In Search of The Best Essential Oils – What Makes a Good Essential Oils Company – Part Two

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This path of figuring out which is the best essential oils company has been hard work.

When I started out trying Young Living’s Thieves blend, I had NO idea that I would be digging this heavily into a bunch of oils companies to find out which brand gave my family the biggest bang for the buck.

Wondering Which Essential Oils Company is Best? What about the "Therapeutic Grade" claims the MLM oils companies make? Come find out all you ever wanted to know about oils companies and more!

There’s been a lot of info to sort through, and life has been little [a lot] crazy over the past 6 months.)

Read on to see what I’ve been learning.

First of all, if you missed my earlier posting on essential oils, you might want to revisit:

A Skeptic Looks at Essential Oils
Are Essential Oils a Scam? – Peppermint, Wintergreen, and More
Which Essential Oils Company is Best – Part One

A lot has happened since those posts.

I had questions and more questions to ask–I think I probably almost drove a few oil company folks crazy in the process  🙂 — but I feel pretty good about what I am going to share with you now.

But before I tell you which company I am going to be recommending, let me fill you in on how I got there and give you more information on essential oils in general.

(It wouldn’t be much fun without a little more suspense, right :-)?)

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Finding the Best Essential Oils Company

In trying to sort out which company I wanted to recommend to you (and where I wanted to buy my oils from), I:

contacted a bunch of companies
– looked at tons of websites
talked on the phone with employees and owners of essential oils companies
thought agonized a lot
– thought some more
– spent a bunch of money on oils (and I do mean a bunch)

I really took this very seriously.  I wanted to provide my family and my readers with the best essential oils company for the money.

Now of course, I can be wrong–and I do think that there is more than one good oil company out there.

But I am as sure as I can be right now that I have found a good one to recommend to you all.

Wondering What the Best Essential Oils Company Is? I was wondering the same thing after I first started using them. So many companies say that theirs are the best, so who are you to believe? Come find out what I learned when I started asking questions. Things got a little dicey, and you'll probably be surprised by my conclusion.

What Makes a Quality Essential Oils Company

1.  The Essential Oils Company Should Sell Quality Oils

The oils need to be as high quality as possible without being astronomical in price.  They should be:

extracted properly (under low temperature and low pressure)
– produced from plants grown in their indigenous locations (where they grow naturally)
– made from wild-crafted (indigenously grown and/or not removed entirely when harvested) and/or organic plants if at all possible

I have concerns along these lines about some of the companies that I looked into.  For example, Young Living is a very popular essential oils company.  In fact, if you recall from my post on A Skeptic Looks at Thieves Oil, and my post on Peppermint, Wintergreen, and More, you will see that I was at first very pleased with their oils.

However, I am concerned that many of Young Living’s oils are sourced in the U.S.  That is great from the standpoint of keeping shipping costs to the U.S. low, but many of the plants from which their oils are derived are not indigenous to the U.S. and so I think that is one thing to consider.

But let’s see what else our “search for the best essential oils company turns up.”  One company might not have everything we want…….

2.  The Essential Oils Should Be Pure

The oils must not have anything added to them, nor have anything taken out that should be “left in”

Apparently, it is commonplace for oils “experts” or oil companies to add things to essential oils in order to make them “go farther” and thus be cheaper to produce.  The companies can either make more profit by selling an inferior product at a high price, or they can offer an inferior product and an apparently “great price.”

I heard and read a lot about oil companies “monkeying around” with their oils in order to make them:

– smell better (By distilling oils longer or heating them, the “herby” smell of some oils is changed to make them more palatable.)
– pass quality and purity tests (Some “oil experts” are apparently smart enough to know what the tests are looking for, so they add things to the oils or alter them in other ways to make them “pass” the tests.  This is the case with oregano oil.  Some companies will adulterate their oregano oil to have carvacrol levels come to where they want them to be.)
– more profitable by adding fillers like propylene glycol and others

Additionally, oils should, when possible, be extracted with steam only–not with chemical solvents.  Who wants more chemical “nasties” on or in their bodies?  Not me.

Basically, the essential oils I want to use should be only pure essential oils.

Nothing added.  Nothing taken away.

You can read more about the adulteration of essential oils here.

3.  The Essential Oils Should Be Sold at an Affordable Price

The oils should be within the reach of most consumers’ budgets.

Of course, as with everything, there are varying degrees of quality.  The company that I have chosen has very high quality.  However, even that company’s owner admits that there are comparable, even higher quality oils available, but the prices of these oils are so exorbitant as to make them unaffordable to most people.

4.  The Oils Should Be Effective

The oils must work.

Of course, we want oils to do something, and not just smell nice.  I can use plain vanilla extract behind my ears for that :-).

Now, this is something that perhaps needs qualification. Of course, when talking about essential oils being effective, there are a lot of things that can go into that–the individual’s condition, how the oil is applied, etc., whereas the other means of evaluating an oil (outside of the organoleptic [smell] testing) are more objective.

It’s important to note that if an essential oils works, that doesn’t mean it’s pure. Also, if an essential oil doesn’t work, that doesn’t mean that it’s impure or inferior.

5.  The Company Should Provide Education

Ideally, the oils company will offer opportunities to learn how to properly use oils to provide healthy options for the treatment of medical and emotional issues.

Of course, there is a huge amount of such information on the internet and in books like the following.

How’s that for a lot of information to chew on?  See why this has been tough?

Well, hang in there with me.  I’ll be back real soon with more information.

The Essential Oil Company I Recommend

If you’d like to find out which essential oil company I went with at the end of this long search, read Announcing “the Best” Essential Oils Company – Part 7 .

You can also read the other parts of the series here:

For more in the series:

– Which Essential Oils Company is Best? – Part 1
– Which Essential Oils Company is Best – Troubles with the Oils Industry – Part 3

– Young Living vs. doTERRA – Part 4
– Are Multi-Level Marketing Oils Worth It? – Part 5
Distillation, Bias, Vomit and Personal Attacks – Part 6

A Great Essential Oils Book

If you’re looking to learn more about essential oils, the following book is a great one to add to your library.

I Recommend
Aromatherapy: A Complete Guide to the Healing Art

Aromatherapy: A Complete Guide to the Healing Art

This book is a complete resource for everyone from students to practitioners. It has more than 90 formulas and covers cosmetics, perfumes, and therapeutic uses.

The authors have a combined 75 years of experience that will help you bring the power of plants to your everyday life in the areas of beauty, healthy, and overall wellness.

Get My Free Essential Oils Report and VIP Newsletter Access

Also, if you go and grab my Free Report on 10 Things to Know About Essential Oils Before You Buy, you will not only get more myth-busting essential oils information, but you’ll get access to my VIP newsletter as well–complete with updates, great healthy living offers, of course new posts on essential oils, and more.

10 things you need to know about essential oils report in ipad

What do you think?
Anything you would add to this list?

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330 Comments

  1. Hi! Thank you for all your time and effort you’ve put into your research. I was recently introduced to Guru Nanda essential oils. I love their price point, but also want only unadulterated and pure oils. Do you have any information on that company you can share?

    1. Hi there! There is a group on Facebook called Essential Oil Consumer Reports. I saw something about testing and a response from the owner there. Might be worth checking out. I hope to revisit this topic in the not too distant future :).

  2. I am looking for your latest research ones sent in oils and love your passion about living a healthier life??

    1. Hi there. This is the final post in the series. I am doing more research but am up to my eyeballs in air purifier and mold research right now and getting over mold exposure. I’m working hard.

      You can subscribe here for updates if you like – thanks! We have a FB group too if you’d like to join. Look up “healthy living community with whole new mom” on FB.

  3. Thanks for doing this work. I do disagree with the comment about YL oils being mostly sourced in the US. They have farms around the world to plant and harvest plants where they grow best. You might want to research that a little more.

    1. Do you have any information on what percent is from the US and what is from overseas? I also assume this can change from year to year. Thanks!

    2. Jill, just because it’s in their pamphlet doesn’t mean they are clear and upfront on the percentage! I too wanted to know details and no go in this info from YL.

  4. Thanks for the information. I still have a question though. Do you happen to know if essential oils can be used in a CPAP machine? I mom was asking me and I’m trying to find out for her. I appreciate any answers you can give me.

    1. Hi there. I have heard of people doing this but I’m not sure about the technique or precautions.

  5. I read ur post. I am new at essential oils. I am xurrently using Viality essential oils. What company do u currently use. I didnt see it in the post? Thanks patricia. If u wish to text me (# removed by blog owner) patricia Markham, clanton Al

  6. I read everything and still don’t know what company you reccomend. Can’t you just put the name of the comfy you buy from? I would really like to place an order

  7. I apologize maybe I misread but I don’t see anywhere within the two parts where you state which one you choose. Would you mind letting me know?

  8. WHAT A HUGE WASTE of an hour!!! I read all your articles and know no more now about where to buy quakity EOs than I did and hour ago.

    1. Hi Holly. First of all, welcome and thanks for reading and commenting.

      I’m really sorry you feel that way. But I’m confused. This post talks about the company that I chose and outlines a bunch of reasons why I chose them. What didn’t you understand? https://wholenewmom.com/announcing-the-best-essential-oils-company-and-a-great-sale/

      I have repeatedly gotten lots of comments from readers who were very thankful about my work.

      This post outlines lots of quality points that you can use to evaluate any company. https://wholenewmom.com/pure-essential-oils-testing/

      Perhaps you missed something.

      Happy to help if you have any questions, but I would appreciate your being more kind. I am a real human being behind the blog and spend hours and hours trying to be helpful to others. Thanks :).

      1. Haha!
        No one said you HAD to read it all! ?
        (I think I read parts 1&2 &7)

        I found this very helpful!
        I read bits & pieces, this & that & skimmed down to find the gold!
        Im not a big reader but everything I read was helpful and made me very thankful that Adrienne did this research! This is what I do (dig deeper) but don’t have the time to get it done. (mom of 5 here)
        Thankyou Adrienne!

  9. Hi. I might just be missing it, but after reading I was a little confused. I do understand not making a list, but I can’t seem to find where it says which company you are currently using for yourself? Basically, I understand continuing to educate yourself with everything. But what company are you personally using right now as you continue to learn? (If you were to run out of oil right now and had to order more, which company would you use)?
    Thanks!

    1. Sorry for the confusion. Were you not able to see the links at the bottom of the post? I can go back in and try to make it more obvious. Thanks! The information is in this post.

      1. I read everything and still don’t know what company you reccomend. Can’t you just put the name of the comfy you buy from? I would really like to place an order