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.
Thanks for the very thorough research on oils. I have been using YL’s oils for a while but knew there were other oils out there that had to be pure and not so expensive. I really like the YL frankincense but the price is SO high so I tried the NAN one. However the NAN one smells totally different than the YL’s It isn’t a pleasant smell to me at all. Any idea why the smell is so different? I have read that Frankincense has a smell of pine and lemon combined with a dry woody aroma. The YL one smells this way, more of a pine smell with lemon, but the NAN one to me doesn’t have that smell at all. maybe because it is wild grown?
Hi there. I talked w/ Native American about this and here is their response in my words (mainly just correcting typos and deleting extra verbage). I would love to hear what you think!:
Frankincense is basically a medicinal oil not a fragrance oil. So I wouldn’t stress much with how it smells. Frankincense is tree resin. (Tree sap). It’s not particularly known for a pleasant scent. It’s known for its healing power.
Young living’s frankincense tends to smells floral. I don’t know why it smells that way. But that’s how it’s always been. So it may not be the best one to compare others to since it’s unusual for frankincense to smell floral. Of course, that is an opinion and not a fact :).
Lastly, the age of the trees make a huge difference in smell. Our trees in the sacred frankincense are hundreds of years old. They are some of the oldest frankincense trees on earth. Produces deep, concentrated therapeutic benefits that can only be achieved through aged trees.
Not sure if you drink much, but whiskey and Scotch are the same drink. Whiskey is made in America and fermented in pine barrels. Scotch is made in Scotland and fermented in cedar barrels. The location of the barley and the location of the wood that goes into the barrel are the only differences between the two drinks otherwise the recipe to make them is the same. Yet these two differences make all the difference and create two completely different drinks. Essential oils are much the same way. The tiny nuances are extrapolated in the completed product. This is what I mean when I talk about the “art of the oil”. You can’t test it. But you can tell the difference. (At least I can…).
The last thing that makes this difficult is that we have three frankincenses. They all smell different. So it would matter which one the customer is talking about as well.
India will smell woody
Somalia will smell the most like what she is describing.
Sacred will smell like a dull mentholatum is I guess the best way i can describe it.
The other thing you can try is to not smell it out of the bottle. All of our oils might smell funny in the bottle because we have blue bottles and they are concentrated. Cobalt bottles put the oil molecules “to sleep” a bit. It slows down the reaction. Protects the “energy” as its often called. It has effects on the smell. Because the molecules slow down and don’t react to each other. This also minimizes the scent because the molecules are suspended. I wouldn’t go into this with her. This is actually one reason we are switching to brown bottles. Because it will react more similarly out of the bottle to what people expect.
So what you can do is put a drop on your skin and give it 30 seconds or so to react to the air. Then she can waft the scent over and smell it (not stick your nose down in it).
I (the employee) can smell our frankincense at work tomorrow when I get there and see what a fresh batch smells like currently. We just got a new sacred frank batch in a week or two ago but I’m not sure if that’s been bottled up and sent out yet or not. But I’ll smell what she has and see if anything smells off from what it usually smells like. I have some here at home but it’s been aged about 5 years so it’s more therapeutic but the scent will have dulled quite a bit. It won’t smell Like the stuff that goes out the door right now.
As always we will take it back she doesn’t feel comfortable with it. We have our guarantee.
Is funny. We get this kind of statement about lavender a lot (that it smells different from other companies’ lavender). People complain that it smells herb-y and not like a flower.
But lavender is an herb. It’s not actually a flower. So it would makes sense that it is herby? Well they are used to the flower scent from other places.
I wonder if she tries to just let out of the bottle if it will meet her expectations better. It gives the oil a Chance to breathe and seperate. It’s less concentrated then when you try to smell directly out of the bottle. With any oil it will always smell better when you let it out of the bottle. It gives a chance for the oil to react and create a scent.
I encourage her to try it and see how it works. I’m not one for the scent of frankincense. I’ve never just sat and smelled it. I whip out and use it when I need it. It’s one of the oils with the greatest healing power (next to helichrysum). There are tests going on right now to test it at fighting cancer. Really curious to see how it goes.
Another very good supplier is (Link deleted by Whole New Mom due to it not working anymore)
Excellent quality and very serious company.
Adrienne, as always, you have done a fantastic job following your conscience and sharing your rich research skills with us! A couple of months ago I bought into Young Living – mainly because I didn’t know what my other options were and I knew after sampling that their product far exceeded the quality of store bought EOs. However, after being hounded by the YL consultant who signed me up and hit with high prices and some oils that just didn’t quite seem right I was questioning the company. I’m sure their product is a much higher quality than many out there, but I am now excited to give NAN a try, especially after seeing that their prices are much more reasonable and that they have received your endorsement. Thank you so very much!
You are so welcome – thanks for the oh so kind words!!!
First of all, a HUGE “thank you” to you for your time and energy spent researching all this stuff. EOs are such a buzz word/item now, and most of it is coming from the MLM people because a.) it works, and b.) why not make money off of it? LOL Anyway, I was introduced to it by my friend (because I, too, was a skeptic) and now I think it’s terrific, but had so many questions like, “How come I can get a bottle of NOW’s lavender for $7 that is twice the size of YL’s that is $31?” Your findings helped explain a great deal to me! I was about to start doing some of my own baseline research and stumbled across your blog. BAM! It was a little goldmine 🙂
However, I do have a couple more questions…I read that you can’t comment on oils anymore, but you gave some things to look for and then said that was why you decided not to go with them. Can you do that for the NOW brand? I read in your blog (and someone else’s) that NOW is good for cleaning so does that mean it’s a lower quality? I gather that it’s still “good,” but not top quality from that. Thanks for all your information!
Hi there. Could you clarify what you would like to know about NOW brand please? Thanks and you are welcome!
Of course 🙂 Basically, I was wondering why you said they are good for cleaning? On their bottle it says 100% pure, as do the other brands. However, they are significantly cheaper than all the others. I bought some before Christmas to use in my homemade sugar scrubs and oatmeal soaks I gave as presents. For that purpose it worked extremely well. I am new (but a fast learner) to the world of EO. I know that the higher quality is better for healing purposes. I am assuming that NOW brand is not as good of a quality if they are cheaper and you would use them for cleaning. How can you tell that they are not as high of a quality? Thanks again for helping to understand this new and big world!
Hi there. It’s all hard, right? The companies say that they are all high quality (who’s going to say they sell junk, right?) I don’t know what any company is doing for sure, but I know that often you get what you pay for and when the owner of Native American tells me that a company is selling oils for less than he can buy them for I wonder.
So I can’t talk about which company that is and all b/c that could change but I can say that I am not going to mess around w/ my family’s health. I don’t drink the oils so I don’t use them up that fast now that I left the MLMs. I think our oils budget is pretty modest and I am happy with how they work for me.
Maybe this post would help:https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/essential-oils/
and this guide.https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
Let me know if you need more info.
Hi
Thank you for your article.
I have a question about “Now”oils.
I am overseas and so many things are not available here.
NOW I can order online.
Sure – what is your question?
I have been looking for a good quality EO to use for homemade body products. So this was very helpful even though you have a vested interest in the company. I need to know that I can use the EO in toothpaste as that is about as internal I will probably go.
Thanks for your dilligence!
Hi Elizabeth. I don’t know if you were asking whether or not you can use this in toothpaste, but if so then you absolutely can :)! You are so welcome!
Hi, Adrienne. From one autism and whole-living mom to another, an extra big thank you for all your energy and effort here on this series. I found you through a Google search. I became a whole living advocate in 1987 when I was diagnosed with CFS, which with the aide of wholistic doctors in Atlanta, I overcame in a year. It took getting really sick to start me on a course that changed every aspect of my life and has served me well the nearly 30 years since.
Seven years into this journey, in 1993, I became pregnant with my only child and began using essential oils as many of the herbs I was using were not safe for pregnancy. So, I am a bit amused by the hoopla over something that has been around since the middle ages. That said, if it leads people into taking care of their health, doing so naturally, and hopefully leading them on to a wide spectrum on wholistic food and lifestyle choices, then, that’s great.
So, yeah, I’d heard quite the buzz about both these companies and quiet conversations with a few trusted friends were leading me to YL vs DT. I was impressed with the quality of YL and love Thieves. I decided to just learn a little more about DT and my first impressions were that something is off. Taste. Smell. Company origins, etc. Which is a little scary when you think about so many people coming to the fold with maybe not all of the needed information. You see that a lot in the world of food, right?
Did, in any of your research you look into the grandmother/father of essential oils, Tisserand? I cannot remember where I got my one bottle of Tisserand peppermint but it was superior. I also remember in my early education on EO’s that indigenous made a more powerful product. I will check out Native American. Bless you for having to wade through character attacks.
HI Leisa – nice to meet you!
I did hear about Tisserand. I think he is clearly very very smart but I think his school of thinking about oils is the school that advocates no internal use which I do not think is necessary.
Indigenous makes sense, doesn’t it?
Thanks for your kind words. It wasn’t fun – I just got more this week- someone called me some pretty horrid names. Sigh. She then signed it {her name} PhD from uni of Sydney.
I guess it comes with the territory. If you try NAN’s oils I would love to know what you think. I love their peppermint. They let it sit for a year to eliminate the herby smell.
Adrienne,
I am a Mom of 2, a massage therapist, an EO lover and a recent DoTERRA rep. I am disheartened by the comments regarding DT. It is disappointing that the DT review seems largely based upon personal interactions and less the efficacy and testimonials of the product. The DT review seemed to be objective initially, and i cannot say I blame you for the way the review presented to the reader. My comments are an attempt to reconcile the relationship somewhat, as many people read your blog To have an entire company represented by 1 gentleman (who is not am employee of DT from any public info) and not the products themselves is sad. I am sure the owner of the company you endorse is knowledgable and kind, and I know his products to be quality. However it does present as a large portion of why they received endorsement as “the best” is the time he took to speak with you. I certainly wish the interaction went better with DT, as this bit of PR is tough to fix.
I became an advocate after using the oils so successfully in my home, treating and preventing ailments from bug bites to gout. I have used many other brands, including the brand you endorse. I chose DT because of the quality. The price point is similar to other companies for the quality, however MLM’s allow for rep and frequent buyer discounts where other business models do not. I receive 25% discount and shipping points toward free oil. I agree with you, shipping cost seems high, however DT offers a $1 for 1 point toward product. This essentially makes shipping a barter deal:) Also, I only use EO from DT, and spend $50-$150 monthly, as EO have replaced many products from the grocery store. It is never “wayyyyyyyy too much oils” as you stated earlier. I infuse oils into most daily activities in our home and lifestyle, from deodorizing hockey bags to preventing lice and the common cold. This post seems too long already, however as I said I am hoping to represent a great company better than parts of this series did.
Thank you for your efforts:)
Hi Angela.
Well, I can see what you are coming from. I personally had an issue w/ doTERRA b/c of the lack of a consistent answer on the oils. I know that mistakes can happen but I need to have real answers for my questions and it became quite difficult to get that. I even had my upline working on it too and I just couldn’t get what I needed.
It wasn’t all b/c of Mr. Pappas, for sure. At the time I was a rep DT didn’t have a credit for the shipping so that is a new thing.
I will say that I in no way come anywhere close to using $50 – $150 per month on oils. I don’t mean this to say you are overdoing it by any means, but that is kind of what I was addressing. When I got the order monthly to get my freebies I was using more and more oils b/c they were there and I wasn’t being a conservative consumer. Now I am. I really think I haven’t ordered oils for about 6 mos or more and am about to order more.
I did, have way too many oils. I could show you my receipts for selling them using paypal. There were a lot. But I guess different people are different.
Your post is not too long – I love the interaction :).
Thanks so much and I think you represented yourself very well and I appreciate your taking the time to do so. Really. Hope to see you around again!
Adrienne,
I liked your blog before commenting above. After reading your speedy response I like your blog even more and respect you a ton. I have every intention of researching further. Let’s agree to disagree on the best oils, for now anyway:)
Happy Blogging!
You are just too kind – I had a crazy day so the smile you gave me is all the more appreciated :)!! Blessings…..
Adrienne,
This link from Tisserand helped me a bit. I know you moderate the discussions, so this is more for you than for the public blog! I found it to be a good explanation of complete vs 1,2,3 distillation. It seems as if all exist on some level. Maybe the problem lies in customer service training:)
https://roberttisserand.com/2014/01/re-distilled-essential-oils/
Sorry for not approving this earlier–it got lost in the pile! Thanks for sharing this. It doesn’t apply to 1, 2, and 3 and complete necessarily but it’s helpful – thanks!
Hello, I love your information, very refreshing., thank you. I have been interested in alternative health care for a number of years and always wanted to know about EO’s. I did get started using YL oils and they greatly helped me. I have not pushed YL, but people I work with have noticed my better movement and asked what I was doing that had helped, so I did tell them.. I feel nervous about really pushing YL as you read so much info good and bad about dif. companies and I don’t want anyone to get hurt by using oils. I do believe in the oils!! I will be looking into Native American also. Once again Thank you so much for the information!!
Thanks to you too, Judy! I am so glad you are doing better!!
Thank you for sharing your diligent research with us! You remind me so much of myself that I know I can trust your assessment. I’m new to your blog but am looking forward to your future posts.
Thanks so much and welcome :)!