Brand Review: Plant Therapy Essential Oils

Searching for essential oils online is like trying to read through the Cheesecake Factory menu before your waiter comes back for the third time: too many choices, too little time! (For the record, not a Cheesecake Factory fan)

If you’ve ever looked online for essential oils there is no doubt that you were overwhelmed with long blog posts and big essential oil companies’ opinions. Everyone seems to have an opinion on where to buy essential oils these days. And because the essential oil market is unregulated, when you see the phrase, “best essential oil company” –it’s very subjective. 

Essential oils are everywhere these days: your grocery store, closest gas station, and right on your computer. But why so  suddenly do so many places seem to be selling essential oils? Well, with natural remedies and strategies making a comeback for common issues like trouble sleeping, anxiety, low energy, and boosting the immune system, demand for essential oils has gone up. 

You’ve probably found yourself here because you’re on the hunt for essential oils and you want to know what the best brand is to buy from. Maybe you’ve heard people rave about Plant Therapy essential oils and maybe you want to give them a try. Well, you’re in luck! In this article, I’m going to deep dive into Plant Therapy essential oils and review and rate them based on a scale of A+ to F based on price, selection, and quality. To check out the specifics of our rating scale go here. By the end of this article, you’ll know if Plant Therapy essential oils is the brand for you. 

When looking for your perfect essential oil brand, it’s critical that you have a clear goal in mind. Why do you want essential oils? Are you looking to whip up some DIY cleaning recipes or do you want specific therapeutic benefits? 

If you’re looking to just make some all-natural cleaning products then a cheaper not-so-pure brand is not the worst  idea. But if you want therapeutic benefits, a pure brand that passed all the tests with flying colors is what you need.

The Basics: Who is Plant Therapy Essential Oils? 

The goal at Plant Therapy is to “have the greatest possible impact on as many people as possible.” So far, so good. But they’re going to need some real proof to back that up. 

They are a people-first company noting that they operate with absolute integrity and transparency. They promise to watch for ways to grow and be flexible. 

It’s hard not to like Plant Therapy essential oils. Right off the bat, the website has an approachable, family-friendly feel that I really like.  Learning more about the company, I discovered that it’s a family owned business (love!) and you can tell that they care about their company and most importantly, their customers. First impression: very good vibes.

I love how open they are to feedback from both their employees and customers, always with an attitude of competing with themselves. They don’t want to “beat” anyone else, they just want to be better than they were yesterday. One of my favorite things is when a company appreciates other companies like themselves because they all have a similar goal. 

Price

Plant Therapy oils are priced in the average range. Some of their oils are below average market price and some of them are right about the same or a bit higher. Here’s a breakdown of some of the more popular essential oils and how they are priced:

Lavender $29.85 for 15 mL* 

Frankincense $38.95 for 15 mL* 

Peppermint $11.24 for 15 mL*

*Note: They don’t actually carry 15 mL sizes. They have a variety, but these numbers were calculated by multiplying the 5 mL size in order to compare (apples to apples) to other brands.

Something to remember here is that affordable prices don’t automatically assure quality, which we will get into a little later as breaking news just came out. 

Selection

They have a large selection of single oils, blends (which they call Synergies) and even a line of essential oils just for kids called KidSafe. Plant Therapy Oils also have a wide variety of organic essential oils. What you may also find helpful is that they sell their oils in multiple sizes. So there’s a range between 5mL and 100mL depending on what you need. That can be helpful to keep costs down for more premium oils or to load up on oils that you use all the time.

Quality

They have information on their site about the steps that they take to ensure quality when supplying their essential oils. What was missing for me is that beyond the GC/MS test, they don’t share specifics on what tests they run. They are a few more I’d like to see, like Refrac ve Index and FTIR. These are pretty standard tests for essential oil quality.

What I will say is that they have partnered with Robert Tisserand, a well-respected essential oil authority on safety. He is also who they linked arms with to come up with their KidSafe line of essential oils. They also use third-party testing which is  normally a good sign.

The Problem: Although Plant Therapy claims they ethically and sustainably source, there is no evidence of this. While they note country of origins, they do not specifically provide which country your specific oil came from. The lack of transparency here sets off an alarm. This means that consumers do not know exactly where their oils come from and if they are actually ethically and sustainably harvested. 

Consumers Advocate ran testing on Plant Therapy’s essential oils to see if their claims of purity and strict quality assurance held up. They sent 3 of their essential oils out for testing and results came back that 2 of those tested positive for adulteration.  The results found synthetic markers of linalyl acetate in lavender oil as well as synthetic markers of menthol and menthyl acetate of their peppermint oil. Two of their most popular oils. 

This is extremely disheartening as Plant Therapy has been one of the leaders in essential oil companies in the market. 

Plant Therapy Essential Oil Rating 

Bottom Line: Before reading the Consumer Advocates report, I loved what I saw on Plant Therapy’s site. They provide customers with serious essential oil education through  videos, blogs, and guides. They also partner with universities and hold charity events. My main problem I have here is that they need to provide more details about their sourcing and testing procedures to ensure the safety of the consumer. This is crucial, especially because they offer Kid’s lines as well as Pup & Pony line. 

Here are some other things I do like. Plant Therapy offers free shipping in the U.S. and internationally (for orders over $50). Plus, they have a generous return policy. If a company doesn’t offer returns, that’s an immediate flag that they aren’t selling authentic products.  

Plant Therapy Essential Oils gets a B on our rating scale. The have a fabulous selection and average pricing, but I’m not sure I would make the trade-off after reading Consumer Advocates report. While they offer lines for kids and pets, I’m not sure I would feel comfortable using these essential oils on my children- and I wouldn’t recommend them to a friend with a pet. 

Plant Therapy Essential Oils may be for you if you’re looking to create DIY cleaning recipes and aromatherapy benefits. If you’re looking to reap therapeutic benefits though, I’m not positive these will offer sure-fire results after their adulteration testing results. 

As I mentioned in the beginning, Plant Therapy says that they are always ready to grow and are always flexible. If this is the case, then Plant Therapy needs to expand on their sourcing, harvesting, and quality testing. 

Have you used Plant Therapy essential oils? What was your experience? Do you think you will give them a try after today’s review?! Drop a comment below and let’s chat!