Cinnamon Harvesting

The cinnamon essential oil we use at Indochine Natural is sourced from various countries including Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Viet Nam. The process of harvesting the raw cinnamon has not changed for centuries.

When a cinnamon tree is around two years old it is cut back to a stump and covered with soil. This causes it to grow like a bush, with new shoots emerging out of the sides by the following year. It's these shoots that are used to make cinnamon. The leaves are removed and the outer bark scrapped off the twigs in one piece and rolled in layers, telescope style, into long quills that are left to dry for several days.

The cinnamon essential oil is later extracted by steam distillation.

Selecting cinnamon essential oil for use in Indochine Natural products requires thorough scrutiny as the fragrance can be affected by where and how the plant was grown, extraction method, plus the soil, air and water in the growing region, the health of the plant, and how long it sits before distillation. At Indochine natural we have been known to reject entire shipments of Cinnamon essential oil.

Working With Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

Of paramount importance at Indochine Natural are our pure essential oil fragrances, but being all-natural these are not easy to manage. With my 60+ year old nose subtle fragrance changes are easily detected, and this has happened with our regular supply of Ylang Ylang. Very subtle fragrance changes can occur for a number of reasons….not the least being the actual processing of the oil.

There are several grades of Ylang Ylang essential oil which are extracted at different times. There is what is called 'extra' and then 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades. The extra is the very first flower extraction and therefore has the sweetest odour, while the later pressings have a less-sweet odour.

The 'extra' is mainly used in the perfume industry. There is also a "complete" Ylang Ylang which is the 'extra' combined with the 1st and 2nd extractions.

What makes managing these oils so challenging is that no uniform standard exists as to when the distillation is suspended and each grade extracted. Consequently there is notorious inconsistency of aroma across the three grades, and an experienced nose is required for accurate evaluation. If Ylang Ylang extra is taken too soon, then many of its outstanding aroma characteristics may show up in the secondary Ylang Ylang II oil -- which produces a great Ylang Ylang II but a weak Ylang Ylang Extra. If the secondary Ylang Ylang II distillation goes too long, some of the less fine aroma characteristics may be evident.

So, here I a sitting down an evaluating samples Ylang Ylang Extra, Complete, and Ylang Ylang I, and from this evaluation we will make future purchasing decisions to ensure the high standards of our product Ylang Ylang fragrance.


Dr. Mike Thair

Managing Director
Indochine Natural Sdn Bhd

The Therapeutic Essential Oil Question.......Again !!!

This question comes up periodically from consumers, typically along the lines of an email we received earlier this week:

"May I know whether the essential oils available for purchase on your website are therapeutic grade or aromatherapy grade?"

And my response……

Basically, in the essential oils industry there are no such grades as "therapeutic" or "aromatherapy," these are terms dreampt up by marketing people or unscrupulous traders that are not scientifically supported or have any support in the commercial essential oil world.

As a consumer you should be asking suppliers about the quality of their essential oils, and the important things to know are the methods of extraction (some methods can contaminate the essential oil), safety information, and the laboratory Certificate of Analysis (CoA) with Lot #. In Malaysia some suppliers will try and pass the MSDS off as a CoA, and you should never accept this.

At Indochine Natural we only import essential oils that have a clearly marked Lot# on the bottle and accompanying CoA, plus an analysis of the allergens for that particular essential oil batch number (we are probably the only company in Malaysia that insists on this). Anyone buying our essential can have this certification on request.

If you would like to know more about the "therapeutic grade" disinformation, there is more available HERE.

Regards,

Dr. Mike Thair

Founder and Managing Director
Indochine Natural Sdn Bhd

www.indochinenatural.com