by Andrea Butje on May 17, 2012
The essential oils that are distilled from resins are extraordinary. Have you ever held a chunk of resin in your hands? It is hard to imagine that an oil can come from a hard, rock-like chunk that weighs almost nothing! Resins are drawn out by cutting into the outer bark of the tree. The resin seeps out and then hardens over the period of a few weeks. The resin is then gathered and distilled to produce essential oils or to burn as incense.
There are so many wonderful resins, Myrrh, Frankincense, Oppoponax, and Copal are some of my favorites. I burn them daily, use the oils often, put the resin chunks in small dishes to display them. They just fascinate me.
We import resins from the distillers we work in in Ethiopia and Somalia. They arrive in huge bags. Read More
by Andrea Butje on May 10, 2012
What should you include on your label when you create products for resale?
The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) adopted a trade requirement to support the correct identification of undiluted essential oils used topically and for retail sales. Their guidelines are very good ones for the Aromatherapist to follow on all labels for oils and products.
- “Keep out of reach of children” or significantly similar cautionary language.
- “External Use Only,” “Not for Internal Use,” “Not for Ingestion” or significantly similar cautionary language.
- “Keep away from eyes and mucous membranes” or similar cautionary language.
- For pure essential oil- Latin name of the plant from which the essential oil is derived and country of origin.
- Identification of the plant part from which the essential oil is derived.
- Amount of the product (not size of the bottle).
- All ingredients need Latin names and chemotypes when relevant.
- Your business name.
- Your business web address.
- Phone number (optional).
