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.
Thank you for all of your hard work to figure out what you thought was best. I am curious if you have a go-to book you recommend for the use of essential oils? One that’s easy to navigate, written in terms that are easy to understand, and also a quick reference for ailments.
Hi and sorry for the delay. I need to do a post on this! Check my thieves giveaway and search Healing Intelligence on my blog for another one. I am working on a post. Thanks for the inspiration.
*Awesome website with amazingly helpful info!* I am doinjg research of my own because I wanted to start taking some oils internally and wanted the find the absolute best quality available… and stumbled upon your site.
I have been using essential oils (externally only) for the past year from a company called Butterfly Express. I believe that their oils are very high quality, but have not researched them as in depth as you have.
Maybe you would like to check them out?
Take Care, Meeya
I responded about BE several times in the comments. I guess I need to do a post about all the companies I checked. They were not very forthcoming on the phone and even got off w/ me b/c they thought they were spending too much time. There isn’t sourcing info on their oils nor enough organic certification (if any). I think that is enough reason to not purchase.
Which essential oild do you buy and use and recommend as the best?
Thanks,
Charlotte
Hi Charlotte, I mentioned Native American Nutritionals in this post. I hope that was clear :). Thanks!
I appreciate this series of articles you did and all the research. I am wondering, though, why there was not veyr much about Mountain Rose Herb ORganics . I like that company a lot and their oils are top quality. What did you think that the Native American company oils had over these? Just curious. Thanks.
MRH doesn’t recommend taking their oils internally. They said they weren’t produced in a food grade facility. Then someone else said there was another reason. Also I got no sourcing info. I think NAN has a lot over them in those regards. There is more I will be writing about NAN – thanks!
I’m doing some research on air purifiers (diffusers) preferably to purify the air of old smoke smells and also for sick germs. What are your recommendations?
Native American has 1-2 and the owner is very picky about what he offers regarding diffusers as well as oils.
Thank you so much for your dedication to your work. You’ve blessed many I am sure! I just read this wonderful 7 part blog on the best essential oil company and was so excited to click over to NAN…to make my own comparisons regarding price, mission and just the feel of things.
This morning, I was on the verge of ordering from Mountain Rose Herbs… now I don’t know… Bulk Apo seemed an option as well – I vaguely remember you saying positive things about them as well, earlier on.
Here is the thing…I am interested in buying in larger quantities and I see NAN’s largest is 15ml…and they also seem to not have base oils. Can you make another suggestion for an excellent oil company selling in bulk?
Again, thank you so much – running into your blog today was a blessing!
All the best,
Julette
Hi. Not sure what you mean by base oils. You can try contacting them and tell them I sent you. I do think you can get bigger quantities. Thanks and welcome!
Information overload! I appreciate your posts on essential oils but must admit I’m more confused than ever. I’m not familiar with essential oils at all and so want to be an educated consumer prior to investing. I recently was introduced to YL by a friend and went to two home parties where I was able to use various oils and took home a spray bottle of Thieves cleaner solution. I used up the bottle spraying, wiping down many surfaces. I LOVED! Now I read your articles not recommending YL and am a bit discouraged. I have a very limited income as a new single mother but want better for myself and children. What cleaner do you use in your household? Would you still recommend Thieves? You seemed to have a very positive initial experience with it; why the change? Does NAN sell a similar product as I did not see anything on their website. They are less expensive but w/o trying them as I did YL it’s hard to trust another’s opinion. Obviously the lower cost is appealing… HELP!
I do not recommend YL anymore. Sorry. I just posted this so you can make your own Thieves now if you like. NAN’s version is Spice Traders. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/homemade-anti-bacterial-thieves-essential-oil-blend/
Thank you for the research and pointing me to NAN. I have been looking for information on treating a dog with arthritis. I have oils from the YL and Doterra and I like them both. But, I haven’t been able to find great information on pets…I even went to a pet seminar from YL but the presenter was not knowledgeable. NAN got right back to me with options, ingestion safety, and articles with tips on how to treat my senior pet. Very impressed with their customer service.
Sorry I had one more question. I have enjoyed your series (better late than never!)…I am brand new to this. I love everything about the NAN group that I’ve seen, but the prices seem quite a bit higher than Mountain Rose Herbs. Do you know why that is? They are also organic, fair trade, work with farmers in other countries, use steam and 1st distillation, etc. I will definitely get the blends from NAN since they don’t have those, but I’m still leaning towards MRH to get the single oils. I know everyone has their preference to some degree, but does anything stand out to you as a reason I should be wary of using them? Thanks!
All I can say is I couldn’t get the sourcing info I needed from them, nor a good understanding of why they don’t recommend their oils be used internally. I got one answer and another reader got another one. Then today I got a message from a reader who ordered MRH to make my DIY Thieves® blend and they can’t use it b/c MRH says not to use it internally. I like MRH as a company but their spices aren’t as good as others I have bought. Hope that helps.
I have just started looking into essential oils. I came across your blog last night which was a huge help. I am completely overwhelmed on where to even start. I met a YL rep this weekend and was drawn to them initially because they offer classes in our area, but I like the idea of not having to join a MLM if going with a company like NAN. Does NAN publish videos or resources on what types of oils to use when, or do you have any recommendations. Our family has been struggling with colds for 3 weeks now so I would like to start on something asap. What would you recommend?
They have a book you can purchase. Of course, you could use any book and just use their oils instead. I take their Spice Traders when I have a cold. Or you can make your own: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/homemade-anti-bacterial-thieves-essential-oil-blend/