What Makes a Good Essential Oils Company
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This path of figuring out which is the best essential oils company has been hard work.
When I started out trying Young Living's Thieves blend, I had NO idea that I would be digging this heavily into a bunch of oils companies to find out which brand gave my family the biggest bang for the buck.
There's been a lot of info to sort through, and life has been little [a lot] crazy over the past 6 months.)
Read on to see what I've been learning.
First of all, if you missed my earlier posting on essential oils, you might want to revisit:
– A Skeptic Looks at Essential Oils
– Are Essential Oils a Scam? – Peppermint, Wintergreen, and More
– Which Essential Oils Company is Best – Part One
A lot has happened since those posts.
I had questions and more questions to ask and I think I probably almost drove a few oil company folks crazy in the process. But I feel pretty good about what I am going to share with you now.
But before I tell you which company I am going to be recommending, let me fill you in on how I got there and give you more information on essential oils in general.
Finding the Best Essential Oils Company
In trying to sort out which company I wanted to recommend to you (and where I wanted to buy my oils from), I did the following:
– contacted a bunch of companies
– looked at tons of websites
– talked on the phone with employees and owners of essential oils companies
– thought agonized a lot
– thought some more
– spent a bunch of money on oils (and I do mean a bunch)
I really took this very seriously. I wanted to provide my family and my readers with the best essential oils company for the money.
Now of course, I can be wrong–and I do think that there is more than one good oil company out there.
But I am as sure as I can be right now that I have found a good one to recommend to you all.
What Makes a Quality Essential Oils Company
1. The Essential Oils Company Should Sell Quality Oils
The oils need to be as high quality as possible without being astronomical in price. They should be:
– extracted properly (under low temperature and low pressure)
– produced from plants grown in their indigenous locations (where they grow naturally)
– made from wild-crafted (indigenously grown and/or not removed entirely when harvested) and/or organic plants if at all possible
I have concerns along these lines about some of the companies that I looked into. For example, Young Living is a very popular essential oils company. In fact, if you recall from my post on A Skeptic Looks at Thieves Oil, and my post on Peppermint, Wintergreen, and More, you will see that I was at first very pleased with their oils.
However, I am concerned that many of Young Living's oils are sourced in the U.S. That is great from the standpoint of keeping shipping costs to the U.S. low, but many of the plants from which their oils are derived are not indigenous to the U.S. and so I think that is one thing to consider.
But let's see what else our “search for the best essential oils company turns up.” One company might not have everything we want…….
2. The Essential Oils Should Be Pure
The oils must not have anything added to them, nor have anything taken out that should be “left in”
Apparently, it is commonplace for oils “experts” or oil companies to add things to essential oils in order to make them “go farther” and thus be cheaper to produce. The companies can either make more profit by selling an inferior product at a high price, or they can offer an inferior product and an apparently “great price.”
I heard and read a lot about oil companies “monkeying around” with their oils in order to make them:
– smell better (By distilling oils longer or heating them, the “herby” smell of some oils is changed to make them more palatable.)
– pass quality and purity tests (Some “oil experts” are apparently smart enough to know what the tests are looking for, so they add things to the oils or alter them in other ways to make them “pass” the tests. This is the case with oregano oil. Some companies will adulterate their oregano oil to have carvacrol levels come to where they want them to be.)
– more profitable by adding fillers like propylene glycol and others
Additionally, oils should, when possible, be extracted with steam only–not with chemical solvents. Who wants more chemical “nasties” on or in their bodies? Not me.
Basically, the essential oils I want to use should be only pure essential oils.
Nothing added. Nothing taken away.
You can read more about the adulteration of essential oils here.
3. The Essential Oils Should Be Sold at an Affordable Price
The oils should be within the reach of most consumers' budgets.
Of course, as with everything, there are varying degrees of quality. The company that I have chosen has very high quality. However, even that company's owner admits that there are comparable, even higher quality oils available, but the prices of these oils are so exorbitant as to make them unaffordable to most people.
4. The Oils Should Be Effective
The oils must work.
Of course, we want oils to do something, and not just smell nice. I can use plain vanilla extract behind my ears for that :-).
Now, this is something that perhaps needs qualification. Of course, when talking about essential oils being effective, there are a lot of things that can go into that–the individual's condition, how the oil is applied, etc., whereas the other means of evaluating an oil (outside of the organoleptic [smell] testing) are more objective.
It's important to note that if an essential oils works, that doesn't mean it's pure. Also, if an essential oil doesn't work, that doesn't mean that it's impure or inferior.
5. The Company Should Provide Education
Ideally, the oils company will offer opportunities to learn how to properly use oils to provide healthy options for the treatment of medical and emotional issues.
Of course, there is a huge amount of such information on the internet and in books like the following.
How's that for a lot of information to chew on? See why this has been tough?
Well, hang in there with me. I'll be back real soon with more information.
The Essential Oil Company I Recommend
If you'd like to find out which essential oil company I went with at the end of this long search, read Announcing “the Best” Essential Oils Company – Part 7 .
You can also read the other parts of the series here:
For more in the series:
– Which Essential Oils Company is Best?
– 14 Ways to Spot Fake Essential Oils
– Young Living vs. doTERRA
– Are MLM Oils Worth It?
– Distillation, Bias, Vomit and Personal Attacks
A Great Essential Oils Book
If you're looking to learn more about essential oils, the following book is a great one to add to your library.
Aromatherapy: A Complete Guide to the Healing Art
This book is a complete resource for everyone from students to practitioners. It has more than 90 formulas and covers cosmetics, perfumes, and therapeutic uses.
The authors have a combined 75 years of experience that will help you bring the power of plants to your everyday life in the areas of beauty, healthy, and overall wellness.
Get My Free Essential Oils Report and VIP Newsletter Access
Also, if you go and grab my Free Report on 10 Things to Know About Essential Oils Before You Buy, you will not only get more myth-busting essential oils information, but you'll get access to my VIP newsletter as well–complete with updates, great healthy living offers, of course new posts on essential oils, and more.
What do you think?
Anything you would add to this list?
My comment i made earlier this morning is still awaiting moderation, just wondering how long it normally takes since i saw a couple response from afterwards! Thanks, feel free to send me an email!
Sorry, Matthew. Some comments are easier for me to respond to than others and I had a rough day. I have some from months ago, honestly :-). I have had a few curve balls thrown at me this week both related to the oils issue (wanting to do a little more research) and unrelated and so in the interest of not getting too stressed out and totally ignoring my family I may need a little more time – maybe part 2 by this coming week.
Great info! I’ve been using Frontier herbs organic products, Aura Cacia…and I love them. I started a buying club to make it more affordable 🙂
Haha…this was great! Isn’t it uncanny how so many people have done research and are confused about what to do with EO?? I am certainly one of them. Adrienne, you are led by the Spirit for sure! We are all waiting with “bated breath”
Well…I sure hope so. This is a mess and getting messier in a way. All of you – my life is nuts so if I don’t get this done by tomorrow I am sorry. My health and family have to come first :).
I don’t see any mention of Edens Garden. I bought some essential oil from them. Had a question for customer service & they were very prompt in replying back regarding a question I had. I am no expert in the quality or authencity of EO so I am not sure how the product is? If anybody has bought EOs from Edens Garden please post your experience or what do you think about the EO they sell, is it good or average?
I did look into them. I don’t know that I’ll be able to post everything about every company – and now I am seeing that this might indeed take beyond tomorrow or Friday as more things come up….we’ll see. But they were in the mix for sure.
Adrienne, I just came across your website, well enough time ago to read this post, the first post and all of the comments on both posts this morning and I’m impressed with the amount of responses and work done! It’s really awesome!
I highly suggest you add one more company to look into before making your decision!
Nature’s Fusions Essential Oils – https://www.naturesfusions.com
email is support@naturesfusions.com
phone is 1-801-376-5799 – David Peterson (Co-owner & Founder)
I have spoken with the owner many times, he is often in meetings or working with someone else with Essential Oils, but he will always respond the same or next day by phone. Emails usually in a day or two, but phone is best for information.
Their website is fully usable, but under renovation right now with their relabeling of bottles – you can still go to it though, and buy from it or from the stores they sell in, but that’s why you wont see images of the bottles or some other things until it’s added again- this is what I was told.
I have used essential oils for years, and now solely use from this company. I have used and researched lots of oils from YL, DoTERRA, Mountain Rose, Aura Cacia, Be Young, Ananda, and many many more.
Nature’s Fusions sells online and in Health Food/Organic Food Stores in Utah – Good Earth Natural Foods, Beehive Health Essentials, Bountiful Nutrition, Real Foods Organic Market (Their Organic line of oils).
They have been around for about as long as DoTERRA. They guarantee the quality of their oils against anyone, as well as guarantee them with a 100% return policy forever, not just a few days. I’ve received refunds for leaking on the spot or a new bottle sent to replace immediately. 100% Pure, Therapeutic Grade Oils. Nothing added ever, not even in the blends. All oils have Gas Chromatography, MSDS charts, Safety and Data Sheets, Organic and Kosher Certification for the organic oils. Same quality or higher than any company i have ever used, and my list is very long.
Your questions
Quality – Therapeutic – 100% Pure – Extracted in country of origin – Oils from more than 20 countries – cold compress for citrus and low pressure, low temp for others except the Absolutes.
Purity – 100% pure – they have GC charts and MSDS to prove purity for all oils, not even the blends have Carrier Oils to dilute or anything added
Price – Retail is about 30-60% lower than DoTERRA wholesale, and 30-80% lower than YL wholesale – Sold in 15ml bottles
Effective – My sister used to have asthma, now does not using Crystal Breathe, a friend got rid of her chronic headaches with their peppermint, I use Lullaby (sleep blend) every night – I have seen amazing things with their oils
Education – They exhibit at expos in Utah to teach people, always respond to my emails quickly with very good information, calling the owner is perfect, or he’ll refer you to someone. Their bottles themselves actually have 5 “potential uses” on them, and the blends have the list of oils in them.
This might have helped take off some of the time for research, though I know you will want to do your own research for this company. I personally would choose them after the years of research i have done and many companies i have tried.
Thanks. I am honestly worn out from all of this. I think I’m really nearing the end but this company looks interesting. I will see what more I can do in the meantime.
I am so greatful for the research you have done with these companies! I’m always wondering which company has the best product as I use essential oils for many of my families illnesses. Thanks again for the wonderful info and the education!
Have you looked into Ananda? I use YL but have done some switching to Ananda recently. They have a web site.
Thanks,
Marian
Yes. Check the comments :). Thanks!
I am so excited to see what you decided! We love EO and I’ll be glad to know which one you recommend we run with! 🙂 That post was definitely a cliff hanger- maybe even along the lines of the first Lord of the Rings movie- you think you’re getting the whole story and just when it gets really intense and close… Bam- next time you’ll get the answer. 🙂 I am just glad that unlike LOTR we don’t have wait 2 years for the next installment! 🙂
Hopefully not 2 years – :-)!
I am just itchin’ to find out what your conclusion is! Perhaps some Lavender will help that itch subside in the meantime…. muhahaha… okay, seriously though- I love your heart and attention to detail in doing the hard research. I do a lot of what you do– only I think you are more committed than I am– and I have many people come to me for answers.. so I’d love your opinions on this particular subject matter because I do personally have a presupposition to one of these companies ;0)
Thank you for all your research! I recently attended a Young Living seminar and have started doing a little research into other companies but you have made the task of comparing soooo much easier. Looking forward to your next post and passing your website on to my friends!!