You might be surprised at the number of aromatherapy myths floating around social media, like Facebook and Pinterest. Some are simply ridiculous, lacking any science or logic behind them, others are designed to sell you something by appealing to your emotions or faith. What all of them lack is any credibility and have been disproven by history, science, and plain ol' fact.
Since the majority, if not all, of these myths have been started and spread by the essential oil mlms, DO NOT just swallow what a sales rep tells you. They are trying to sell you something, and like many used car salesmen, will say whatever necessary to close the deal.
Essential Oil Myths
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Aromatherapy Myths |
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Myth |
Truth |
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FEET are the best place to apply essential oils due to the
large pores. |
The "pores" are actually
sweat glands, which flow outwards and don't switch directions to pull
anything inside. |
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Cheap Diluted Oils Legal: FDA says to be labeled 100% pure, there only needs to
be 2-10% essential oil in the product |
FDA has nothing to do with labeling. |
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GRAS = Safe for Ingestion: FDA has certified essential oils as GRAS (Generally
Regarded As Safe) |
The FDA GRAS designation is for food additives,
but does not mean they are safe to ingest by themselves. Two totally
different applications. So using a single drop of oregano EO in a huge pot of
spaghetti sauce, doesn't mean that filling and
swallowing a veggie cap with the same oil is safe. |
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Pure essential oils won't freeze |
If you get the temperature low enough
every essential oil will freeze |
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Don't Like it? You Need It: Not liking the smell of an oil just means your body
really needs it |
The sense of smell is vital to
survival as it identifies those spoiled or poisonous things to stay away
from. Ignore it at your peril. Don't like the smell? Try another
oil. |
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Therapeutic Grades Oils: There are different grades of oil, such as therapeutic, pharmaceutical,
cosmetic, etc. |
There is no agency that certifies
essential oils or grades them. "Therapeutic grade" and other such
terms are pure marketing and have no basis is reality. |
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Quality essential oils will last
decades |
Eventually all oils will go bad due
to oxidation, some sooner than others, most notably citrus, which have a very
limited lifespan. |
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Lavender and Camphor: A
good quality lavender (lavandula angustifolia) will never smell the least little bit like
camphor. |
Actually lavender will always have at
least a hint of camphor…it's just a part of the plant oil. In fact, you
should be more concerned by a lavender that doesn't
have a hint of camphor! |
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Jesus Was Anointed with Essential
Oils: Essential oils are mentioned in the Bible,
were used by Cleopatra and found in Petra |
While aromatic materials are
mentioned in the Bible and ancient writings, they were not essential oils as
we know them. The process of distillation was NOT invented until about the
11th century. What was used before then were crude extractions yielding very
little therapeutic value compared to modern essential oils |
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Essential Oils have Vibrational
Frequencies |
Absolutely, unscientific, a scam
designed by those with understanding of quantum mechanics. Don't fall for it. |
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You're Just Detoxing: It's Not an Allergic Reaction, it's just your body
detoxing. |
No. If you're applying essential oils
neat or not diluted enough to your skin, and you break out with a rash or
other skin irritation, you're having an allergic reaction. STOP USING THE
OIL! |
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Essential Oils are the Life's
Blood of the Plant |
Not true. Essential oils are not
alive, especially since they are actually produce by
the destruction of the plant material in a process with temperatures of
200°F. Not much survives those kinds of temperatures. |
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For more information about essential
oil myths from an expert in the field, visit Essential Oil University on
Facebook |
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