Eden Botanicals has been around since 1985. I’ve only ever seen people say good things about this company. The fact that they’ve been around for 30 years and have a seemingly impeccable reputation made them a company that I was happy to take a closer look at.
I received products free of charge from Eden Botanicals in order to write a comprehensive company profile that includes my personal experience with the oils/products. This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the affiliate links, Marvy Moms will receive a percentage of any sale. This does not affect the amount you will pay for an item or service and in no way changes opinions expressed by Marvy Moms or Marvy Moms writers. For more info, see Marvy Moms Disclosure Policy.
Owned by: Josh Kloepping
Person Interviewed: Kyanne Goelz, Office Manager (“Our Lab Manager and Purchaser also chimed in on many of my answers”)
Interview Method: Email
Number of Employees: 5
Location: Petaluma CA
Website: www.edenbotanicals.com
Number of Single Oils Sold: 237 (includes absolutes and CO2 Extracts)
Other Products Sold: Essence Blends, Carrier Oils, Hydrosols, Diffusers (including skin patches), Sample Packs, Books, Occasional Classes with Experts such as Jeanne Rose and Robert Tisserand.
Oils Received:
Grapefruit, Ruby Red (Citrus paradisi)
Lavender, High Elevation (Lavendula angustifolia)
Patchouli, Dark (Pogostemon cablin)
Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia)
Vetiver, Haiti Organic (Vetiveria zizaniodes)
Other Samples Received:
Amber Essence Oil (Proprietary Blend)
Patchouli Amber Spice (Proprietary Blend)
Rose Essence Oil (Proprietary Blend)
What’s on the bottle:
Oil name
Botanical name
Plant Part Used
Distillation Method
Stock Number (also as a QR Code)
Country of Origin
Volume (number of ml)
Website Address
“Keep Out of Reach of Children / Avoid Eyes & Sensitive Skin / Always Dilute this Product / External Use Only”
What’s in the bottle:
I absolutely love the High Elevation Lavender and Ruby Red Grapefruit from Eden Botanicals. Patchouli is not usually one of my favorites, but I actually don’t mind this one so much. I wouldn’t want to use it without blending it with something, but it’s not bad. Vetiver is another one that I don’t like much on it’s own, but the grounding properties of Vetiver make it a nice addition to blends that I am drawn to. The tea tree has an expected camphorous smell.
I especially like the scent of the Essence Blend samples that Eden Botanicals sent to me. They have a sweet perfume-like scent that would be perfect for natural fragrances. I like that their website lists what is in each of the blends, including what percent of the whole blend is essential oil versus carrier oil. This makes it easier to decide a final dilution for a fragrance blend. I’m thinking of using one of the Amber Essence blends to create a roller bottle. One of their customers says that she has been using the Amber Essence blend for about 20 years. I can see why.
As stated in the first question below, Eden Botanicals does not put orifice reducers on their bottles. They make them available as a separate purchase, but they are not standard. They were kind enough to send me some reducers as well as disposable pipettes. I can see the benefit to not having the reducers for people making big batches of products, however I don’t see how that applies so much to the smaller sized bottles. If someone is using the oils commercially, then they would typically be buying in much larger quantities. A bottle with no orifice reducer makes me much more nervous about opening the bottle. I’m so used to having them there, that I’m afraid I’ll forget and be careless enough to cause a spill. This is even more of a concern with people (like me) with small children that may become curious and open a bottle. There is a much higher potential of disasters when the oils can so easily spill without an orifice reducer in place. If you order from Eden Botanicals, I highly recommend buying enough orifice reducers to put on your bottles. It’s not a reason not to order from them, but something to be aware of just the same. I made sure to put the orifice reducer in place before I used their tea tree to make up a respiratory inhaler.
Is Eden Botanicals dedicated to supplying essential oils to the aromatherapy practitioner market and educated public?
“We provide our oils at bulk pricing for a range of different customers including manufacturers, distributors, retail stores, aromatherapy practitioners, natural perfumers and hobbyists. For retailers, distributors or hobbyists, please note that our oils are not packaged retail ready. This means that they come in standard Boston Round amber glass bottles without tamper resistant caps or orifice (drop) reducers. It is particularly important that those new to ordering at Eden Botanicals be advised of this so as to not be caught unaware. We do sell orifice reducers as a separate accessory for the smaller sizes and will be getting them in soon for the larger sizes as well, though for proper drop measuring we recommend using disposable pipettes. For blending purposes, our plastic disposable pipettes are actually preferred over the orifice reducers for the control and accuracy they offer. And we definitely recommend the use of pipettes for more viscous oils, which do not pass easily through a reducer (ex: Vetiver, Cocao Absolute, Sandalwood).”
Is Eden Botanicals on the small size and not a large corporation?
“Eden Botanicals is a privately held company, a small tight-knit group of aromatherapy and natural perfumer enthusiasts. Despite our small size, we pride ourselves in offering excellent customer service. We are always happy to answer your questions, either by phone, email or the Aromatherapy 101 section of our website.
We have only five full-time employees at this time, and are a tight-knit group, with the owner present to help out with day-to-day operations.”
Is Eden Botanicals owned by an aromatherapy practitioner or essential oil specialist?
“Eden is not owned by an aromatherapy practitioner or essential oil specialist. However, among our staff we have an Aromatherapist who has studied extensively in traditional French medical aromatherapy and an Aromatherapist/product formulator with 20 plus years in the natural skin and body care industry.”
Do you have relations with your distillers?
“We work with small farms around the world, as well as with very reputable distillers and processors who procure their plant material from smaller farms, and larger growers who process their own oils. We have established very strong working relationships with these individuals – most for decades. Every oil we bring in must meet our standards before we sell it to our customers. We trust our growers and processors to keep this level of quality.
We do work with a couple of distributors for a small fraction of our oils. We’ve been working with them for a long time and have found them to supply the quality of oil that meets our standards. If ever an oil of questionable quality comes into our facility, it does not go on to our shelves or out to our customers.”
Can Eden Botanicals readily supply a batch-specific GC/MS spec report on each essential oil it sells?
“Many of our distillers supply up-to-date GC/MS reports on the oils we purchase. However, some distillers do not provide a GC/MS with every batch of oil we receive. If you see a COA (Certificate of Analysis) with the components listed and no percentages on our website, this means that we have a GC/MS on file that doesn’t apply to the specific batch we currently have in stock. We don’t make false claims about the level of constituents in an oil without having the analysis to back it up. This gives a general overview of what constituents the oil contains.
Unfortunately, some of our suppliers do not provide any GC/MS information at all. This doesn’t mean that they are trying to hide anything from us, but more likely that they don’t have access to the proper equipment to perform the test. These are suppliers that we have worked with for a number of years, and we have found them to consistently produce high quality oil. That being said, a GC/MS is now one of the requirements we have when sourcing new oils.
Sometime this next year we are planning to set up our own lab to have the capability to provide analysis ourselves, though the presence of a GC/MS in itself is not a mark of oil purity. One must have a strong background in organic chemistry and a familiarity with the chemical composition of essential oils to understand and analyze the data they provide.”
Is Eden Botanicals readily able to provide material safety data sheets (MSDS) as needed?
“Both MSDS and COA are readily available on our website as downloadable PDF files. However, a note to the hobbyist about Material Safety Data Sheets, the MSDS can be a great source of confusion for those who are not familiar with them. Our MSDS’s contain a section labelled ‘V: Health Hazard Information’. This section contains the following information:
May be irritating to skin and eyes
Vapor may be irritating to throat and lungs
Breathing high concentrations of vapor may cause anesthetic effects
Repeated contact may cause allergic dermatitis
To clarify, the information present under “V: Health Hazard Information” is a blanket statement required on all Material Safety Data Sheets for concentrated substances such as essential oils. The information in the MSDS is really meant for those working in a lab/manufacturing facility where large drums of essential oils and other volatile ingredients are being handled. It is a warning that individuals with certain sensitivities MAY have a reaction when handling very large quantities. This warning is not always applicable to the hobbyist working in smaller quantities.”
Does Eden Botanicals have a strong unquestioned noncontroversial reputation in the field?
“Eden Botanicals has been in the industry since 1985 and our reputation as a purveyor of high quality essential oils and extracts is VERY important to us. We are proud that such aromatherapy luminaries as Jeanne Rose and Robert Tisserand stand by our company and the quality of our oils. I can honestly say that our reputation is unquestioned and noncontroversial. On the very rare occurrence that we have had an individual question our integrity, we have done whatever it takes to get to the bottom of the issue, ending in another satisfied customer.”
Have you been in the field for a number of years and are you well known to other aromatherapy practitioners and/or educators?
See above.
What makes Eden Botanicals different?
“We have a 30-year veteran of French Medical Aromatherapy on staff as well as an herbalist and aesthetician. We don’t just buy and decant, we have loads of experience and are very discriminating. We also have long-time associations with our suppliers and a trust is built upon that. Our customer service is extraordinary, our oils are 100% guaranteed, we keep fresh batches, use cold storage, etc. Wholesale is a feature as well as very fast order fulfillment. Most orders, if they arrive at our facility before 2 pm Pacific/Standard time will ship out the same day. Also, there is free shipping for all orders over $250 shipped via UPS Ground within the continental US. We do ship internationally which many of our competitors don’t offer. One of our biggest incentives is our sample policy. We have samples available of each of our 260+ essential oils and extracts available for $2.00 – $3.00 apiece. We think it is VERY important to offer samples for our customers to try before investing in larger quantities. This is particularly helpful for Natural Perfumers looking to purchase our more precious and costly oils. Sampler Packs are also offered which allow our customers to compare different versions of our more popular oils such as Lavender, Patchouli, Sandalwood, and Neroli. You could compare a Lavender from France to a Lavender from Bulgaria or determine the difference between different Sandalwood species. And last but not least, we also have a free sample policy: For every $20 spent, our customers are eligible for one free sample (there is a cap of six free samples per order).”
My Impressions of Eden Botanicals
Eden Botanicals has an amazing variety of essential oils (including absolutes and CO2 Extracts) and many that I’ve never even heard of before. Some of the ones I’d love to try include Butter CO2, Beeswax Absolute, and Tonka Bean. They also have Yuzu which is a citrus oil I’ve been wanting to try, but not many places carry it. The free or low-cost samples would be the perfect way to try these oils. I love that they have sampler packs of Frankincense & Myrrh, Jasmine, Lavender, Neroli, Patchouli, Rose, Sandalwood, and Ylang Ylang. This is an economical way of trying variations and really getting to know a specific essential oil in the many different ways it’s available. Some of the samples are tiny (6 drops), yet more than enough to make smart future purchasing decisions.
The Eden Botanicals website has some good basic information, including an FAQ section that has definitions for things like essential oils, Absolutes, CO2 Extracts, Organic Extracts and Hydrosols. They have a long recommended reading list, including many books that they do not sell. They also have a blog that has some recipes and general aromatherapy information. In October 2013, they wrote an article about why they stopped using the term “therapeutic grade” to describe their oils. I love that they made this change and that they were so open about it.
Each essential oil on their website has an overview of the oil as well as information about its aromatic profile, appearance, suggested uses, blending suggestions, a list of other oils it blends well with, and safety considerations. I do think that some of their safety information could be updated. Since they are an older company I have a feeling that some of the descriptions were written before current safety information was put out. For instance, the information under Eucalyptus, Narrow Leaf (Eucalyptus radiata) states under safety information that, “Great all-purpose oil, antiseptic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and expectorant. Camphor-free, it is an excellent respiratory remedy, especially for children and elders.” Eucalyptus radiata may not contain camphor, but it is close to 70% 1,8-cineole which is shown to slow down breathing to a dangerous level in small children. Menthol can have the same effect, however, their description of peppermint contains the safety considerations of “Avoid use with small children, elders, epileptics, pregnant and/or nursing women.” A little better, but it would be nice if they could also include the “why” of these precautions.
Eden Botanicals makes the statement that, “As always, we promise our oils are 100% pure and natural, genuine and authentic – 100% satisfaction guaranteed.” From what I’ve experienced with them so far, this seems to be true.
The post The Top 3 Essential Oils I Want to Try From Eden Botanicals appeared first on Marvy Moms.