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?
Adrienne,
Take a little nap, friend. I would like to feature this post on Deep Roots ‘EOA’ Wednesday, tomorrow! This is fascinating stuff and I’m in the process of choosing a company to be an affiliate…I don’t want to go MLM, however. I’ll be patient 🙂
Blessings to you and your family. Merry Christmas!
Thanks, Jacqueline! If you are OK waiting I think you’ll have a good idea or two when I am done :). Blessings to you as well!
Just found your post. I ordered from New Directions Aromatics last week as they have organics. Will have to check into their quality based on your research.
Diane, what are your conclusions about New Directions? I’m interested in buying from them myself, since they seem like a good company, but I thought that it couldn’t hurt to have another’s opinion on it. Thanks for replying when you have a chance.
I use Plant Therapy oils. I used to use YL but couldn’t find they blends I wanted and Aura Cacia was inferior. I love the synergies at plant Therapy and the price is certainly right.
I, too, have concerns with Young Living based on integrity of the founder. There is not such a thing as “therapeutic grade” ( see below)
I appreciate your research and am waiting for the conclusion.
I would like to check out the following company, as I think they would be good contender.
I take a lot of supplements from NOW FOODS as they are recognized as good quality and follow Good Manufacturing Practices. I discovered they have very reasonably priced oils and no hype. And they are very open on their processing as presented on their website (see links below)
Here is an excerpt:
What are essential oils?
Essential Oils are the naturally occurring volatile oils obtained by steam distillation or cold pressing (expression), having the characteristic aroma of the plant part from which it was derived. These 100% pure oils are “neat”, meaning they have not been processed, diluted or manipulated in any way with solvents or other additives.
NOW’s citrus fruit essential oils are 100% cold pressed. Our other essential oils are typically 100% steam distilled.
Do essential oils have a grading system to tell me which is better?
There is no official grading system that grades essential oils as A, B, C or Therapeutic grade. All NOW 100% pure essential oils are accurately labeled as such and are the highest purity and quality available.
Are NOW essential oils pure or do they have anything added to them?
All of our 100% pure essential oils are labeled as such. We also sell clearly labeled oil blends that are formulated with essential oils or absolute extracts and another oil as a base, usually pure grapeseed oil.
Thanks – I have seen that as well. I have always liked NOW Foods, but sometimes I have wondered about their quality with some supplements. How have you felt? Sometimes I can’t get the results I want.
looking forward to the next post
FRUSTRATED!!…… I am buying oils right now and I want to know the details!!
I hope you are not angry. I can’t just give a name and explain later. If you really need something drop me an email.
Wahhhhhhhhhh the suspense is killing me! Somebody revive me with essential oils 😉
Just to throw in my 2 cents .. I was introduced to doTERRA a few months ago and all I can say is . . AMAZING. Not only have we healed 11 health issues in our house (2 serious ones that previously required medication with bad side effects) but I have found every single rep I have met to be above board, excited to share their personal stories, and so helpful. Whether they “get” any money from you or not, everyone welcomes you to come to their classes to learn learn learn. Everyone helps everyone else without regard to how or if it personally profits them. It is a wonderful community!
You can get a book that has not only the chemical constituents of each oil and blend, the “science”, the process that produces the oil, etc but also an entire comprehensive list of what oils seem to work best for what health issue. I have read comprehensive scientific papers from their advisory board which is comprised of medical professionals across the country. Universities and hospitals are using the oils and researching them with great success.
I had heard early on that there was some controversy between YL and DT, but when I did my own research I found a very nicely written letter by David Stirling (the Prez of DT) which explained his side of the story. It was thoughtful and did not speak badly of the other company at all. I thought it was an excellent way to judge this man’s character by the way he responded to what I found to be a lot of ugliness. It was professional, well-written, and thoughtful.
As far as price… you get what you pay for. Wild horses couldn’t drag us away from doTERRA because the proof is in the pudding. Arthritis, gout, influenza, skin staph infection, cold, night terrors, back pain, are just a short list of things that have been amazingly and miraculously addressed here in our home. Our health and wellness will never be the same thanks to doTERRA and I couldn’t begin to list the good things I have to say about this company and all the sincere caring people I have met on this journey!
How did you clear gout? My husband has it…I’m a licensed massage therapist and doterra rep…Tks!
My naturopath was a YL distributor before she was gone to Africa for 2 yrs. on a church mission. She came home and decided to look into all options. She was high up in YL, she knew someone high up in a start off from YL that is really popular right now- she researched and has some issues with both of these multi level companies. She chose native american nutritionals and it is not multi level and offers high quality oils. I also have muscle tested the best ois for me and it is native american nutritionals oils.
Thank You so much for doing all the research. Just started using essential oils and your are helping me find answers to alot of questions I have. I have been using NOW EO cause I like their vitamins and thought that they would have good quality essential oils. Do you know the quality of NOW essential oils?
I think you will get the gist with my new posts. Likely Pt 3 on Friday or early next week I hope. Please be patient :).