Where to Buy the Best Essential Oils

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I used to think that essential oils were a scam, but I ended up finding out that they are a great resource for your natural medicine cabinet for issues such as headaches, ear infections, tummy aches, viruses and bacterial infections, and more. But I eventually felt I needed to figure out where to buy essential oils that I could trust and that I could reasonably afford.

I spent a ton of time calling companies, asking questions, sampling oils.  Literally, it was a ton.  And it was very exhausting.

I’ve learned a lot with all the time I’ve spent researching oils companies and I’ve covered a lot of what I learned here in this essential oils series, some of which I wrote while I was still trying to figure out which company I was going to be using and recommending.

Where to Buy Essential Oils you can trust
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Previous Posts In the Series:

In this post, I’ll talk about the company that I decided to purchase our oils from.

It’s also the one that I recommend to you as having the best essential oils for the money, with natural healing qualities and no additives or adulterating.

Confused about essential oils? What this blogger found out will surprise you. She tried to find out which essential oils company is best and found out some VERY interesting things about oils and the companies that sell them, including Young Living and doTERRA.

How I Chose Where to Buy Essential Oils for My Family

This all started with my not being happy with the way questions were (or were not) answered by the “Big Guys” on the block.  So I started contacting a bunch of companies and interviewing them about their oils.

If you remember, when I started trying to figure out where to buy essential oils, I mentioned the following about Native American Nutritionals (now Rocky Mountain Oils) in Part One of the series.

“Looks like they carry good products, but they are a bit expensive.  Their prices, for a number of oils, in fact, are almost identical to the MLMs in this group, Young Living and DoTerra.  And I don’t see any difference on the surface in the quality department.”

In this post, you can see that I ended up recommending them, but this was really a surprise for me. After thinking that I was writing them off, I got a call back from the owner of Native American Nutritionals, and I talked with the owner for a few hours (at first….that turned into many hours in the upcoming month) and found that he really “knew his stuff.”

I also found out that there were a lot of differences between his company and many others in the industry. I asked him tons of questions during our first conversation, and then more and more over the course of the next 10 months, while I investigated other companies as well.  (Wow–it’s been that long since I started writing this series…..)

I was intrigued by what he had to say about his company and the oils industry in general.

We had countless conversations from March 2012 – January 2013, during which I literally grilled him about his company and others to figure out which company I wanted to recommend–and if his, was in fact, good enough for my family–and for all of you.

I now can say that I feel very comfortable recommending this company to you and am now using their oils almost exclusively (I have a few bottles of other brands left over :)).

I hope you check them out and I’d love to hear about your experience.

(Disclaimer.  I did not choose this company because I was able to become an affiliate for them, but I am one. I decided to work with them and then we made an partnership agreement. I was the first affiliate for the company.)

Where to Buy Essential Oils You Can Trust–
Rocky Mountain Oils Review

Please note – since this series was written, Rocky Mountain Oils has purchased Native American Nutritionals. Native American Nutritionals was the original company, but the two companies had a partnership. Then Rocky Mountain Oils (RMO) purchased NAN and now RMO is a new company.  I am even more confident in the quality of oils now that this all has taken place.

Before we get on with the details about the company, you can Rocky Mountain Oils and see all that they have to offer.

1.  Experience

The owner of Native American Nutritionals (which later merged with Rocky Mountain Oils), Paul Dean, was in the oils industry since 1997, being first introduced to essential oils about 30 years ago.  He started his first full-time essential oils business in 1998.

Rocky Mountain Oils was founded in 2004 by two essential oil enthusiasts, Michael and Leah Vincent. With years of experience in essential oils, the acquisition of Native American Nutritionals, and 14 years of company growth, RMO has become one of the leading direct-to-consumer essential oil companies in the world.

2.  Purity

Quality Oilsall oils have been third party GC/MS tested.

Certificates are available upon request by easily entering in the batch number from any bottle.

Almost all of the oils come from plants grown in remote locations where no pesticides, herbicides, or harmful chemicals are used and only natural fertilizers are used.

3.  Indigenous Plants

All oils come from plants grown in their indigenous locations (where they grow naturally).

4.  Oils from Small Farms

Almost all oils from NAN were sourced directly from small farms (many are from third-world countries).  Mr. Dean contracted with locals in the countries from where he sourced the oils, finds a quality farm, sets up a distiller, and extracts the oils.  The oils are then sent to Native American, then sent for testing, and bottled.  The only oils at NAN that are not from small farms are mainly the organic citrus oils.

Since Rocky Mountain Oils purchased Native American Nutritionals, some of the sourcing has changed as the company has put a high priority on the purity and quality of the oils sold. They source from small farms and also from leading experts in the industry.

5.  No Solvents

They use no solvents for distillation except when necessary, as in the case of absolutes like vanilla and jasmine (since the cost of those essential oils is otherwise prohibitive.)  Update 2015: they now sell a vanilla extracted with CO2.

6.  Affordable Pricing

They have affordable prices (not as expensive as the multi-level marketing companies, but not “too good to be true” either.)

7.  Quality Pure Oils

I have a lot of standards for quality and making sure that you are purchasing quality oils. See this post on pure essential oils for that information.

In addition, I prefer buying organic whenever I can, and that includes essential oils. Recently (Nov 2017), Rocky Mountain Oils has included an organic line of oils in their lineup and should be expanding it soon.

8.  Transparency

Details for oils are listed clearly on their site (including the Latin name and country of origin).

The company is working on how to indicate the growing method now that they sometimes have a variety of sources for some oils.

9.  Reasonable Shipping Costs

I found the shipping costs with YL and doTERRA to be a little on the steep side.  I was told several times by customer service reps of one of the companies that it was due to businesses being charged more than residential customers.

That didn’t make sense to me – business rates being more expensive than residential when they have that kind of bulk shipping going on? So I called UPS and FedEx and was assured that this is not the case.  So I don’t know why their shipping is so high.  Maybe they are pocketing the extra?  

Rocky Mountain Oils offers Free Shipping domestically in the U.S. and reasonable shipping internationally, with free shipping over $199.

10.  Common Sense Approach

The companies recommend using caution with the oils — but also make practical recommendations so that you can confidently use the oils in your every day life.

11.  No Adulterating

Oils are not heated, mixed with anything else, or adulterated in any way.

Unless declared on the label, the oils are pure.

No Minimum Purchase

One other reason that I don’t want to buy from an MLM essential oils company is that when you do, you often end up buying way more than you need to.

For example, with doTERRA and Young Living, in order to get the best discounts on their oils as a rep, you need to order monthly over $100 of products (to get free products that essentially reduce your costs).  Do that every month and you end up with way too many oils).

A lot of multi-level marketing oils reps end up ordering other things from the company like personal care products in order to get to that “minimum.”  And I am not thrilled with the ingredients in many of the other products offered.

Undesirable Ingredients in Other Products from Essential Oils Companies

When I was trying to decide where to buy essential oils, I looked at other things besides just oils.

With doTERRA and Young Living, for example:

– DoTERRA’s On Guard toothpaste contains titanium dioxide, a metal that I initially thought that I should avoid due to the possibility of heavy metal toxicity. Now I’m not worried about it for that reason, but it simply because it isn’t necessary.  It’s there just for color.  Overall it is supposed to be pretty benign, but why introduce it to your body unless needed?

The company also has carrageenan (which, depending on the form, is known to cause inflammation) in their capsules and PEG 100 in their Deep Blue Cream.

{Update 2018 – I have been doing some additional research into carrageenan and am not sure where to come down on this. There are two types and it’s possible that the negative effects being discussed are not of concern. I hope to have an update to this in the near future.}

Both companies’ skin care products had ingredients rated 3 and above on EWG’s Skin Deep rating system. I prefer to stick with ingredients rated 2, at the highest. Depending on what you are looking for, that may or may not be acceptable to you. Of course, it depends on their performance too. I don’t think all of EWG’s ratings are flawless, but I do pay attention when I see higher ratings there.

There was, in fact, one essential oils company whose oils I thought looked to be very high quality, but their personal care items were loaded with lots of toxic chemicals.

Also note, if you are used to Young Living or doTERRA oils, Rocky Mountain Oils carries oil blends that are comparable to Young Living and doTERRA blends.

There are other good companies out there.  However, I think that there are fewer “excellent” companies than I originally thought when I started all of this evaluation.

What About Other Companies?

I often receive inquiries asking me what I think about other essential oils companies.

Please read this post on Essential Oils Testing and Quality and this report on 10 Things You Need to Know About Essential Oils to see if a brand measures up.

There are more and more companies out there on a daily basis. It truly seems that every day there is a new company selling essential oils and many are making claims that they are the “only pure oils out there” – which is not true.  My standards are high. I don’t just want a company that says they are pure–when deciding where to buy essential oils, I want to make SURE I’m getting purity. And more.

This post on Pure Essential Oil Testing should be of help too for evaluating any company that you wish to consider.

Free Essential Oils Report

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 are your thoughts?
Please let me know in the comments.

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6,975 Comments

    1. Hi there. Thanks for reading! I just went back and tried to make it more clear in the post – the company was called Native American Nutritionals and is now a new name. I have another company mentioned in the end part of the post and am looking at others to have organic options. Please let me know if you need more help.

  1. I have read all of your blogs and am excited that you ended with rocky mountain as that is who I was planning on placing my next order. I currently have YL, DT, and NOW oils but have recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesteral. I have a couple months to reduce both myself before taking medicine. I am curious what oils you recommend for those conditions and how do I use them. I have done research and bergamot, marjoram, frankincense are a few oils to use but they never say HOW to use them. I am trying to compile my list of oils to order from Rocky Mountain and your help would be appreciated! Thank you.

    1. HI there. I am sorry but I can’t medically advise. I personally have no experience in these things with using essential oils. Have you looked at the different cholesterol results and not just “high or low” indications? I have read about many dietary changes that can help support your body to change those things and I know that personally I am focusing on increasing produce intake for overall health. I hope that helps.

    1. Whether or not you can take the oils internally has to do w/ purity. Native American Nutritionals isn’t a company any longer – it was purchased by Rocky Mountain Oils. Their oils are certified pure as indicated on their site but they do not recommend internal use unless you are under the care of a professional – this is their official statement:

      We recommend you consult with a professional before ingesting any essential oils. Consult a Medical Doctor, Naturopath, or clinically trained Aromatherapist who knows you and is aware of your medical history, as well as any medications you are on. With this information, the professional can tailor a regimen that works for your body.

      I hope that helps.

  2. Thank you so much for all of the info you provide. I have been using and learning a little about oils over the past year and a half, but I really know very little. I also have a very small budget, so really want the best value. I do like to make my own household products, like laundry soap, hand soap, etc. and other cleaners. I plan to make a good size purchase and am starting over. I am wondering what recommendations you would have – say if I was to purchase 10 oils ( I plan to go with Rocky Mountain). I want the most useful/well rounded. Also, do you know of any books/guide to uses for oils? Thank you, so much!

    1. It all depends on what you want the oils for. Some of the most popular are:

      lavender, peppermint, grapefruit, lemon, them maybe some blends. Rosemary is very helpful too and oregano and tea tree.

      What are your needs / what would you like to do? There are books at the bottom of many of my posts – I’m working on a book post right now. Are you looking for mainly info / safety / recipes? Did you see the books on the bottom of this series? The book at the bottom of this post is pretty good. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/are-essential-oils-a-scam-a-skeptical-look-at-thieves-oil/

      This company has a lovely book but they are coming out w/ a new one soon that I know is going to be nicer and heftier. https://wholenewmom.com/neals-yard-remedies-nyr-organic/

      Let me know – I’ll do what I can to help.

  3. Hi, I enjoyed reading your article on EO’s. Have to ask if you checked out WIndrose Aromatics at all or if you had ever heard of them? I have a book called Aromatherapy Scent and Psyche which iI love, and their company is one of three listed in the back of the book. Thank-you !

    1. I have not looked into them. Looks like they are a part of Time which is one of the EO experts in the field. Do they let you see GC/MS tests? I’ll be doing more writing in the future about all of this.

  4. Adrienne:

    Your blog has been very edifying on educating us on EO company choices, for those who need to buy in bulk can you suggest a wholesale EO company or Companies?

    Thank you so much!

      1. Adrienne:

        We recently ordered 16fl oz from an Ebay seller, we were considering bulknaturaloils.com for next order.

        Thanks

    1. Hi Karla – they have a store there but at present there is no direct sales business there. I have asked for it and hope they do it soon! I have had customers order to have goods shipped to the US and they pick them up there if that would work for you.

    1. Hello there. If by food grade you mean oils that can be used internally since they are pure, then any company with pure oils would be fine, however I don’t recommend ingestion of oils except under the care of a practitioner. Let me know if that is not what you mean. Thank you.

  5. With Young Living Essential Oils, you never have to buy a certain dollar amount at anytime. If you want to be on their ER (extra rewards) program you must purchase $50 monthly, if you want to do their business program and earn commissions from a down line you must purchase $100 monthly. The choice is completely up to each individual.

    Thank you for your research on oils and most importantly for your wonderful recipes.

  6. Thank you for your indepth work and reviews… it was just what I needed. I am in charge of opening a boutique at a spa and with my background in aromatherapy I had my ideas on what I wanted to carry, as far as an EO company brand, but not convinced. I will be calling RM Oils tomorrow. 🙂 ~b.

  7. I had been using YL Juniper Essential Oil on a bunion & not only did the pain stop, the swelling went down & was 1/3 of the size it had been when I began using it. Unfortunate for me, Juniper was out of stock- for a long long time, so I decided to give RMEO’s a shot. The price was less & the packaging beautiful. I opened the bottle & noticed right away that the scent was different than YL’s. Then I discovered that a different part of the plant is distilled. Sadly for me I didn’t pay attention to that & within 1 day of using RM’s Juniper- the pain returned & shortly after so did the swelling. Whatever anyone may say about YL- they know what they’re doing there. They’ve managed to extract the right properties of the plant to get the most therapeutic value. I’ve had nothing but great success with YLEO’s & have been let down with all the others I’ve tried. Like you, I became an investigator & searched for the companies with rave reviews from the consumers. In the 2 years I’ve been researching oils, I haven’t found any to compare….but I keep my options open. Two years ago I thought I’d be doomed the rest of my life to taking pills- especially pain pills. Severe arthritis & stenosis all over my body- but especially in my spine, multiple surgeries on my spine, fibromyalgia, IBS with either extreme constipation or diarrhea for 30+ years & the list goes on. I started with 2 drops of YL Lemon Essential Oil & for the first time in thirty years- I was regular. Then I found Copaiba & came off 75mcg Fentanyl patch, 6-8 Norco, 2 Xanax, 2 Tizanadine…EO’s are amazing & YL gave me a life without pain & without pain medication.

    1. Hello there. I reached out to RMO about the juniper and got this:

      YL oil: Juniperus osteosperma† (Juniper) oil
      RMO: Juniperus communis
      ….
      many customers react differently to different oils. It is a different variety after all. I would suggest this customer returns the Juniper and picks up an oil that

      a) we carry that is the same variety as the type she uses from YL
      b) is used often in her home

      We have a 100% satisfaction guarantee for this very purpose, so there is no loss to her if she finds that our products aren’t right for her.

      If she is past the 90-day period to return, we would be willing to make an exception to allow her to return the product for store credit so she may choose something else.

      I will add that judging another company as being inferior based on a variety that is different isn’t truly an accurate comparison.

      Thanks for reading and happy to help if need be.

  8. You have done a lot of research! and I thank you! I have seen no other article, posting or such with this depth of information. Like so many others, I would like to be as pure in this as possible and the information you have given has cleared up so many questions. Not being a MLM, I simply want to use a quality product, reasonably priced and with a good support system. I enjoy your posts on your blog and facebook and have gleaned so much from them that has improved daily life. I would much rather have EO’s in my cabinet than half tested meds with deadly or toxic side affects. Thanks again and I will be keeping up with this on a continuous basis.

    1. Thank you so much for the encouragement! I will have more on oils soon -just posted on emulsifying of oils as well. Take care and hope to see you around again!

      1. Thank you for the research and information you are sharing here! I have used doTerra oil and treated a growth on my throat with frankinsence and Lavender and every day cleaned it with a little peroxide. Prayed, and the thing just came off after about seven to eight month.
        I am using thieves right now for two small sores I have on my arm over two years now. They look very much better.
        Can you recommend a good carrier oil to mix with thieves? I will put coconut oil on and then thieves, but sometimes I forget and would really like to have a readymix. Thank you again for all you do here.

        1. Hi there and thanks! I think the use matters more than what oil you are going to use them for. Fractionated Coconut Oil is the most commonly used carrier oil. More to come on oils soon ….

  9. Hi A friend of mine recommended EO for my 10 years old autistic son. I have never tried them before. Please advise me which oil is best for calming and his lack of concentration.

  10. I used to use Neals Yard Remedies (NYR). However, you need to check out Young Living as I switched about a year ago and have found Young Living to be much better quality. You can smell the difference. Please do some research on Young Living. They are awesome!

  11. Thank you so much for your research, and for documenting the process so we can research companies of our own! I haven’t read through all the comments, so someone else may have already asked this question. Do you have any books you recommend for using oils? I used to reference everythingessential.me, but they have been shut down 🙁 I’m still rather a newbie and feel better with going on other’s experience and guidance. Suggestions?

    1. HI Diana. I am so sorry for the delay. The books question is hard. Are you looking for blends? Information on safety? There are some books at the bottom of most of the posts in this series but I am working on a post about books. Let me know what you are looking for and I can try to help. I am looking forward to a new book coming out from Neal’s Yard Remedies soon. Here is more on that company: https://wholenewmom.com/neals-yard-remedies-nyr-organic/

  12. Hey there!

    Excellent research and great read!
    Do you happen to have any thoughts or recommendations about European brands?

    Thank you very much

    1. Thank you!

      I don’t – so sorry. I’m doing my best to keep my head above water and look into a few other brands to have some more options for my readers. I would look at this report: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/

      and this post https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/toxic-overload-health-concerns/essential-oils-testing-is-it-reliable/ to help you choose but I will be posting more in the future. Stay tuned!

  13. Dear Adrienne, thank You for this review which helped me a lot in finding new good quality company producing essential oils. But I would like to hear your advice on this.
    I was using internally (digesting within a vegan capsule) oregano oil available in young living offer. I used it with a lot comfort and success in fighting flu e.t.c. But I noticed RMO’s are considerably cheaper and I happen to use their bug off blend earlier. So my question is; if you as a frequent user have switched to RMO would you use them internally (digest) if did with young living before?
    And, as I noticed, there are no empty capsules available in RMO offer. So I wonder….(where young living offers them) does that mean they are not suitable for internal use?

    1. Hi there, Anna and thanks for writing. Internal use is a tough issue. For ALL uses of EOs quality and purity and important and I am confident in the quality and purity of the company that I recommended. I also recommend NYR Organic / Neal’s Yard Remedies as they have organic options and all of their oils are sustainable. However, I am very very cautious about internal use now and really concerned about mucosal damage. YL sells the capsules just as another way to make money and YL and doTERRA are very free in their internal use recommendations whereas many other companies are not. So I would only recommend using oils internally under the guidance of a practitioner like a physician or naturopath or possibly an aromatherapist. I hope that answers your question :).

      1. I disagree Adrienne. That is what I thought too and that is what NYR told us. However, I have found using EO’s internally to be a great help. I would rather take the risk taking EO’s internally then putting chemicals on my body. If you compare NYR EO’s with Young Living, even my 9 year old said that NYR’s peppermint and lavender didn’t smell nearly as pure/good as Young Living. I drink peppermint EO in my water every day and have not had hardly any sinus issues. When I do get sick, recovery is a lot faster due to internal use of oils.

        1. I appreciate what you are saying but there are other concerns as well – such as becoming sensitized. I have heard some reports of people getting sensitized to oils and having to totally abstain for weeks. I do not wish to have that kind of problem.

        2. The problem with putting oil in water and drinking it is that the oil does not mix with the water and you are essentially coating your throat with the eo “neat”. Over time, you can erode your esophagus. Essential oils must be diluted. The two best ways are with coconut oil, (or any carrier oil) which is a fat, and to make perfume using Everclear 75.5% as a dispursent. Most certified aromatherapist do not recommend ingesting essential oils. There are other therapeutic ways to use them, i e, diffusing, inhaling, and topically. YL & DT’s oils are so expensive because they have so many people to pay in the MLM line of business. Don’t buy into the hype. If the oils from other companies are tested and pass the tests, then they’re just as good as theirs. And there are numerous companies to choose from. I personally buy from Eden’s Garden and am a member of a group on Facebook called SUEGEO (Safe usage Edens Garden Essential Oils).
          It is an amazing group of women sharing tips and recipes and there are albums for everything. Eden’s Garden offers free shipping, and they are a women owned company. They have a new line out for children and also have premade roller ball blends from their children’s line, too. Do your research before commiting to a MLM company.

          1. Also, you cannot determine if an oil is pure by smell which is why they are tested. The only thing you can determine by smell is if it has gone bad.

          2. Yes, you are correct about the internal use concern. Thanks for sharing that.

            There is another reader here who commented about Edens Garden and them not having GC/MS tests with chemist signature on it. Just an FYI. I will be writing more in the future about testing and oil companies. Thanks!

  14. I am wanting to start using EOs, but am so unsure where to buy them. There is so much information and it seems that everyone has a different opinion. I am convinced that EOs can be effective and wasn’t to buy but feel so overwhelmed. I’m also dealing with infertility and trying to get pregnant so I don’t want to do anything to mess with that.

    A friend of mine sells YL and is so passionate about it because they have their own farms, but I am a little wary. Any help would be great!

    1. Hello Jessica. There is a good company listed in this post and they are having a really good sale right now. Let me know if you need more help! Thanks! I have another source that has all sustainable oils too and am interviewing other companies to see if there is an organic offering that I am comfortable with.

    2. That is probably Young Living Jessica. They own all their own farms and put all their products through rigorous testing. All grown organically without pesticides.

  15. I just checked out Rocky Mountain Oils web site and discovered that there are very few single oils available. Or Blends for that matter. Both Youngliving and doTerra have a larger selection of various single oils and blends. I agree that doTerra has very extensive information on their web site. A year ago that wasn’t the case. When I started using Essential Oils 16 years ago, Youngliving was the best available at the time. One of their claims was keeping with plant product from various farms indigenous to that plants origin. I was not aware that this changed and that the company opted to purchase land in various locations around the world to allow for better control. As of now there doesn’t seem to be a ligitamate standard monitoring agency to make sure that products are truly tested for quality, purity and potentcy world wide. In the United States, standards for essential oils falls under that of perfum regulations.

    1. Hello there. I am confused that you think there are very few oils. I think they have quite a few. Is there a particular oil that you are looking for? I am talking to some other companies and I am happy with 2 of them so perhaps that could be of help to you. Thanks!

    1. Hi there. I did and would have to go back to see – I couldn’t find anything definitive right now. I am doing more research and will have more things to share hopefully soon. I have a number of people asking for organic oils so I am working on that. You are so welcome!