Not impressed overall, but they seem to mean well
When I look at essential oils, I look at them through the lens of an organization like Dr. Pappas' Essential Oils University, which has a very pragmatic and realistic view of essential oils. In short, these oils contain chemical compounds from plants, so whatever those compounds can do to the human body, these oils can do, and their effectiveness is determined by their concentration, dosage, and the presence of other compounds that can diminish them or harm the user. Some compounds can have a physical effect through inhalation, most can't, so in the case of MONQ oils (which stands for Modified Observation of Natural Qualia, according to their website), where their main method of recommended application is through inhalation (with some, like this, being topical application), I look at how effective those compounds likely are when applied that way. In the case of this particular blend, the oils seem to be mostly meant to have a psychosomatic effect by triggering the relaxing mental effect a forest can have on a brain, rather than a direct physical effect. Ergo, this is essentially just a placebo that relies on your own personal experiences to help you relax. Given that the company has Qualia in the name, it makes sense that they'd go for such a blend of scents. This company was started by an MD who prefers to talk philosophy when he describes the products, rather than hard chemistry, but I'm not very concerned with what a company says its oils are meant for, I care what they are. I want to know where and how the source plants were grown and by whom. I want to know the distillation protocols and methods. I want to know the details of their quality control. I want transparency before I use a product like this or put it near or on my body. MONQ reveals none of that. I have no idea if the plants they use come from the grocery store or if they're grown where they're indigenous. I can't find any information about their distillation practices, or if they have any sort of post-refinement process to doctor their oils. In short, I have nothing telling me to trust MONQ, and a lot telling me to doubt them. They talk about GC/MS testing, but provide no transparency beyond that. They're not as bad as, say, Young Living, where their claims both ordinary and extraordinary have been proven to be outright lies, but they don't seem to be terribly concerned with anything except making their oils smell good. That's a huge set of red flags for me. I can't recommend this company or this oil, but I also can't say there's anything terribly bad about it. It's really only meant for smelling, and I doubt it'll do any harm to my skin when I roll it on, but I want more from my oils. I don't want just aromatherapy. I also don't trust any company that uses the CYA strategy of saying "only for external use", because if the oils truly are straight from the plants and have nothing added or done to them, there should be no reason you can't ingest them in a safe dosage, and no reason the company can't stand behind that kind of usage. Covering your legal bases is one thing, but if a truly pure essential oil is for external use only, I have to wonder what else is in it. Poison? Other compounds used in the extraction process that the company wants to hide or avoid liability from? I can't say MONQ oils have other stuff in them, but I can say they don't want you using the oils internally, and that's a red flag. For this price, just get some RMO oils instead.
Rating: 3 stars