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.
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.
This post may contain affiliate links from which I will earn a commission.)
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 new company. I am even more confident in the quality of oils now that this all has taken place.
I've updated this post so that in most places, NAN has now been replaced with RMO.
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 direct 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. Where an oil is sourced depends on the oil. 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 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? I can't see any other answer.
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.
The only exception is Bergamot, which they sell 2 versions of. The FCF Bergamot is heated after the distillation to burn off the furocoumarin since furcoumarin is photo-toxic. Their Eucalyptus Globulus isn't heated to remove the heavy "herbier" smell.
Most oils companies heat their Eucalyptus Globulus to remove that herbier smell, but Mr. Dean felt that the essential oil left alone is more therapeutic, so that is how he handled it.
12. {New} Bonus - Free Bottle of Oil for My Readers
Just added in 2018 - go to this Healthy Living Deals post to find out what bottle of oil you can get Free with Purchase.
Conclusion
Our family has decided on Rocky Mountain Oils to be our source of oils.
Basically, I think that the oils industry is like the food industry:
In the food industry, you can buy from large grocery stores and companies with things labelled "natural" and "whole grain," or you can buy from a farmer you know and trust. I really think, as I've learned more about the "Big Ag" industry, that it is often better to buy from a "small guy" (small farmer or small essential oils company) whom you know well, than a "big guy" (big farm or big oils company or expert).
In this case, with Rocky Mountain Oils, you can know you are supporting someone who cares deeply about the farmers he works with and who works with them directly. Plus can support a lot of workers in third world countries as well (and Native American pays them a decent wage for their country).
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 waaaay 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." However, I wasn't 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 which 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.
Of course, if you've been following along with this series, you know that I think 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 evaluating.
My Choice for Essential Oils--Rocky Mountain Oils (formerly Native American Nutritionals)
So....now that you have some more information about where to buy essential oils you can trust, I'm sure that you are likely eager to use them.
I highly recommend reviewing the previous posts in the series (listed above) to see some great books that are sure to be a great help.
What About Other Companies?
PLEASE NOTE: 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.
Wear Your Oils -- Essential Oil Jewelry
Essential Oil Jewelry is a great way to wear your oils and have their support on you all the time.
Just put a few drops of your favorite oil on the felt pad in the pendant or bracelet, etc., and you can carry your oils with you all day (because carrying a diffuser around with you all day would be awkward :).)
Many of the diffusing jewelry options on the market today are made from inexpensive metals that will turn colors and will turn your skin colors too.
I'll have some more options for you all soon, but these pendants look like a great option!
These bracelets also look nice!
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 share!
Hi Adrienne!
I loved reading your article about essential oils. I did have a question. As a soap maker I use Titanium Dioxide in my soaps to make them "whiter" I'm not sure it's considered a metal though. Titanium is definitely a metal but Titanium Dioxide?
Encyclopedia Britannica defines it as a mineral which is why I have always used it in soap safely.
Definition:
Titanium dioxide, also called titania, (TiO2), a white, opaque, naturally occurring mineral existing in a number of crystalline forms, the most important of which are rutile and anatase. These naturally occurring oxide forms can be mined and serve as a source for commercial titanium. Titanium dioxide is odourless and absorbent. Its most important function in powder form is as a widely used pigment for lending whiteness and opacity.
Thanks for the the info and research you did on EO's. I to fell for YL around 2010 and spent loads with them also. I now enjoy RMO's as well and Plant Therapy.
Titanium dioxide isn't a metal as far as I know. I did some writing about it but there are mixed opinions about its safety. Did you have a question about it? Sorry if I missed it! Thanks for the kind words!
I love reading an article that will make people think.
Also, many thanks for allowing for me to comment!
Thank you and of course!
Thank you, I've just been looking for information approximately this subject
for ages and yours is the best I have found out so far.
However, what about the bottom line? Are you certain concerning the source?
Hi there. Thanks for the comment. I actually need to update everything in this series at some point to make it easier to navigate / add more information, etc. Are you asking me if I'm certain about the company that I went with?
Thank you dearly for your commitment to the integrity of your research and the grace in which you present it, unwaveringly so.
I just read the entire 7 part series, having googled ‘young living versus do terra’ - I have used both for short periods of time in my life and didn’t feel pulled to these oils.
I am about to start my training with The School for Aromatic Studies with an interest in the French medical ways of internal use.
My cousin who has studied there recommended to me Lunaroma essential oils, an apothecary in Vermont. Have you researched their oils?
I have also been recommended Rocky Mountain Oils, so I am thrilled to receive this verification from you exhausting this topic meticulously.
Looking forward to hearing from you, Adrienne.
Hi there - thanks!! I am glad to have you here. I have not heard about that company. Sorry about that! It would take untold hours to research all of them--perhaps ask the questions in this post: https://wholenewmom.com/best-essential-oils-company-best-essential-oils/
and you can go off of some of the things in this post as well. Hope that helps. I hope to revisit this topic in the near future.
Hi Adrienne! I'm curious about whether you have done any research on REVIVE. I read some reviews and decided to give them a try. I got my box today so I am going to experiment with them myself, but thought I'd just check with you.
Hey Jennifer---is this the Jennifer from our past life in IL? I have done some but not as much recently. Let me know if that is indeed you and I'll see what I can find :).
What are your favorite oils (scents) from RMO?
Hi there. Are you just looking for something that smells good? Single or blend?
Hello,
I read your entire post on researching comparisons of essential oil companies as well as discussions about/with Dr. Papas.
I have tried the RMO's and felt they were of the same strength and quality as YL and DoTerra, etc.
Anyway, THANK YOU so much for clearing the air on oil myths and essential oil business hype.
So, today and in the future, RMO's are for me.
But...$199 free shipping on little bottles if oils? They could afford to be a but more generous.
I'm retired and have a limited income and free shipping on anything or at some cost level really takes the edge off. $199? Many online companies have a cost break for shipping at $49, $59, $75, and $100 and those 'bottles of vitamins and supplements' can be heavy. It isnot often that I have $200 to drop down on the counter for those precious oils, so I always pay shipping. As a member of RMO's inside circle maybe you might suggest to them, on behalf of the lower shoppers a purchase cost for free shipping of, let's say$100 in exchange for customer loyalty.
Texting is a poor way to communicate and sometimes i cant send a smiley face so ..with a smile..
Kathy Everett
Hi Kathy! First of all, thanks so much for reading and reaching out.
They have free shipping at $25 - the $199 is for international orders only. Are you in the US?
Let me know :).
Any opinion on revive essential oil company?
Thanks!
Someone just asked me about this. I looked into them but not enough. I know there's a lawsuit of doTERRA vs them and that everyone is saying that they are the best, etc. I hope to revisit this topic soon so stay tuned!
Why do the oils on RMO's website not give any indications for internal use? For example cinnamon and lemon EOs I would expect would be safe to consume internally but it does not say this when you click on the product description.
There is a lot of concern about internal use of oils for many reasons. It's something I have been meaning to write a post on for awhile. Mucous membrane damage potential is one of them. Are you concerned about purity as a result? I can address that, if so. This post might help as well: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/essential-oil-purity-myths/
Hi! Thanks for all the info! I just wanted to address your saying DoTERRA customers have to spend $100 a month to get better prices? As a wholesale member you always get the 25% off retail. And you don’t have to order at all. If you’re in the LRP program you get a percentage back on the PV spent, if you spend 50 PV, not 100. The percentages range from 10-30%. For example, if I CHOOSE to spend 50 PV, I receive 30% back in points toward free oil. No one has to spend 100.
Hi there! Thank you! I believe that all that I stated was "to get free products that essentially reduce your cost"--has that changed? I know that there are discounts otherwise. Thank you!
No. You made it sound as if someone must spend $100 and be a rep. The free product of the month is about $10-$12 or 10% of $125 but that’s just like a frequent flyer reward, which loads of companies have. The wholesale discount for everyone is 25% off. And all you need to buy is 1 item a YEAR to maintain a wholesale account. Your misleading wording can be edited now....
The reduced cost comes with an account like Costco. Simple business model. You should have said additional savings can be had through various means. And by the way, the shilling is $3.99 and dT gives 50%-100% of that back to everyone in feee oils.
Hi there. I didn't mean that at all - I meant that to get the best pricing you had to do that. Does that help?
To get the best pricing you have to have a membership (like Costco) and buy 1 item a year. There are freebies for other promos.
I use a lot of Doterra oils. However, there are not all sensible oils there and your consideration of Doterra also often crops up with me and with aromatherapy teachers. But I live in Germany and an advantage of Doterra is that there is international sales. Therefore, I can not use your recommendation for the RM oils, even if I would like to do that because shipping to Germany does not exist. My question would be whether you can also recommend internationally operating companies, ie companies that also deliver to Germany? The other question would be whether there is something against mixing oils from different companies.
Hi there. Are you open to paying shipping to Germany? There is no issue w/ mixing oils from different companies. The only concern would be if there are additives in any one oil.
Also I hope to revisit this topic again soon so stay tuned!
Yes, I would then put together to make shipping expect, and it would be important that there are no customs problems either, because substances in Germany would not be allowed.
Hi there. I am thinking that since many essential oils are used in Germany that that shouldn't be a problem. What do you mean by "substances"?
Yes, I would be open for shipping. My concern would be more if there could be problems with the customs, because certain substances may not be imported in Germany. Does not really know that. Have you already shipped to Germany? Were there customs problems?
I see--sorry about the confusion. I don't think that customs should be an issue but there might be extra fees. Have you seen this post? Might help you choose a good oil company over there? https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/
Have you considered Florihana? What are you thoughts on this French Company?
Are you asking me or Angelika?
I'm not even sure where to leave this, but I'm so relieved to see that someone else notices Dr. P's horrible grammar and spelling errors. I actually reached out to him regarding a very important misspelled word and he still has not corrected the error. I'm sure I posted a graphic somewhere. 🙂 Also, did I just see where he signed on as some expert with Revive EOs? Haters gonna hate and you have stood your ground. Kudos to you.
Hi there - I did see that about Revive. I do hope to revisit this in the near future so please do stay tuned. You might want to subscribe to updates ;). https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/ Thanks for reading and commenting.
What kind of graphic do you mean?
Do you have any information on revive oils?
Hi there. I have heard some things and looked into them some. Not comfortable recommending them at this point. I am revisiting this topic, however. Stay tuned! Where have you been buying your oils until now?
My apologies for the late reply. I create graphics for some friend's businesses and also for myself. I'm an observer and when I see posts that make me SMH, sometimes I have to share. 🙂 I never admonish anyone or any company publically though.
Hello. I was wondering, did you research about if their farming techniques are environmentally sustainable? Meaning, they do no damage to the wildlife or forests of the areas at which the plants are grown?
Hi there. I was told that that was the case at the time that I started working with them but I can reach out again to see how that is now.
Of course this is a confusing thing as overharvesting can happen w/ wild crafted unless it's certified organic and if the organic cert is really what it is supposed to be, there shouldn't be overharvesting. But no certification is perfect!
I can't believe that was your takeaway of my post. The 'corporate feel' although an unfortunate change, is not the bigger issue, I was hoping you'd address RMOs change from blue to amber bottles, and most especially removing their entire organic/wild crafted line to conventional Those who are fairly new to RMO may not know that RMO used to use the superior but more expensive blue bottles before they switched to amber, and that historically their entire product line was organic or wild crafted, but customers saw no no cost benefit from those changes. Actually, prices went up. Then, about a year +/- ago RMO (re)introduces an 'organic line' of EOs, at a premium cost...ugh, it just feels underhanded, sneaky, and downright dirty. I think all that money is going to marketing and not the product. I say ditch the marketers, bring back the entire EO line as organic or wild crafted at a reasonable price. They've compromised too much, and lost my business as a result.
Hello again, Marla.
It sounds like you are frustrated with me. Sorry about that. I just replied to you and hope that you understand my response. You are welcome to show me information about why you think / where you heard that blue bottles are best. I have seen both blue and brown bottles with companies that are well respected in the industry. Thank you and hope that this helps :).
Hi again, Marla. I hope that you get this response. I did some more digging today and from this article it seems that amber is superior.
https://www.carowpackaging.com/blog/11-advanced-faqs-about-glass-bottles-for-essential-oils-with-answers
I can't speak to the information presented here but it's interesting nonetheless. Hope you stick around for more information :).