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Shelf Life of Pure Essential Oils

As I learned more about essential oil and started sharing with others, one question that kept coming up over and over again was; How long are Essential oils good/stable? Do they go bad or rancid over time?

Here is what I've found about this topic from various sources:

• Healing with Aromatherapy/Marlene Ericksen:"Essential oils are volatile substances, which make them sensitive to sunlight. Prolonged exposure can cause the essential oil to oxidize and lose potency.....Most oils have a shelf life of about 1 yr. Citrus oils loose potency most quickly. Heavy oils are stable the longest."
• Carrier oils can turn rancid over time or deteriorrate with prolonged sun exposure.
• Another point that is important to make is that "it depends" on what brand of oil you are referring to when talking about stability/shelf life of oils.  I use doTERRA Pure Essential Oils, for example and doTERRA's founder and chief medical advisor states that, if stored properly, the oils can be preserved and used indefinitely.  He can only state this, however, about doTERRA oils, not other companies, because some oils you purchase may not be 100% therapeutic grade (meaning, nothing is added, nothing taken away and the oils tested for purity).
• So...my recommendation is: store your oils in cool, dark places in glass amber or dark bottles to give them the longest life possible. 

Books on Essential Oils/Aromatherapy

Some of my Recommended Reads:

• Healing with Aromatherapy by Marlene Ericksen, there are great chapters on the treating women's ailments and safety when using essential oils

Photosensitivity with citrus oils

Yes, if you are using any Pure Essential Oils topically that are or contain Citrus (Lemon, Wild Orange, Bergamot, etc.), then it is recommended that you do not have sun exposure (sun tanning, swimming outdoors, tanning beds) for about 6-8 hours after you have applied the oil. Recommendations do vary from 4 hours to 12 hours or so. Really, we are not using these oils often on our skin/topically, but if you do, please be safe.

For more about Photosensitivity, check out these links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosensitivity

Super Bugs -Fight them w/ Essential Oils

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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/184025.php