Essential oil analysis by the Helpac laboratory
Since 1988, the Helpac laboratory has been cultivating the benefits of plants and formulating skincare products containing beneficial plant active ingredients. In order to offer the best organic essential oils, the company is committed to a global approach to quality and constant improvement. From plant selection to distillation and packaging, Helpac’s De Saint Hilaire brand essential oils and white-label products are subject to rigorous controls. Many professionals place their trust in us, and we owe them transparency and impeccable quality.
Essential oils: quality first
Essential oils are precious products. The low yield of plants, the care taken in their production and the relative rarity of certain plants explain their sometimes rather high prices, as much as the effectiveness of the active ingredients they contain. Essential oils, such as lavender, tea tree, mint or eucalyptus essential oils, are sought-after for their many applications in the fields of health, natural cosmetics and dietary supplements, and have become very popular in recent years, with many laboratories now offering them. Nevertheless, the quality of products on the market is highly uncertain, with unclear origins, variable efficacy and tolerance not always guaranteed for the user.
The Helpac laboratory prides itself on offering only top-quality essential oils, carefully crafted from Ecocert-certified organic plants. With 800 hectares of cultivation in France and partner growers in France and abroad subject to rigorous quality requirements, the company ensures it has first-rate raw materials with which to manufacture its products. What’s more, all De Saint Hilaire essential oils carry the HEBBD label (Huile essentielle botaniquement et biochimiquement définies) and are chemotyped, which means that the botanical species and geographical origin of the plant used to create the essential oils are precisely known. Plant origin, organic certification, prevalence of local cultivation sites, distillation on its own sites in France, Helpac leaves nothing to chance and ensures the traceability and quality of its essential oils from plant to bottle.
The distillation of De Saint Hilaire organic essential oils
The Helpac laboratory, a specialist in aromatherapy for nearly 30 years, has three distillation sites in France for the manufacture of its organic essential oils and hydrolats. To obtain high-tolerance products, rich in active health ingredients and aromatic molecules, Helpac has opted for slow, low-pressure distillation. For this gentle distillation of essential oils, the steam used does not exceed a temperature of 88°C and the pressure does not exceed 0.5 bar, in order to extract the molecules from the distilled plants without oxidizing them or altering their properties. Another advantage of slow azeotropic distillation is that it extracts all the volatile active ingredients contained in the plant, even the so-called “tail” active ingredients, which are only released at the very end of distillation. We speak of “totum” when we recover all the aromatic molecules extracted from the raw material.
This slow azeotropic distillation yields two natural products used in aromatherapy and in the creation of skincare and beauty products: essential oil and floral water or aromatic hydrosol. Once decanted, the two liquids separate and can be collected and used for their respective properties. It should also be noted that some essential oils are not obtained by distillation of plant extracts, but by mechanical pressure. Cold expression is used to extract essential oils from citrus peel.
Helpac essential oils are organic, 100% pure and natural, as they are not blended or diluted and contain no solvents or synthetic molecules. Obtained from certified organic plants, they also contain no pesticides. De Saint Hilaire cosmetics have also been awarded the “Slow Cosmétique” label, which rewards products that are natural, respectful of nature, and free from compounds that are harmful to health or the environment.
A laboratory-tested essential oil
In order to guarantee the best possible quality to the professionals who place their trust in us and to end consumers, the Helpac laboratory carries out frequent and rigorous analyses of its organic essential oils. Products are subjected to visual and olfactory checks, pesticide-free and bacteriological analyses. To verify the quality and biochemical composition of our essential oils, we use chromatographic analysis to separate and precisely identify the molecules present in the oil.
Our laboratory provides its professional customers with all the quality and regulatory documents required to market De Saint-Hilaire brand products: bacteriological analysis bulletins, chromatographs, MSDS, technical data sheets, safety data sheets, Ecocert certificates, etc. These documents are regularly updated to meet changes in current regulations and standards. These documents are regularly updated to keep pace with changing regulations and standards. Backed by 30 years’ experience in the manufacture and marketing of essential oils, the Helpac laboratory can also help you formulate your own products and prepare your regulatory dossiers.