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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.

Where to Buy Essential Oils you can trust

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.

Confused about essential oils? What this blogger found out will surprise you. She tried to find out which essential oils company is best and found out some VERY interesting things about oils and the companies that sell them, including Young Living and doTERRA.Pin

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.

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6,991 Comments

  1. Just a note of thank for taking time to write this series. I know that you can’t make another person’s decision about EO’s, but your discussion helped me a lot. I read the 7 posts this morning and was able to go forward with my choice & feel like I have some good companies to choose from. Thank you! I am a homeschooling mom of 4 in elementary and wanted to come to a choice quickly. You know! You saved me so much headache. Sorry for the parts of the experience that were a headache for you! Blessings!

    Reply

  2. Thank you so much for this lengthy review series! I just signed on and ordered a Doterra starter kit today and am going to call and cancel tomorrow morning. After ordering I was just not feeling super great about it because 1) its a lot of $ and 2) I REALLY DISLIKE all the drama of YL vs DT and its this drama that has put me off EO’s for so long. While I’m sure both companies are helping many people I want to avoid drama and just get really good oils for my family and I don’t care about making $ doing it. I will defiantly be looking more into Native American Naturals and hope I can get all my $ back from doterra. Thank you again!

    Reply

  3. Are Native American Nutritionals and Rocky Mountain Essentials the same company? There are so many similarities in their website/products/pricing??

    Reply

    1. Hi there. I’m sorry but I just can’t comment on oil companies now – but you can read this post to see if they measure up https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/toxic-overload-health-concerns/essential-oils-testing-is-it-reliable/

      and I just came out w/ this guide to purchasing EOs that you might find interesting: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/

      Hope that helps :).

      I do see that Plant Therapy still is carrying the lavender 40/42 which I (and many others) consider to be an adulterated oil. So that is one reason why I did not choose them.

      Reply

  5. You had me until I read you use the EWG as a guide. Their research and guidelines are financially driven and they do not use actual research to back up their claims. While I realize that you are a blogger and not an expert, you’ve taken it upon yourself to ‘recommend’ many things as if you are. Using EWG as a fusilier shows me that you don’t so as much research as you believe.

    Reply

    1. Hi there. I too have concerns about EWG and have noted that in my posts at times, I believe. I did go back just now and insert that in the post you commented on. I think they are a fairly good indicator of concerns, however, or at least a good jumping off point. I am not sure what you mean about “recommend[ing] many things as if [I]” am an expert. I think I have gone to great lengths to state where I got my information, whether it was from another source, or if it’s just opinion, but if you think there is some particular way that I have set myself up as an expert, please let me know.

      As for EWG not basing their information on research, while I do not agree w/ all of their conclusions, here is an excerpt from their site:

      EWG’s ratings are based on data suggesting that certain ingredients are hazardous. But we add a significant caveat: in most cases it is impossible to predict whether a particular product poses a health hazard. Actual health risks, if any, will vary based on how much exposure each person has to a toxic ingredient, as well as that person’s age, health status, genes and other factors.

      and here is a link to their page on phenoxyethanol. There are a lot of sources listed here, so I am confused as to how you can say that they do not use actual research to back up their claims. I hope you can clarify your comment. Thank you. https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/704811/PHENOXYETHANOL/

      Reply

  6. I stumbled upon this article today (Link deleted by Whole New Mom due to it not working anymore)
    It concerns me that NAN does not address the danger of diffusing Respiratory Ease, Immunity, Rosemary or Eucalyptus around children. Of course that is what I ordered and have been diffusing for weeks around my child under 10. It all this info/mis info that makes me feel like I am going crazy. At the moment I am feeling like I have wasted another small fortune on stuff I cannot safely use. I was wondering if you saw this article and what your thoughts were.

    Reply

    1. Sorry for responding to this late. Your comment got lost under a pile here. Here is the response from the company, put in my words. Know that this is since RMO bought NAN.

      Safety is extremely important to them and that under their safety tab on specific product pages, they do list that these single oils and blends should not be used with children under 10 years. If this customer has been diffusing these oils in a well ventilated area of the home and has avoided topical application, the child should be just fine as long as there has not been adverse reactions. Just discontinue use around them or keep them away from the direct mist. If there are further concerns, consulting with an Aromatherapist or health professional is suggested. Here is the safety information that can also be found in their Kids Safety section and their RMO Blog.

      https://www.rockymountainoils.com/learn/essential-oils-children/ https://www.rockymountainoils.com/kids-dilution/

      Hope that helps!

      Reply

  7. Hello, I’m new here, and fairly new to EOs. I’ve been trying to wade through previous posts in earlier parts, but decided to cut to the chase here for your verdict. Do you know anything about the: https://www.apothecary-shoppe.com/ which is linked to the college https://www.achs.edu/ in Portland, Oregon. They have a large selection of EOs. I’m hoping a college that teaches aromatherapy and many other alternative health courses would have excellent oils. Thank you for all the work you’ve put in, sure saves us a Lot of time.
    Brenda C

    Reply

    1. Hi there. I am so sorry, first of all, for getting back to you so late. I was so inundated and am trying to catch up now. I can’t really speak to other companies b/c the industry is changing all the time and I even got a cryptic threatening email about negative comments on my blog about another company. This post https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/toxic-overload-health-concerns/essential-oils-testing-is-it-reliable/

      or this resource https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/ might be of help. Thanks and hope that’s of some help.

      Reply

  8. I’m late to the party! 😉 I just wanted to thank you for your work on these posts. I am new to essential oils and trying to figure out the best place to get them from. I currently have eos from three different companies and was looking at still more companies. I am bookmarking this post so I can use your link to order from NAN when I am ready to order more oils.

    Reply

  9. One of the reasons I like doTERRA is that when I do purchase product, I get points back to use towards purchasing product for free. I have been in 2 years, and I get 30% back in points when I purchase over $50. These points allow me obtain the more expensive oils without breaking the bank.

    Reply

    1. I know the point system is attractive but I ended up buying too many oils as a result and some of my points expired. I also like Native American as their oils are often cheaper than doTERRA even though Native American’s are organically grown whereas I don’t believe that doTERRA has any such claim. In the case of an oil like ylang ylang the price difference is huge plus there is no need to purchase a certain amount. Do they take out anything for you to redeem your points? I don’t remember that point and perhaps it has changed.

      Reply

  10. Adrienne…Thank you for the time and research you have done. I’m not interested in MLM companies, but quality products, that work into my tight budget. I have just recently been made aware of the benefits of Essential Oils and in a way, feel I may have cheated myself of years of goodness. I am suffering from sleep deprivation now and my hair is falling out.from stress… I am hoping. to make this better with the use of the oils. The Complete Book of Essentials and Aromatherapy was highly recommended in a video I watched on YouTube, regarding Essential Oils. Thanks again and God Bless : ). .

    Reply