Where to buy Essential Oil from Malaysia (Online) & How to spot Fake Essential Oil

I am starting my journey on essential oil and pinterest has various good tips on the area of essential oils.

Sourcing for essential oil can be overwhelming. There are so many essential oil brands with different price ranged. I wanted to avoid synthetic and adulterated essential oil. After all I wanted to gain the benefits from using essential oil. Using fake ones will just backfire on me or waste my money. At the same time, I wanted to try many scents and I would rather avoid direct sales essential oil as I do not have a big budget.

So the mission should you accept it, is to find an affordable essential oil that is genuine, smells good and stick with it!

I find that this video in YouTube gave good tips on how to spot a pure essential oil to a fake one. However some of the points can still be abuse by companies who just wanted to make a quick buck.
One of the points that I was interested in experimenting is the Oily test (Point 5 @ 2.38minue).
"How to spot Fake Essential Oils by The English Aromatherapist"

It says that most true essential oil will not leave a oily residue if drop on the sheet of white paper with exception of some heavy base notes. If there is an oily residue, then it has been likely stretch with carrier oil which is common for cheaper essential oil in the market.

I have experimented on this points.
Albeit I am just starting and certain brands, I only had 1 bottles while other brands I had more.

I won't be taking a picture and posting the results yet. Cause it just a white sheet of paper for those that pass.

If you wanted to do your own test, just draw on a paper a box, write the brand and 1 drop of essential oil. Set it aside and check the next day.

Brands that pass the test:
1. NOW essential oil - I have tested the Lavender, Clove, Cinnamon, Rosemary, Peppermint, Citronella, Lemongrass. All of them does not have any leftover oily residue on the paper. I find that the smell are lasting (in the bottle even after 1 year) and the Lavender, Clove & Rosemary do not have a heady smell which some people tend to be sensitive to. It suit budget conscious people who wants quality essential oil. This brand is available in IHerb and it can be ship to Malaysia. Use code ASK7366 to obtain a 5% discount
2. KOSMO. My hubby bought from a shop. It is a Made in Malaysia brand. I tested the lemongrass aroma oil.
3. Derma Health (Australia) Pty Ltd - I tested the Lavender Organic Essential Oil. I bought from Lazada.

Brands that do not pass the test: (I did not want to highlight this, but this posting will also serve as my own record for my future reference. So I will write with some *** as this post is not meant to bash the one that did not pass)
1. BioFi***t - I tested orange, lavender and ylang ylang. All of them have oily residue. Frankly the smell of the essential oil fades after a few months with the exception of ylang ylang. It is written on the bottle that it is a therapeutic grade and that it is pure essential oil which I am highly skeptical. I bought from Qoo10. I tried to utilize this brand heavily just so that I could finish and move on from my disappointment. I would never buy this brand again.

Brands that I have the stock and yet to be tested. I am just going thru with my existing stocks before plunging thru my new toys.
Aura Cacia - Lavender, Lemon, Vetiver, Wild Marjoram and Texas Cedarwood (IHerb)
Nature's answer - Lavender organic Essential Oil (IHerb)

Brands that I would like to buy
Plant therapy - I have read really good reviews on this brand and I saw on their official website (USA) that if you buy USD50 above, the International shipping is free. If you are a complete beginner, you could get their set as it is cheaper compared to buying them separately. This would be my next targeted website to purchase. I notice if you sign up then you will get a discount voucher - The offer appear randomly when I surf the website via  my PC.

So what brand do you use and have you tried the Oily test? Let share your results!

Have you tried IHerb in Malaysia!

(This is not a paid review, I am just writing my experience using IHerb for first time. USA online sites seems to realize there is a wider international market out here as shipping cost are getting more affordable!)

I have just bought and have received my products delivered to Malaysia.

IHerb is a US base online website that has 1,200 brands and 35,000 brand name products of health food stores like vitamins, essential oil, vanilla essence, various spices, make up, fitness items, baby items and etc~.

I have been looking at this site few years back but I only tried it now because I notice that the site are more user friendly. I like that
1) It automatically display price in MYR by detecting your country location

2) The delivery charges are so affordable.

I notice that the delivery charges was cheaper when i exceed a certain amount. It says in their site that if you purchase USD40 above then there is discounted shipping rates.

So I spend around RM250 and my shipping rate via DHL was only RM13! (I did not buy heavy items though. I just enjoy seeing the shipping fee goes down once I purchase a certain amount. I wish i could say the same about Amazon!)

3) It state when was the arrival date, which I received my order precisely as promised. Shortly after I made payment, I received an  email from DHL telling me when the orders will arrive!

In the mean time you could track your shipment via DHL site whereby tracking number will be provided. Its really great that my order arrived in 6 days all the way from US. Even Taobao in China take longer than that (albeit they operate differently).

However do note that taxes may be levied. I did not incur any taxes. I did read some other website that was discussing that if you bought large amount and if its vitamin, they would be susceptible to taxes.

This are some of the item that I bought:-

So you might wonder if I have a happy shopping experience when i received my product?

Well the answer is NO. Initially. The reason I am only thinking of writing this post is the outcome of the customer service.

Well everything went of like a dream. It was too perfect and something had to happen! The website was easy to use, the items that I have been aiming for years are within my reach (Hello vanilla essence, the one imported in the dept store is always crazy expensive), the delivery charges are affordable. I was not tax. So everything should be perfect right? Wrong!!

This is how it looks like when it arrived. The moment that i received the box, even without opening it, I know something was wrong. Cause the box reek with Lavender Essential Oil. My Aura Cacia Lavender Essential Oil has leaked! A quarter of the amount was missing.

I was hopping mad! The feeling is like I was really hungry and ordered a Mcdonald delivery and find that my burger has been bitten off. I was also disappointed at how my items are wrapped. Most of the items are glass but not all of them are bubble wrap.

 Then I was told that USA has great customer service thus I tried voicing my unhappiness at my delivery.

My essential oil arrived with quarter missing. Arrow shows the difference between the two bottle

I then proceed to describe the overall issue to IHerb with the two photo attach above and requested refund to the affected bottle and was granted a refund. The email is info@iherb.com (you might want to quote your order number). I first correspond via the website.

I was suitably impressed by the response of IHerb and in a way this is a great way for me to see how they evaluate and respond to the situation. And how they responded would determine if I would ever buy from them again.

I notice that the customer service reply me with a refund after a few hours of my email without me needing to send the item back to the USA. 

I would definitely buy from them again! Which is why I decided to write down my experience with this great website. I find that a good customer support really bolster return customer.

If you would like to purchase this website, you may key in this code ASK7366 in order to obtain a 5% discount. In returned I would also be entitled for a rebate when you use this code. 

BTW I really love the smell of the Aura Cacia essential oil, the Lavender Essence smell are strong. I have been looking high and low for quality and affordable essential oil. I have been avoiding direct sales essential oil as the price is really inflated for all the relevant down and up line to earn.

Oh ya I am really into essential oil so If you are looking to buy an affordable diffuser, I found an affordable diffuser in Taobao . There is a UK plug that suit our Malaysia and Singapore 3 pin socket. I spend around the range of RM42 including shipping that I shared with friends for this diffuser.