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.
I am interested in your recommendation of Native American Nutritionals, but I am wondering why they appear to be the same product as Rocky Mountain Oils? The websites are nearly identical, why the two names? https://www.rockymountainoils.com/
They started out as 2 different companies. I believe I mentioned them merging in one of the posts. They have merged and bring different talents to the table. Thanks!
Hello obviously I’m a little late late t this but I was wondering if you have heard of NYR Organic? I have recently become an independent consultant with them the oils are of exceptional quality as well as the rest of the products. Take a look at my website if you are interested
I don’t remember if I addressed them but check this post and see if they measure up: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/toxic-overload-health-concerns/essential-oils-testing-is-it-reliable/
I stumbled upon your blog while researching essential oils. I also homeschool my 2 wonderful kiddos. My oldest has a multitude of diagnosis’ from doctors: ibs, fibro, chronic fatigue, abdominal migraines, asthma, allergies, add, anxiety, kallmann’s, (do I need to continue?!) and my youngest has adhd, autism, sensory processing disorder, apraxia, dyspraxia (again, do I need to continue?!) We have tried conventional medication, along with diet changes, to treat all these disorders but we haven’t gotten as healthy as I had hoped. That’s why I am looking into oils. Thank you for all your valuable information.
Thanks for commenting. Are you looking for direction for these situations?
“giggle” I am always looking for direction with these disorders. I looked through NANs site and decided I would go with them. They are more affordable and I like that there is no commitment. I decided I would get a book about using eo so that I don’t feel so lost. I need something that tell me, when you have this, use X amount of this oil or mix with this oil. With all her digestive issues, i would like to know what I can give orally. When you are starting out, is it better to try the blends or just the individual oils and make your own blend (i.e. tummy rub vs. lemon, peppermint, and lavender)? Really, really hoping this helps our health issues. I would like my 15 y.o. to be able to be active (or at least functioning). again, thanks for everything that you have done. I really wish I had time to read ALL the previous posts. I am sure they are a wealth of information.
I like using made up blends and making my own when I can. Either way is great I think. Thank you! did you find a book yet?
Hi, thank you for this series. I read 3 of the 7 parts, and I really appreciated your openness and the research you clearly worked hard on. I am a doTERRA Wellness Advocate, and I say this to let others know that it is possible to love doTERRA oils and also appreciate a good dialog regarding the helpfulness and healthiness of the various EO’s out there. Thank you for sharing your opinion and your story with us.
Thanks much – I appreciate that a great deal.
I love all the work you put into the research and would like to link back to your blog when I write my own post about starting essential oils as you were a huge help to me in knowing what to look for in companies. I am still new to the blogging world so what would be the best way to do this if it is ok with you that I do so?
You just type what you like and then link to my blog for more info. Does that help? Please do not copy a bunch from my site. A sentence or 2 is OK though – thanks!
Hello,
I “stumbled” on your site while researching the best essential oils. First of all, thank you so much for all your hours of research! I am a newbie to using essential oils and truly appreciate all the information you provided. Thank you again!!
You are so welcome! Hope to see you around again! More on oils coming down the road – you might want to subscribe :)!
Thank you for this series! It was very helpful. I was curious if you happened to come across anything about Selah Essential Oils during your research?
I am sorry but I didn’t. I would recommend reading this post and seeing if they measure up. I hope to write more. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/toxic-overload-health-concerns/essential-oils-testing-is-it-reliable/
Hi,
Great articles! I was wondering if you checked out Naturally Thinking from over seas? Shipping can be high but the fact that I can purchase in larger quantities for our extensive needs makes the shipping worth while. I have also used their oils internally with confidence.
What are your thoughts on this company?
Sincerely,
Jody
I am sorry but I didn’t check them out and am swamped. I would recommend reading this post and seeing if they measure up. I hope to write more. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/toxic-overload-health-concerns/essential-oils-testing-is-it-reliable/
Hello! I thought I would post this question here. I appreciate all of the information you presented. I am new to Essential Oils and I purchased YL to begin with without doing much research. I have loved many of the scents in the starter kit. After doing searches and finding your blog, I found NAN’s that are similar in comparison to YL’s blends that I think I would use most. I like the prices, ethics of the company, etc. I really wanted to try NAN’s Fortify and I wanted to get Cedarwood, so there was a sale and I purchased both from NAN. The shipping was very quick and SO cheap, I couldn’t be more pleased. However, both oils do not smell as “potent” as my YL oils do. I haven’t smelled a YL comparison of Fortify (don’t know if they have one) or Cedarwood, but the potency in SMELL of YL is significantly different than these two NAN’s I purchased. So my question is–does potency in smell of an essential oil have anything to do with it’s quality and effectiveness? I don’t want to base my decision on “YL smells better” because I really don’t like the costs or shipping. I would absolutely go with NAN without a doubt in my mind if they were equivalent or superior quality and effectiveness, regardless of smell/scent. But, I don’t know if these two oils I purchased are less potent in general? I don’t know if smell even matters 😉 (I really am a newbie!!!) I haven’t had a chance to compare Thieves to Immune Strength, for example (don’t want to purchase Immune Strength till I need it :). I would appreciate any input and thoughts. Thanks in advance!!!!
I’ll get back to you – thanks!
Thank you so much 🙂
Hi there. Here is the answer from the owner of NAN:
Thank you so much for even taking this to the experts! I figured as much, especially after looking up some comments on one of your other posts (I think the YL vs. DoTerra). Those comments seemed to be about Peppermint, mostly, though it sounded as though smell was not a factor in the potency/strength. I am a little frustrated with YL in that since their smell is so potent–it is misleading if you know what I mean. I also see how if all oils smell exactly the same it would be questionable regarding their purity, as how can oils always smell the same if they are not all from the same batch? I have been very happy with the reviews I see about NAN and I have now ordered 4 oils from them. I am most happy with the prices and the shipping is super fast to me (I don’t live far from them, I guess 🙂 Thanks, again, for your help and the wealth of information! I am looking forward to continuing my journey with EO’s!!!
I so hope you like them! Thanks for the kind comment!
Hello Again! In dialoge with others about EO’s and sourcing, I decided to also contact AC and MRH regarding where they purchase their oils from, do they know the farmers, distillers, etc. Both say that they do, they purchase directly from the farmers/distillers, NOT from a 3rd party. Is this different than what your concers are regarding “knowing the farmers directly?” I also asked about the purity of their oils and they said 100% pure, not adulterated. I guess I am wondering, are we being lied to? 🙂 I appreciate your input!!
I was pretty sure I read that AC works w/ an expert but I can’t find that now. MRH I have contacted again and asked some things. They said they are getting the oils direct but I didn’t ask all of the questions I would like to. I have a few bottles left and will check them out. I have a few AC as well, but I don’t think I have the same oils in NAN as in AC but I can look.
I really can’t do analysis of each company – it’s just taking way too much time. I would recommend that you look at this post and if you have questions that you ask them yourself. Additionally, the companies are changing all the time so I can’t keep on top of it. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/toxic-overload-health-concerns/essential-oils-testing-is-it-reliable/
I hope to write more when I can!
I hope that helps.
I just read your series on Essential Oils. Thanks for the information. I use a blend called ” Balance” from doTerra, the only one I have ordered so far, and like it very much. I was recently attracted to YL oils because it is supposed to be good for use with pets (particularly birds). Is the NAN line safe for diffusing around birds? Thanks so much.
This is the answer from the owner of Native American Nutritionals:
Thanks so much 🙂
I share your concerns as well and bought a book from Amazon titled “Aromatherapy for Parrots” by Angela Nelson. 🙂