Plant Guru is an essential oil brand that you might have seen on Amazon or sold on various other websites on the internet.
I got a chance to test their essential oils out and will provide you with some vital information on my findings in this full Plant Guru review.
I have to admit I was surprised at how inexpensive their essential oils are. I have seen similar companies in the past that sold very cheap essential oils and as a result, the quality of their oils suffered.
First, I am going to teach you a little about their company. They were founded in 2012. Plant Guru is headquartered in Plainfield, New Jersey. Unlike Aura Cacia Plant Guru doesn’t run a brick-and-mortar store. Meaning, you can’t find their essential oils located in stores. They are only offered online.
Contents
Plant Guru is a family owned business. It doesn’t state any of the owners on their website but from a quick search online I found out Axel Roman Jr. is the CEO of Plant Guru. Their ideology behind their business is based on two things; a passion for using essential oils, and to keep their prices low versus other companies (MLM) Multi-Level Marketing companies that sell their essential oils for much higher.
Now that you know a little about Plant Guru and how their company operates I can look at their products. In this full Plant Guru review, I will show you why I like their essential oils and recommend them to anyone looking for excellent quality essential oils.
Plant Guru Pros
- Family owned business.
- Low price tag.
- Lots of essential oils to choose from.
- GS/MS third-party tested.
Plant Guru Cons
- Oils pour fast from containers.
- Only available online.
- No organic essential oils.
Plant Guru Bottles
On every bottle of essential oil from Plant Guru, it does state that they are “100% pure essential oils”. Also, they do print the words “therapeutic grade” on their bottles.
With their bottles, they do print the Latin name on each bottle. For instance, with rosemary, the Latin name is Rosmarinus officinalis. With frankincense, the Latin name is Boswellia serrata. With lavender, the Latin name is Lavandula anguvstifolia. With lemongrass, the Latin name is Cymbopogon flexuosus.
Plant Guru does list the plant part it came from. For example, with peppermint, it comes from the part of the leaves.
Plant Guru does list the distillation process that is used. For example, lime uses the “cold pressing” process.
There are little tidbits of information about each essential oil that you are using. For example, with lemongrass Plant Guru states its know for its invigorating and antiseptic properties. It can be used for facial toners and for greasy skin. It can be used in the bath to soothe aching muscles and is commonly used to keep bugs away.
Also, there is a link to Plant Gurus website (theplantguru.com) and their Facebook and Twitter social media pages.
Plant Guru Purity Test
It’s no big secret that in the aromatherapy world that essential oils need to be 100% pure. The industry isn’t regulated by anyone so people can print anything they want to put on a bottle. Please see this article on how to tell if your essential oils are pure.
However, I like to see a test on every essential oil company that I review. To do this you need a GC/MS test. This will show you the chemical components that were found in the oil tested.
Plant Guru GC/MS Testing
Plant Guru does have GC/MS test on some of their essential oils. If you go to https://www.theplantguru.com/gc-ms-testing you will see what I am talking about.
For instance with Lavender here is a GC/MS test report:
The lavender GC/MS test is about 12 pages, but as you can see it’s been checked and approved by Alexis St-Gelais. It states that there is “no adulterant, contaminant or diluent has been dented using this method”.
Here is proof:
But, other essential oils like Juniper Berry, Marjoram, vanilla, turmeric, etc. have a “coming soon” label under them. So, hopefully, Plant Guru gets these GC/MS test up in the future.
Plant Guru Testing Procedure
I have already briefly mentioned GC/MS test for testing their essential oils.
On every one of Plant Guru’s essential oil bottles, they do print the words, “100% pure essential oil” on the label. A lot of companies do this, but sadly some of them don’t really provide pure essential oils. This isn’t the case because Plant Guru’s essential oils are pure, though.
What I do like about Plant Guru is they do test all their essential oils. They don’t have an in-house team other companies do. Instead, they are tested by a third-party. Again, they run a GC/MS (Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry) test on the oils. This will list all the chemicals that are in the essential oil. Therefore, this is a much better way to check if the essential oils have been adulterated.
Also, it does state on their website that “our suppliers meet USDA standards”. At this time it doesn’t appear that Plant Guru offers organic essential oils, which is kind of a bummer, though.
Plant Guru Crafting & Harvesting
It’s important to know how a company grows and processes their essential oils.
Plant Guru does not grow or process their essential oils on their own. Meaning, they are not doing it as an in-house operation. However, they do have various suppliers located all over the globe.
I have searched through their website and it’s kind of vague on who actually grows the essential oils. They state that they work with “one of the most well-known essential oil experts”. The name of the “well-known” expert isn’t mentioned, though.
Next, the extraction method Plant Guru uses is called steam distillation, cold pressing, solvent extraction, and CO2 extraction. This is the industry standard and Plant Guru does extract the essential oils correctly.
If your interested in reading more on how essential oils are extracted you can read more here.
Plant Guru Smell Test
I have tested a ton of essential oils by Plant Guru. I have actually tested a lot of them in my electronic diffuser. The diffuser that I tested them in was the InnoGear 150mL. Also, I did test them in my URPOWER diffuser. You can read my review here on that diffuser, too.
Additionally, I put a couple drops on a piece of paper to see how long the smell stays around. For example, I put a couple of drops of rosemary on a piece of paper. The smell stayed around for about 20 hours.
Typically, I do put 2-6 drops in my diffuser and can smell it within 10-12 feet. Also, the smell is pretty strong even after I turn the diffuser off. I am very happy with the smell that comes from these essential oils by Plant Guru.
However, one thing I don’t particularly like about Plant Guru’s essential oils is how quickly the oil comes out of the bottle. If your not careful you could end up putting a lot more essential oil in the diffuser than you wanted too.
Plant Guru Products
Plant Guru does offer over 140+ essential oils that you can purchase. As well as offering essential oils they do offer:
- Essential oil blends.
- Roll-Ons.
- Diffusers.
- Carrier Oils.
- Gift sets.
- Butters.
- Waxes.
- Superfoods.
- African black soap.
- Incense.
- Bottles and packaging.
- Other ingredients.
Gift Sets
Gift sets are the way to go if you want to purchase essential oils from Plant Guru. You get a lot more oil for your money that way. Here are the sets that I recommend you check out:
Plant Guru Top 14 Essential Oil Set. One of the best starters sets you can get if you’re new to essential oils. This set comes with 14 different essential oils. Each bottle is 5 ml. The oils that this set comes with are frankincense, lavender, peppermint, rosemary, orange, tea tree, lemon, lime, clove, spearmint, lemongrass, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and grapefruit. Did I mention the price is below $20! That means you are paying $1.45 per essential oil!
Ultimate Essential Oil Variety Set Kit – 32 Pack. If you want 32 essential oil scents this is an awesome deal. Each of the bottles is 10 ml. Some of the scents that are included in this set are synergy blends. This means they are a mix of essential oils. For instance, the breath synergy has eucalyptus, peppermint, tea tree, lemon, lavender, cardamom, and bay essential oils in it.
Roll-ons
Plant Guru does offer a variety of different roll-ons. These are pre-diluted blends that you can apply topically. If you want more information on mixing carrier oils with essential oils I have written an article on it. Here are some of the most popular roll-ons that Plant Guru offers:
- Sleep Tight.
- Citrus Blast.
- Happy.
- Stress Relief.
- Deep Muscle.
Carrier Oils
Plant Guru does offer a variety of carrier oils. Some of the carrier oils that Plant Guru offers are coconut, almond, avocado, grapeseed, jojoba, etc. You can buy carrier oils individually or in sets.
Using Plant Guru’s Oils
As many people already know just diffusing essential oils isn’t the only way to use essential oils. Instead, there are many different ways you can use essential oils.
So, I have used Plant Guru’s essential oils the following ways:
Shampoo
Store bought shampoo can have a lot of harmful chemicals in it. About a year ago I quit using store bought shampoo altogether. It can cause back acne (see this article on acne and essential oils). But, also store bought shampoo contains chemicals which are toxic to the body. One awesome way I have used Plant Guru’s essential oils is by making my own homemade shampoo. I have already written about making your own homemade shampoo which you can check out here.
But, I mixed peppermint and rosemary with Dr. Bronners castile soap to make a shampoo that helps increase the growth of my hair.
Cleaning
Just like shampoo cleaning chemicals contain chemicals which are actually toxic to the human body. For several years now I have been making my own cleaning recipes.
I have used Plant Guru’s essential oils in household cleaners, air spritzers, a degreaser for dishes, in the laundry, etc. I have even made my own Poo Pourri spray.
Thieves Blend
However, one of my favorite ways I have used Plant Guru’s essential oils is by making my own Thieves blend. This is a blend that is trademarked by Young Living, but I can make my own for far less by purchasing Plant Guru’s essential oils. Then all I do is use an old cleaned out essential oil bottle. I then put in the 5 essential oils that are needed. What is great is I have extra essential oil leftover and get the Thieves blend for much cheaper!
Plant Guru Customer Support
Customer support is always important when you buy essential oils. There are various ways you can get ahold of Plant Guru. You can call them on the telephone, fill out a contact form, and email them.
Aside from the above ways to reach out to Plant Guru you can view their FAQ page.
However, I have contacted their customer support a couple of times and didn’t receive any kind of answer back from them. I wanted to show them this positive Plant Guru review and also had a couple of questions for them. They never did respond to me the handful of times I did reach out to them, though.
Also, I have noticed several people have left them a review on their Facebook review page and stated they had “non-existent” customer support:
Therefore, I do have to lower their rating for customer support.
I do like how Plant Guru does have a lot of different recipes on their website at: https://www.theplantguru.com/page/category/diy-recipes/ They show you ways to use their oils for your hand sanitizer sprays, anti-itch stick for your camping trip, holiday essential oil recipes, etc.
Plant Guru Price
The price is always one factor that I consider when purchasing essential oils. Believe it or not, there are essential oil companies that are a lot cheaper than others. Sadly, when you start using their oils you will notice that the quality isn’t the highest. So, I want to show you how Plant Guru’s prices compare to other similar companies. The chart down below shows how they stack up against similar companies:
| Plant Guru (10ml) | $6.99 |
|---|---|
| Plant Therapy (10ml) | $7.49 |
| Eden's Garden (10ml) | $10.45 |
| Aura Cacia (15ml) | $5.98 |
| doTERRA(15ml) | $27.98 |
| Young Living (15ml) | $24.99 |
Other research on Plant Guru:
I have invested hours and hours of my time to find out all the information that you can find on Plant Guru. A couple of notable reviews that I have read on them can be found at:
Plant Guru Final Verdict
Do I recommend Plant Guru? Yes! That is with a big explanation point! As you can see in this full Plant Guru review I have tested them out extensively, used their oils, and compare their prices with other similar essential oil companies. Plant Guru is not only cheaper than most companies, but they have very high-quality essential oils.
The only negative thing I can say about the essential oils by Plant Guru is you have to be careful when you pour them out. They do come out of the bottle pretty fast. Sadly, I learned this the hard way the first time I poured peppermint into my diffuser.
I’m very happy that I got a chance to check out the essential oils by Plant Guru. As you can see they don’t just offer essential oils. They offer roll-ons, carrier oils, diffusers, etc.
However, if Plant Guru won’t work for you I would suggest reading my NOW essential oils review. They are another budget-friendly company that also sells high-quality essential oils.
As a word of caution, there are several companies of essential oils that I would NOT recommend. They are Green Health (see reviews), Radha Beauty (see reviews), and ArtNaturals (see reviews).
Do you have any questions about Plant Guru’s essential oils? Do you have any experiences with their oils? Please leave your comments down below.
Plant Guru Review
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Product Quality
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Price
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Range of Products
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Customer Support
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Value For Money
Summary
Plant Guru is a great essential oil company. Their essential oils are cheaper than a lot of other companies. I’ve used a lot of their oils and do recommend them.
22 thoughts on “Plant Guru Essential Oils Reviews”
Super glad I tried Plant Guru a couple years ago. I was a bit skeptical when I first tried them out. But there essential Oils are cheap and top-notch.
I really like their gift sets. You really do get a lot of value for your money.
Whenever you order your oils they are usually delivered within two business days, too.
Hey Tim,
Thanks for the feedback and I’m glad that you are happy with Plant Guru. I’ve been very happy with the essential oils from Plant Guru. Every single one I have tested out is 100% pure and you got to love the price tag!
Hi,
I do enjoy using essential oils in my diffuser at home. The smells are amazing.
I didn’t know about the blot test you can do, so now I will be testing the ones I have to see the outcome.
I haven’t tried the plant guru brand before, but I think I will now order some when I next need a re-stock.
Thanks for letting people know about pouring them out. It would be a shame to waste any.
Best wishes,
Michael.
Hey Michael,
A blot test is a easy way to tell if essential oils are 100% pure like they state. It’s good to see that the ones I tested with Plant Guru are pure. You should really consider trying out Plant Guru. I have been very happy with them and they are on the cheaper end, too.
I am a big advocate of essential oils. After your review, I am going to have to try some oils from Plant Guru. I love the quality and price of this product.
Hey Mary,
Thanks for dropping by. You should certainly test out Plant Guru. Their essential oils are awesome!
You know I was just looking on Amazon and noticed essential oils by Plant Guru. Their prices are pretty low and I have been burned with essential oils that I bought at Walmart. Turned out they were not really essential oils. Instead, they were perfume scents that had no real therapeutic benefits.
But, it looks like Plant Guru is the real deal. I’m so glad I found your Plant Guru review and will be testing them out for myself. Thanks for sharing your experience with them. I am pretty excited to get my set of essential oils!
Hey Josh,
Don’t get me started about the essential oils sold at Walmart. I can pretty much tell you the brands they sell are of low value. Sure, they are cheap, but they don’t offer any real therapeutic benefits.
I am so glad that I came to your website. I have never heard of the brand. I use essential oil mostly for aromatherapy. The ones I use are very expensive. I was shocked to find how inexpensive plant guru essential oils are. I will take your recommendation. Next time I will give this brand a try. Thank you for the informative article.
Hey Hong,
I know what you’re talking about some essential oil brands are very expensive. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of essential oils from Plant Guru. I thought for that price they are probably just another fake fragrance.
Plant Guru is awesome! I first thought they were too good to be true because of how cheap they are. I have tried other companies out in the past and have been let down. However, with Plant Guru I was pleasantly surprised. Very happy with their essential oils.
Hey Danielle,
Thanks for the feedback on Plant Guru. I agree there are a lot of essential oil companies out there. A lot of them are too good to be true. Thankfully, Plant Guru is a good company that offers essential oils at an affordable rate.
Plant Guru is awesome! I first thought they were too good to be true because of how cheap they are. I have tried other companies out in the past and have been let down. However, with Plant Guru I was pleasantly surprised. Very happy with their essential oils.
Hey Brandon,
Glad you are happy with Plant Guru. There are a lot of companies out there that sell adulterated essential oils. Thankfully, Plant Guru isn’t one of them.
I’ve been buying Plants Guru’s essential oils for more than a year now. I have been very happy with them. I particularly like basil, lemongrass, lavender, grapefruit, and lime.
It’s good to know that you can purchase high-quality essential oils for a fraction of the price. Thanks so much Plant Guru!
Hey Daniel,
Good to see that you are happy with your essential oils from Plant Guru. They do have a lot of sets where you can get them for a reduced price. When I first got into essential oils I purchased a number of their different sets.
True, they are high-quality essential oils at a fraction of the price!
I bought the “Top 14” essential oils from Plant Guru. I have to say I was very happy with them. I have bought cheap ones on Amazon before and have to say I was let down.
I also bought one of Plant Guru’s diffusers the other day. It was cheap, but a pretty decent diffuser, though.
It’s a newer company that I think a lot of people should consider using. Great price tag and quality!
Hey Dale,
Thanks for your feedback on Plant Guru. Their Top 14 is really a great deal. I have purchased it too in the past.
I haven’t actually tested out their diffusers yet. I do have plans of testing them out though. Glad you are happy with it!
I’ve used Plant Guru’s essential oils. Shipping is very quick. The quality of them is very good. You can get 2 oz and 4 oz of peppermint, lavender, lemon, orange, tea tree, eucalyptus, grapefruit, etc. for fairly cheap.
Very happy with Plant Guru in the 6 months I have been using their essential oils.
Hey Sam,
Thanks for your feedback on Plant Guru.
It’s good to see essential oils that are pure offered at an affordable price tag. All too commonly in the aromatherapy world essential oils are really cheap but adulterated with chemicals. Thankfully, that is not the case with Plant Guru.
Some good information here. I just want to add in some facts that your readers may want to know.
Sadly GCMS testing is not catching the sophisticated synthetic ingredients in many oils over the last few years.
In my experience and some oil chemists I have encountered just because an oil smells strong when you diffuse it really gives no indication whether it is pure or not. Many oils used in the perfume industry are synthetic and their fragrance can be the same as pure oils. There is no way to tell purity unless oil smells of alcohol, chemicals or like some other plant altogether.
However, oils can vary a bit in smell from batch to batch depending on growing conditions.
You can tell if an oil has a carrier with a paper test or if it appears to be of odd coloring but other than that an oil can be completely synthetic and this test would never be able to tell that.
USDA certified organic is not always needed for an oil source to be organic. I was rather surprised you did not share that many essential oil farms in 3rd world countries simply cannot afford this certification and therefore produce without it, completely organically.
I am concerned if not all of a brands testing is not public as where you stated “coming soon”.
Also as far as this limited testing goes – there are many other standard purity tests that can catch synthetics- when do they do the testing?
I know for a fact doTERRA does testing at distillation site, when it arrives at the packaging plant and after it has been packaged to ensure no part of the process has been compromised with adulterations or contaminations. This should be done with all oils. Though this is more expensive it ensures quality and purity of the oils to the customer. This could be the reason why Plant Guru oils are a bit less in price because this above average testing is not done. With doTERRA All testing is available to the public with updated batch and lot numbers specific to your bottle of oil. I did not look to see if updated testing is shown on Plant Gurus site.
I believe they may use Dr. Robert Pappas for testing as he is a smaller but accurate chemist. He is unable to test on a contracted basis for larger companies but he also markets his own brand of oils now. But I find it odd this information is not shared with the public.
The Essential oil world is full of adulterated and contaminated oils for sale for apparently “bargain” prices. With 100% pure stamped on their labels. Only to find out through random 3rd party testing that the company is actually knowingly scamming the customer and possibly harming them with synthetic or contaminated oils. Some even show outdated test results or fake tests on their websites.
There was a recent study done by Roseman University and not paid for by any essential oil company, that clearly shows that 3 brands they tested contained synthetics. These synthetics were proven to damage human cells in the study.
Buyer beware. Consumers need to be sure oils are pure and just smelling them or going by a GCMS test is not enough to prove purity.
https://www.roseman.edu/2018/10/03/roseman-university-researchers-study-doterra-essential-oils/
Not only is purity key but consistency is also a factor.
In fact because of doTERRA’s consistency they are being used across the U.S. at research hospitals, like the Huntsman Institute, for studies and clinical trials.
Not only does purity matter but consistency in chemical components is critical. Even harvesting early can change those components thereby altering medicinal benefits from one batch to another.
As far as price listing it would be a good idea to do actual wholesale pricing with some of the companies. In fact two of them give a discount of 50-55% off retail prices. No need to be a distributor either. It is a loyalty rewards program for all customers. 25% off retail with no minimum purchases is available to anyone with doTERRA.
None of the money spent at Plant Guru is returned to the customer in free product and any advertising the customer does is never compensated. But as I said before, price may vary due to variations in expensive testing done from brand to brand.
My hope is more people will understand the difference between doTERRA and other brands goes far beyond any pricing amounts.
Hey Jeanne,
Thanks for your input.
Sadly, the industry is plagued by companies that just want to make money selling essential oils. Even, if they know how to “game” the industry.
While a GC/MS test isn’t going to show everything it can detect some foreign chemicals that are found in essential oils. Also, a simple blot test will show when someone knowingly put carrier oil into an essential oil. But, this was a tactic that was used a lot more years ago. Now, they are much more sophisticated in adulterating essential oils.
That is a good point about the smell not being an accurate indication of essential oil being pure. However, simply smelling the oil can be an indication that something isn’t quite right about an essential oil.
I did check more into Plant Guru and it looks like they are adding more GC/MS test to their site. In fact, since publishing my Plant Guru review they have added lots more test. I’m actually going to be emailing them and seeing if we can get their feedback on my review and also your comment. Please feel free to send them an email, too.
doTERRA is a high-quality brand and I have added them to my list of trusted brands that do sell pure essential oil at: https://myscentedoils.com/best-essential-oil-brands
I do like how they do test their oils more extensively than other companies. That is a great way to do quality control. Also, I have seen companies put outdated GC/MS test up over the years. However, it does look like Plant Guru’s testing is less than one year old from the sample reports I have looked at.
I would love for Dr. Robert Pappas to publish the results found on Plant Guru’s essential oils. I do believe that he does publish the results from his essential oils publicly. But, I would have to check with him on that, too.
I would be interested in talking with any chemist that wants to run a GC/MS test on Plant Guru. I would certainly modify my review after I saw the test if it showed indications of being adulterated.
But, I really do wish the industry as a whole would be more regulated. They can stamp the words “pure” on any bottle and most people that are new to essential oils wouldn’t even notice if the oils were adulterated.
I agree that using synthetic essential oils can be very dangerous to your health. A lot of people do get caught up on the price tag and do overlook the health drawbacks to using real pure essential oils.
Again, thanks for your feedback and insight on this!