Do essential oils go bad when they get old?

Wisdom of the Earth has begun updating their label as of 2021 and is starting to roll it out across the essences one by one. Wisdom of the Earth hand pours and labels all of the essences individually….so many of the updates are now happening as a new batch of essence gets poured. When you receive your box of essences, you might find that half have the old label and half have the new.

This may bring up the question: do essential essences (oils) go bad when they age?

When an essential essence (oil) is pure, the scent actually becomes more complex with softer and sweeter finishing notes as it ages. Essential essences prefer to be stored in a cool, dark place, but not necessarily the refrigerator. This is one reason why the essences are stored in amber bottles. If you are looking for longevity, do keep them out of direct sunlight and heat.

If there are any additives or adulteration to a bottle of so-called essential oil, it can and will go bad (and IMO it is already bad). If you see an expiration date on a bottle of ‘essential oil’, I hope your 'purity antennas' are on high alert.

Did you know they have found Frankincense essential essence in Egyptian tombs and it is still good?!? Wow...how I would love to smell her!

For those of you that have ‘a nose’ and are regulars to essential essences, I invite you to see if you can smell the difference between a young essence and an aged essence. The best way to do this is to get very familiar with the smell of a Deva you work with often. As the months (or years) go by, the batch of that particular Deva that is being poured will run out and Wisdom of the Earth will start on a new distillation batch. Sometimes it is easy to spot a ‘young’ essence and other times you will only notice the essence smells just a bit different than to what you are familiar. Variation in scent is a very good thing! When a company has an essence and the smell never ever differs, this is another hint that there may have been additives added.

If you have farmed or gardened then you know no two tomato bushes taste exactly the same. The same goes for the plants and trees that make up the essences. Depending on the weather, the soil, the time and circumstances of harvest, and how long an essence was stored after distillation, the scent of a Deva will always fluctuate. Each Deva, each batch, each pour has it’s own personality. That is one of the beauties of nature and the art of distilling!

Let me circle back around to the idea of a ‘young’ essence. Young essences are no less medicinal than aged essences, they just have a slightly different personality to share with you. Your main focus should be on whether the essence is pure. That is exactly the reason why I work with Wisdom of the Earth. Their sources, integrity, experience, and love has been proven to me year after year.
Let me circle back around to the idea of a ‘young’ essence. Young essences are no less medicinal than aged essences, they just have a slightly different personality to share with you. Your main focus should be whether the essence is pure and that is exactly the reason why I work with Wisdom of the Earth. Their sources, integrity, experience and love has been proven to me year after year.

One extra note: even though the citrus essences (tangerine, mandarin, lime, lemon, bergamont, oranges) are called ‘essential oils’, they are actually the pressed peel of the fruit. Because these Devas don’t go through a distillation process they usually have a shelf life of around 10 years. If you dig up a bottle of citrus in a forgotten bottom drawer, no need for concern. If you are in question, trust your heart and trust your nose!

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