Plant Guru describes itself as a small family business that focuses on providing essential oils at affordable prices. The About Us page of their website mentions that they do not use advertising or MLM, and has no marketing plan, and the resultant savings are passed to consumers.
There is a wholesale page at the website inviting visitors to become a distributor by providing a W-9 form and tax id. Distributors can buy at wholesale rates. The company also offers private labelling of the oils.
The About Us page also shows a 31-member team including owners. The page reports the following facts: “One million products sold; 100 different essential oils; and 99% customer satisfaction rate.”
The company is located at Plainfield NJ 07060.
Quality and Purity
The quality-control page at the company’s website has the following to say about their quality control process: “Plant Guru buys all their essential oils from all over the world. Our suppliers meet USDA standards. All our essential oils go through third party laboratory using GC/MS testing.
All of our oils are 100% pure therapeutic grade. No chemicals, pesticides, or GMOs are added to our essential oils.”
Sourcing
Best quality essential oils are obtained from plants grown in their natural environment of soil, climate, elevation and other factors. Plant Guru sources the oils from all over the world. It mentions that the sourcing is done from suppliers who follow sustainable practices. However, full details do not seem available and the product pages do not mention the country of origin.
Extraction Methods and Distillation
Common methods for extracting essential oils from plants or specific plant parts include steam distillation, cold press and solvent extraction.
Steam distillation involves passing steam through the plant/part and separating the oil from the resultant steam/oil mixture.
Cold press involves physically pressing materials like citrus peels to squeeze out the oil.
Solvent extraction involves dissolving the plant part in a solvent and then removing the non-oil materials through different processes from the solution.
The first two of the above processes yield purest oils.
On each essential oil product page Plant Guru mentions the extraction method and the plant/ plant part from which the oil was extracted.
Testing
The essential oils are GC/MS tested by an independent lab, Laboratoire Phytochemia, and the test results are available through the product page and through a dedicated gc-ms-testing page at the website. While most oils are tested, it seems that some oils are yet to undergo the process, with the “Coming Soon” message appearing against these oils.
Grading and Certification
Plant Guru lists 11 organic essential oils among its offers. These are listed separately under essential oils.
Product Offerings
Plant Guru offers several lines of products including Essential Oils, Essential Oil Blends, Roll-ons, Diffusers, Plant Oils/Carrier Oils, Herbs and Botanicals, Butters, Waxes, Other Ingredients, Coco/Chocolate, African Black Soap, Incense Sticks in bulk, Bottles and Packaging and Alcohol/Sanitizer.
Essential Oils
Essential oils are listed under two categories, “Pure Essential Oils” and “Organic Essential Oils.” Each product is offered in five different pack sizes, 5ml, 10ml, 30ml, 2oz. and 4oz. Prices are for the 10ml bottle in the examples below unless mentioned otherwise.
Pure Essential Oils page lists 88 products including Allspice (Pimento Leaf) ($6.95 for 5ml; $8.95 for 10ml; $13.95 for 30ml; $22.99 for 2oz; and $34.95 for 4oz.), Eucalyptus ($5.95), Basil ($6.95), Black Pepper ($7.95), Blood Orange ($7.95), Clementine ($7.99), Frankincense ($9.95), Helichrysum ($27.43) and Neroli ($89.95).
Organic Essential Oils page lists 11 products including Lemon ($9.95), Tea Tree ($9.99), Balsam ($10.95) and Lavender ($11.95).
Essential Oil Blends
Blends are combos of multiple essential oils. The rationale for blending is described thus by the company: “Oils with similar characteristics and healing benefits will combine to improve upon those qualities, making it a powerful tool for aromatherapy.”
The Essential Oil Blends page lists 14 products including Breathe Synergy (A blend of Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Tea Tree, Lemon, Lavender, Cardamom and Bay – $7.99), Alive Synergy (A blend of Juniper Berry, Rosemary, Lemongrass, Clove, Siberian Fir Needle, Nutmeg and Black Pepper – $8.99) and Stress Relief Synergy (A blend of Bergamot, Patchouli, Sweet Orange, Ylang Ylang, Pink grapefruit and Gurjum – $8.99)
Roll-ons
Roll-ons have an applicator at the top of the bottle that makes is easy and less messy to apply the oil to desired areas. Plant Guru offers roll-ons of both single oils and blends.
Singles Roll-ons page lists 6 products including Tea Tree ($6.99), Patchouli ($7.99), Lavender ($8.99) and Frankincense ($9.99).
Blends Roll-ons page lists 14 products including New Beginning ($7.99), Meditation ($8.99), Deep Muscle ($9.49) and Love Potion ($10.95).
Diffusers
Diffusers spread the aroma (and healing benefits) into the air around your space. Plant Guru offers ultrasonic and jewelry types of diffusers. Ultrasonic makes possible cold air diffusion, preferred to heat diffusion that can lead to quick evaporation and degradation. Necklace diffusers make it possible to carry around the oil with you throughout the day.
The Ultrasonic Diffusers page lists 10 products including 70ml USB diffuser ($19.99), 200ml White LED Touch Screen diffuser ($29.95) and 600ml Light Wood Grain diffuser ($35.95).
Necklace diffusers come in a large variety and 53 products are listed on the relevant page. The necklaces come with different themes such as zodiac signs, baby love and more, ranging in price from $11.99 to $15.99.
Carrier Oils
Carrier oils are used to dilute the concentrated essential oils. This tends to eliminate skin irritation and wastage of the more expensive essential oil. Plant Guru lists 33 carrier oils on its page including Aloe Vera ($5.95 for 2oz.), Avocado ($5.95), Coconut ($6.55), Hemp Seed ($6.99) and Pomegranate Seed ($160.45 for a one gallon pack).
Herbs and Botanicals
Herbs and botanicals have medicinal and therapeutic properties, and come in different forms.
Plant Guru lists 32 products including Moringa seeds ($15.95 for 10oz.) , Moringa Dried Leaves ($4.99 for 1oz.), Activated Charcoal Powder ($5.25 for 1oz.), Myrrh Resin ($5.45 for 1oz.), Cacao Beans ($5.55 for 1oz.) and Licorice Root Chew Sticks (5.55 for 1oz.)
Butters
Butters help to revitalize skin and minimize aging effects.
Plant Guru lists 33 natural plant materials which yield skin nourishing butters. Butters offered by them include Almond Butter ($5.49 for 4oz.), Coconut Oil ($6.54 for 4oz.), Apricot Butter ($7.19 for 4oz.) and Lavender Butter ($7.29 for 4oz.)
Other Products
Other products offered by Plant Guru include Waxes that are used for different purposes from hair removal to industrial applications; bottles/ droppers/ containers; raw ingredients such as citric acid powder, menthol crystals and zinc oxide powder; and isopropyl alcohol and hand sanitizer gel.
Costs
Prices offered by Plant Guru are quite affordable compared to most top brands. For example, while Lavender (15ml) costs $32.73 at Young Living and $11.23 at Plant Therapy, it costs $11.95 for double that quantity (30ml) at Plant Guru. For Peppermint, the prices are: Young Living $29.21; Plant Therapy $11.92; Plant Guru $8.95 for 30ml. For Frankincense: Young Living $77.95; Plant Therapy $28.42; and Plant Guru $21.95 for 30ml.
Plant Guru offers wholesale prices to those who can produce W-9 form and tax id.
Plant Guru Essential Oil Reviews
Review Meta that analyses Amazon product reviews has given an adjusted rating of 4.4 (out of 5) after analysing 18705 reviews (many of which were removed as unnatural).
EssentialOilHaven has the following comments (among others) about the company:
- Oils from Plant Guru smell great and works great
- Prices are affordable
- Their products are GC/MS tested by an independent Canadian company Laboratoire Phyto Chemia
- The company offers a nice variety of oils and blends
Better Business Bureau Review Of
Plant Guru, a four-year old company, is not accredited with Better Business Bureau. BBB has given it a rating of F for: Failure to respond to 3 complaint(s) filed against business.
There has been a single customer review, one star out of five, for the company. 8 complaints were closed during the last three years.
Final Verdict
While Amazon reviews indicate that customers are generally happy with the products of Plant Guru, BBB gives a different picture (probably because of too small a sample size). The company’s essential oils are GC/MS tested and test results are available for tested oils. One major advantage is the affordable prices they offer versus the other essential oil brands.
Considering the above, the best course recommended is to buy GC/MS tested products on a trial basis and make your own decisions.
Key Takeaways
- Plant Guru is a new company and a small family owned venture
- They offer great prices and packages from 5ml to 4oz
- Products are GC/MS tested by an independent laboratory and test results are available at the website
- Product pages give information such as botanical name of the plant, the plant part from which oil was extracted and method of extraction. GC/MS test status is also provided
- The one major omission is non-availability of the country of origin
- Going by the reviews at Amazon, customers seem to be happy with the company’s products
- They have a nice variety of products, including butters and herbs/ botanicals
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