Young Living vs. doTERRA: Why I Ditched Both of Them
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If you use essential oils, you’ve likely wondered which company is better: Young Living or doTERRA. Since these two essential oil brands are the big giants in the industry, and both claim to be the best, it makes sense to wonder which of these powerhouses is the better choice.
In this post, I’ll look at both companies in a different way than most other writers on this topic do. I worked with both companies, but now I work with neither. Read on for my thoughts, including some information I’m pretty sure you’ve never heard before.
When I started using Young Living oils, I was pretty excited about our results, but later had second thoughts about ethical issues regarding the founder. So, I decided to try doTERRA.
There were some good things about the oils from both companies, but as I dug deeper, I soon ended up in the middle of a complicated mess.
Following are some basic points comparing doTERRA vs. Young Living, but we’ll also get into the weeds that led me to the conclusion that I came to.
Side note: please know that while I am sharing a lot, I’m not sharing the entirety of my concerns with these companies because some companies are eager to sue, and I don’t need that in my life.
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Ways Young Living Excels
While doTERRA and Young Living share a lot of similarities, there are some ways that Young Living stands out.
Variety
Young Living has a lot of oils to choose from. They sell at least 270 singles and blends, while doTERRA carries approximately 140.
So basically, if you want to address something with essential oils, Young Living likely has what you want.
Longevity
Young Living has been around for a long time, and they are often credited with having a lot to do with the popularity of essential oils today. That doesn’t mean their oils are better than other companies’ oils, but I like to give credit where credit is due.
Problems With Young Living
Reputation and Ethics
Again, Young Living was a big part of making essential oils mainstream, which is something to be applauded.
However, there are some pretty not-so-savory things that have been written about D. Gary Young. Of course, the internet isn’t always reliable, but I still think these things might be worth paying attention to.
Gary Young has been accused of lying about healing from the oils and making misleading statements related to the sourcing of Frankincense oils.
OSHA Violations
OSHA is the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, a government agency in the US that aims to ensure safe working conditions.
While looking into both companies, I found out that Young Living has 20 OSHA violations, with 10 being called “serious.” That sounds really bad, but Young Living has been around for a long time, so they’ve had more time for violations to occur, and all of the violations appear to be about the same incident.
Of course, OSHA violations don’t mean that a company is bad, and some people consider some of the OSHA violations to be ridiculously stringent, but in this case, the lid of a distilling vessel blew off, killing the man who was working right by it.
If Young Living cleaned up its procedures correctly, then it’s possible that its new procedures would be better. However, it’s still worth noting.
When I first published this post, I didn’t find other companies having OSHA violations. Of course, I didn’t look into every single oils company, However, but doTERRA now has a violation that you can read about below.
Non-Indigenous Plants
A good number of Young Living’s farms are located in the U.S. I think that’s fine for a company being more “in control” of their product, but not great if you follow conventional wisdom that plants grow best (and have the best therapeutic qualities) when they are grown in their indigenous locations (where they are supposed to grow naturally).
If you read through the comments of Best Essential Oils Parts 2 & 3, you’ll see that Young Living reps tout the fact that YL farms are in the U.S. as being an advantage, due to Young Living having control over the whole growing process.
Perhaps, but other companies like doTERRA and others source their oils from wherever the plants grow naturally for higher quality.
Misleading Effectiveness Claim
In Young Living’s enrollment package, there was a Thieves® Oil brochure referenced in this study. It was cited to address the superior therapeutic value of the oil blend.
I was curious to see the exact results, so I looked them up. What I found, however, was that the study was done on generic eucalyptus oil rather than on Thieves oil.
I reached out to Young Living’s headquarters and got this response:
Thank you for your email. Unfortunately we cannot comment on any
research articles or provide this information as it would be in direct
violation of FDA regulations. You may want to contact Life Science
Publishers at 1-800-336-6308 or www.lifesciencepublishers.com and Sound
Concepts at 1-888-285-6317, 801-225-9520 or
www.essentialproductinfo {dot} com. These companies both carry several
items or research that contain useful information concerning essential
oils and supplements and may be able to assist you further.
While in a sense, the “proven to work” claim was accurate, their blend wasn’t tested. In my mind, this is shady marketing.
Possible Chemical Smell
When evaluating oils from different companies, we did a “smell challenge” with my not-so-specially-trained Smell Testing Panel (a.k.a. my family).
Of course this wasn’t an official spectrometry test, and none of us is a certified aromatherapist, but we noticed that Young Living seemed to have a chemical (synthetic) overtone.
Does that mean there were synthetics added? No, but we still didn’t care for it.
Unknown Country of Origin
As of the 2018 update of this post, many or all of the oils from Young Living do not have a country of origin indicated on the site.
Illegal Sourcing of Oils
In 2017, Young Living was caught illegally sourcing rosewood and spikenard oils between 2014 and 2016.
However, this whole topic is very confusing because Young Living turned themselves in and there are more details to consider.
Misleading Seed to Seal Claim
Many Young Living reps claim that their products are superior due to the company’s Seed to Seal practices. However, as you can see from the illegal sourcing of oils above and the information below about sourcing from the same places that doTERRA does, this claim is not accurate.
Problematic Spiritual Associations
In 2022, Young Living sent out the book My Word Made Flesh to many high-ranking Young Living distributors. The book was co-written by Robert Tennyson Stevens, who runs a company called Mastery Systems, and Vonn Harting, a Young Living Royal Crown Diamond. Mary Young (Gary Young’s wife) wrote the forward.
The book had a lot of questionable content, including a passage that encouraged people to basically do a “seance with oils” in which they would repeat, “I am the resurrection and the life of my lineage.” Of course, in the Bible, Jesus calls himself “the way, the truth, and the life,” and says “no one comes to the Father except through me,” which made this book problematic for many.
The book was apparently removed from the internet, but you can see The Word Made Flesh here for now so you can see what caused all the hubbub.
Ways doTERRA Excels
Education and Support Network
While both companies have a lot of educational resources, it seemed to me that the support network available with doTERRA was stronger.
Testing Transparency
doTERRA, unlike Young Living, shares GC/MS test results on its website. Yes, essential oil testing can be falsified, but it’s a more transparent situation than Young Living has.
Indigenous Plants
doTERRA claims that all of their oils are from plants grown in indigenous areas. I haven’t looked into this completely, but if it’s the case, their oils should be of higher quality than Young Living’s.
Problems With doTERRA
Following are concerns that showed up about doTERRA years ago, but also a few that are more recent, with one of them being quite disconcerting.
OSHA Violation
While other sites claim that doTERRA has no OSHA violations, as of July 2024, that simply isn’t true any longer. Note that after writing this section of this post, I see that doTERRA’s name isn’t on this page, but the internet search information associated with this page indicates that it is connected with doTERRA.
Workers In Vulnerable Situations
In 2023, an investigation into poor employment practices, including substandard pay and unsafe working conditions, by a doTERRA supplier was launched. During the investigation, workers were told to “change their stories ‘or face the consequences'”.
doTERRA claims on its website that every oil it sells is “responsibly and sustainably sourced” and that it’s their “top priority to protect the environment during the production process and provide fair treatment of all harvesters and growers.” However, in this case, doTERRA didn’t protect the women involved, and they were left in fear for their safety. To be fair, Emily White was quoted as being distraught about this situation, but there are no reports of this being resolved in a positive way.
Odd Marketing Claim About Oil Scents
One thing I really like about doTERRA is their educational resources, and also, their oils smell great.
But their great smell is part of what concerns me.
A lot of doTERRA reps (and corporate employees as well) say something like, “You’ll know it works by its smell.”
A quote from doTERRA’s website: “A 100% pure therapeutic-grade essential oil should have a balanced, broad fragrance profile and should smell crystal clean.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t know what “crystal clean” means.
And is “crystal clean” what you want your oils to smell like? I’m not so sure about that.
Organoleptic testing is something that many essential oil companies and experts do, but it’s harder for the typical consumer to do. And it’s quite possible that a consumer will be aiming for something more pleasing, rather than what an oil actually should smell like.
No Definitive Answer About Peppermint Oil Distillation
Essential oils are distilled by putting plant parts and water in a distiller and, under low pressure and low temperature, removing the oils from the plant.
The oils travel down a tube and into a vat. The oil collects on top of the water and is then removed.
The most coveted and most expensive (and thought to be the most therapeutic) oil is that which is collected during the first part of the distillation period, which is called “first distilled.”
This “first distillation” apparently only applies to ylang ylang oil, but possibly to peppermint oil as well.
doTERRA’s peppermint smells good enough to eat, as in “candy cane” good. So yummy, in fact, that if you have kiddos in the house, you’d best keep it out of arm’s reach.
But is that a good thing?
Most peppermint essential oils smell like the peppermint you find growing out in nature, which is herby and not like candy canes.
Candy-cane-smelling peppermint is apparently, according to several sources, possibly from a redistill. Either that or some components are taken out (meaning these are adulterated oils) to give the oil a clean pepperminty candy smell.
Is doTERRA’s Peppermint a Complete Distillation?
This is the email response I got from doTERRA stating that their peppermint oil is a complete distillation.
You can let her know that our Peppermint uses complete
distillation. There is 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and complete and we use complete.
If the first distillation of peppermint oil is the most valuable (and there is really a first and later distillation of peppermint), then their peppermint oil might not be top quality.
If there is truly no such thing as more than one distillation of peppermint, as many say, then why is doTERRA stating that there is a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and complete distillation of peppermint?
In one video, one of the founders of doTERRA stated that their peppermint smelled amazing because it was from Washington. However, many other peppermint oils are sourced from Washington as well, so doTERRA’s isn’t special for that reason.
Then later, a representative told me that the doTERRA headquarters said that the peppermint smell was different because their oil is distilled only from the leaves and the flowers.
The most disconcerting part of this is that I couldn’t get information from doTERRA themselves about WHY their peppermint smelled the way that it did.
Inferior Quality Ylang Ylang Oil
doTERRA prides itself on having high-quality standards and top-quality oils. Their ylang-ylang, however, is a complete distillation. Some may say that this is a matter of preference, but in the essential oils industry, the first distillation of ylang-ylang is absolutely more valued and therefore a higher-priced oil.
To their credit, doTERRA is transparent and does call their ylang-ylang a complete distillation on their website.
Ylang-ylang first distillation (which is referred to as “extra”) is typically considered to be the quality of oil that is most sought after and is of the highest therapeutic quality.
Ingredient Labeling Problems
Thanks to Kitchen Stewardship, I found out that doTERRA at one point didn’t disclose all of the oils in their bug-repellent blend. At the time she wrote that post, the label stated that it was a “proprietary blend.” No thanks. Not including ingredients on the label of something that you are going to be eating or putting on your skin is a big problem.
Thankfully, doTERRA now discloses the ingredients of their Terra Shield blend; however, at the time that I initially wrote this post, that wasn’t the case.
Lower Quality Frankincense Oil
I often get questions about doTERRA’s pricing for their frankincense Oil as to how it compares to other brands, with people citing that doTERRA’s appears to be less expensive.
The reason for this has to do with the composition of doTERRA’s frankincense oil. Most companies sell either just one variety of frankincense oil or several varieties, but doTERRA’s frankincense is, at least as of August 2016, a blend of different varieties.
Following are the types of frankincense in their blend:
– carterii (typically the least expensive)
– serrata
– frereana
Sacred Frankincense is typically one of, if not the most expensive varieties of Frankincense oil, so if you compare doTERRA’s Frankincense to another company’s Sacred, doTERRA’s will likely come out to be cheaper.
Lack of Country of Origin Transparency
As of the 2018 update of this post, all or many of the oils from doTERRA did not have a country of origin indicated on the site. This is interesting, especially since the company and/or its reps repeatedly say that they can’t get organic certification due to it being hard to get it in the countries where their oils are sourced.
I heard from a reader that there is a source map for doTERRA oils, but I couldn’t find it. I did, however, find one page that shows sourcing for Spikenard and Petitgrain.
The map shows that their Petitgrain Oil is sourced from Paraguay. Other companies have organic Petitgrain from Paraguay, so their claim about organic oils being too hard to source just doesn’t seem to make sense.
Undesirable or Unknown Ingredients in Other Products
Some of doTERRA’s other products have ingredients I don’t love.
For example, doTERRA’s On Guard toothpaste used to contain titanium dioxide, a metal that I initially thought I should avoid due to the possibility of heavy metal toxicity. I’m not that worried about that now, but it’s an unnecessary ingredient, so if it’s at all in question, why use it? Thankfully, that ingredient is gone now. To be fair, it seems that doTERRA has cleaned up a lot of their personal care line.
However, initially, when I wrote this post, they had PEG 100 in their Deep Blue Cream. Now, there’s no complete ingredient list on their site, so I don’t know what is in there.
They also used to have carrageenan (which, depending on the form, is thought to cause inflammation) in their capsules. Right now, when searching “carrageenan” on their site, some capsules come up in the search results, but I can’t see why that is because the ingredient list doesn’t seem to be complete. I think it’s fair to assume that they still contain it.
Misleading Portrayal of Earning Possibilities
At some point, direct sales companies have to produce an income disclosure statement so that those interested in selling with the company can have a realistic idea of how much money they can (or, in this case, likely won’t) make.
doTERRA’s top income disclosure chart here seems to show that there are some great opportunities with doTERRA, but it is misleading. It shows some impressive income levels, but you have to notice the fine print that it’s only for top-ranking leaders. To see a more realistic (and not very enticing) view, you have to look at the next chart, which is farther down on the page.
Young Living, to their credit, spells it all out in this Young Living Income Disclosure statement.
It’s important to note that the earnings with both companies are reduced by fees to redeem your reward points or even to get paid.
Smaller Oil Selection
When I first wrote this series, doTERRA had very few oils, so if you were looking for a company that could be a one-stop shop, then it wasn’t a great option.
They’ve increased their selection over time, but Young Living still has the advantage here.
Problems with Both Companies
As you can see, when comparing Young Living vs. doTERRA, there are ways in which each is better than the other. However, there are also some negatives that both companies share, mostly due to them being MLM essential oil companies.
There is, however, one particularly odd thing that I found out about both of them.
Young Living and doTERRA Source from the Same Companies
Both companies claim to have a corner on selling the best oils, so it’s very problematic (for both of them) that they appear to share the same source for at least some of their oils.
Bio Young Aromas
See the following sources that show that Bio Young Aromas is a supplier for both Young Living and doTERRA.
- https://www.seair.co.in/us-import/i-doterra.aspx (Sadly, it appears that the information about Bio Young is now behind a paywall.)
- Here, however, is documentation showing other purchases from Bio Young by doTERRA.
And here are some Bio Young Aroma purchases made by Young Living.
Kunshan Toxen
doTERRA and Young Living have both purchased from this company as well.
Here is documentation showing Young Living purchases from Kunshan Toxen.
And here is documentation showing that doTERRA purchases from Kunshan Toxen as well.
Basically, despite their claims of being the best, neither company seems to be that special if they are purchasing from the same companies.
I personally am not opposed to the multi-level marketing industry as a whole, but it is important to consider whether essential oil MLM companies are worth it or not.
Conclusion
Both Young Living and doTERRA have some good qualities, but clearly there are a lot of problems with both of companies.
My Preferred Source of Essential Oils
I hope to revisit this topic soon, but for now, you can see what happened when I started looking to find a quality essential oil company that I wanted to purchase from.
I started this whole series after spending some time working with both Young Living and doTERRA, but I left both of them and tried to find out what the best essential oil company was.
I plan to revisit this topic in the future and hope to have additional options that you can feel really good about buying.
What do you think about doTERRA vs. Young Living?
Which do you think is better and why?
There are many sources which do show the maps of where the oils are sourced from, as well as some of the other facts you mentioned you couldn’t find, i would suggest you look thoroughly at the website, as you mentioned there is a wide variety of educational sources in doTERRA’s webpage, if you search thoroughly you will find it!
Hi there – can you tell me where else we can find the source info?
Hi,
Very interesting article. Thank You for taking the time to do the research.
However, I did not see anything about Organixx, nor Josh Ashes’ Ancient Ancient Apothecary. Both of these companies seem really good and reliable, from my research, and sending for their products.
I have some of the other oils talked about, but I am really liking Organixx and Dr. Ashes’ products.
I was trying to order from doTerra last evening and I had to “Wait in line”. What!? I was thinking, not happy with that, being on my computer and waiting in line. Then I had trouble signing in. Finally gave up.
I ordered from Organixx and Dr. Ash. Have you seen and or researched these two companies?
Thank You, Sharon
Hi there – thanks! I did research both and decided not to go with them for several reasons. I am not sure if you noticed but the owners of The Truth About Cancer just announced that they are no longer affiliate with Organixx. They sent out several emails about it–one of them was very emphatic sounding.
I was just wondering which company (not necessarily Doterra or young living) has the best quality oils? I found your article interesting and I personally have always bought Doterra just because it’s what I know, but if there’s a better one out there I would buy from them..so what company or companies would you recommend?
Hi Amanda – thanks for reading! Well, there are other good companies out there but this is the beginning of the series in which I started looking for where I wanted to buy our oils: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/natural-remedies/the-great-essential-oils-showdown-in-search-of-the-best-essential-oils/
and this is the end of the series: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/natural-remedies/announcing-the-best-essential-oils-company-and-a-great-sale/
Hope that helps!
Thank you for this blog post. I have a lot of thoughts on this issue, but will keep it short. I’ve personally done some research on which essential oils are “best” and have read, watched and listened to certified aroma therapists who have hundreds of hours of training, understand in depth the chemical composition of oils and their potential effects on the body, etc. Most of them choose not to use MLM brands and have extensive reviews on other reliable companies. Their concerns are not with the quality of MLM oils but with the irresponsible and potentially dangerous advice and practices that are encouraged when using the oils. Also, they are uncomfortable with encouraging clients to spend a lot of money that they don’t really need to spend to acquire the oils. I’m very happy to have done some research. There are good companies out there with quality products that won’t break the bank.
You are so welcome! Thanks for reading!
Heidi Cook, can you share which companies have quality products that won’t break the bank? Thanks!!
I would recommend looking up online and on YouTube a number of certified aroma therapists who give recommendations and reviews on several companies. I’ve settled on Eden’s Garden for now. I can purchase most of their oils in 5ml., 10ml., 30ml. And even higher if I desired. Their oils are independent third party tested (you can access the results rom their website) and batch tested as well. They have single oils and blends. There is a page that gives equivalents and comparisons of some of their blends to blends from the two top MLM brands. I don’t know about all their oils, but the ones I have purchased so far are significantly cheaper than doTerra. I want to emphasize that this is just my personal experience. Delivery has been prompt and shipping is free. So far, loving them!
Yes I would love to know what companies are less expensive?
I’ve read the research of several certified aroma therapists and also watched two on YouTube and have settled on Eden’s Garden for now. There are other companies that are consistently recommended also.
Thanks Heidi!
Hi Deb – please see my comment / response to Heidi. I have been seeing that there were some issues w/ labeling. Not saying that they haven’t been taken care of but you might want to look in to that.
Hi again – I responded to you earlier–after doing some research I am seeing some concerns about labeling issues and more. The issues may have been resolved but have you seen those discussed? Thanks much!
I’m not tech savvy so I don’t know how to share links but if you do a google search and also search YouTube for certified aroma therapists you will find good information. For now, I’ve settled on Eden’s Garden but there are one or two others I would use, also.
Heidi, do you Have any links or articles you can share about these lesser expensive companies that are still high quality? We would all love to know for sure! I use Plant Therapy, but I need to research them a little more after reading this article
The one in my final post would be one option: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/natural-remedies/announcing-the-best-essential-oils-company-and-a-great-sale/
There is this post too that has some good (I think) standards for purity: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/
Plant Therapy has consistently high reviews and Robert Tisserand (sp?) has worked with them to formulate their chikdren’s line of oils. That says a lot to me. I’m not sure about Plant Therapy’s website, but on Eden’s Garden you can access the batch testing results, etc.
Hi Heidi–actually I have been looking into a bunch of companies recently. Are you aware of some concerns about issues with Eden’s Garden and some labeling issues? I haven’t been able to give this topic as much attention as I would like to (and hope to in the not too distant future) but I did see this concern brought up in a few places. Thanks so much :).
Hi, do you advise any? I’m in such of a good one that won’t break my bank account… thank you!
Hi Diana. I’m actually hoping to revisit this topic–there are so many to consider–it’s truly mind boggling when you start researching. Stay tuned!
I personally find doTerra oils to be less expensive most of the time and I like their rewards system better. There use catalog if MUCH better than Young Living, also.
I am a member of both companies.
I figure when the one guy left YL, he went on to make a better company, doTerra..how could he not and still compete?
There are products from both sides that I like more than the other but when undecided, I usually go with price differences.
?
Bambi
bambi can i ask which ones you like form which company….i am just starting…thankyou
Always happy to continue my essential oil education.
Freaking awesome article!!! Thank you!!! I have been telling the facts you stated in the article for QUITE A WHILE NOW! Thank You! God bless!!
Thank you Kimberly!! I really appreciate the kind words and support.
If your touring Robert Tisserand’s book, then you should also know his essential oil company is Plant Therapy. If he is an expert you trust then shouldn’t his oils be the best? I like them and they are affordable and I dont need to buy a minimum.
Hi there. Actually he is associated with that company but it is not his. He has his own company called Tisserand.
Love do Terra oils
I have been a member/distributor with Young Living for over 20 years. I personally purchase and use a significant amount of product (both essential oils as well as personal care, home care as well as supplements each and every month) and am grateful how they continue to support my health. I knew and had met some of the people who left Young Living to start doTerra (a company that has duplicated Young Living product formulas – read the labels – and application techniques using similar names as well. That can be fact-checked. Young Living business practices have been duplicated as well. I am aware that a recent court decision favored doTerra; “The case spanned five years, with claims that doTERRA stole trade secrets and poached from Young Living’s independent distributors. Those allegations were dismissed in June 2014 based on the claims being filed too late.” Not that they were not true – just filed too late. Based on that, as a matter of principle I would not use doTerra. Website research results will tell you two things: Why people prefer one company over the other (check it out for yourself) and that doTerra uses a lot of ink to denigrate Young Living. (That too should tell you something about company integrity).
First of all, I’m glad you feel better using the oils – that’s great! As for the site results, it would help if you spelled out what you think is the reason for people preferring doTERRA that you think is of concern.
As for the ink spilling, I think that could be a concern for sure and some people say that you shouldn’t say anything negative about another brand if you are a brand in the same business. At the same time, if the information is accurate, then it’s a tough call.
There are so many brands doing unethical things and someone needs to blow the whistle, don’t you think?
Here’s another way to think about it. You just wrote a lot about doTERRA – does that mean that you don’t have integrity? I don’t mean to accuse you of not having it–I’m just making an analogy. Would be interested in your thoughts and thanks for reading and commenting!
Over the years there has been a ton of studies done on both companies and it was found EVERY SINGLE TIME that doTERRA has more potent oils as they source then from their natural habitats not to mention all of doTERRA’s stuff that they do for communities.
Ask yourself… why would scientists all say that doTERRA has better essential oils if they didn’t. There is tons of real hospitals across the USA and other countries that use doTERRA essential oils due to their extremely high quality.
Young living is no wheres near the quality of doTERRA, so please stop being ignorant and actually do some REAL research that is not just your opinion.
Hi Nathan – thanks for commenting. Can you send more information on any of these studies, please?
Sorry Nathan, but I’d like to see these studies.
doTerra does not own their own farms (they buy from 3rd party), do not own their own seed, do not have control of the soil, do not have proprietary distillation techniques, only do about 7 tests on their oils, and do not test during the distillation process.
The FDA says that you can label an oil organic going back only 3 years. Young Living goes back 50 years. They go above and beyond organic standards.
Young Living on the other hand, owns (or co-owns) farms across the world in which they allow the public to visit (in 2017 they were up to 15 total), owns ALL their seed, controls the soil and adds a proprietary frequency to it, and uses an exclusive distillation technique. They test every batch of oils in triplicate two times during the production process. It ends up being around 15-20 tests depending on the oil tested as some oils do not need certain tests. Note: The most any other company tests their oils is around 3-7 tests – nowhere near Young Living’s number of tests! They test the quality of the oil both before, during, and after the distilling process. Then they have their oil tested at third-party labs, including high level and high profile aromatic specialty labs and forensic labs.
The reason YL oils don’t smell as good as doTerra is that they are not fractionated oils (not diluted and are not cut with anything) and smell like the actual plant, not sweet. IMHO, they are therapeutically superior.
I’ve personally bought both kits and will never go back to doTerra. Nobody I know has ever gone from YL to doTerra, but I’ve known plenty who go from doTerra to YL.
Are you saying that doTERRA oils are diluted? Thanks!
Sorry, I meant USDA, not FDA
Why do I have to read 80 pages to find out the answer? Which is better between doTerra and Young Living?
Hi there, Ann. I am sorry that you are frustrated. Sounds like you don’t like reading a lot of information but just want a “this or that” answer–correct? Unfortunately this is a complicated question. I think I know what company I would choose if I had to but I ended up going in a completely different direction after working with both of them and that was for a variety of reasons.
You can see how the whole thing started here: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/natural-remedies/the-great-essential-oils-showdown-in-search-of-the-best-essential-oils/
and here is the end: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/natural-remedies/announcing-the-best-essential-oils-company-and-a-great-sale/
I hope to rework the series to make it a little easier to maneuver around. It took on a life of its own when I wrote it. Hope that helps and I’m happy to answer any questions. Thanks for reading! (and I don’t think it’s really 80 pages, just so you know :).)
Ann if you have specific questions I would be happy to share with you resources to find the answers you are looking for on the d?TERRA side.
Jackie
Hello Jackie – sorry but I don’t allow people to use my blog as a platform for marketing to other people. I had to remove you identifying information. Thanks for reading.
I love love Young Living. I will not switch. I have tons tons of research,books, etc I have Or can get a hold too. There is more reps in YL. YL will help you more than Doterra! There is a huge difference in smells. YL has a very clean organic smell. The uses are amazing & very helpful with your health, toxins etc.
Hi there – thanks for reading. Are you saying that you have research about Young Living in books, etc? Thanks!
Thank you for all that info and all the work you put into researching the topic.
Are there any organic companies you would recommend looking into for essential oils?? I saw a few USDA organic lines ie. prime natural on amazon and just don’t know which to choose.
Thanks!
You are so welcome! I would look at this post to check on other companies. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/
The one that I recommend in this post has some organic options: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/natural-remedies/announcing-the-best-essential-oils-company-and-a-great-sale/
and this one has more as well.
Hope that helps!
Hi! I saw Dr. Axe has a good collection of USDA organic essential oils that you can also consume. I have tried a few YL oils but none were organic.
Yes, he has some. I wasn’t pleased with some information coming out of his company, however. I might have to reach out b/c it might have been from staff and not him. I will be coming back to this topic again so stay tuned!
I’m interested, given your recommendation of the tisserand safety book, as to whether you have tried tisserand oils? Don’t know if you can get them in the us. I’m in the uk and just got a started kit fro YL. But the more I delve and read, the less i like the company and it’s actualy tainted my enthusiasm and pleasure in using the oils.
Hi there. I didn’t try them. Actually I didn’t care for some of the ingredients in his personal care products but I would expect that his oils are pure. I have these guidelines now that are good to check on — thought they might be of interest to you: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/
Thanks for your reply and the info on testing. Good to know. Interestingly, I’ve found that Rocky Mountain oils won last years world spa award “ best aromatherapy brand” and Tisserand won this year. YL wasn’t on the shortlist either year.
You are so welcome!!
I feel the same, I probably have over $2000 of YL. I will try the doterra kit next. I want to use my rewards before I opt out of the rewards program
I have to say that several things you wrote about Young Living are 100% false. I’m not sure where you got your information, but Young Living has farms all over the world, the Middle East, Ecuador… did you really do any research here? A simple google search would have given you that answer. This article is pretty shaky at best regarding accurate information on essential oils companies.
Hi there. I am confused about why people continue to say this. I never said that YL doesn’t have farms around the world. Did you see that somewhere in my post? Thanks for reading!
You need to do better research. A LOT better. With regards to this particular question, you are wrong in stating Young Living does not disclose where their oils come from and specifically which country. You need to research better because YL does state this information on their website and if they do not on a particular oil it is because they are protecting their information from the people who left YL to start do Terra and stole all YL business information to start DT. That tells me all I need to know about DT!
Hello “Concerned Reader” – I am guessing you won’t get this reply since your email doesn’t seem to be legit, but possibly you have an odd email for dropping comments on blogs. In any case, I just went to YL’s site and went through the first 6-7 oils and only two of them had any indication of where the oil was sourced. That is what I stated. I stated that as of 2018 many of the oils on the YL site didn’t state sourcing.
Please tell me where I am wrong. Typically consumers want to know where oils are sourced since it can be a clear indicator of quality with oils being sourced in their indigenous regions being more prized than those that are now. Hope that clarifies.
Adrienne… I have had all the info you posted in your article… Before you posted your article… Truth hurts feelings…but still needs to be told. Thank you for doing this article. People don’t like to hear things against what they hoped/feel are the best. Yes, everything you stated AND more is out there regarding the whole line of YL and doT and a lot more companies. I’m finding a lot of it can be trial and error… I’ve not found a company that I’ve 100% loved…BUT I’ve avoided the MLM EO companies because there’s too much hassle to buy just one or two AND the prices are OUTRAGEOUS. I say this from experience…bought a way expensive EO (will avoid the company for argument’s sake) and found a company with a much cheaper price that had a better quality oil. After that fiasco i now pay attention.
Thanks again for all your articles. Your work is much appreciated!
Thanks for reading and for the encouragement!
I love Young Living and all that they stand for! I love their Seed to Seal and the WIDE variety of farms all over the world. In the portion of your post I copied below; you implied YL doesn’t grow in their indigenious locations, which they do! Its no secret and they have Seed to Seal standards at ALL FARMS!!! They work closely with the locals as well 🙂 AWESOME!!!
“A good number (updated 4/2015) of Young Living’s farms are located in the U.S. I think that’s fine for a company being more “in control” of their product, but not great if you follow conventional wisdom that plants grow best (and have the best therapeutic qualities) when they are grown in their indigenous locations (where they are supposed to grow naturally).” This is directly copied
Any OSHA Violations that you spoke of, they openly took accountability for their mistake and corrected all standards, so this will not happen again.
Side note, if you smelled oils that are adulterated vs YL or even that of Doterra, you would notice a difference in the smell right away. The evidence of “synthetic/chemical overtone” in therapeutic oils is NOT there, because they are pure, unlike what you may find in the store.
I found a lot of your article was misleading and not entirely accurate. It may be correct in talking with some people but it is not what it is as a whole! Everyone has different experiences or opinions but when it comes down to it, maybe these people didnt receive the love they should have when entering the world of essential oils!
Thank you for your time! I hope your research finding are more accurate in the future.
Hi there – I’m so sorry to be replying to this and approving it so late. I had a huge pile of comments to go through and life got in the way big time. Anyhow, are you saying that YL has complete control over all of their oils from seed to seal? I read this and am confused since this shows them exporting from other countries and also there’s evidence in the post that they buy their oils (some of them) from the same company as doTERRA – did you see that? Thanks in advance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/essential-oils-company-sentenced-lacey-act-and-endangered-species-act-violations-pay-760000#:~:text=The%20Justice%20Department%20announced%20today,and%20the%20Endangered%20Species%20Act.
Still not sure which is better even after reading all the parts. It’s exasperating really. All the websites, all the products. I have visited young living’s site and their essential oil is expensive. I’m a newbie to essential oils and I’m looking for some to make my own chemical free products (deodorant, laundry detergent, bath bombs, dish soap, etc.) All of these call for essential oils to add smell. But I can’t figure out which ones to use.
Hi there. Thanks for reading! I ended up going a completely different direction. You can read the ending here. Would be interested in knowing what you think! https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/natural-remedies/announcing-the-best-essential-oils-company-and-a-great-sale/
Does that help? If you search “essential oils” on my site there are many more articles including a new one that I just published and there will be more as well!
How do I find out your accreditations? So much on Internet it’s hard to tell what’s goid or bad.
Hi there. Feel free to ask me any questions but I have some information on my About Page. No real accreditations but I study a lot. I did just enroll in a health course that I think will be good.
I think it is odd that so many people shy away from the intense smell of essential oils. What they dont realize is that they are smelling the constituents of those oils. The beautiful parts of the plant that have therapeutic value. What you are smelling are the terpines. Sequiterpines and monoterpines. The sequiterpines molecules are heavier which is why you smell oils with high sequiterpines as soon as you open the bottle. Oils that smell sweet (but shouldn’t especially if the actual plant in the palm of your hand doesn’t) are almost always cut with something synthetic. Ethylene glycol is often used. It has a sweet taste and no fragrance so it is easy to hide in products. Also under the law it is only required for a company to have 10% oil in the container to be labeled as natural. So if you really want to know take your bottles of oil to a third party lab and actually have them test what is that bottle.
Hi there. I would love to know about that 10% comment. I have heard it before but can’t find it documented anywhere. Have you found it? As for having the oils tested it’s about $250 to have an oil tested using GC/MS testing. I think that would be really prohibitive for most people to do–were you thinking about another kind of test? Thanks for reading!
You can find where the plants are grown for each oil across the globe for doTerra here 🙂 The interactive map is really cool and shows you all of the plants that grow in those specific countries they source from. https://sourcetoyou.com/growers.html
Hi there – I saw that but I had a hard time maneuvering around it and I didn’t find any oil that was sourced in a place where organic oils couldn’t be sourced. Do you have other information?
I have used Plant Therapy, do you have any information or what’s your opinion on that company?
Hi there. I looked at them when I first started investigating where to go if I left Young Living and doTERRA. I didn’t go with them for several reasons but as you know things change in the industry a lot. I hope to look at things again hopefully in the not too distant future. I am currently busy researching a bunch of other things but you can for sure sign up here to get updates. https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
Thanks for reading!
PLease forgive me but I have a question or two…… I have problems with sleep and anxiety with your knowledge what would you use. I do use YL but with few results.
I personally use the oils from this company: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/natural-remedies/announcing-the-best-essential-oils-company-and-a-great-sale/
I really like some of their blends. One of them that I like is “At Peace” and “Calming” too. For stressful times those should be of help too – hope that helps! Please do let me know! I have this post which has some things that might be of interest as well: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/what-are-adaptogens/