Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

It's rare for me to write a review on a product I've not tried. I apologize in advance if that it bothers you, and I trust you’ll see that it’s for good reason. It might even save you wasting money on a product that’s highly likely not what it claims to be. I am writing this “review” because I have concern people are likely being cheated. Join me, and I’ll show you why… I've been working with essential oils and aromatherapy for around 25 years. I've had some exceptional oils over the years, including an amazing rose oil that was around $400 for 10ml (that was over 25 years ago, so I hate to think what it would cost now). I was looking on Amazon for Frankincense oil, and noticed around four or five brands that are all selling this oil in a range of sizes, up to 4oz, at ridiculously low pricing. All of those brands have an extraordinary number of reviews (into the thousands) and the vast majority are five stars. Most of the much better know and reputable brands have no where near that number of reviews. The brands I am referring to are: * Pure Body Naturals Frankincense Essential Oil - Big 4 oz * First Botany Frankincense Essential Oil With A Glass Dropper - Big 4 Fl. Oz * Sun Essential Oils (Sun Organic) Frankincense (Large 4 ounce) Best Essential Oil * Radha Beauty Frankincense Essential Oil - Big 4 oz * Majestic Pure Frankincense Essential Oil, Therapeutic Grade, 4 fl. Oz I have an aversion to unsuspecting people being scammed with fake products (especially when it's things people are buying supposably for health and well-being purposes), so I started digging around for information. I present here my findings, so that people looking for genuine essential oils might have the information they require to accurately assess this brand. << THE PRICE >> Many people don’t realize it typically takes an surprisingly large amount of raw material to end up with relatively little pure essential oil. That's one reason why quality essential oils are relatively expensive. It's also why a great many companies around the world sell oils with solvents and other fillers in them. Many contain none of the claimed oil at all. They are made in laboratories with chemicals that mimic the aromatic hydrocarbons, etc., found in natural oils, mixed with various organic solvents (“organic” in this sense refers to organic chemistry, as opposed to “organically produced” which implies an absence of harmful chemicals). Let's cut the chase, and put this into perspective. As an example… Mountain Rose Herbs is a reputable supplier of essential oils and a wide range of herbs. I wouldn't say their oils are necessarily exceptional quality, but I do consider them to be genuine, true to label, and of high enough quality to safely use them. Their oils are by no means expensive. MRH prices are reasonable. I consider them middle of the road. Their Frankincense oil is $116 for 4oz. That's nearly 6 times the price of this ArtNaturals oil. Why is that? Another reputable supplier of essential oils I know of, has Frankincense oil at $85 for 15ml. Take a look at other brands on Amazon, and you'll see that Plant Therapy has 30 ml for around $18. Now Foods is a similar price. From my informed perspective, they are both considered LOW price but trustable brands. How is it that sellers like ArtNaturals on Amazon can sell 4oz (120ml) for around $20? << QUESTIONABLE MARKETING TACTICS >> Take a look at the title for this product. What exactly is "Best Premium Quality Oil" meant to mean? Best according to whom? Compared to which other brands? Best based on what? As a discerning buyer, it comes across to me as hype, from from the get-go. Why do they feel the need to say, "Our ingredients are always clearly labeled and 100% thorough and truthful." in their product details? Do any of the well known and reputable brands say stuff like that? Why does their massive long "About this product" blurb seem really over the top (to me) and basically makes this oil sound like it's absolutely perfect in every regard? If it was hundreds of dollars for 4oz, I would still find the description over the top. But at least it might seem justified. I've bought exceptional CO2 extraction oils available only to health practitioners, that don't sound even remotely as good as this cheap oil based on what they have to say about it. Why do they feel the need to include marketing ploys such as listing other reputable brands in their description in order to end up in the search results for those brands? e.g. "Comparable to such brands as: Young Living Myrrh Aura Cacia Doterra Wyndmere Sunbreeze Healing Solutions Now Foods Angelica Eden's Garden Plant Therapy & Guru. " Do you see Now Food doing that sort of thing? Or Plant Therapy doing that? It comes across to me as heavy handed marketing tactics. What kind of people and company resort to using such tactics? When I add all these factors together, it all seems very questionable to me. << FAKE PHOTOS >> Looking at the pictures provided with this product seem like a dead giveaway to me. Look at the before and after photo of the girl with horrendous pimples. Surely most people realize that most before/after marketing photos are fake? Have you taken a close look at the ArtNaturals before and after photo? It' the same picture for before and after. Look at the hair. It's identical. And yet supposably the after photo was taken a least some time after the before photo (long enough for the pimples to go away). So why is the photo IDENTICAL except for the pimples being on one and not on the other? It's fake, guaranteed. Both are AFTER photos… specifically, AFTER something like Photoshop was used to add in pimples, and AFTER Photoshop was used to smooth out the girl’s complexion even more than natural). It's yet another heavy-handed and outright dishonest marketing tactic, which gives me yet another (serious) reason to question the credibility of this company. Personally, I wouldn't trust ArtNaturals and their products if I was paid to use them. << FAKE OR QUESTIONABLE REVIEWS? >> I was suspicious at high number of reviews this oil has. Frankincense oil is not exactly something a massive number of people buy. And yet there are more reviews on this oil then a great many other products I suspect are way more common for people to purchase. But how to test this out? During my research I found an excellent site that analysis Amazon reviews for fakes. It's called fakespot.com Here's what they have to say about this product: * 77.8% low quality reviews detected, based on 1672 reviews * Tread lightly, this product may contain a major number of inauthentic or low quality reviews! Out of interest, I compared that with a Frankincense oil from Plant Therapy and another from Now Foods (two other brands I am quite familiar with). Plant Therapy (non-Organic) Frankincense came up with: * 6.7% low quality reviews detected, based on 695 reviews) * You can trust the reviews of this product. Plant Therapy Organic Frankincense came up with: * 11.1% low quality reviews detected, based on 11 reviews) * You can trust the reviews of this product. Now Foods Frankincense came up with: * 36.4% low quality reviews detected, based on 311 reviews) * There are indications of inauthentic/low quality reviews, you be the judge. What about the other questionable brands I mentioned above? * Pure Body Naturals Frankincense: 97.1% low quality reviews detected, based on 845 reviews). * Majestic Pure Frankincense: 96.3% low quality reviews detected, based on 2133 reviews. * First Botany Frankincense: 78.0% low quality reviews detected, based on 636 reviews * Sun Organic Frankincense: 79.9% low quality reviews detected, based on 128 reviews * Radha Frankincense: 69.7% low quality reviews detected, based on 1589 reviews [The above results are not in any way proof that these products are illegitimate, and I don’t present them as such. I simply take them as a good indication that the reviews themselves are questionable, and therefore it’s worth investigating whether the product itself is questionable. When the price is “Too good to be true” and there are hundreds, perhaps more than 1000 reviews saying “it’s simply amazing”… that it really is true (that this product is legitimate at this low low price)… there’s a high chance deception is involved.] In most of these products there also appears to be an exceptionally high number of reviews from people who were provided free or discounted samples. Whilst that practice is not outright a sign of something fishy, when combined with the other heavy handed and dishonest marketing tactics I've mentioned, I certainly find it cause for further concern. It indicates to me a company that is pushing their product hard... perhaps too hard. << BLOT TESTS >> On some of these $20 for 4oz oils (Frankincense is not the only one) I see some customers have kindly posted the results (and photos) of putting the oil on some paper and letting it evaporate. As far as I know, this test will help determine if the oil have been cut (diluted) with some other form of oil (say, a carrier oil, for instance). But what if the oil is cut with a solvent? Many solvents won’t leave any residue. So if a ‘clean’ solvent is mixed into the oil, both the solvent and the essential oil will evaporate. So this test doesn't really say much to a discerning buyer.. << THEIR WEBSITE >> Looking through the web site of ArtNaturals, I see nothing but nicely edited marketing hype. None of which is backed up by anything whatsoever. Things like, "AT ART NATURALS, ALL OF OUR INGREDIENTS FULFILL OUR PHILOSOPHY", and … “Art Naturals started with a simple concept: “Use premium organic and natural ingredients for long-term beauty resolutions.” As a local business in the organic, health conscious capital of the United States (Los Angeles, California) we pride ourselves on keeping ahead of the industry with our continuous research and drive to improve. We’re always on the lookout for the latest, healthiest and most natural ingredients to combat the negative effects of external and internal factors on the hair, face, skin, nails and overall health. All of our products are created in line with our philosophy: “offer quality, natural products with exceptional beauty results”… >> LACK OF CERTIFICATIONS On their web site, I see no organic certifications. I see no evidence of premium ingredients. They don't even bother to state where they source their ingredients from (most, if not all, companies I know that are sincere about the quality of their oils state where the raw material is from), or how they make their oils. The region Frankincense is sourced from can greatly change its properties. So this is not simply arbitrary information to overlook. Basically, I think it's safe to assume they buy in bulk oils from other suppliers. But from whom and where? How do they determine the ingredients from their suppliers are "premium"? Why don't they post the results of the tests one would expect them to be running on these products? A Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry test is the basic requirement to determine how put an essential oil is. But they don't even mention this on their site, let alone show the results. In terms of quality... What has being in California got to do with anything whatsoever? Because they are in LA, California, which they claim is the "health conscious capital of the US" (hardly true) that gives some kind of kudos to their products? It would be just as valid to claim that "LA is home of a great many fly-by-the-night money-driven opportunistic con-artists." But do either of these things enable us to really assess these claims and these products? No really. << VARIETIES OF FRANKINCENSE >> It's worth noting that there are numerous varieties of Frankincense. You can find a list of them online. The Floracopeia site has a reasonable description of them on each of their Frankincense oil product pages. In my experience, their oils are decent and reputable. Although I prefer ordering through Amazon Prime, for convenience, so I'm not buying from them in this instance. Here's a list of varieties... Frankincense Carterii, Frankincense Frereana, Frankincense Neglecta, Frankincense Papyriferra, Frankincense Rivae, Frankincense Serrata Oil (commonly known as Olibanum). The Serrata variety is typically considered very good. It's from India. << REQUEST FOR INFO FROM ARTNATURALS >> On Feb 23rd I requested, by email, information from ArtNaturals on the purity of their Frankincense oil. It's now Feb 29th, and no word. I'll update this if I hear back from them. << CONCLUSION >> I would love for this product to be legitimate. It's an amazing price. Unfortunately, it's the same old story... if it's too good to be true, it probably isn’t true. Based on my experience with and knowledge of essential oils (which I use for therapeutic purposes), and the nasty chemicals that can be in so-called “100% pure”, “natural”, “organic” essential oils... I wouldn't use their product for anything at all. Not even as a cleaning agent for around the house. Not topically, and certainly not internally. I also would NOT recommend using it in a diffusor or aromatherapy device of any kind. Short of having this product lab tested, I am 99% certain it's fake. I don't say that lightly, and I have nothing to gain from writing this review. I don’t work in the industry. Check out my other reviews spanning the past 15 years if you think I might have a vested interest in this, beyond a passion for the truth. [...] Thank you, and I wish you all the best of health. Jonathan Traditional Naturopath, and discerning shopper. [UPDATE: June 1, 2017 — It's months ago that I wrote this product "review," and only now that I've taken a look at the response. Seems my Amazon emails were getting trashed before I got to see them. To the few people who have mentioned they think it wrong for me to write about something I haven't tried, so be it. From my perspective, if someone tries to sell me chocolate brownies that I have legitimate reasons to think what makes them brown is house paint rather than chocolate, why in my right mind would I want to try them? That just ain't make sense to me chaps. But each to their own. If you like this "essential oil," enjoy. It's dirt cheap. To the many people who have taken the time to express their gratitude at the information I have shared, I extend to you a big thank you. As I mentioned above, it's very rare (I think I might have only done it 2 or 3 times since I started shopping on Amazon in 19 years ago) for me to write a "review" of a product I've not tried, and the only reason I bother to expend the amount of time it took to write a report such as this is because I think it's inexcusable when people seeking products for their health are taken advantage of, and can end up with rubbish that's quite likely toxic. I see ArtNaturals responded to my "review," addressing absolutely none of the points I made. I've also received no response to the emails I sent them in February and March, in which I asked for evidence of the purity of this oil. Questionable behaviour, at best. Whoever you are reading this, I wish you all the best of health... and much enjoyment from discovering and using great quality pure essential oils. Don't settle for anything less.