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.
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Previous Posts In the Series:
- – Which Essential Oils Company is Best? Starting Out – Part 1
- – The Qualities of a Good Essential Oil – Part 2
- – Problems in the Essential Oils Industry – Part 3
- – A Close Up Look at Young Living and doTERRA – Part 4
- – Are Multi-Level Marketing Oils Worth It? – Part 5
- – Personal Attacks, Bias and Distillation Issues – Part 6
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.
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 Oils – all 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.
What are your thoughts?
Please let me know in the comments.
I encourage you to keep going And fallow your integrity. Many blessings to you. Since you are recommending
RMO, and I know you know about certification and seals… are these oils ok to ingest ?
If I follow are you asking b/c of Young Living’s labeling for food use? That means nothing about purity – it is just stating that that is a possible use b/c the FDA won’t let you put more than two uses on a label. For purity you need to read this post: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/ I don’t recommend ingesting unless you are under the care of a practitioner or aromatherapist but the oils with the company that I recommend are pure as outlined in the post – thanks and hope that helps!
Paul Dean is not connected with RMO now and they don’t have the same blurb about how they source their oils so I wonder if you would choose them now.
Which part are you concerned about? I went back over the information and updated the post accordingly.
Thanks!
I greatly appreciate this article, but I am curious to become a distributor of there product. Is there a way to become a distributor. There was no obvious way to become one through the site
Hello and thanks. No, there is no way to become a distributor with this company but you could check out this one if you like. They have a growing essential oils collection and their other products are lovely: https://wholenewmom.com/neals-yard-remedies-nyr-organic/
Hello Adrienne. When I contacted Rocky Mountain Oils on their Facebook Page, they wouldn’t comment on whether or not they used low heat, low pressure, first distilled. I was really put off by their response. I’m pretty confused by it actually after reading your article. Here was their response: “Great question Linda! We work with farmers and distillers who are experts in their craft and use the most appropriate distillation method to produce potent and pure oils. They use the best methods of distillation for the product they are working with. With the exception of Ylang Ylang Complete and Jasmine, all of our oils that are steam distilled have been distilled for the least amount of time to insure the potency.” (Notice in this response they don’t come right out and say what their “appropriate distillation” is. After I pushed a little harder on low heat and low pressure this was the 2nd response: “They use the best methods of distillation for the product they are working with. The quality can be measured in the GC/MS test results. Feel free to contact customer service if you have any further questions about quality or would like to receive a batch code to download the GC/MS test results.
https://www.rockymountainoils.com/get-gcms-test-results/
1 (866) 493-8159
Customer service hours:
Monday-Friday 7:00am-5:00pm MT
support@rockymountainoils.com
Hello Linda. Sorry for the delay in responding. I am under a pile and trying to catch up. So I emailed the company and they mean that there are different distillation methods for different oils – they are not saying that they are trying to avoid the topic. Just that some oils are solvent extracted (vanilla and jasmine). This seems to be their response to this question so that they are covering their bases but I will tell them that it comes off as though they are avoiding it. I hope that helps!
Have you looked into the company http://www.livinglibations.com ? They say they source the best oils out there and that there quality is much higher then youngliving/doterra and have many organic certifications on there products.
Can you tell me why they are higher quality than YL and doTERRA? This post should help you evaluate them. Yes, I did look at them. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/
Hi Adriene! Thank you for all your work. I am looking at Rocky Mountain Oils and also Edens Gardens. Would you you comment on both. Also what are your opinions on the best diffusers? Thank you.
Hi and you are welcome. This post should help. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/essential-oils-for-hair-growth/
Diffusers – it really depends on what you want. Small room or large? I always like one that runs at least 8 hours and that has a timer. Let me know what you are looking for!
Hi Adrienne, great site with lots of useful info!
I’m looking for food grade organic essential oils. I contacted Neal’s Yard and they have told me that their oils aren’t food grade.
Do you know of any brands that are?
Thanks and compliments again for all the research you have put together!
Thanks for commenting! This is the information regarding food grade essential oils. FDA regulations state that natural product labeling cannot legally suggest that a product intended for topical or aromatherapeutic use be taken internally without labeling the product as food. So it’s an FDA labeling issue and not a purity issue. This post should help you regarding figuring out what essential oils are pure and which are not: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/ Thanks again and hope that helps.
I just finished reading all 7 of your blogs about EO…or was it 8? I’ve lost count now. Either way, THANK YOU for taking the time to do all this research. I wasn’t sure you were answering the questions until the final blog. I am very picky about the quality of what I eat and use in/on my body. I mostly started off wondering how doTerra and YL test their products, what they add to their EO, and how it’s sourced. I am not looking for MLM, so I am grateful to you for putting out the name of another company that has quality standards and 3rd party testing of their products. Not to mention their transparency…if you’re not transparent then you must be hiding something. The lack of FDA approval does not bother me, as a matter of fact, I don’t trust the FDA anyways, because you know who controls, runs, and funds the FDA…the oh so trustworthy government. But I digress….I would like to finish by again saying, thank you, for your time and effort into thoroughly investigating these companies.
Thank YOU for the kind words and for taking the time to share. More to come. If you are so inclined please do subscribe to my blog updates. There is a glitch in the document but I think I should have it fixed today. https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
What is the second best? Can you make a post about listing them from best to worst?
Hi there. That’s hard to say. I’m considering coming back and doing some updates here. I’m busy with some other research and some personal and business issues but if you’d like to stay updated you can subscribe here: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/ Thanks for reading and sorry for the delay in responding.
Thank you so much for such a quality review of these eo companies. We were distributors of Young Living Oils and I still own many of their oils and the Young Living Essential Oil PDR which I still feel is a great informative book to have if you do much with essential oils. I feel that most of their oils, although I feel they are too expensive, are good quality oils. We left the company when they moved much of our downline to a new person that had joined the company, even though they never gave us an answer why they did this. I’ve heard much about doTERRA oils and have friends that sell them, but had never tried them.
I am also one that usually gets too intense regarding reviewing for product quality but cannot seem to stop since I have saved a lot of money and have found better quality items because of this. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this review and posting it for me!! I needed to order an oil and could not make my mind up until I read your blog. Thank you again and again, and now I will sign up for your other helps!!
Thank you so much! Nice to have another kindred spirit. It’s so true – we have saved a lot of money (and woes) doing this plus I feel that I am doing others a favor as well! Hope to see you around again.
HI,
I know that you were limited with your space of writing, but it would have been nice to see more research on all of the companies spoken about, vs. little clips.
Also, to clarify, Young Living does not require $100/month, to use their oils.
You have the option, if you want to business build, but for a basic membership, you only have to place one $50 order/year, which makes it nice for anyone who just wants to use a few oils each year, and not business build.
I hope this clarifies this for your readers.
Also, as a YL member for over 10 years, I’ve never had a reason to even look elsewhere, because they work.
I use them in my home, with my children/grandchildren, and in my massage business, with high success.
I have high standards with oils, and tried a large amount of them, prior to making a choice. YL has never once, disappointed me.
We like to pay higher costs for good food, good clothing, a good vehicle, but somehow, when it comes to supplements or oils, we are looking for cheap.
I believe what goes in or on, is crucial for our overall body.
For those researching, please try many oils, and what works best for you, is what is meant for you.
If they do not work, they are not a pure oil. Always consult your oil company to see how you are suppose to use their oils. Most are not meant to be put on or in the body, but people blindly follow another companies way of using them.
Thank you for working to educate others.
I have been doing my own research I also was a firm believer that Young Living was the best option out there but the truth be known as long as it’s one hundred percent therapeutic grade and distilled properly, you do not have to spend as much money as Young Living wants you too
What do you think of Dr. Axe’s Essential Oil Institute? He uses or sells NUMA Essential Ouls.
Hi there. I would read this post. I don’t understand why Jordan Rubin said that Numa was the best ever and then later I saw him saying the same thing about another line. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/how-to-know-if-your-essential-oils-are-pure/ Hope this is helpful. I will be writing more in the future – you can sign up for updates here if you like: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
Hello. Thank you for all the hard work you did for us like you that basically said ok wait a minute… what is going on it this industry? Could you please give me your thoughts on Plant Therapy essential oils?
Thanks, Amber. I am continually looking at the industry as much as I can. Please see my standards for oil companies here. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/
And you might wish to subscribe here to get updates: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/ Thanks!
As I read through your posts, it looked as if you had gone with Neals Yard Organics, are you still with them?
Yes, I am. I chose them for personal care b/t the company that I was with formerly, Ava Anderson, had a bunch of issues with labeling and ingredients and more. I was trying to find a new company or companies (either direct sales or not) and chose them and have been very happy with them for a variety of products. They have recently expanded their essential oils line. I still work with the company in this post.
Not enough time to read all the comments, so forgive me if you’ve been asked this before, but can you give your second, third, and even fourth choices for reputable companies? Are there (hopefully) other companies you feel pretty confident giving a thumbs up to? Did you ever finish researching Mountain Rose Herbs?
The reason I’m asking for next-ups is RMO doesn’t make many of the oils I need right now, so I have no choice but to buy elsewhere and would love to benefit from your research and judgment. I’m guessing this issue will come up for others, too. Thank you!
Hi there. I’m working to see what else I can do. If you look in this post I did give NYR Organic an endorsement but they don’t have a huge variety of oils. Can I ask what oils you are looking for?
MRH told me in an email that they had found synthetics in their oils so it’s very important to go w/ a company that does batch testing on the final delivered product: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/how-to-know-if-your-essential-oils-are-pure/ and you might wish to sign up for updates as I will be writing more on oils in the future: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
I want to make an insect/mosquito/tick spray for myself and my dog. The recipe calls for: catnip, neem, rose geranium (the Pelargonium capitatum x radens type), lemon eucalyptus, rosemary and fennel. I am new to essential oils for the most part, but my research indicates these oils are also safe (when diluted correctly) for dogs. RMO makes the lemon eucalyptus and rosemary only. Thank you for whatever suggestions you’re able to make and for your excellent work on essential oils! So glad to have found your site.
Hi there. They have the Geranium and the Fennel. Does that help? Feel free to let me know if you need more assistance.
It’s the other type of rose geranium that I need, which is supposed to be better for this application, specifically ticks. Yes, RMO has fennel, my oversight. That just leaves catnip (which one study found to be ten times more effective than Deet), neem and the less common variety of rose geranium.
Mountain Rose has catnip and neem, but the wrong version of rose geranium. You think they’d be OK for the two available? They also have hydrosols (cheaper), which is a brand new thing for me (probably a whole ‘nother topic, going to have to research).
The rose geranium type I need seems to vary in price. The only brands I’ve been able to find so far are: Greenhealth, Botanic Planet, Quinessence, and Coventry.
Thank you!
Hi there. I thought that that is the kind of rose geranium that you listed in your first comment? Can you check? Thank you. I haven’t heard of those other companies.
And what about Eden’s Garden? I have been using some of their oils. I am a beginner or newbie to essential oils, but I do like the Eden’s Garden oils. Thanks.
Hi there. I would read this post for more information. Companies are changing their policies all the time so it’s really hard (basically impossible) to keep on top of all of them and what they are doing. Thanks for reading! https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/how-to-know-if-your-essential-oils-are-pure/ If you’d like you can sign up for my newsletter here so you can get updates in the future. https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
Thank you so much for all of your time and effort you have put into all of this information it is greatly appreciated. I’m new at using essential oils. I would like to know if you know anything about florihana EO from France. Was that a company that you researched at all?
Hi there and you are welcome! Sorry for the delay in responding. I have a ton of comments to go through – some are hard to respond to and some are spam and some are things I need to address as they stole from my site – sigh!
Anyhow, I did look at them and didn’t go w/ them for a number of reasons but I hope to revisit this in the future. In the meantime you can subscribe to updates if you like and see my new info on purity standards:
Subscribe: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
Purity: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/
Hope that helps!
I am curious about something, and wondering if you asked it during your interviews with RMO. When you look at YL oil blends, for example, they state that all that they have in the bottle are the oils of the plants, but some of RMO has the oils of the plants mixed with a percentage of fractionated coconut oil. Are these blends less in quality or can they even be diffused due to the added carrier oil?
Hello Tatiana. Thanks for reading. Yes, they had the FCO in there b/c apparently customers wanted something already diluted for easier topical application and for a reduced price. The company just released a grouping of neat (undiluted) blends that you can check out. You can buy either way. Yes, you can diffuse diluted blends. You just might want to use a little more. Hope that helps!
Hi, I just started getting into the essential oils and came across your blog. First of all thank you so much for desiring to share your knowledge and passion for products that are safe for us and our families. I do plan to go back and read all your information but I confess I skipped to the final because I am so anxious to order. For right now, I wanted to know if RMO are food grade. I am sorry if you are having to repeat this answer.
Hi there and welcome! Your words are so kind. Thanks. I don’t mind the question. The situation w/ food grade is not easy to figure out. I assume you are looking to take these internally or use them in your food, correct? I don’t advocate using essential oils internally without the guidance of a medical practitioner or aromatherapist but when you are looking at using any essential oil in any way, what you have to be concerned about is purity–not whether or not a company says it is food grade. This post should be of help: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/how-to-know-if-your-essential-oils-are-pure/
Your liver filters things out that you eat but things you put on your skin go right to your blood w/o going to the liver first so in a way what you put on your skin might matter more. If you have other questions I’m happy to help.
I really liked Rocky mountain oils until I found out recently that Paul Dean actually no longer is apart of them and is helping family out now starting another oil business called “I am essential oils”. We were dealing with a sales man with rmo who lied to us also when buying wholesale and said Dean was still on the board which obviously was not the case. They have also been putting some of there oil prices up quite a lot and some of there oil bottles are easily breakable and leak.
Hi there. I just realized that I never got back to you on this. Here was the company’s response:
I am trying to research the best oils for the price. I love your research and thank you so much for sharing. Do you have an opinion on Bulk Apothecary and Now Essential Oils?
Thank you
Hi there. Yes, I looked at both of them. The information in this post should be of help to you. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/how-to-know-if-your-essential-oils-are-pure/