Why don't you carry doTerra (or Young Living) Essential Oils?

This is Part One in our essential oil series. Part Two is available here, where I talk specifically about the oils we do carry (Tisserand and Oshadhi) and why we chose them.

---

Since opening the store and getting to meet so many folks interested in essential oils, I have noticed a trend. Here in Columbus (and perhaps to a greater extent, smaller cities and towns throughout the USA), the companies of doTerra and Young Living (YL), who sell essential oils through an unfortunate multi-level marketing (MLM, or pyramid) scheme have a very strong foothold.

When I talk to people in the store about oils, they often reply with, "Oh I 'do' (emphasis theirs) doTerra." I try and be gracious, but as a shopkeeper whose mission is to educate and inform as much as it is to sell, I feel the need to explain why these companies are NOT the be-all and end-all in aromatherapy.

In fact, there are much higher quality oils that are more sustainably grown, ethically cultivated, sustainably harvested, and their manufacture is highly overseen every step of the way. You see, to use essential oils to is run through in incredible amount of plant material- and often this is done in a less than sustainable way. You need to be sure the company that you get them from isn't violating the planet in the name of (faux) healing.

I have noticed that some people get very defensive around their choice of oils. It is perplexing to me, as it is just another consumer choice and should not have identity or ego tied into it. Does the oil have legitimate therapeutic value? Is it cultivated and harvested in a way that is good for the planet? It is tested and does it list its constituents on the label? These are questions one should be asking, not necessarily "brand".

There's that bogus CPTG claim again!

And what is infuriating about doTerra in particular has been misleading the public that their oils are "so pure you can ingest them". No trained aromatherapist would advocate for ingestion without the regular supervision of a practitioner. Simply buying "On Guard" from their product line and taking them is reckless and irresponsible. The other day at the farmer's market, I had someone ask me, "Oh the oils you carry- can you ingest them?" And I had to reply, "I would never suggest anyone ingest essential oils." This person left before I had a chance to explain that she had been misled by shifty marketing (doTerra trying to distinguish itself from Young Living) to think that doTerra is the best because they claim you can ingest them. She assumed I meant the oils I carry aren't "pure enough". It was frustrating that this person had been so misled.

There has been very little choice available for therapeutic oils in Columbus until now (with the opening of my store). I know, because I personally looked for them. Most of the oils widely available are low quality, to be used for fragrance, if at all (These brands include Aura Cacia and Now). Others in retail purport to have high quality, but are not anywhere near the quality of the two brands that I deliberately selected, Tisserand and Oshadhi. (For the record, I almost picked FloraCopeia, but did not for business reasons rather than quality ones. They are wonderful, too).

What is very strange indeed is how the devotees of YL and doTerra act when you question the companies or the products. They get hostile and mean- all from a few simple questions. This tells me a lot about the cult-like culture of what it is like to be a part of the "doTerra (or Young Living) family" (yes, I looked into being a distributor and firmly decided against it).

I dislike Young Living less than doTerra. YL has been around for 20 years and has a model of raising and manufacturing the oils that is commendable. They have their own land, grow their own botanicals, and see the process from start to finish. doTerra does not. doTerra is simply a re-bottler of essential oils- nothing more.  They don’t grow any of their own plants.  They don’t personally distill any of their own oils.  There are plenty of other companies that do that, for a much smaller price.

But both companies restrict how you can get their products in a creepy way. You must buy through a distributor or become one yourself. There are minimums that are required to continue getting discounted product and most reps only get their training from the company themselves. (Which may explain why doTerra reps think you can safely ingest essential oils without the supervision of a practitioner.) MLM is a pyramid scheme. Both YL and doTerra are sold using MLM. I am of the mindset that if you have a good product and people find out about it, you don't need to ensnare people in contracts with minimum sales, and they will not need to recruit others under them to make a decent living. I will not join a special club to get exclusive access to a product. It is shifty.

Another issue that I have with doTerra specifically is their fake certification. DoTerra trumpets how much their oils are tested. They claim that their oils are the only ones that are "Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade" (CPTG). This is true, would you like to know why? It is because it is a purely arbitrary phrase that doTerra invented (there is no external certification called CPTG that any other company uses) and they trademarked it so no one else could use that phrase. It's completely bogus. CPTG is an internal doTerra certification. Check the research link at the bottom and top of the article that links to their own site. Because of the trademark, that particular "certification" cannot be used by any other company regardless of the quality level they possess.

So, if these huge well-known companies are not who you should get your essential oils from, where should you get them? Part Two of this series will explain my research and reasoning for choosing the lines that I did for the store.

---

This is Part One in our essential oil series. Part Two will talk specifically about the oils we do carry, Tisserand and Oshadhi and why we chose them.

The seasonal gauntlet

The latest Marshmallow.

The thing about being an herbalist that is focused on bioregional cultivation and wildcrafting (that's a fancy way of saying using herbs that grow here, either through cultivation or in the wild) is that you have to be quick on your feet. When nature gives you a boon of a useful plant (hint, almost all of them are useful!) you need to be able to process them quickly so as not to lose your precious medicine. Case in point: in the last week, I was given 5 pound of Nettles, 20 pounds of Marshmallow root, 7 pounds of Violets, 12 pounds of Burdock root, 1 pound of Red Raspberry leaf, 1 pound of Comfrey leaf, 3 pounds of Dandelion root, and 8 pounds of Dandelion greens. These are all fresh, not dried and already processed. What's a one woman operation to do?

I got some glycerin, oil, and alcohol; fired up the dehydrators and started to WORK!

First, the Nettles. That was easy- we are in the throes of allergy season here in Ohio, and Nettles make up the base of my allergy tea. So I dried out the Nettles, lickety split and made a LOT of Allergy Tea. I am sampling it at each farmer's market and it is selling like hotcakes (because it is tasty and sorely needed).

Quite a bit of processed
bits in the steeping window.

Next, the Dandelion and Burdock root. I cleaned and chopped the roots and added them to local Hops, Gentian, Cardamom, Orange peel, and Cinnamon bark. (Anyone know what that blend, extracted in alcohol, is? Bitters!) I have been wanting to make another batch of bitters since opening the store, and my local boon has allowed me to get started on that project. It will be a regularly stocked item once this batch is ready.

I dried the Red Raspberry, Comfrey, and Dandelion greens. The Dandelion has already been used in tea blends, the Comfrey will wait and be steeped in oil with Comfrey root to make a salve and lotion base. The Red Raspberry has been made into Moontime Tea.

The Marshmallow. Oh the humanity- so much Marshmallow. I got this in two batches and thought myself "on top of it" when I processed the first three roots (about 4 pounds). I had just gotten my big cleaver sharpened, thank goodness. I got a blister on my pointer from processing the root, but managed to get it cut and dried out. It is now in the bulk bins, and will be made into tea or bought by the public. But the following week, the same farm brought in another 17 pounds. I had to buy it- I won't have to buy marshmallow again for quite some time, assuming that I process it quickly. So I begin today chopping even more. I may steep some in oil (for a facial serum), and then dry the rest for a season of teas.

And Violets. Such a delicate and seasonal offering! I had to take advantage of the opportunity or lose out on Violets for a whole year. So I tinctured some in glycerin, steeped some in oil, and and drying the rest.

Digestive Bitters

Chili, Arnica, and Turmeric Oil

Nasturtium and Violet Vinegar

Violet in glycerine.

Calendula oil.

Feverfew tincture

Plantain oil.

Violet oil.

Violets to dry out.

Herbalism, Sustainability, and Holistic Links

Herbalists without Borders, an international network of medicinal plant professionals that encourages communication and the development of international projects, safeguards herbal wisdom, creates a representative force to protect plant related crafts, and protects wild medicinal plants.

Herb Geek, a thoughtful blog for herbalists by herbalists.

Countering Racism and Oppression in Holistic Healing, an article that appeared on Decolonizing Yoga.

DIY Herbalism Feed, a collection of great blog posts on DIY Herbalism.

New Anti-Migraine Tiara approved by FDA. It works by stimulating the trigeminal nerve. You know, like acupuncture has for thousands of years...

Foraging Mania! A new Foraging TV show!

American Herbalists' Guild celebrates 25 Years!

Bad Ingredients in Your Body Care Products

What's in your body care? If you get your body care at a chain store (be it a pharmacy, grocery store, big box store, or even a "natural foods market"), it probably has questionable ingredients.

Take a look at the labels and I guarantee you there's at least one unpronounceable item that you are unsure of (unless you use Boline's products, of course!) We took a look at the two "big name" allegedly "natural" body care companies- Tom's of Maine and Burt's Bees and were astonished at what we found.

Tom's of Maine's  products have been recalled numerous time by the FDA. Here are some other ingredients in Tom's:

Parabens are a class of chemicals widely used as preservatives in the cosmetic industry which include methyl, propyl, butyl and ethyl. They are endocrine disruptors that have been linked to cancer as well as an environmental contaminant.

Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate,which are used as surfactants “lather agents” in most shampoos, are known skin and eye irritants as well as an environmental contaminant. Not only are they harmful but extremely drying to the hair and skin and sadly found in most cosmetic products on the market today because they are an inexpensive ingredient and make mass production cheaper. Consumers have become accustom to “suds” in their cleansers.

Phthalates, DBP, DEP, DEHP, DMP are endocrine disruptors, because they mimic the body’s hormones and have, in laboratory animal tests, been shown to cause reproductive and neurological damage. Most often used to create fragrances in cosmetic products.

Use of carrageenan often carries with it contamination concerns especially in a mass produced facility (in China). So much so that Environmental Working Group (EWG) calls it a hazard. It leads to organ (non-reproductive) system toxicity. Other ingredients with severe contamination concerns are present in Tom's products, too - like cocamidopropyl dimethylamine, 3-dimethylaminopropylamine, and nitrosamines.

There is also this crazy sounding ingredient in some Tom's toothpastes: cocamidopropylbetane. That sounds scary, right? It is. EWG names it as an ecotoxicology hazard, specifically with causing horrible allergies/immunotoxicity reactions.  

Burt's Bees is no longer an artisinal body care company in North Carolina. It is owned by Clorox and its formulas are made in China, mostly. It has been cited by the FDA as having heavy metals in its lip balms. Even their "Baby Bee" products are problematic. It also is written up as having problems with its fragrances  (ecotoxicology, allergies/immunotoxicity, irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), and organ system toxicity (non-reproductive).

Burt's Bees uses grapefruit seed extract (which is NOT an ingredient I recommend using in formulas nor on its own): It has serious contamination concerns (benzethonium chloride, methylparaben, and/or triclosan)

Additionally, Burt's Bees has ingredients like amylcinnamaldehyde, linalool, and sodium benzoate. These are toxic.

Your body care should be as clean and pure as the food you choose. Eat organic when you can? Your skin absorbs toxins, too. Choose products from Boline Apothecary and know that you are clean and safe.

What Does a Cup of Coffee Entail?

This thoughtful piece is from "Ecological Wakes: the Story of Six Everyday Objects" by Alan Thein Durning (which was published by Northwest Environment Watch in 1994).

What Does a Cup of Coffee Entail?

I brewed a cup of coffee. It took 100 beans to make my cup- about one-fortieth of the beans that grew on that coffee tree that year. The tree was on a small mountain farm in the region of Columbia called Antioquia. The region was cleared of its native forests in the first coffee boom generations ago. These "cloud forests" are among the most endangered ecosystems.

The beans ripened in the shade of the taller trees. Growing them did not require plowing the soil, but it did take several doeses of insecticides, which were synthesized in factories in the Rhine River Valley of Europe. Some of the chemincals entered the respiratory systems of farm workers. Others washed downstream and were absorbed by plants and animals.

The beans were picked by hand and removed form the fruit that encased them in a diesel powdered crusher. They were dried under the sun and shipped to New Orleans in a 132 pound bag. The frieghter was fueled by Venezuelan oil and made in Japan. The shipyard built the frieghter out of Korean steel. The Korean steel mill used iron mined on tribal lands in Papua New Guinea.

At New Orleans, the beans were roasted for 13 minutes at temperatures above 400 degrees. The roaster burned natural gas pumped form the ground in Oklahoma. The beans were packaged in a 4 layer bag constructed of polyethylene, nylon, aluminum foil, and polyester. They were trucked to a Seattle warehouse and later to a retail store.

I carried the beans out of the grocery store in a brown paper bag made at an unbleached kraft paper mill in Oregon. I transported them home in an automobile that burned one-sixth of a gallon of gasoline during the five mile round trip to the market.

In the kitchen, I measured the beans in a disposable plastic scoop molded in New Jersey and spooned them into a grinder. The grinder was assembled in China from imported steel, aluminum, copper, and plastic parts. It was powered by electricity generated at the Ross Dam on the Sagit River.

I dumped the ground coffee into a gold-plated mesh filter made in Switzerland of Russian ore. I put the filter in my plastic and steel drip coffee maker. I poured eight ounces of tap water into the appliance. The water came by pipe from the Cedar River on the west slope of the Cascade Mountains. An element heated the water to more than 200 degrees. The hot water seeped through the ground coffee abd dissolved some of its oils and solids. The brew trickled into the glass carafe.

The coffee mugs were all dirty so I poured the coffee into a paper cup. The cup was made from bleached wood pulp in Arkansas. A fraction of the chlorine from the bleach was discharged from the pulp mill into the Arkansas River. In the river, the chlorine formed chemical bonds with other substances. A tiny share of the chlorine ended up as TCDD, which id often simply called dioxin. It is the most carcinogenic substance known.

I stirred in one ounce of cream. The cream came from a grain-fed dairy in the lowlands south of Seattle. The cow liked to graze on a stream bank and walk in the stream. This muddied the water and made life difficult for the native trout. The cow's manure was rich in nitrogen and phosphorus. The soils of the pasture where the cow grazed were unable to absorb these quickly enough, so they washed into the stream when it rained. The infusion of nutrients fertilized algae, which absorbed a larger share of the oxygen dissolved in the water. The shortage of oxygen made life more difficult for the native trout.

I measured out two teaspoons of sugar. It came from cane fields south of Lake Okeehobee in Florida. These plantations have deprived the Everglades of water, endangering waterfowl and reptile populations.

Herbal Links

Interested in herbalism? I keep finding awesome links to share!

Pursuing Your Interest in Herbalism, by Jesse West Hardin (appeared in Mother Earth News)

From the Ground Up Zine, a free pdf compilation on herbalism. This link is for issue #1, "Herbalist to Herbalism"

For those of you in Columbus, there is a local "meet up" group called "Central Ohio Herbal Association for Cooking, Medicinal and Craft" to join and participate in.

Another Ohio resource: Stratford Farm and Ecological Center offers workshops and classes on herbal medicine and beekeeping!

Herbalist Sara Katz gets award from American Botanical Council

A Trip to the Herb Nursery

I went to the herb nursery down in Athens, Ohio today, after doing the farmer's market in Clintonville. This nursery has medicinals, traditionals, ornamentals, and culinary plants of all kinds. I thought I'd share what I saw and you can plant geek out with me!

There were two greenhouses- this one was the larger of the two and was in
roughly alphabetical order for a lot of plants.

The right side of the larger greenhouse.

My apprentice got this one, along with henbane and datura.

All the plants had great informative tags.

Picking out a datura.

If I get the shop, this cheerful flowering rosemary will go by the door!

I think milk thistle is gorgeous, don't you?

Our box of delights. That rangy one in the back is an ephedra for me!

This leaf surprised me and bit me!

I took a pic to better show off it's purple spikes. 

Coming back for this one.

This is the spiky plant, aka naranjilla.

We are coming back for this one, too.

We took the trip to the nursery, and then worked on my presentation for this month at City Folks Farm Shop on March 11: Planting a Medicinal Garden. Pre-registration is required.