cook with them, you throw it all away because it still stinks :sick:

 

[Obsidian]

It would probably be better to dilute it in a bit of oil instead of water. I'll have to test the theory with my lemongrass but it should work.

 

[DeeAnna]

Essential oils are tested by putting one drop on a strip of perfumer's paper. You can approximate a test strip by cutting a coffee filter into 1 inch wide strips the length of the filter.

Smell the EO right after application, 10 minutes after, 30 minutes, 1 hour, and so on up to 24 hours. Don't bury your nose in the strip -- waft it around in the air in front of your face. Record your impressions of the scent after each test.

If your nose gets overloaded or if you're testing 2-3 EOs at one time, take a whiff of coffee beans (or a bit of ground coffee) after each test. That will refresh your smeller.

After 24 hours, look at the test strip. There shouldn't be an oily stain -- the EO should be pretty much evaporated at this point (although some EOs do discolor the strip). If there is an oily spot, it's likely the EO was cut with a carrier oil.

I do this with fragrance oils as well. It does give you a better idea of how a fragrance will smell when put into a product, although scenting lye soap is always something of an adventure -- the fragrance sometimes takes awhile to stabilize and mature in soap.

 

[cmzaha]

I purchased Lime EO from WSP a few years ago. It smelled like 3 day old dead fish, and they would not take it back. Told me they checked the lot batch and it was fine. I love lime and I had to just dump it.

 

[tbeck3579]

After 24 hours, look at the test strip. There shouldn't be an oily stain -- the EO should be pretty much evaporated at this point (although some EOs do discolor the strip). If there is an oily spot, it's likely the EO was cut with a carrier oil.

Cool! Good info -- I didn't realize they wouldn't leave an oil stain! A great way to check the EO.

 

[Aline]

I think the most likely thing is that this is fragrance oil, not essential oil....

 

[HappyHomeSoapCo]

The first time I smelt palmarosa eo oob I thought it was disgusting and was so disappointed! But now after using it in several batches, I'm in love.

 

[VerdantGrace]

The first time I smelt palmarosa eo oob I thought it was disgusting and was so disappointed! But now after using it in several batches, I'm in love.

I had the same response to palmarosa! Hubby just shrugged and told me to put it in a batch of body butter. Loved it after that.

 

[Dana89]

I've smelled EO's oob that were terrible. My lemongrass has a almost turpentine like smell, its from being so concentrated. In soap, its a wonderful pure lemon scent.
There is a soap supply store nearby I go to once in awhile. I always smell their EO's and am surprised by the awful oob smell. The soaps they make with them smell great though. You can't always judge EO's by oob scent, they aren't like FO's.

That is exactly what they smelled like. Lemongrass was one of them that had a strong turpentine smell as well as Lavender. Well I hope I didn't return good EOs.I have bought both before a few time from other places but they never had that turpentine smell.

 

[Rune]

I bought several essential oils from a company in the UK. Only two of them were great. But those two were extremely great, the sandalwood and vetiver. The other, oh lord! They have this gasoline/turpentine/acetone/solvent type of smell. Worst are the patchouli, Atlas cedarwood and benzoin. And, stupid me, I bought 50ml bottles of each :-(

But I will test them on a coffee filter strip, as some of you wrote, to see if they change from bad to beautiful. If not, I will try to dillute a drop of each in oil, let them sit for a while to breath and see what happens. I do hope they will turn out great after something has evaporated. I would hate to throw them away. If I'm lucky, they smell like something from a garage because they are so concentrated. The patchouli is for sure concentrated, I tried to wear and guess if it was strong! My mother was choking! Vetiver and sandalwood is not that strong, and don't smell used motor oil, so maybe it is a relation between that gasoline smell and strenght of the scent?

But their vetiver is out of this world! I am totally in love with it! It's vetiver from Haiti. It's not earthy, other than the first minutes, but more like a sophisticated men's cologne. But I bought only 10ml of that after reading a very bad review about their vetiver being not from Haiti but something cheap from elswere and stinking. Well, I have no idea, but it is the total opposite of stinking.

I think Atlas cedarwood maybe is the worst. It's like an ashtray filled with gasoline, sat on fire and sprinkled with sawdust and rubber, or something like that. Horrible! But I do hope it can turn into a wood cabin scent. Maybe cold process is the best, so that the lye can eat most of the scent and maybe transform it. But I will not waste soaping oils before I have some clue if it will change into something better or not.