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Our samples generally contain 0.55mL in each glass vial. It can be difficult to get just “one drop” from a sample vial (which are the small glass perfume-type vials) – and so we recommend purchasing a set of Transfer Pipettes from our Order Accessories page if you need to measure drops. If you end up using an entire vial – you can generally assume it will contain about 14 drops. This IS approximate as oil thickness varies widely.
Unfortunately – we can not take back your empty animalEO bottles. Sadly – it would be a tremendous amount of labor to remove labels, and then to sterilize and clean the bottles properly for re-use. AnímálEO customers have great recommendations within our Facebook Group on how to use the last few drops and remnants of essential oils from your bottles (add them to your bath, put them in Epsom Salts, put the dropper insert into some water to add to your diffuser, etc). But in the end – we recommend that you recycle your glass bottles in your household recycling. All glass is recycled – even blue glass and essential oil bottles.
While it isn’t really true that “oils last forever” – they truly are quite stable when stored correctly. Oxygen is the worst enemy to an essential oil, so if you keep your essential oil (blend or single) closed tightly you can help to protect the shelf life. For most oils within the industry – expecting approximately a 3 year “shelf life” is average, although some oils improve with age. Oils such as citrus oils (lemon, orange, bergamot, tangerine, lime…) generally have a shorter shelf life as they are typically cold pressed from the rind, leaving a bit more potential for rind residuals to be present within the essential oil, which can contribute to spoilage. Citrus essential oils also tend to contain higher levels of more volatile, smaller, and less stable constituents (Monoterpenes…). For animalEO blends that are diluted within Fractionated Coconut Oil – shelf life will be extended in general, as the carrier oil stabilizes the mixture and protects it somewhat from oxygen. All animalEO blends leave our facility within 3 months of bottling to ensure the utmost in freshness. Once you have ordered and received an animalEO item, we generally recommend that it is best to use it within 3-5 years, although certainly we have blends that are over 6 years old and still perfect. Sample vials should be used within 6 months of receiving them, as the packaging on these little bottles is not “ideal” in nature, and some degradation can occur more easily. Single essential oils you purchase may be more prone to evaporation and oxygen damage. Essential oils within a blend, and especially within a carrier oil, do tend to be more stable, for a longer period of time. Overall – if you have an animalEO blend – we recommend smelling it before each use. Not only will this make sure you have the correct blend you intended, but you will become familiar with the proper smell of an item. In this way, you will be able to detect if one of your bottles happens to “go off”. Touching the top of your bottle or dropping bottles in horse stalls (as I often do) – CAN shorten the life of any oil due to bacterial contamination. While the essential oil is often anti-bacterial in nature, it cannot fight contamination forever, and you may find your oils become less fresh with time.
This really varies with each individual essential oil or blend. If the oil is very thin, more drops are often associated with a given liquid measurement. On average you can expect approximately 40-50 drops in a 2mL bottle, 85-100 drops in a 5mL bottle, and 300 or so drops in a 15mL bottle. These of course are not exact, nor guaranteed. There are also different sized holes (orifices) that can be used for the dropper inserts, and this also controls the size of the drop and how fast it flows from a bottle.
While we wish we could answer everyone’s questions one on one – it is important to recognize that thousands of other people email Dr. Shelton as well. Whether using animalEO products or not, Dr. Shelton has become the “go-to” person when questions regarding essential oils and animals come about. Whether you are a veterinarian, regular consumer, or concerned pet owner – Dr. Shelton strives to provide as much information as possible on our website – so that she does not have to repeat the answers to commonly asked questions. We ask that you please bear with us as we try to increase our educational materials and ability to answer emails and voicemail more effectively. If Dr. Shelton is traveling or cannot be by her computer for a few days – hundreds of emails can pile up in her inbox – making it literally impossible to get out from underneath the mountain – as more emails pour in while an older one is answered. If you have not heard back, it is most likely that Dr. Shelton or her staff, purely did not see your email. We do encourage you to email us again – don’t worry, we don’t feel pestered, and are thankful for the repeat contact!
If you have an order that needs to be changed, we generally can do this. Your best route to contact us with ordering issues – is to email us directly at “[email protected]” and place a large capitalized ORDER ISSUE in the subject heading. Contacting us through our “Contact Us” form can cause delays and missed emails when our email traffic is heavy. Please make sure to include your full name and especially the last name that the order was placed under – as we will search for all email communications related to a specific order (by last name) prior to processing an order. While not an exact science, we usually do pretty well!
The 2mL bottles are a different style of orifice or dropper than your standard 5mL, 15mL, or 30mL bottle. These bottles have to be “tapped” on the bottom for the drops to come out of the hole. These drops are just slightly smaller than a normal drop from a larger bottle, but rest assured, recipe and dosage recommendations will still be the same and effective for all bottles. Here is a newsletter that explains more about these 2mL “Baby Bluies”. CLICK HERE.
We strive to ship out your order as quickly as possible. Please allow 3-5 business days for us to process your order – and another 1-3 business days for the actual shipping of your package. You can log into your account and track the package. If you notice we are having a sale, or other promotions that may increase our order volume temporarily, it is a good idea to plan on a little longer times for shipping.
We love to include a sample with your order when possible, however, we have no idea what kind of animals you have or what your needs are. They are a free sample – enjoy them for what they are. ALWAYS read the product page for that individual sample, and see if it fits into your species and needs. If not, gift it to a friend, or be creative and use it for a human. Every blend from animalEO is designed for animal use (so all diffusion blends will be safe for all species) – but read about cats if you have cats, and read about birds if you have birds. Certainly, don’t be afraid to try them for yourself!
We do not send additional confirmations beyond the email that you receive from us when you order initially. When we generate your shipping label for your shipment, you “should” get an email notification – however, some of these are spammed, go into a junk folder, or may have an inaccurate email address.
YES! As a veterinarian, it was important for Dr. Shelton to create all of our products knowing that we might be using them along with traditional and other holistic treatments! We have used all of our animalEO products, with almost every combination of medications and treatments you can imagine – and only see synergistic results! You may need less medication if your animal feels better, so make sure to tell your vet that you are using animalEO!
The essential oils used in animalEO products are sourced from a variety of suppliers and distillers directly. We order in bulk quantities, so most of your average “brands” would be eliminated from any potential use just by the sheer financial aspects alone. Although we order in “bulk” – the order amounts are certainly smaller than most large companies. So, we find that we can actually source smaller batches of oils from amazing artisan distillers and suppliers – providing even higher quality than what we could have accessed previously!
