Why are certain essential oils more expensive than others?
Different plants yield different amounts of essential oils
Extracting essential oil from a plant can vary according to the plant material used. Some require a small amount to produce the essential oil, while others require an enormous amount of raw material to extract a small amount of usable oil. That process is obviously more expensive and time-consuming.
Different yields ratios to produce an oil
Sweet Orange oil
100KG of sweet orange peel is required to produce 200-400Ml of essential oil. The process can happen anytime during the harvest season with little or no variation in the essential oils produced.
Rose Oils
On the other hand, 3.5-4 tons of roses are required to produce just 1kg of oil, and the process is more time-consuming. They also need to be harvested at a specific time during the early day to retain as much of the oil in the plant as possible, and it requires intensive manual labour to get the rose petals in the best condition.
Sustainability of endangered plant sources
Another reason might be the source of the oils and how rare and uncommon they are. Sandwood is an excellent example of that. Until a few decades ago, Hawaiian and Indian sandalwood was highly prized but common and available; however, over-harvesting and unsustainable farming have pushed it to extinction. It is now on the endangered species list, along with other wood oils. In response, Australian sandalwood has emerged as a more sustainable alternative but is still considered a precious and expensive oil. Sandalwood needs to be sourced responsibly to avoid negative environmental impacts and protect the precious resource and environment it comes from.
Know the source of your oil
Knowing the source of the essential oils used in blends can have a great impact on the environment it is harvested from and the people that rely on it.
Know what is in your oil
One way to avoid wasting expensive oils is to know the chemistry of the essential oil being used and to have a reason to use them. In some cases, you can substitute it with a more accessible and sustainably viable oil that can offer similar therapeutic value.
Substitute Oils when you can
Scent is a more difficult one to replace, but with clever blending a close match can be achieved. If scent is the only factor that you need out of a product, then natural identical or sometimes even synthetic scents that are expertly blended by trained perfumers and scent creators can be just as nice even if they lack the therapeutic values of a natural product.
