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.
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 Young Living and doTERRA. So I started contacting a bunch of other essential oils companies and asked a lot of questions.
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 him for a few hours, which turned into many hours after that, and I felt that he really knew his stuff.
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, and 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 (only because 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.)
Why I Chose Rocky Mountain Oils
Please note: since this series was written, Rocky Mountain Oils purchased Native American Nutritionals. Native American Nutritionals was the original company, then the two companies had a partnership. Then Rocky Mountain Oils (RMO) purchased NAN. I am even more confident in the quality of oils now that this all has taken place.
Here are some of the qualities that make Rocky Mountain Oils a solid place to buy your essential oils from.
1. Experience
The owner of Native American Nutritionals 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 felt they had to make some changes to put a higher 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
Rocky Mountain Oils offers Free Shipping domestically in the U.S. and reasonable shipping internationally, with free shipping over $199.
10. No Adulterating
Oils are not heated, mixed with anything else, or adulterated in any way.
Unless declared on the label, the oils are pure. The only things added would be a carrier oil to make the oil or blend easier to use right out of the bottle.
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 pure and not just a song and dance.
More Essential Oils Posts
Here are other posts that you might want to check out in this series on essential oils.
Hi, Adrienne-
Thank you for your investigative work! I am new to this whole world. I will just ask if you did any research on the organic Veriditas Botanicals…I came across them at the health food store.
Thank you!
No – sorry!
Oops here is the article:
https://roberttisserand.com/2010/04/therapeutic-grade-oils-read-all-about-it/
gas chromatography
Here is a quick definition of it.
https://www.aromaweb.com/articles/essentialoilqualitypurity06.asp
Before you respond I have a link to a wonderful article Robert Tisserand wrote about this. If you do not know who this is he wrote The Art of Aromatherapy and Co wrote Essential Oil Safety. Winner of the aromatherapy lifetime achievement awards from the Association of International Aromatherapists along with Shirley Price author of Aromatherapy for Health Professionals and many Aromatherapy Textbooks. Happy reading:)
I meant that I knew what it was but I didn’t know what you meant by getting the traces.
Can you give me GC traces on their oils?
Please explain :).
Thank you for all your hard work. I have been wanting to get away from MLMs, but didn’t know who else to order from.
Adrienne,
Thank you so much for your time and energy spent on this subject…LOTS of information here… I have read most of your posts through the subject. I have used a couple of EO companies..NOW brand for one…and I plan to NEVER use it again..it was definitely ‘cut’ with some kind of chemical.
I have been using YL essential oils and products for over 3 years now. You have done some research, but none of it has caused me to change my mind. I’m a YL oiler for life…unless something else happens to make me change my mind…and it hasn’t in 3 years. The first WEEK I began using the oils my husband’s ‘bum’ knee that he had been ‘nursing’ off and on for over a year, had collected fluid on it and almost made it impossible for him to walk. I used Valor, PanAway, Idaho Balsam Fir, and Peppermint on it. The fluid LEFT, the pain did, too, and he has not been bothered with it since…3 years this month.
I found out about a year later that if I will put 1 drop of Frankincense on the tip of my son’s big toe when he begins to have a seizure that it will STOP…NEVER had that happen before…I know you are searching for quality oils for lower prices, but stopping a seizure in my son is PRICELESS to me…I keep an extra bottle of Frankincense on hand…just for that reason.
I wonder, too, if you researched about Gary Young. I’m sure you were not able to speak with him as you were Mr. Dean. He is not that available.
Here’s something I read about Gary in the Essential Oils Desk Reference Manual. “When D. Gary Young brought back 13 essential oils from Europe in 1985, virtually no written information was available about their usage and application. He has spent decades conducting clinical research on the ability of essential oils to combat disease and improve health. He has also developed new methods of application from which thousands of people have benefitted. His work began a resurgence of healing modalities from out of the dust of history. He was ridiculed and laughed at for his ideas about therapeutic usage, even though the medical world was beginning to awaken in Europe. He has spent decades conducting clinical research on the ability of essential oils to combat disease and improve health.
Gary grew up learning to love and work the land as a farmer and rancher in Idaho, which made it easy for him to see the vision of developing his own farms. The vision soon became reality as he purchased his first farm in 1992. His passion for extracting God’s healing oils from Mother Nature’s bounty made him one of the world’s leading growers of aromatic herbs and plants for the distillation of essential oils.
Just this week I saw on FB a YL distributor who told about going to convention a few years ago and hearing Gary Young make a statement about ‘dusting off your Bible, and reading it and allowing God to guide your life’…she gave her life to God because of that statement. I’m sure if you had been allowed to speak with Gary, as you had Mr. Dean, that you would think differently about some things.
I see a LOT of different beliefs in the YL world, just as you are seeing different beliefs in your recommended oil company. I am just after the oils my family needs, not any religious beliefs.
I am so thankful that YL is a MLM company. I can make a living from my home…as you are trying to do…by telling and teaching folks about something I am very passionate about. I have found in my life time that MOST folks will find the money to get what they need. I am a distributor and am so thankful to be one. I am not forced to purchase anything, but if I want to receive a paycheck.. I DO have to purchase a minimum of 50 PV, which is $50…I use that much in oils easily. I wish I had the overstock you have… Our family has really been blessed to be able to conquer the ‘crud’ this past week by using those oils I was ‘forced’ to order.
I have more than one friend who has avoided hysterectomy by using oils that they purchased from YL. They were glad to pay the $35 for the price of that oil instead of the thousands of $$$$ they would have paid for the hysterectomy…one had no insurance at all.
I have a friend who has traveled to the Ecuador farm and spent time there. YL does allow their distributors to come and spend time on the farms to see what happens in their ‘seed to seal’ process. Gary Young is there and they also use his horses to work the farms when harvesting the plants and trees. I plan to go on one of those trips in the future myself.’
I was also blessed to attend a training to learn the Raindrop Technique, which is a great healing modality that Gary invented himself. Knowing this technique of applying the oils has helped out family and friends’ health on more than one occasion.
One more thing that I appreciate about YL is the fact that the kit I purchased gave me 11 different oils, a $40 coupon off a diffuser, 2 product samples of their nutritional drink Ningxia Red, and a lifetime wholesale membership that only required that I purchase the equivalent of $50 per YEAR. I also, if I chose to, could show my friend, who had a health issue, how ‘amazing’ these oils were. When she decided she needed those oils, and ordered them, YL would PAY me for telling her about them. I LOVE THAT…just like you are getting paid for doing your research and telling your folks about your chosen oil company. That is just how it works…and there is NOTHING wrong with that…when you do something…whatever you choose that you want to do…you SHOULD get paid for it… whether it’s blogging or ‘oiling’…so glad it is that way.
Sorry, I have rambled. I just took notes as I read posts…then just kinda posted from my notes. I do appreciate all the work you have put into this…and hope you do well with it. I have appreciate other posts and have used some of your recipes…thanks for everything….BUT I THINK I WILL STAY WITH YOUNG LIVING……
Sorry I missed this comment earlier and thanks for the reminder today. I think it’s great you are getting and have seen healing. Perhaps I would feel differently about YL if I talked with Mr. Young, but I can’t say. I can’t change what I wrote about YL and my concerns are still there but I am open to being shown differently. The hysterectomy story is compelling and I would love to know what oil/oils that was. I will say that I have heard similar things from doTERRA and Mr. Dean as well. I just ordered a blend to work on my far-sightedness. We’ll see…. Thanks for sharing. I am having a very rough time keeping up w/ everything here. Including rambunctious kiddos.
Adrienne, thank you so much for all the work you’ve done coming up with your number one choice for EO’s. I’ve been waaaaaaiting to make a purchase until I had your answer. Now I’m very disappointed, because I wanted to make a purchase tonight, and this company will not do. I am astonished that you as a strong Christian women don’t have the same concerns that several of your readers have mentioned.
I have read through the entire thread looking for the answer as to why I feel a strong check in my spirit about buying from this company. Several people commented because they have similar concerns, and you did not get to the heart of them and you did not give us a second choice. I wanted to see if I was wrong, so without telling my husband what I was looking for, I asked him to check that website and he said the same thing–we should stay clear. Just as I would not eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols (Acts 15:20) I am concerned about the possible repercussions of using products that are produced by people with New Age-style beliefs. I don’t want to open myself or my family up to possible demonic possession, to be blunt–and I’m trying very hard not to be offensive. I know that we buy things from many sources knowing not what their beliefs and practices are, so we are already potentially compromised–but these bits of information are listed on the NAN website, which means it’s important to them. There is a reason why they want people to know about the chakra, shaman, etc. Anyway, I just wish you’d let us know what the runner-up company was–’cause there are lots of us who highly value your opinion but cannot accept this choice.
Connie, I am taking my readers concerns seriously, but I didn’t have a “runner up”. I hope you can understand that this whole process has taken a really long time and in the meantime I had a bunch of other stuff come up that needs to be attended to. If I have time I will do some more digging into a few more oils companies and see what I can come up with. However, I will say that there were 2 other companies I was interested in and one of them has more obvious “red flags” than NAN. I have done a little looking into about 5 others and haven’t gotten very far.
One problem is that people who are interested in alternative healing (like essential oils), tend to be more open to alternative spiritual options, so this is very commonplace in the oils industry. I think the same is to be said about chiropractors, acupuncturists and the like. I was looking for a company that seemed to have high quality oils for an affordable price. I wasn’t trying to find a “Christian” company and believe me–many of the companies had strange spiritual qualities about their site. I hope you notice that Mr. Dean took down his 2 tabs linking to the Native American group off of his site and he took down the statement that his company gives 10% of profits to the group since he said it isn’t the case anymore.
I told him my readers were concerned about what they were reading and about the spiritual tone of some parts of the Nemenhah site and he said he had joined up with them for health freedom reasons only and felt that the Native Americans were not a group that pushes a doctrine but rather one that allows folks to believe what they want. At this point, I can only tell you what he said to me and let you know that I am trying to figure this out as time allows. I just can’t derail my family in order to spend tons of hours on it at this point and I do not want to recommend any other company right now b/c that would be disingenuous as well. I hope you can understand that. Thanks for reading and for commenting. I have a bunch of comments in my comment moderation screen that require more of a thoughtful response and I have been away from home and really tied up the past few days so I haven’t been able to get to them. Sorry for the wait and thanks for your patience. :).
Hi Connie. I am sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I have been just swamped and am trying not to spend my life on the computer. Anyway, I don’t know if you followed the other replies to commenters, but I have been on the phone w/ Mr. Dean a lot about this and he said that he joined w/ this group just for health freedom and that the Native Americans just don’t have a set doctrine – pretty much you just do what you believe and they are OK with that. He said a lot of NA’s are Christian now.
Anyway, a few readers forwarded things from the Nemenhah site that they weren’t happy about and I forwarded them to him. He was concerned that it appears the group has gotten more spiritual in some ways and he said he really hadn’t been on their site more than about 30 min in the past 2 years. I believe him b/c the other day he said he hadn’t even read my post about his company :).
He removed links to the Nemenhah site and is trying to figure out what to do now. He still believes in the health freedom aspect of the group but isn’t and hasn’t given money to them for a long time.
I hope that helps. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do and I appreciate your concern.
That all being said, I assure you that there are companies whom many Christian bloggers promote that I have more of an issue with. I just contacted a prominent Christian company (whom a LOT of Christian bloggers promote) recently that was promoting blatant lies on their site and they wouldn’t acknowledge it. They skirted the issue and gave me a complete non answer and still haven’t gotten back to me. I personally have a bigger problem with that than with a group of what I would consider to be folks who are misguided spiritually.
Great series, Adrienne! Thank you for being so thorough– I know you’ve been working on this for a *really* long time! I really appreciate all of the oils you have brought to light, and am so glad to hear about other oils out there– besides YL– you know my bias. 😉
I’m actually really excited to hear about comparable, or near comparable oil companies out there that have different price points. All of the things you said about NAN I know are also true of YL (organic, or organic equivalent, wildcrafting, sourcing plants from their indigenous regions, etc.)
In one of the earlier posts in this series, I seem to remember you stating that YL get’s their oils from farms in the US, but I know they are pretty clear about having farms on four different continents, and that many many of the oils they sell are harvested from farms or wildcrafted all around the world– not just here. For instance, Ledum is harvested in Canada, and Frankincense comes from Yemen (for the boswellia carterii.) YL is the ONLY western company with access to Omani frankincense; boswellia sacra or Sacred Frankincense. I don’t know if that comes through in the previous post’s presentation. 🙂 That’s my only (very very minor) criticism of an otherwise excellent series!
No one should be afraid of competition. Like you said in response to an earlier comment, (to paraphrase) not everyone can afford a Jaguar. What REALLY matters is that pure, safe, effective, and potent oils get into EVERY home, so that folks can experience true healing and health! I’m just thrilled to know that there are reputable companies out there who are doing it right. 🙂
Hi Dawn!
I just answered another reader today about YL’s sourcing. I said that “most” of their oils are from plants in the U.S. That’s correct, isn’t it? My understanding is that they have about 4 locations where they source oils from around the world and that the bulk is the U.S., or at least N.A. Maybe I am wrong about that.
I did hear that the Omani frankincense is special.
Interestingly enough, I just found out about 4 days ago that the company that I recommended is in the process of getting the Omani Frankincense as well and it should be available very soon.
You are completely right about competition. It is a good thing. I am not opposed to sharing other oils companies but I just don’t have the info to share and I am sure you can see that this has been taking a lot of time.
I am interested in what you are saying about YL. I had heard about their seed to seal info, etc. but I didn’t know about the other claims that you are mentioning. If that is true then that is a good thing for sure.
Thanks so much for chiming in. Glad to hear from you!
here’s the link to the YL product I mentioned-
https://www.youngliving.com/anti-aging-creams/Progessence-Plus
Adrienne,
So impressed with all the work you put into this. Now, go take a break and rest yourself from all of this!!!
I am totally onboard for ordering from NAN but my only hold out is YL Progessense Plus formula which NAN doesn’t have a similar product to. This is the only progest product that has made my menstrual cramps go away for good and that is huge considering I have tried so many natural formulas but nothing has made them disappear such as pro plus. What are your thoughts on this- would you feel safe taking a progesterone product put out my YL? So wanting to be able to keep taking it but don’t want to risk my health if it’s iffy.
Hi Maria! Thanks! Yes, there are a ton more comments flooding in and I just don’t have time for all of them. :). I’ll send you an email. I’m glad you found something that works!