Frequently Asked Questions:

What are essential oils?

Have you walked through a forest and thought "It smells so lovely in here"? Or have you ever brushed past a herb plant like peppermint or basil and smelt the scent of the plant on you? That's essential oils.  Plants naturally produce oils for a variety of reasons including protection, survival and communication. 

Essential oils are just the natural oil product produced by plants, harvested and processed. Some oils are processed via cold-pressed extraction, for example lemon rinds are squished so much that the natural oils come out. Other oils are extracted via distillation, such as grasses and leaves like peppermint oil, basically "brewed".

How do I know essential oils are safe?

Alenaide's essential oils and natural therapy products are pure and organic, sourced directly from the plant. This means we do not use any synthetic or unnatural materials in the creation of our products. Each bottle of oil purchased has been through a process of testing (GCMS) and has been tested by an independent third party to ensure potency, therapeutical effectiveness and consistency.  If you love coffee or tea you'd know that the same plant can taste strikingly different when grown in one place than another (e.g. Brazilian vs Ethiopian). As a consequence of working with Mother Nature, the levels of compounds and consistency of products is difficult to guarantee depending on where the crops are grown, climate conditions, soil minerals and nutrients, extraction lengths and time for example. 

There are some companies who do advocate that their oils are consumable however there are no industry standards which can tell us their safety as each person’s make up and tolerance differs. Not to mention regulation in Australia is such that it is difficult to know what you're buying - unless its from a reputable supplier.

 

Where do the oils come from?

Alenaide's essential oils are distilled or cold-pressed here in Australia from crops sourced from reputable farmers and producers. Our supplier honours the time and effort taken to produce quality crops and in some cases even pre-pays contracts to ensure consistency and the livelihoods of those involved. It is important to us that our producers have the certifications and history in the industry so that we know we're working with only the best that also align their processes, ethics and principles with ours.  We have some really special oils too including our Wild Mint and Buddha Wood Essential Oils which are grown naturally in their environments and wild-harvested. Our Buddha Wood oil is steam distilled in SEQ and our Sandalwood is wild harvested in Western Australia and the oil is CO2 extracted in Sydney.

It is also important to us that those employed on these farms are not exposed to harmful chemicals that are used in conventional cropping of essential oil raw product. Chemical exposure to herbicides / pesticides and fertilisers is a major cause of death and disability in many developing countries where regulations are poorly administered. 

What is aromatherapy?

Basically, aromatherapy is simply using the relationship we have between smell and the brain to trick ourselves into feeling better! 

"An increasing number of studies have shown that essential oils can decrease anxiety-related behaviour in humans and animals and demonstrated that the aromatic plant-derived essential oils exhibit a variety of biological properties, such as mood enhancement, pain relief, and improved cognitive function, which is being used in complementary and traditional medicine units as well as primary care settings." (Wu et. al., 2012)

 When can I expect my order?

We ship your order within 2 business days of you placing the order. Standard postage times vary between 3-14 days currently with Australia Post. Express shipping you can expect to receive your items within 48-72 hours for metropolitan areas.  Please keep in mind the delays experienced in shipping with Australia Post due to COVID-19. While every effort will be made to ensure you receive your product in a timely manner, we cannot guarantee that Australia Post will be able to deliver within their timeframes. 

What steps are you making towards and ethical and sustainable business model?

As a small company we don’t have the environmental footprint that other larger companies do. Our focus is providing fuss free, organic and wild harvested oils at affordable prices. Our environmental footprint is limited due to our small size and we take the time to know our suppliers.

• Many organic farms, particularly those in developing countries are family and community run. These farms provide locals with opportunities to develop skills and economic stability where other employment opportunities are thin.

• Moroccan Organic Prickly Pear Seed oil comes from an ethical co-operative that employs a lot of women and profits go back into the community. 

• one of the important factors to consider when buying product internationally is that we do not support cropping that has occurred by clearing of old growth forests. There are definitely some places that we are more careful with sourcing including Brazil, some places in Asia (i.e. Sumatra) where deforestation is a problem. 

• We deal only with organic and wild harvested product, so those employed on these farms are not exposed to harmful chemicals that are used in conventional cropping of essential oil raw product.

• We use energy efficient lights and make the most of natural light

• We have solar power and thus this offsets any of our electricity use.

• We do not print unnecessarily and most of our communications is all digital including our invoices.

• We try to cut down on packaging and choose biodegradable / recycled when possible.

• We reuse and recycle in house when appropriate. We cut down our use of single plastics by investing in reusable pipettes.

• We print on demand to cut down on label use and to reduce the impact of toner and ink use.

• We only stock organically certified or wild-harvested product and our products have no fillers or additives.

• We also partner with other companies whose priorities are aligned with ours to strengthen and increase organic and wild harvested opportunities. 

• Our supplier has an environmental background and once worked as an environmental consultant so many of these things are second nature and Alenaide honours the commitment to the environment. 

I've never used essential oils before. What can they do?

Welcome to the lifelong adventure of learning how to bring the outdoors indoors. Check out some of our blog posts below to learn more about the application of essential oils, or browse some of the products individually for suggested blending, uses and applications.

Click here for our FREE guide, no email required!