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 came across your blog and appreciate your frankness. Even though I faithfully purchase YL, I like to always try new things and so have ordered my two favorite oils that keep me healthy, to see if there is a difference.
I, like you, have tried several essential oils, but have not heard of the company you are speaking of and look forward to seeing if the quality is up to my standards. I have Lupus and my body will know right away if something is of poor quality, or not of true purity. I get sick if it isn’t a truly effective product.
I do have one question to ask though, in your one paragraph that reads – “With doTERRA and Young Living, for example: – the On Guard toothpaste has titanium dioxide in it (a heavy metal which I would prefer to avoid due to heavy metal toxicity),” You only speak of On Guard, but included YL in the name. I know for a fact that YL does NOT have titanium dioxide in it, so was this a type-o on your part?
Thank you again for the directness of your blog and I look forward to trying these new oils when they arrive!
Hi there. I really appreciate your kindness. Regarding your question – I reworded the post to make it more clear. It looks like something goofy happened in the dashboard of the post and made the spacing off. I hope it reads better for you now and hope they work well for you!
I have a friend who is in complete remission from lupus mainly going organic, dairy free, gluten free and sugar free. Have you done that? I am considering the AIP diet for myself too – which might be a good idea since lupus is autoimmune. Take care!
Thanks for all your research!! I’m not into internal use of EO’s either and was curious about your thoughts on the safety of using EO’s (clove in particular) for a mouth rinse? I’ve talked to several people who say that just clove oil and water used as a mouthwash has really improved their dental health.
I can’t give medical advice, but I know that mainstream dentists and endodontists use clove oil in some patients for pain relief and I personally did it myself. I added it to coconut oil for oil pulling and loved it. I hope that helps :).
I loved reading up and all the research you put behind it.. I see that you are now a rep for NAN (hoping that really did happen after you started the research)
– do there happen to be any current coupon codes when ordering? I’d like to try a few; my gf has been diagnosed with lupus and I would like to help aid in some nausea and other side effects.
As well there are quite a few others I’d like to pick up, but the total is sort of hefty with shipping and such added as well.
anything you may be able to help with would be greatly appreciated thanks!
Cancerstheproof@aol.com
Hi there. Thanks! I was out of town this weekend at a fabulous mastermind and wasn’t on the computer much so sorry for the delay. I talked w/ NAN for a long time as I was trying to make up my mind about which company to go with and after I finally decided I asked if there was a way that we could work together (or it was just before I made up my mind) and they figured out a way to make it happen. It was still a very hard decision since doTERRA was offering me the tempting quotes of $8000 per month earnings that other folks with high profiles were making.
There aren’t any coupon codes right now except for savings on two unusual orders. I typically mention them when there are sales so if you stay on my FB page and / or subscribe to my blog you can find out. I am sorry about your girlfriend. Have you considered the autoimmune paleo diet for her? This cookbook is quite good and I am considering the diet for myself in the very near future. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0578135213/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0578135213&linkCode=as2&tag=whnemo-20&linkId=PKQYMHP7JAOXTSUQ (this is an affiliate link). Take care and I hope you like them!
I am fairly new to the essential oils world and have read many, many blogs and alot of articles to see what I think the best EO company is in quality, integrity, etc. and looking into NAN, I found something.
NAN says they offer Boswellia sacra species in their Frankincense which is grown in Oman.
But according to Oman, they say Young Living is the only company that has legal permission to export Boswellia sacra outside of Oman. So, do they really do have it in their product? If so, how are they getting it out of Oman? Or is this information incorrect?
Hi there. Here is the information that I got regarding the Native American frankincense. I hope this helps :).
Did you check Dr. Adorable? Seems very inexpensive but have not been able to find out about them.
So sorry but I can’t comment on other companies but you could read this post and determine if they measure up. Hope this helps! https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/toxic-overload-health-concerns/essential-oils-testing-is-it-reliable/
I just wanted to thank you so much for this series. I too love to research whatever it is that I am planning to invest my family’s money into weather it is a car, electronic, food, or medication. I found this series to be informative and it really gave me a lot of different questions to look into…thanks so much for taking the time to write this!
Thank you! I have a new oils guide for subscribers. Go check out the subscribe link in the upper right hand of my blog :).
Nightmare-countless hours I’ve spent can’t imagine your hours-all for the good. Thank you for your labor and precious time spent. I had in the past piddled with a couple of oils-without understanding or knowledge of proper uses of them. Recently I was introduced to YL and put the awesome kit to use-with no regrets because each step is a learning tool and to gain wisdom and knowledge to benefit from it all-I love proof in the pudding, so to speak. Personal testimonies so far have been several, but lingering in the back of my mind I still was questioning-BEST OF ALL EO’s myself. I truly want whats best for my family and friends. I do have great respect for research and honest facts when given on such products as EO’s for example. This has definitely put my feet in a whoah girl slow it on down mode and I will look up Native American and Rocky Mountain. Thank you ,thank you,thank you you were right on time with your blog, all 7 as I read today help answer a host of my questions. Your awesome and need to be commended for all your labor and hard work and sacrificed time, words cannot express how thankful I am. G-d bless you and just know that with G-d at the frontline of everything we do-we cannot fail. I have always loved G-d’s words to us” I will supply all your needs “and as I was awakened to EO’s I said aren’t you something, again G-d-you supplied us with living plants and a way for us to use what you’ve given us and people using there gifts and talents -G-d is so good and faithful.
Hi there and thank you! Sorry for the delay in replying – I was away this week and just got back in town. I hope you enjoy the oils and hope to see you again. I have a new oils guide for new subscribers that I think you will enjoy :)!
Hi I am so surprised by your blog! I am excited to find someone who wants the truth! Very refreshing. I am going to tell you this because it just makes me smile. I use oils to heal emotional hurts and traumas. It is amazing for so much more then health of the body. As I prayed about which oils are the best and would help people the most, I basically came to the same company, just so crazy:} One day do this with other new companies coming out there are many more now and there is a new one that has really peeked my curiosity it is called Ameo. You don’t need to post my comment I just wanted to kinda high five you for a job well done:}
I have heard of them – reps are contacting me already. I really can’t comment on other companies, however, but you can check this post to see what you think and I just brought out a new eo guide that you will get if you subscribe to my blog – thanks! https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/toxic-overload-health-concerns/essential-oils-testing-is-it-reliable/
Thank you for all your hard work. After reading this series, I re-evaluated my decision to use Young Living oils. I was uncomfortable with some of the cult-like aspects of the MLM, so I have left YL and will instead go with NAN. Blessings to you!
Thanks for your kind words. Blessings to you as well!
thank you for all of this valuable research!
You are so welcome!