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Anjou 12 x 5 ml Essential Oil Set (Pen for size) – Gift Set Reviewed
Dear reader; welcome to my Anjou Essential Oils review. I’ve recently tested out this new-to-me brand – and I am writing this review here to share my experience with you. I have also compiled some background research that I’ve done on the company in this article.
If you’re in a rush and would just like to know whether or not to buy essential oils from Anjou – please don’t. I always feel really bad giving a bad review when a brand has been nice to me and has mailed me an essential oils test kit free of charge – but at the end of the day I value you – my dear reader – more. I want to give you my honest opinion. And my opinion, the Anjou brand isn’t worth your time or money for essential oils. You can find out all of the reasons why, in this review and article.
This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read my full disclosure policy here.
If you’re in a rush, please spend your time reading about actually recommended essential oil brands, such as:
Anjou At A Glance
- 100% PURE: Anjou oils are labeled 100% Pure Essential Oil. However, you can read in their company mission: “Our brand of innovation focuses on healthy choices that blend the best of nature and science”. Based on this wording, and the fact that the tester kit smelled more like PineSol floor cleaner than essential oils, I wouldn’t be surprised if the products contain other substances, and not only all natural ingredients. The “100% Pure” label is just that – a label. There is no actual 3rd party stamp on this. Anyone can use this wording in their marketing. Sadly.
- HARVESTED AROUND THE WORLD: Essential oils are best cultivated and produced in their natural climate and environment – and the sourcing at Anjou’s is no exception here. That’s where essential oils grow best and at their most authentic state. Anjou oils bring you this experience with their essential oil flavors produced around the world, and deliver them right to your doorstep in pretty bottles of oils.
A Brief History
Anjou Essential Oils is a very new essential oil brand, established in 2015 with the goal of bringing products to market that empowered users to live more confidently and naturally. The company is headquartered in Fremont, CA with offices globally. The box of essential oils I’ve received said “Made in China” and had an expiry date for about 1.5 years into the future. Can you say: Yuck?!
Anjou was started by a team of like-mined individuals who wanted to bring the beauty and power of essential oils and aromatherapy to everyone at prices everyone could afford. Anjou’s exclusive collection of skincare products and essential oils are all made using preservative-free ingredients from around the world in order to empower users to live more naturally and confidently.
All skin and body care products are made using preservative-free ingredients, and sourced from around the world. This is rooted in the belief that natural ingredients thrive and grow best in their natural environments – so that’s where they’ll source their products. Whether it’s Anjou Coconut Oil cold-pressed in the Philippines or Anjou Lavender Essential Oil extracted from South Africa, on most of the labels you will also prominently see the origin of the oil.
Be pure, be healthy, and be beautiful with Anjou.
Distillation is the most commonly used method of extracting essential oils at Anjou; the process is as following: Gently heat the plant (by itself) in a container. As the plant gets hot, it will generate steam containing the essential oils of the plant. The steam is collected by using a catheter. As the steam cools down, it will return to its liquid form. Because essential oil and water have different density, they will form different layers in the holding tank. Once the water layer is removed, the essential oil layer will be pure dew. In addition, Anjou also uses other methods, such as Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, Solvent extraction etc. to extract certain essentail oils. I short, they choose the extraction method best suited according to each plant characteristics.
The Anjou Essential Oils Collection
Anjou essential oils offers a comprehensive line of products for a healthy and beautiful lifestyle. From essential oils to shea butter or men’s beard oil, or even a Vitamin C Serum (!!!), you can find a variety of products to suit your needs. Anjou won’t break the bank while delivering high-quality products – always a bonus!
Here is a review of a few products by Anjou:
Essential Oils
This set of 6 x 10ml essential oils from Anjou is a great gift set, or starter sampler kit as you can get it for under $20 on Amazon. It includes the fragrances of:
- Lavender
- Lemongrass
- Peppermint
- Eucalyptus
- Tea Tree
- Sweet Orange
It could make quite a good little gift set for anyone on your Christmas list, or for a birthday or anniversary, or other special occasion. Just make sure they’re not after aromatherapy benefits of essential oils because frankly, in my opinion, you’d be hard-pressed to find any benefits from opening Anjou bottles of oils. Those things SMELL! My stomach got a little queasy as I have a very sensitive nose.
Carrier Oils
Anjou carries a variety of carrier oils, namely Jojoba Oil, Coconut Oil, and Argan Oil.
Jojoba Carrier Oil: The Jojoba carrier oil is also titled “The Golden Oil” for its rich use in skin care and hair health. It is used regularly to improve your skin and hair elasticity, to help you shield against aging, to help cure acne and fix fizzy hair.
Coconut Carrier Oil: With many health benefits in general, ranging from cooking to skin care, it is no surprise that coconut oil also makes for a great essential oil carrier oil. In its natural form, cooconut oil is a solid – that is, to use it for a body lotion or massage, you’d have to heat it up first. Anjou coconut oil does ship in either solid or liquid form, and can be used for cooking as well. If you’re looking for solely aromatherapy coconut oil, you’d probably like to try fractionated coconut oil instead, which is coconut oil already processed a bit to stay (and remain) in liquid form. It’s a bit handier for aromatherapy, and comes with a handy pump for the bottle, too! But please don’t use fractionated coconut oil in cooking!!!
Argan Oil Carrier Oil: Argan oil from Morocco is a multi-talent for an oil: It is very light in texture and can easily be absorbed by your skin. It penetrates deeply into your sking and hair, hydrating it and reversing damaged tissues. Hair will become shiny and silky smooth after a round of Argan oil applied. When used on the skin, the oils’ anti-oxidation power can help you achieve a more softness and elasticity in your skin, as well as protecting your skin from other environmental toxins. You can also simply add a few drops of Argan oil to your soap, body lotion, massage oil or essential oil, to boost up those health benefits in your beauty routine.
More information on carrier oils is available on my other blog post here, What Are Essential Oil Carrier Oils?
Other Skin Care Beauty Products: Vitamin C Serum
Vitamin C Serum is used mostly on facial skin care, to give the skin in your face that extra direct boost of topical vitamins. The Anjou Vitamin C Serum provides your skin with 20% pure anti-oxidant vitamins. Its age-aging formula effectively reduces dark spots, evens out, and brightens complexion. It also boosts collagen, and restores your skin’s vitality. Since “Fresh Is Better”, this sealed glass bottle protects the serum from oxidation and preserves its freshness. The included dropper keeps the bottle content germ-free and makes it easy to dose and apply.
For only $7.99 on Amazon, you can’t afford to NOT try this. I’ve certainly added it to my skin care routine!
Bath Bombs
I’m throwing in this little luxury bath bomb set to show you just how diversified and all-encompassing the health and beauty line of Anjou really is.
These Anjou bath bombs are actually made exclusively of natural materials that undergo strict controls when it comes to quality and origin.
The bath bombs also include ingredients like shea butter and jojoba oil, which deeply nourish your skin on multiple levels. You can experience an improved skin uniformity and smoothness after using these little moments of joy. Plus, enjoy your skin feeling and looking younger thanks to the essential oils’ natural anti-aging properties.
For Men
Long gone are the days where essential oils was only used in skin care and beauty regimes of ladies. Essential oils, and carrier oils, don’t care what gender of skin they’re on – they help both men and women alike! In that spirit, Anjou has a beard oil for men, nicely packaged in a gift set (though you can buy just the beard oil individually, too).
Basically, beard oil is a leave-in conditioner for that sensitive area of your man’s face, where the skin underneath the beard requires as much care and attention as the beard hair itself.
To help you help your man get started with this (possibly new-to-him) beauty regime, the beard oil gift set is available for just under $20 on Amazon.
What I Personally Thought About The Products
When I received my Anjou products, I was absolutely not impressed. After opening the plastic around the box, my whole kitchen started to smell like PineSol floor cleaner. It didn’t get better with time – the strong, ugly smell remained.
“Lavender” residue after an oil patch test on plain white paper.
I opened a bottle of Lavender, and at the first whiff I almost barfed. It didn’t smell ANYTHING like actual Lavender. I put two drops on a white sheet of paper, to see if it would leave any remains or residues, and the results were shocking! An absolutely gross “stain” of Lavender remained on my white sheet of paper. In comparison, I’ve done this test many times with better essential oil brands, and for a good brand, you get only a very faint residue.
While the bottles themselves look elegant and luxurious, this doesn’t make up for the lack of content quality. Each bottle is safely sealed at the cap, but still easily enough opens with a twist for me to start using the product (see picture 5 below).
I like to keep all of my essential oils (once opened), stored upright, so placing the items back into the gift set packaging wasn’t the best option for me – even though you could get away with it but just keep storing the box upright (see last picture below). Or, if you’re looking for more fancy essential oil storage solutions, get a box or soft cover storage unit for them.
Anjou Essential Oils Quality
I tested and used all of the oils individually, and I was disgusted with how “chemical” their smell was, and how “inaccurate” to my nose, for the lack of a better word. Lavender smelled like PineSol, Tea Tree smelled like PineSol, and Sweet Orange smelled like PineSol, too. It was just horrid. What I especially hated was the lingering, remaining scent on my hands and fingers, which were way too strong and powerful and anything but clean and pure smelling. I am so sad that this test kit is such a fluke.
Customer Service
Good customer care is also always part of the package, and by being available regular office days from 9-5 PST, I think that’s a great way for people to reach out if they want to.
In Summary
Anjou essential oils is a new, younger essential oil brand. Based on lack of quality, I would definitely NOT recommend Anjou as a brand to you. Sorry, Anjou!
jeannie
I bought this 12 box of oils, and none smell like they are supposed to, what is in them, what other chemicals? Why does it say MADE IN CHINA, bad things come out of china, including these.
Emma Carter
Hi Jeannie, thank you for your comment. What you describe was my experience exactly, which is why I have posted this Anjou review article to warn others before they buy.
Melanie
My sons daycare is defusing these oils. Thanks for posting this review, I leave there with a headache each time I spend more then 10 mins there. Aside from smelling awful, can these cause any harm to my toddler? I don’t want to be “that mom” unless I have to.
Emma Carter
Hi Melanie. Sorry to hear that, that sounds awful. I highly recommend this article here on age appropriate aromatherapy. Nobody should diffuse oils without knowing the oils they’re using in-depth, knowing their effects (and limitations), and knowing which dilution rates should be used for toddlers or babies. In general, without proper care and assessment by a professional, no aromatherapy is recommended for toddlers under age 2. That said, diffusing is a somewhat “weaker” use of aromatherapy, as the oils aren’t directly absorbed by the skin and into the blood stream. Still, if the diffuser is running all day long, without opening windows or allowing fresh air flow, I would be concerned as well. Especially oils like Eucalyptus can be extremely stimulating to young children. I’d absolutely inquire with your day care on how they use their oils, and who decides what to diffuse, and whether or not it poses a health risk to your child. Also, there are KidSafe oils (for example, from Plant Therapy or Edens Garden), that would be a better choice to use as they’ve been formulated by experts on aromatherapy for kids, plus they don’t use any oils in their blends that are generally not recommended for children.
All the best to you! 💜
Darlene
I received a set as a gift and wished I had seen this review BEFORE I put 5 drops in my bath. (I mixed it with bath gel so it was dispersed properly.) I ended up with a rash. Won’t even be regifting this!
Mary Lecomte
I received these as a gift & appreciate your review. Thank you!
Stephanie Briere Americo
Hi, I want to alert you about something.
On Anjou’s site, they completely changed your review of their product.
Your original sentence is:
“I tested and used all of the oils individually, and I was disgusted with how “chemical” their smell was, and how “inaccurate” to my nose, for the lack of a better word. Lavender smelled like PineSol, Tea Tree smelled like PineSol, and Sweet Orange smelled like PineSol, too.”
And on their website they put:
“I tested and used all of the oils individually, and I was pleased with how strong their smell was, and how “accurate” to my nose, for the lack of a better word. Lavender smelled like Lavender, and Sweet Orange like it should, too.”
See for yourself. http://customer.anjou.com/essential-oils-gift-kit
This is very serious and I am completely shocked!
Billy Hays
It’s funny how you say “If you’re in a rush and would just like to know whether or not to buy essential oils from Anjou – please don’t.” 🙂
Mazie Miles
I really appreciate your candor towards the oils. I truly believe that there are more than one for everything on earth and that includes companies for oils. Your assessments with the oils are right up there with just plain perfect and I enjoy your piece of mind included as well, as in the oils in this latest issue.
Thank,s Emma for your devotion to learning and teaching about something that is truly passionate in both of our lives as I am an oiler and have been for over 20 years, and an advocate for living naturally.
Blessings, Mazie
Rehne Burge, C.A.
Did you review gc/ms reports and if not, what did you base your decision on as to their purity please?
Thank you in advance