DIY Smell Training vs. a Kit: What You Should Know

Can you do olfactory training without buying a kit?

Yes. The olfactory training protocol requires four essential oils representing distinct odor categories (floral, fruity, aromatic/spicy, and resinous) used twice daily for a minimum of 12 weeks. You can source these oils individually from any supplier. The protocol was developed before any commercial kits existed, and the published studies by Hummel et al. (2009) and others used researcher-sourced oils, not branded products.

If you already have essential oils at home, or if you have a trusted source for high-quality oils, there is no scientific reason you cannot do olfactory training on your own.

That said, there are a few things worth understanding about essential oil quality before you start, because not all oils are equivalent, and the quality variable has been directly examined in the published research.

What the research says about oil concentration

The Damm et al. (2014) multicenter study on olfactory training examined whether odor concentration affected outcomes. The study found that participants who trained with higher-concentration odors showed greater improvement in olfactory test scores compared to those who trained with low-concentration odors.

This finding has a practical implication: if the oil you are sniffing has been diluted (with a carrier oil, a synthetic extender, or simply because it has degraded over time) it is by definition a lower-concentration training stimulus. The research suggests that matters.

This does not mean you need the most expensive oil on the market. It means the oil should be what it says it is, pure, undiluted, and representative of its species.

The problem with "therapeutic grade" and "pure" labels

If you shop for essential oils online or in a health store, you will see terms like "therapeutic grade," "certified pure," "100% natural," and similar language on nearly every bottle. These terms sound meaningful. They are not regulated.

There is no FDA definition of "therapeutic grade." There is no government certification behind "certified pure therapeutic grade". That phrase is a trademark owned by a specific company, not a regulatory standard. Any essential oil manufacturer can put "100% pure" on a label without independent verification.

This does not mean all of these products are fraudulent. Many reputable brands sell genuine, high-quality essential oils. But the label alone does not tell you what is in the bottle. The only way to know is analytical testing.

What GC/MS testing actually tells you

Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) is the industry-standard analytical method for essential oil verification. When a lab runs GC/MS on an essential oil sample, it produces a detailed chemical profile showing every compound in the oil and its concentration.

Note: The Olfactory Training Kit uses Lavandula x intermedia cv. Grosso (lavandin). Lavandula angustifolia is discussed here for comparison purposes only.

For a lavender-category oil (either Lavandula angustifolia (true lavender) or Lavandula x intermedia (lavandin, a hybrid cultivar also widely used for olfactory training)) a GC/MS report shows the percentage of linalool, linalyl acetate, camphor, and dozens of other compounds. If the oil has been cut with synthetic linalool, diluted with a carrier oil, or if the declared species does not match the actual chemical profile on the report, the GC/MS report will show it.

Some essential oil companies provide GC/MS reports for their products. Some provide them on request. Some provide batch-specific reports, while others provide a single representative report. And some provide no third-party testing data at all.

If you are sourcing your own oils for olfactory training, asking whether GC/MS testing is available (and reviewing the report if it is) is a reasonable step. You are looking for:

The declared botanical species matches the chemical profile on the GC/MS report (e.g., Lavandula angustifolia or Lavandula x intermedia cv. Grosso for the lavender category. Both are legitimate; what matters is that the label and the report agree)

Key odorant compounds within expected concentration ranges

No unexpected synthetic compounds or carrier oil markers

What about popular consumer brands?

Brands like NOW Essential Oils, Aura Cacia, Plant Therapy, and doTERRA are widely available and frequently recommended for DIY smell training. Here is what is worth knowing:

Some of these companies publish GC/MS reports or make them available on request. Others do not, or provide limited data. Availability of testing information varies by brand and sometimes by individual product line within a brand.

"Therapeutic grade" and similar certifications used by some MLM (multi-level marketing) essential oil companies are internal company standards, not independent regulatory designations. This does not automatically mean the oils are bad, but the certification itself does not constitute independent verification.

Price is not a reliable indicator of quality in either direction. A $7 bottle of lavender oil from a reputable supplier with available GC/MS data may be perfectly suitable. A $35 bottle from an MLM company may or may not be better. The price reflects the distribution model as much as the oil quality.

The practical question is: can you verify what you are getting? If the answer is yes (you can see a GC/MS report, the botanical species is identified, and the supplier has a reputation for transparency) then the oil is likely suitable for olfactory training regardless of the price point.

What a kit gives you that DIY does not

A well-designed olfactory training kit solves a few practical problems:

Correct scent selection. The protocol calls for specific odor categories. A kit takes the guesswork out of choosing the right oils. If you are sourcing your own, make sure you are covering floral, fruity, aromatic/spicy, and resinous, not just four oils you happen to like.

Appropriate supply. The protocol requires at least 12 weeks of twice-daily use. Essential oils lose potency over time once opened, particularly citrus oils. A kit designed for the training timeline accounts for this.

Consistency. When you buy four separate bottles from four different suppliers, you are managing four different quality levels, concentrations, and shelf lives. A kit from a single source that has verified all four oils provides consistency across the set.

Protocol guidance. Some kits include instructions aligned with the published research. If you are doing DIY, make sure you understand the protocol: 20 seconds per oil, twice daily, all four oils each session, minimum 12 weeks.

None of these are insurmountable with DIY. They are conveniences that reduce the chances of doing the protocol incorrectly or with suboptimal materials.

What matters most, kit or DIY

The published research is clear on what drives outcomes in olfactory training:

Adherence. Twice daily, every day, for the full training period. This is consistently identified as the most important variable.

Duration. Twelve weeks minimum. Konstantinidis et al. (2016) found that 56 weeks was associated with greater improvement than 16 weeks. Longer is generally better.

Odor concentration. The Damm (2014) finding on concentration suggests that pure, undiluted oils outperform weak or diluted ones.

Attention. The protocol asks you to actively focus on each scent during the sniffing session, not just passively hold a jar under your nose while doing something else.

Whether you achieve these four things with a kit or with oils you sourced yourself, you are doing olfactory training as described in the published literature.

Our perspective

We make The Olfactory Training Kit, so we are obviously not a neutral party here. We will tell you what we think and let you decide.

We built the kit because we are pharmacists, and we were not satisfied with the quality assurance available in the consumer essential oil market. We source our oils from suppliers who provide GC/MS testing to verify purity and composition. We chose lavender over rose because genuine rose otto is prohibitively expensive and frequently adulterated. We were not confident we could consistently source verified rose oil at a price that keeps the kit accessible. We wrote about that decision in detail: Rose vs. Lavender for Olfactory Training: Why We Chose Lavender.

The kit is $69 with free 2-day shipping and includes a 3-month supply, protocol guidance, and a free downloadable training logbook.

If you can find four pure, correctly categorized essential oils from a source you trust (and you are confident in their quality) DIY is a legitimate option. We would rather you do olfactory training with good DIY oils than not do it at all because a kit felt too expensive.

But if you want the convenience of a verified, research-aligned set assembled at a licensed pharmacy, that is what we built.

The content on this page is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and does not replace evaluation or advice from a qualified healthcare provider.