Why honesty matters more than ever

It’s a strange moment to be living through. Everything feels a little blurred at the edges, as if the world has been smudged with a thumb. You look at something online, and you can’t quite tell whether it’s real, whether it’s been written by a person, or whether it’s been stitched together by a machine that doesn’t know the difference between truth and noise. And in our little corner of the world — aromatherapy, natural products, the things people turn to for comfort and wellbeing — that confusion is becoming louder every day.

I spend a lot of time researching for our business, and lately it feels like walking through a hall of mirrors. One site says one thing, another contradicts it, and a third repeats both with absolute confidence. Then you discover the source was an AI-generated page, and the AI you’re using has learned from it, and suddenly you realise you’re watching misinformation feeding itself like a snake eating its own tail. It happened to me when I tested an AI system, and it recommended Wintergreen oil. I told it Wintergreen was unsafe. It agreed instantly — and explained why. But it had already recommended it. That’s the problem with AI limitations: it can sound authoritative even when it’s wrong.

We do use AI, of course. It helps us organise the store, tidy up the admin, and sometimes generate images — though I reject anything that feels off, artificial, or simply not “us”. And when we write blogs, we sometimes run them through AI to check clarity. More often than not, it tells us the writing is already strong. That’s because the knowledge, the nuance, the lived experience — that’s human. AI can polish, but it can’t replace the years of practice behind a real pair of hands.

But what does all this mean for you — someone who genuinely cares about natural health, who wants to learn, who wants to make good choices? It means you’re navigating a landscape where it’s very easy to be misled. If you’re new to natural products, the sheer volume of conflicting information can be overwhelming. Prices vary wildly for things that look similar. And unless you know how to use the internet as a proper research tool, you can end up trusting the wrong voices. That’s why understanding misinformation and ethical aromatherapy matters more than ever.

I always tell people: even if you don’t buy from us, use us as a checkpoint. If something you read elsewhere contradicts what we say, don’t just accept it — ask questions. Ask them. Ask us. Good companies won’t mind being questioned. In fact, they’ll welcome it.

And here’s a small realisation I had recently. When we came up with the name Us Them and U, “Them” was meant to refer to animals — our long-standing commitment to safe, gentle, pet aware aromatherapy. But now I see it could just as easily refer to some of the companies in our industry who don’t have your best interests at heart. I won’t name them. That wouldn’t be appropriate. But I will say this: if a company’s claims feel exaggerated, vague, or too good to be true, they probably are. That’s when it helps to know how to evaluate suppliers.

So here we are, in a confusing time, trying to keep things simple, honest, and grounded. This piece — every word of it — is written by a human. A human who cares about clarity, about truth, and about helping you navigate a world that’s becoming harder to trust.