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. I’ve been going around in circles with just this concern of purity, organic or not, differences in companies and returning products I receive and something isn’t right and not willing to put health on the line to “try” them…so I so appreciate the time and effort you put in…and that you shared this with us. Thank you so much! It’s been so easy to order EOs from Amazon and I hope they will become available there, it’s a great market, already, and many are wondering about quality, as well. (I don’t seem to be able to order anything on the NAN site as I’m getting product cannot be found, but have emailed customer service and hope to resolve that soon!)

    1. Hi Jenni – thanks for the kind words! What oils are you hoping to buy? I can try to help. Thanks!

  2. I was just about to pay for my Young Living EssentialOils first package and also considering their skin care and supplements line. After reading some of your article I am a little skeptical (at least a little cautious) I live in Australia and I am wondering if the company you recommended ship to Australia.

    1. Hi Kelly. So sorry for the delay – I’ve been swamped. Yes, they do and they have $8 flat shipping internationally. Thanks!

  3. Thank you so much for doing such exhaustive research. I am new to essential oils and have had mixed results so far (some things I can say for sure they’ve helped with, others I not so sure). I actually found this page when trying to find a book with a balanced approach to ingesting oils – now I look forward to reading your other articles! I apologize for not reading all of the comments before asking this question (I promise I read a lot!), could you recommend a book that has a balanced approach to using oils internally? I feel like they are okay for some situations but don’t feel comfortable with how much some of my friends in MLM companies use them internally. Thank you for the recommendation of the book above, I’ve been all over Amazon trying to find a book with good information but not affiliated with a particular company. I was hoping to find someone who could make a recommendation so I can spend my money more wisely 🙂

    1. Thanks so much for your kind words. I hope you enjoy the book! Um – there are so many comments I wouldn’t expect anyone to read all of them :). Hope to see you around again!

      1. Wow! Thanks so much for your speedy reply! Do you have a book you would recommend in addition to this one that has a balanced approach to internal use of oils? Thanks so much!

  4. First off thanks for all the hardwork and efforts put into your research! Im planning to buy tea tree oil and lavender oil from the NAN or RMO. I wanted to know, which brands would you recommend for buying regular carrier oils for the oil cleansing method? I hear that 100% pure cold pressed organic oils are highly recommended to get the best results. Native American Nutritionals and Rocky Mountain don’t supply these carrier oils, However I found that Mountain Rose Herbs do have the carrier oils I’m looking for – Jojoba Oil, Neem Oil and Sea Buckthorn Oil. From what you’ve researched about this company, do you think they’d be a reliable source for buying good quality and effective carrier oils? Also since what I need aren’t essential oils, do you think it’d be safe to buy these carrier oils from amazon (after evaluating the reviews of course)? There isnt as much concern to where you buy your carrier oils compared to where you buy your essential oils. Thanks so much, your input would be greatly appreciated! 🙂

    1. Thanks so much for your kind words! I personally would feel comfortable buying from MRH for that. I typically have purchased from reputable companies from Amazon or Vitacost, etc. I think mainly b/c of shipping costs. I have a coupon for Vitacost in my sidebar if that would help you. Hope that helps!

  5. What was your final thoughts/finds on YL? I didn’t see anything specific in this last post. & there’s A LOT of comments to wade through! On a side note; AuraCacia doesn’t even smell right and has actually made me ill just from the smell. They mix their oils with plenty of other item including alcohol. There’s something in there that causes me to become nauseated. I’ve used doTerra only once or twice. I feel YL jas helped me the most. I recently heard of a Zyto scan. Have you heard of that?

  6. You have recommended a different book on essential oils with each part of this series. Which book would you recommend as the most beneficial for medicinal purposes?

    Especially for allergies, sinusitis, dermititus, asthma, antiinflammatories and muscle relaxants.

  7. Hello,
    First, thank you so much for your work and research ! Very helpful. I am looking to use essential oils to help with my menopause symptoms ! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

    1. Hi Kim.

      I would just search ‘menopause’ and essential oils to see what you find. This post on Clary Sage should be of interest too. Let me know if that helps, please. And thanks for the kind words!

  8. I don’t know how you keep going with your blog with all the negative hoopla you get, although the positive certainly outweighs the bad. I just want to say you have to be one sensational person. Your blog has been such an inspiration to me and many others and I wish you all the best. I think I signed on about a year ago and read each and every post I get and also go looking on your blog for answers. I read your 7 posts about a year ago on eo’s and started using NAN and RMO oils at that time and cannot express how well I have been pleased with both. Their blends are exceptional, the shipping is very fast and their customer service is fantastic. I had been using another brand (not a MLM) but have been replacing with NAN. I appreciate your letting us know when they have a sale or free shipping and I just ordered through your site. I just read through all the 7 posts again today with all the comments and had to laugh when I read the comment from the rep at the NAN company stating he was concerned that some people were using too much of the oils as I have ordered so many extras. Hope he wasn’t concerned about my using them too much. LOL. I do use them daily but am very careful, its just that I make so many recipes and share with friends and family for their use so we can all get away from pharmaceuticals and the chemicals in as many products as possible I also want to thank you for turning me on to the shampoo from Beauty Counter, it has done a good job on my scalp. Keep the faith and keep up the good work, we need more people like you who will speak for the truth.

    1. Hi Mickie. If you read all the comments you deserve some kind of special reward. Unbelievable! :).

      Thanks for your oh-so-kind words. Much appreciated. It has been hard on and off but I think I am getting better at dealing w/ the negativity. I guess it goes w/ the territory. I’m so happy to hear about the Beautycounter and your scalp. I am happy with it too. Take care!!!

  9. I clicked on the link for NAN but it looks like it is general company website – I wanted to make sure you got credit for anything ordered since you did the research. What is your link?

    Thanks…

    I am not a “expert” but I do have to agree with the lack of potency with YL – I have been using them and have seen no results…hence my search to find something better! So I am excited to try NAN.

    1. Hi there. Yes, it is a company website. If you clicked through from my blog I get credit for the sale. Thanks so much for caring and asking! I so hope you like them. Hope to see you around again.

  10. Thank you so much Adrienne for your good work in trying to find the best essential oils company. I too have been looking into different one’s like DT and YL and others and just couldn’t decide…there was just something that held me back. I do believe that Native American Nutritionals is the right company and am so thankful to have run across your series. Good work! (and don’t pay attention to the naysayers!)

    1. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment & for your kind words. Hope you enjoy the oils and that I see you around again!

  11. Hi, Just wanted to let you know I read your articles (may have missed one or two) about essential oil companies. You did a lot of my home work for me as my hubby has decided to use peppermint oil to relieve headaches after a co worker shared hers with him. I had heard of Aura Cacia before (last time I looked they were the best) and was going to purchase theirs but I bounced around the net stopped here and glad I did.Thank you for sharing your work with us. Now on to NAN.

    1. Thanks for your kind words. I have also, as a side note, been hearing of folks having headache relief after getting off gluten and/or nightshades. Might be worth giving a look at what might be triggering them. Thanks again!!!

  12. Hi Adrienne,

    First of all, thanks for your post – I am new to the EO world, and I am currently using a mix of YL and NAN oils. I have just placed my second order with NAN, but I have to say that as a Canadian customer I was very disappointed with their customer service. I placed an order of 10 oils originally, and I really, really disliked one of the blends I ordered. When I asked about a refund or exchange, they said no problem but they would only reimburse my shipping cost if I used USPS. I’m Canadian and that is not possible, so they basically said too bad. I told them that the cost to ship the product back would be almost the entire cost of the oil. I placed a second order before this happened, and I have to be honest and say that I may not place a third. It wouldn’t kill them to offer to reimburse me on my next order, or to reimburse the shipping for one product, when I have ordered over 20 oils from them in less than 2 weeks.
    Just a “be aware” to anyone who lives outside of the US and wants to try them – you will have to pay the shipping to send it back if you don’t like it because they ONLY reimburse USPS shipping. Most companies may be the same, I’m not really sure to be honest, but I found it to be not the greatest customer service. Great product, but not great response to an issue.
    Now, that being said, I haven’t had to return an order to YL so I hope I’m not being unfair – although I would say the same thing about them if the same thing happened! If you’re going to ship internationally, you have to have a system in place that doesn’t cost customers out-of-pocket to return something they don’t like or can’t use.
    Thanks again for this great article though!

    1. Hi there. And thanks for commenting. I have emailed them to see if there is another option. The one thing I will say, however, is that they are having free shipping right now so this might be the best time to try something new? If you subscribe to my newsletter I send out notifications of this kind of deal regularly. You can go here to sign up and get an oils resource. https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/

      How much is shipping for that 1 bottle of oil back to them?

      Thanks!

      1. Thank you for your reply – it’s going to cost just over $8 to send it back, and it’s only worth $11 or $12. I haven’t had a response to my last email in over a week, so I’m assuming I’m SOL with getting any kind of credit or anything. I’m just very disappointed – I love the products, but I’m also big on good customer service and being able to return something I don’t like without having to pay extra.

        1. HI there, Mandy. Looks like there was some confusion about your return. I just heard from the company that they should be reaching out to you on this. Please let me know if you don’t hear from them within a few days.

          Thanks for your patience :).

  13. My dad has stage 4 pancreatic cancer that’s spread to his liver. I’m looking into getting some essential oils from you. On a side note, I read all your articles about essential oils (except 7 because I couldn’t get it to load properly.). I have a solution for your chronic fatigue, sleepless nights, and food allergies. Please reach out to me.

    1. Hi Carolyn,

      Happy to help in any way that I can. You just go through the links and order them. Enjoy!

  14. I am just now starting to research the benefits of essential oils, and your posts answered SO many questions, so thank you!!
    Right now, I am looking for something that will help a friend of mine with PTSD and severe panic attacks. Also anything that would help improve kidney and liver functions. If you have any suggestions, I’d really appreciate it.
    Thanks again for all your hard work!

    1. Hi there. Sorry for the delay – I am trying to get a better answer for you. I will say that I have heard of using lemon oil on the liver but that’s not medical advice. Maybe for now you could search “anxiety” on their site and see how those oils sound to you based on the reviews. I personally think diet is huge with both of these. I take Liver Support, which is offered in my store. You could take a look at that as well. I also do use castor oil packs sometimes. You can see more on the liver in this post. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/toxins-liver-detox-liver-cleanse-liver-health/
      Let me know :).

  15. Wait, so you made your choice on “BEST ESSENTIAL OIL COMPANY” based on non strictly essential oil products? So can I ask if you left out products made with the oils and just went with oils, who would have one?

  16. I can’t thank you enough for the hours, days, weeks and probably months of your intense research, Adrienne. I was diagnosed with MS a few years ago, and started looking into essential oils with skepticism. I tried several well known brands with some success, but after trying your recommendation, I’m hoping for better results. The customer service has been excellent, as well as how I’m feeling so far. My Dr says the MS is actually a result of chronic Lyme disease I’ve had for many years. I’m hoping for some relief including essential oils in my ‘arsenal’ of treatments. Thank you again, for all your work! You’re heaven sent!!

    1. You are just too kind, but I am glad to have helped. I have a lot of thoughts about lyme and MS. I have some friends dealing w/ lyme now and wonder if you’ve looked at the AIP diet? I am doing it for the most part myself. I have another thought too – have you looked at the research on antioxidants and MS. As well as the muscadine and MS. Look at this article. https://www.thestate.com/news/business/health-care/article13826486.html

      My family is testing out a new supplement that might be of interest. Feel free to email me at wholenewmom {at} gmail {dot} com.

      I had an MS scare a number of years ago – I know it can be devastating!

  17. Hey Adrienne,
    First off, I really appreciate all the work you put into finding the best essential oil company for your readers. I was seriously impressed with the dedication and commitment you exhibited. I also would like to empathize with you about all of the disrespect you had to endure from various people. I am sorry that happened to you, but I believe you dealt with it expertly.

    Finally, (the point of this comment), I was wondering if you would be able and willing to make a blog post about the uses of various essential oils, particularly those that NAN sells. I want to start using essential oils in my life, instead of relying on over-the-counter or prescription medications for so many minor problems that may be easier treated using natural remedies. However, the research I have been attempting to conduct has been somewhat overwhelming. This article series finally helped me find a company to buy my EOs from, but I’m just not sure what each oil can be used for.
    Thanks again and I hope to hear back from you soon,
    Ellie

    1. Hi Ellie. Thanks for your very kind words. Much appreciated. Are you thinking of a post about all of the oils or perhaps some / the ones I use most often?

      They do have a lot of uses and I am for sure no expert….I just started using a few new ones for my thyroid this week.

      Let me know what would help. I did write this post on how to use them: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/how-to-use-essential-oils/

      Please reply when you have time.

  18. Thanks so much for all your research and time! I recently got into eo’s and jumped on the YL bandwagon. I have had some nice results for instance with stress away (containing ocotea) and lemongrass when my oldest son’s blood sugars get wonky (he’s a type 1 diabetic). I’m not at all as educated as you are on the different companies and their qualities/purity etc. But your blogs have given me a lot to think about and consider. I too have purchased aura cacia and now (i love adding now’s patchouli to my coconut oil morning face regimen btw).with some nice results, esp for the price. Thanks again!

    1. Thanks for commenting and you are so welcome! Hope to see you around again!! Are you using the lemongrass internally for blood sugar?

  19. Thank you!!!
    I am from Australia and doTerra is starting to become more and more popular here. I am only just getting into essential oils but already know the wonderful power they have to heal in all areas. Whilst so many were recommending doTerra my gut was telling me exactly what you have written. Thank you for taking the time to write this extensive article and dedicate so much of your time to the research. I also think its amazing the time you take to reply to all of your comments. I wish you well and I look forward to exploring more of your site and readying your emails. Thank you again. Jody
    P.S. I wish I could buy NAN but I know I cannot get it in Australia…so for now, I have to take your guidance to look towards a good suppliers here in Australia. You have given me the tools of what to look for. Thanks!!

    1. Hi Jody, and thanks for writing. I know that I probably spend more time on comments than other bloggers – I really like connecting with you all. I know it’s important to not just be talking and not being heard. 🙂 Anyhow, NAN or RMO will ship to Australia. That shouldn’t be a problem as far as I know. Let me know if you have any issues.

      Thanks and take care. I have relatives there. Would love to visit someday!