You may have noticed on a few websites - and up until recently on ours as well - that essential oils are often described as "therapeutic grade" or "commercial grade", and for perfumery purposes, "fine perfumery grade". Originally, this grading system explained the differences in how essential oils were produced. Oils referred to as therapeutic grade or fine perfumery grade are in theory, those where more care is taken in the growing and harvesting of the plants, during the distillation or extraction process, and in the after-care of the oil. These oils are also usually made in smaller batches. All of these factors are important in producing an oil for fine perfumery, where the odor has to be of a certain quality to be used in high-end fragrance and doubly important for a oil that is intended for aromatherapy purposes. So-called commercial grade oils, on the other hand, are those that are mass produced and used more for industrial purposes. Commercial grade oils are often a combination of natural and synthetic components and are much cheaper than their purely natural counterparts.

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