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Dealing with low energy? Poor focus? Sore muscles? Dry skin? An itchy scalp? Believe it or not, there’s an essential oil out there that may help alleviate some of your symptoms. But with so many options on the market, it can be hard to decipher what’s legitimately worth spending your money on.
To help you wade through the noise, we tapped aromatherapy experts for their help identifying the best essential oils brands out there. Keep scrolling to find out the ones worth shopping for every concern.
Best Essential Oils at a Glance
- Best Essential Oil for Sleep: Pura D’Or Lavender Essential Oil, $17.99
- Best Essential Oil for Improving Energy: Yoursy Energy Essential Oil Blend, $18.90
- Best Essential Oil for Boosting Your Mood: Vitruvi Boost Essential Oil Blend, $27.99
- Best Essential Oil for Calming Stress: Saje Stress Release, $28
- Best Essential Oil for Anxiety: Grove Co. Unwind Essential Oil Blend – Orange & Chamomile, $15
- Best Essential Oil for Focus: Neal’s Yard Focus Aromatherapy Blend, $19.60
- Best Essential Oil for Sore Muscles: NOW Essential Oils Eucalyptus Oil
, $14.95 - Best Essential Oil for Immunity: DoTERRA On Guard Essential Oil Protective Blend
, $50.67 - Best Essential Oil for Anti-Aging Skin Concerns: Plant Therapy Anti Age Essential Oil Blend, $23.99
- Best Essential Oil for Hair Growth: Rocky Mountain Oils Hair Support Essential Oil Blend
, $23.95
What Ingredients to Look for in Essential Oil, According to an Expert
When shopping for an essential oil, the shorter the ingredients list, the higher your chances are of it being better quality.
“An essential oil should be 100 percent pure, meaning that there is nothing in the bottle but the pure essential oil,” says aromatherapist Amy Galper. “So if you’re looking at a lavender oil, for example, the only ‘ingredient’ should be lavender oil. That said, pure essential oils are listed by their botanical names, so the ‘ingredient’ in lavender would be listed as ‘lavendula angustifolia.’”
From there, you can start to suss out which specific essential oil you should opt for based on your concerns. If you’re looking for something to relax you, Mikki Anderson, PURA D’OR’s in-house aromatherapist, recommends oils with linalool, which can be found in lavender, coriander, and basil, to name a few. If you want something that will help improve energy, and focus, opt for an oil that has limonene and menthol constituents, like lemon, rosemary, or peppermint.
What Ingredients to Avoid in Essential Oils, According to an Expert
When you select an essential oil that’s 100 percent pure, as experts recommend, you can be sure it doesn’t contain any filler ingredients that are best to avoid. “If there is anything else listed as an ‘ingredient’ aside from the scientific (botanical) name of the plant from which the essential oil is extracted from, then that product is actually NOT an essential oil,” says Galper. “Essential oils always are a single ingredient, a single aromatic plant extract.”
Though essential oils smell good, “fragrance” is also not something you want to see on your labels. “Steer clear of fragrance oils or the term ‘fragrant oil’ on the label—it usually indicates chemical additives for preservation and an enhanced aroma,” says Melike Atilgan, a NAHA Certified LEVEL 2 Professional Aromatherapist and the co-founder of Yoursy and The Banyo Co. “These blends often mix essential oils with synthetic chemicals, making them unsuitable for genuine aromatherapy.”
Additionally, certain pure essential oils may not be suitable for everyone. “Safety depends on many things, including health, medical and skin conditions, [alongside] age,” says Anderson. For example, cold-pressed citrus oils (like lemon, orange, and grapefruit) may irritate damaged skin, and wormwood, balsamite, camphor, Ho leaf, and Hyssop may cause seizures in those with epilepsy.
A few other “hazardous” essential oils that Anderson recommends steering clear of for topical use: Basil (estragole), camphor, (Safrole), cinnamon bark (Cinnamaldyhyde-do not use on skin), sage (Thujone), wintergreen (Methyll salicylate), and pennyrole (Pulegone).
How can you tell essential oils are good quality?
1. Shop from a reputable essential oil brand
“Look for an essential oil company that is transparent about their production methods and botanical sourcing, produced by steam distillation or cold pressed (CO2), and made with plant material only,” says Anderson. The good news? All the brands on our list fit the bill.
2. Check out ingredient sourcing and extraction practices
A good-quality essential oil should provide a lot of information about its ingredients—even if there’s only one of them in the bottle. “The geographical location of the plant should be listed on the label or in the product description, the part of the plant the essential oil comes from, and how it is extracted,” says Galper. “All essential oils are steam distilled, and the essential oils that come from citrus are cold-pressed or squeezed from the peels. So if the method of extraction says ‘solvent extracted,’ that tells us that it is not an essential oil.”
3. Examine the bottle
“Select oils in dark-colored, glass bottles,” says Atilgan. “Pure essential oils are potent and can erode plastic, affecting their quality. Most reputable companies use brown or blue glass containers to preserve the oil’s integrity.”
4. Do an at-home test
If you’ve brought home an essential oil and aren’t confident in its quality, there are a few things you can do to double-check it once it’s in hand.
Smell test
“Sometimes your nose can detect an odd smell to an expired essential oil or one that has been manipulated to smell a certain way,” says Anderson. “It just smells odd, harsh, or synthetic.”
Drop test
“If you drop a few drops of essential oil into the water chamber of your diffuser and the water turns cloudy or a milky white, that tells us the oil isn’t pure and it has been blended with a synthetic solubilizer,” says Galper. “If you place a few drops of the essential oil on a white sheet of paper and it stains the paper with a greasy ring, as if you spilled olive oil on it, that tells us the essential oil isn’t pure, but could be diluted or adulterated with a carrier oil or lipid-rich substance.”
What Is the Highest Grade of Essential Oils?
Fun fact: There currently isn’t a governing body to grade essential oils, so any “grade” you see on a bottle was determined by the company selling it.
“Essential oil grades essentially function as marketing terms, much like the phrase ‘Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade’ (CPTG), which is trademarked and exclusive to one essential oil company,” says Melik.
With that in mind, your best bet is to use the information above to determine whether or not an essential oil is legit (or shop our top picks down below).
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Pura D’Or Lavender Essential Oil
Pura D’Or Pros
- Affordable
- Available in multi-oil kits
- Third-party testing
Cons
- Less transparency than other essential oil brands on the market
As the experts mentioned, lavender contains a compound called linalool, which enhances relaxation and has been proven to help with sleep. Like all of Pura D’Or’s essential oils (which are crafted with Anderson’s help), this zen-inducing pick
is 100 percent pure, ethically sourced, USDA-certified organic, Leaping Bunny cruelty-free, and vegan. -
Yoursy Energy Pure Essential Oil Blend
Yoursy Pros
- Blends designed for specific needs/concerns
- Tested for purity
- Sustainable packaging
Cons
- Not recommended for topical use
- Expensive
Not only does Yoursy offer single-soruced essential oils and concern-focused blends (like this energy-boosting combination of eucalyptus, peppermint, spearmint, grapefruit, and basil), but the brand also allows you to take a quiz to create a customized oil that meets your unique needs. All products are developed under the guidance of Atilgan, tested for purity, and sold in sustainable packaging.
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Rocky Mountain Oils Hair Support Essential Oil Blend
RMO Pros
- Large catalogue of choices
- Sustainable sourcing
- Independent testing
Cons
- Only some of the essential oils in the line are certified organic
Rosemary oil has garnered a lot of buzz on social media for its ability to aid in hair growth, and experts say it actually works. In its Hair Support Blend
, Rocky Mountain Oils—which happens to be one of Galper’s favorite brands—combines rosemary with ylang ylang, ravintsara, cedarwood, holy basil, and sage to keep your strands as healthy as possible. What’s more, the brand puts each of its oils through three rounds of independent testing before they hit the market, so you can be sure you’re getting the best of the best when you buy. -
Plant Therapy Anti Age Essential Oil Blend
Plant Therapy Pros
- USDA and Leaping Bunny Certified
- Wide range of oils and blends
Cons
- Only some of the essential oils in the line are certified organic
Plant Therapy’s Anti Age Essential Oil Blend contains six botanical oils (namely, palmarosa, rosalina, copaiba balsam, frankincense serrata, frankincense carteri, sandalwood, neroli, and rose absolute) that are safe for topical use, and work together to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, fade discoloration, and improve elasticity (just make sure to dilute with a carrier oil to avoid any intense reactions). The brand’s products, in general, get the expert stamp of approval for being 100 percent pure.
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DoTERRA On Guard Protective Essential Oil Blend
doTERRA Pros
- Sustainably sourced
- Made from high-quality plants
- Purity Tested
Cons
- Pricier than other brands
DoTERRA’s On Guard Protective Blend
is made from immunity-boosting plants including wild orange peel, clove bud, cinnamon bark/leaf, eucalyptus leaf, and rosemary leaf/flower, and is safe to apply directly on your skin to help defend against environmental elements. All of DoTERRA’s oils are purity tested and responsibly sourced (the brand has even created its own Co-Impact Sourcing® Initiative to ensure responsible practices) from only the best plants around the world. -
NOW Foods Essential Oils Eucalyptus Oil
Now Essential Oils Pros
- Affordable
- Transparently sourced ingredients
- Non-GMO
- Cruelty-free
Cons
- Only some of the essential oils in the line are certified organic
NOW Eucalyptus Oil
is steam distilled from leaves and twigs to deliver a revitalizing and invigorating scent. Mix the essential oil with a carrier oil (like olive or almond) to apply to sore muscles, which will create a cooling effect that calms inflammation. -
Neal’s Yard Focus Aromatherapy Blend
Neal’s Yard Remedies Pros
- Certified organic by the UK Soil Association
- Cruelty-free
- Certified carbon neutral
Cons
- Pricier than other brands
A combination of “uplifting orange, stimulating rosemary, and refreshing spearmint” give this essential oil blend from Neal’s Yard its focus-friendly benefits. The brand is deeply transparent about its sourcing (you can see where nearly every ingredient comes from on its website), and partners with indigenous farming communities around the world to be sure its giving back just as much as its taking for its products.
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Grove Co. Unwind Essential Oil Blend – Orange & Chamomile
Grove co. Pros
- Blends designed for specific needs/concerns
- Certified organic
- Purity tested
- B Corp certified and cruelty-free
Cons
- Not recommended for topical use
Grove Co’s functional blends—like this Unwind scent made from orange and chamomile—are sustainably distilled from bark, leaves, and roots through steam processing (with the exception of fruit peels, which are cold pressed). Additionally, they’re housed in dark glass bottles (which, as you may remember, is what the pros recommend for keeping essential oils fresh for as long as possible) that are 98% plastic free. Though the brand’s products aren’t meant to be used topically, the company sells complementary products like diffusers, dryer balls, and spray bottles to help you add them to your routine.
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Saje Stress Release Soothing Diffuser Blend
Saje Pros
- 100% natural
- Generous return policy
- Cruelty-free
- Blends designed for specific needs/concerns
Cons
- Not recommended for topical use
- Pricier than other brands
Fun fact: Kendall Jenner is known to keep this stress-relieving essential oil in her purse to have on-hand any time she needs a whiff of something calming. It combines lavender, roman chamomile, and clary sage—all of which contain linalool—and like all of Saje’s oils, is 100 percent pure and natural.
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Vitruvi Boost Essential Oil Blend
Vitruvi Pros
- 100% pure, free from synthetics
- Vegan and cruelty-free
Cons
- Cannot be applied directly to the skin
This 100% pure oil features a mood-boosting blend of juniper, lime, grapefruit, and bergamot, all of which aromatherapists recommend for invoking happy feels.
Vitruvi’s oils are all 100 percent pure, free from synthetics, and certified vegan and cruelty-free. The brands products are all natural, but keep in mind that they’re designed to be used in a diffuser and shouldn’t be put directly on the skin.
