Neem is great stuff. Ever been in the market for top quality neem products but did not know where to start? Neem-oil products are slowly becoming more widely available, but for now are for the most part only found on the web or in small beauty shops and other out of the way places. Because it is hard to find these products it is easy to grab the first thing you stumble upon just because it says neem on the bottle. But here are a few tips that will help you choose wisely before you stock up on the wrong stuff:

Figure Out How The Neem Oil Was Removed From The Neem Seeds There are a number of methods commonly used today to extract the neem oil from the seeds. As you may have guessed, not all extraction process produce the same quality oil. The best extraction method that produces the highest quality neem seed oil is called cold pressing. Cold pressed neem oil is the best, as the majority of the active compounds remain intact. This is also the first and most accepted extracting process. It utilizes a mechanical device that squeezes the oil out of the seeds. Always make sure to buy only cold pressed neem oil where possible.

The next method uses hot water vapor and extreme temperatures. Though this method gets more oil from the seeds than cold pressing, a lot of the active compounds in the neem oil are made useless due to the heat used in the process.

This next extraction method is the one that most neem oil dealers use because it extracts the largest amount of oil from the seeds. The technique is called solvent extraction, and almost always hexane (white gasoline) is the chemical used. Even though this method extracts nearly all of the neem oil from the dried seeds, the solvents kill nearly all of the desireable compounds in the neem. And along with this and the fact that the solvent is poisonous, it is preferable to look for neem products that do not contain neem oil that was extracted using them.

Watch Out For Additives Most bath and cosmetic products these days contain added substances to “enhance” the products performance. But keep in mind that some of these chemicals can actually cause unwanted side effects. Two of the most common additives that may be in a lot of bath bath products are Lauryl Sulfates and Parabens. SLS’s are mostly used as foam producers, because they are cheap and work pretty well. The majority of inexpensive neem pet shampoo and soap products have many of these additives as well. However, these chemicals are a known irritant. The US Food and Drug Administration asks manufacturers not to use them.

Parabens are preservatives, and though there has been no scientific evidence that they are potentially dangerous, they are becoming more and more controversial. Some organizations feel they should be avoided in order to err on the side of safety.

Try To Find Certified Organic Ingredients Quite obviously, organic ingredients are better than non-organic ingredients. These are natural substances, and have not been exposed to man-made chemicals, fertilizers, or other un-natural substances. Look for labels that list the ingredients. If a vendor uses these ingredients, they will always state this (it’s a selling point) on the label.

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