Young Living or doTERRA?
This is one of the big questions out there in the essential oils world–and it makes sense, since these two companies are the big “giants” in the essential oil industry.
Likely, if you have been thinking about buying essential oils, or getting involved in essential oils as a business, you have wondered the same thing–which is better, Young Living or doTERRA?
This post is actually not a stand alone post meant to compare these two companies. It’s actually just one post that was a part of my search for the “best” essential oils company, since these two companies were a big part of my search.
Admitting When You Are Wrong
Before we get into the comparison between Young Living and doTERRA, let me say that I’ve had to admit I was wrong about things before.
– My thinking that Lilla Rose Flexi Clips were a waste of money (see my “I was wrong” Lilla Rose review).
– or saying my Natural Dishwasher Rinse Aid was a great idea.
We need to be willing to admit we were wrong.
When I started out my journey with essential oils (which I never expected to go on, by the way–I initially thought that essential oils were a scam), I went with Young Living. Because it worked.
As time wore on, however, I wasn’t sure what to think.
Wondering About These Companies
Remember my enthusiastic posts about their Thieves and Peppermint and Wintergreen?
I was pretty excited about the results I had, but as I started writing about essential oils, I started having some second thoughts. In particular, one rep from doTERRA started pointing out some things that had me rethinking my decision and wondering if I made the right decision or not.
And while I was doing my investigating, some different things popped up about both Young Living and doTERRA that made me think and wonder even more. About both companies.
It was hard to sort through all of the information, but I’m going to lay out most of it for you here so you can see some of the concerns that came to my attention. This isn’t everything that I found to be disconcerting, but it’s a lot of it.
Today I’m going to share what happened as I looked into the “heavy hitters” in the Essential Oils Industry–
Young Living and doTERRA
If you’ve been looking into essential oils at all, chances are you have come across Young Living and doTERRA.
You’ve for sure heard “Young Living is the best!” or “doTERRA is the most pure”.
Or something like that.
I touched on some of these issues in the beginning of my Best Essential Oils series. But here’s more.
First up–Young Living
Young Living Review
1. Reputation and Ethics –
First of all, Young Living was pretty much the first on the block. They literally made essential oils mainstream. There’s something to be said for that.
However, there are some pretty not-so-savory things on the internet about D. Gary Young. Of course, the internet can be full of truths and lies. But I still think these things might be worth paying attention to. Dr. Stephen Barrett has written a load of unsavory things about D. Gary Young. In fact, this information is a lot of what gave me pause when I initially was looking into signing up with YL. I mean, the Thieves Oil worked great for me, but I really didn’t like what I was reading.
Now, I do have my concerns about Mr. Barrett–mainly that he’s basically an “anti-alternative therapy” hound. And I like alternative therapies. Most of them, at least.
I personally am very concerned about abuses in the alternative medical field. But I’m also concerned about abuses in Western medicine.
My family and I have been harmed by the practices of traditional Western medicine (overuse of anti-biotics, over-use of prescriptions meds, doctors misdiagnosing acid reflux, etc.). In some cases, we’ve been healed despite what mainstream doctors told us to do.
I know there are abuses on both sides. But Quackwatch appears to be just targeting everything alternative: Chiropractic, acupuncture, Chinese medicine….You name it. If it’s alternative, it’s Barrett’s target.
I could go on and on about his site, but suffice it to say that I am not sure of all of Barrett’s accusations against Gary Young. (UPDATE – All comments by Mr. Barrett against Gary Young appear to have been removed so I can’t cite them any longer.)
However, his writings about Young Living and Gary Young leave something to ponder. Moreso in light of what else I found…
2. OSHA Violations –
I found this interesting entry referring to Young Living OSHA violations. I didn’t find any by the other oils companies, although I didn’t look all of the essential oils companies up, of course. That would take a long long time and I couldn’t find them all for sure.
Now, Young Living is the oldest oils company, so they’ve had more time for there to be violations, and all of the violations appear to be of the same incident.
Of course, OSHA violations don’t mean that a company is bad. If they cleaned up their procedures correctly, then possibly their new procedures are better than ever.
3. Non-Indigenous Plants –
Many 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).
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–that it gives Young Living control over the whole process. Maybe, but other companies like doTERRA and most of the other companies I’ve looked into have their oils sourced from wherever the plants grow naturally for higher quality.
4. What’s That Smell?
You know I like testing things before recommending them to you, like in my:
Best Cinnamon Sugar and
Best Eye Makeup Remover posts.
Then you won’t be surprised to know that we did this with essential oils as well.
I purchased Young Living, doTERRA, Mountain Rose Herbs, Aura Cacia, and 2 other companies’ oils and did a little “Smell Challenge” with my not-so-specially-trained Smell Testing Panel (a.k.a. my family).
5. Product Claims
In the literature that I got from Young Living when I signed up, there were Thieves® Oil brochures. The brochure mentioned this study done that apparently addressed the superior therapeutic value of the oil.
I looked up the tests online to see what they were all about, because I was curious to see the exact results and found, however, that the study was done on generic Eucalyptus Oil–not on Thieves Oil.
Huh? So it seemed to me that the company was saying that it was proven that their Thieves® oil was proven to be effective, when what really was the case was that Eucalyptus, one component of Thieves®, was proven to be effective.
In a sense, that’s fine, I guess. But I still was confused and decided to email headquarters.
This was their 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.
What’s that Smell?:
We had a blind smell test of 3-5 brands of the same oil.
In each instance, Young Living was singled out as having a chemical (synthetic) overtone.
Does that mean there were synthetics added?
Not necessarily of course, but we still didn’t care for it.
6. Country of Origin
As of the 2018 update of this post, all or many of the oils from Young Living do not have a country of origin indicated on the site.
doTERRA Review
Besides buying the Young Living Starter Kit, I also bought a large kit of doTERRA’s oils to try them out against YL. I asked doTERRA reps and corporate employees tons of questions, and I even used their oils exclusively for awhile.
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.
One thing I really don’t care for is that a lot of doTERRA reps (and corporate employees as well) say something like, “You’ll know it works by its smell.”
This 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.
Before I go into more–I mentioned distillation techniques in one of my previous posts. Basically, the going wisdom about essential oils is that you put the plant parts and water in a distiller and under low pressure and low temperature, you distill the essential oils out of the plant.
They travel down a tube and into a vat–along with the steam. The oil collects on top of the water and is removed and–voila–you have essential oils.
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. The resulting oil is called “first distilled.”
This “first distillation” only applies to ylang ylang and possibly peppermint, according to what I have learned.
1. PEPPERMINT Claims
DoTERRA’s peppermint smells good enough to eat–as in “candy cane” good.
But that might be a problem. Here’s why.
Most peppermint essential oils smell like the peppermint you find growing out in nature. Kind of herby and not really like a candy cane.
Candy-cane-smelling peppermint is apparently, according to several sources, possibly from a redistill. The oils are either redistilled or some components are taken out to give the oil a clean pepperminty candy smell. (Source).
Now–please keep in mind that there is a LOT of controversy about what this does or might mean. I don’t know. But I’m sharing what I am learning and reading.
The other alternative is that someone did something else to the peppermint oil to reduce the herby smell.
This is exactly what doTERRA’s peppermint oils smell like. So yummy, in fact, that if you have kiddos in the house, you’d best keep it out of arm’s reach.
Here is the response I got from doTERRA stating that their peppermint oil is a “complete distill”:
You can let her know that our Peppermint uses complete
distillation. There is 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and complete and we use complete. (Source: my email.)
So if in fact, 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? Possibly it was an error.
Please note, this whole topic is very confusing and I am digging into it more and am going to be adding more information to this series about it and/or addressing it again in another post. You can read some information in later posts about why one chemist thinks that doTERRA’s peppermint mint smell this way.
I will add, however, that the most disconcerting thing to me about the whole issue was that I could never get solid information about WHY their peppermint smelled the way that it did.
In one video, one of the founders of doTERRA stated that their peppermint smelled amazing because it was from Washington. Well, other peppermints are from Washington.
Then, while researching the whole thing, someone else from the company said that it was because it was distilled only from the leaves and the flowers. I couldn’t get a real answer on it. I tried for months and months. It’s a very disconcerting situation when I can’t get answers to questions like this.
2. YLANG YLANG
doTERRA prides itself on selling the top of the line quality. Their ylang ylang, however, is also a complete distillation. Some may say that this is a matter of taste, but in the essential oils industry, the first distill of ylang ylang is more valued and therefore, a higher priced oil. To their credit, doTERRA does call their ylang ylang a complete distill on their website.
Ylang Ylang first distill (which is referred to as “extra”) is typically considered to be the quality of oil that is most sought after / of highest therapeutic quality–not the complete distillation.
3. TERRASHIELD
Thanks to Kitchen Stewardship, I realized that doTERRA doesn’t disclose all of the oils in this bug repellant blend. I will say that we have used this to treat after bite itching (and my son likes it), but I think that not including ingredients on a label is not preferable. (UPDATE – doTERRA now discloses the ingredients of their Terra Shield blend. I’m glad they are doing that.)
What I think is troubling here is that doTERRA makes a lot of claims about their oils being the best–top quality. And their prices sure reflect that. I don’t think I would purchase complete, 2nd or 3rd distillation oil for more than other companies are selling 1st distill for–would you?
UPDATE 4/16: I will be updating this distillation information.
Of course, there are other things to think about–purity, etc. So we’ll keep the conversation going and touch on other companies as well.
I hope this all makes sense. If not—ask away.
Thanks for your patience! This has been a long road, but I promise, we are nearing the end.
4. DoTERRA’s FRANKINCENSE is a blend
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 Aug 2016, a blend of different varieties (source).
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.
5. No Organic Certification
One of the things that bugs me about doTERRA is that they don’t have any certified organic oils. What I have heard is that it’s too hard for them to get that certification from all of the countries that they source from. Emily Wright says:
The reason for this is because we source from so many developing countries. The certification requirements and availability differs from country to country. Some countries don’t even have a certification offering.
I get it. It can be hard. But they could source some or many of them organically if they wanted to. At least I see other companies doing it. Maybe I’m wrong, but that is the way it seems to me. I’ve looked into organic certification before and it wasn’t as expensive as most companies (those without certification) make it out to be.
6. Country of Origin
As of the 2018 update of this post, all or many of the oils from doTERRA do 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 source map for doTERRA oils, but I couldn’t find it. I did find one page that shows sourcing for Spikenard and Petitgrain. It shows that the Petitgrain Oil is sourced from Paraguay. Other companies have organic Petitgrain from Paraguay so I would be interested in hearing where their other oils are from to see if their claim about organic being something they can’t do is reasonable or not.
Do Young Living and doTERRA Have the Same Source for Their Oils?
2018 Update: Here’s something interesting that just came to my attention. Young Living and doTERRA appear to have the same source for at least some of their oils.
Look at the following sources and see that Bio Young Aromas is the supplier to both companies.
https://www.seair.co.in/us-import/i-doterra.aspx
Not sure what to make of this.
Conclusion
There are some other things about these companies and I couldn’t go into all of them for various reasons.
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 really a great option. That has changed somewhat since that time.
The two companies have a big command over the marketplace and there is a lot of tension between the two. I think it’s difficult to say which is best, and of course different aspects of each company continue to change making them both kind of moving targets.
My goal here wasn’t really to say which of these was best, but to talk about different aspects of each of these “essential oil powerhouses” in the midst of my search for the best essential oil company and point out some of my concerns with both of them.
What do you think?
Do you think one is better than the other or would you rather not work with either of them?
Which Essential Oil Company Do I Prefer?
To find out which essential oil company I went with at the end of this search, read this post:
– Announcing “the Best” Essential Oils Company – Part 7
you can also read the other parts of the series here:
The Rest of the Best Essential Oils Series:
– Which Essential Oils Company is Best? – Part 1
– What a Good Essential Oils Company Should Have – Part 2
– Which Essential Oils Company is Best – Troubles with the Oils Industry – Part 3
– Are Multi-Level Marketing Oils Worth It? – Part 5
– Distillation, Bias, Vomit and Personal Attacks – Part 6
The information here is for entertainment purposes only.
Please consult a medical professional before changing your diet, exercise program, or before trying any natural remedies.
“The” Essential Oil Safety Book
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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.
Whenever there’s a great deal on essential oils (or other healthy living deals) I let my readers know about it–believe me, you won’t want to miss out.
Of Young Living or doTERRA, which company do YOU prefer?
Why is the post called “Which Essential Oils Company Is Best” then at the end of the article say “My goal here wasn’t really to say which of these was best…” – Incredibly annoying to read the whole article and then read that at the end.
Hi there “G”–that is b/c you are confusing the title of the series with the title of the post. You came in at the middle. I started with this post as the beginning and that was the first in the series to find which company I wanted to go with.
If you note, the title says “series”–my goal wasn’t to determine which of Young Living and doTERRA were better–it was to talk about pros and cons of both companies in the middle of the series.
Hope that clarifies. Thanks for reading.
OH! LOL! Sorry then… will enjoy reading the whole thing :o) x
Thanks for being so kind in your response. I understand it’s confusing. The whole thing took on a life of its own. I hope to revisit the whole subject soon so if you’d like to subscribe we’d love to have you: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
I am buried deep in issues w/ our home and just got done researching air filters for many many hours but I hope to get back to this :).
I’m an essential oil producer/broker here in Washington, specifically peppermint, spearmint and roman chamomile. I grow peppermint and spearmint for the company that sells to DoTerra.
In any competitive market, 99% of the time a seller of anything will never reveal the origins or specific components of their product to anyone unless required to by law. If DoTerra listed all their origins, they might as well fax their list of suppliers to all their competitors and wait to be undersold. Don’t think they don’t watch each other.
If your peppermint smells candy-like, it was formulated that way. So is most of the peppermint you consume like in candy and toothpaste and that’s why one doesn’t taste like the other, but both use peppermint.
Yes, it is possible that both Young Living and DoTerra source from the same supplier, purchasing is based on availability, consistency and price. Some oils only are only available in one location.
Not all their oils can be unadulterated, because that’s sometimes how they come from the source and there’s nothing that can be done about it. When you’re buying from 3rd world countries where there’s no government standards, you get what you get.
You probably don’t see a lot of “organic” oils due simply for the small availability and the price. It’s not worth keeping on the shelves to wait for those who can fork out double the price for it. (Also, be careful it’s certified and not just organic. I’m organic, but not certified.
As for whether one company is better than the other, I’d go with whomever you feel provides you with a superior product. Neither are out to do you harm.
Thanks for commenting!
A few questions:
1. So you stated that not all of Young Living or doTERRA’s oils could be unadulterated b/c that is the way that they get them and nothing can be done about it. Of course they could reject them–correct?
2. You mentioned that one should be careful to get certified organic only but then mentioned that your oils are not certified. I’m not following why you would recommend that someone buy something which you can’t sell. Could you clarify, please?
3. As for no one being out to do harm…I assume you mean neither Young Living nor doTERRA? I ask b/c there are other companies out there for sure selling adulterated oils knowingly, which I would consider doing harm in the sense that they are cheating people.
4. Do you sell oils to either of these companies (if you are able to share)?
Thank you!
Hi Adrienne,
1, These oils don’t arrive on little brown UPS trucks. No, there’s no return policy on sea freight. I’m sure some oils get rejected upon testing and I wouldn’t be surprised if both YL and DT have a warehouse somewhere with a stack of 55 gallon drums with unusable oil sitting in the corner.
2, Little joke there. You can label anything as “Organic” if it was or is a living thing and I’m a living thing and could be technically labeled as “Organic”. Point being if you DO buy organic, make sure the label contains the word “certified”.
3, Both YL and DT test their oils when they get them. The most common thing they’re going to find in adulterated oils are “thinners” like glycerine or propylene glycol. Are you getting cheated? That’s up to you. “They’re not out to get you” meaning they’re not going to send out oil that’s obviously going to do you harm. They wouldn’t stay in business very long if they did that.
4, No, I don’t.
Glad to help!
Hi again.
1. So I assume you mean that when these companies state that they reject oils that don’t meet their standards (not just referring to YL and DT) that they have to keep them?
2. Yes, of course just the word organic doesn’t mean much–wish it were the other way around that the stuff w/ a ton of pesticides had to bear the cost but ah well.
3. I do think that if you are getting a thinner in your oil that you are being cheated b/c buyers are told that they are getting pure oils.
Thank you!
1, Yes, they have to keep them.
2, I could write all day about organic labels.
3, Case closed. But don’t think the problem is limited to YL and DT. Unless you’re growing the plants and distilling your own oils, you can never really know what you have.
Pro tip:
The thing about “thinned” oils is they’re actually quite a bit thicker. If you’ve got a bottle that’s less than full, shake it next to your ear. If it makes a “poink poink” sound like motor oil it’s probably been thinned. If it makes a splashing sound and you can hear bubbles forming, it’s pure.
Joe
Thanks again.
1. Perhaps some of them are referring to tests they do before purchasing but I get your point. Makes sense from what I have heard in that sometimes companies have mentioned receiving on oil that is different from the sample they originally got–which puts the blame squarely on the broker or other supplier it seems to me.
2. Maybe you should :).
3. Of course it isn’t limited to them. I have seen many third party test results of essential oils where the oils failed purity testing. Testing is crucial but even then not perfect.
Thanks for the tip but I have heard that adulterating is much more sophisticated these days so it can be lookalike oils that are cheaper, etc as well which wouldn’t be detected by this kind of test. Nonetheless, it’s appreciated.
I have found so much value in this conversation between you and Joe. Thank you both for being willing participants to help enlighten people such as myself, who is merely at the ‘tip of the iceberg’ in regards to knowledge of essential oils. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
You are so welcome! Hope to see you around again. More to come on this topic and more!
Thank you for sharing all of your research! Very helpful!
You are so welcome!
I love (and prefer) Young Living oils, but their member services and functionality of their member service is below average. I wish I could just walk away but I have built up 12 months worth of consistent purchasing rewards….
Hi there. What happens if you redeem–can’t you leave then? What things have been a problem for you?
Good article…I’ll have to go back and read the first 3 parts. Let me be honest and say up front I’ve skimmed your article as it’s already past my bedtime, but as I’m finishing up my certification program in aromatherapy I can tell you that essential oils – if you’re buying reputable products – are either certified organic or wild crafted. So if any company is selling anything other than that, it’s because it’s their choice.
Also, in reference to the CPTG testing that doTerra implements, that’s not recognized by the industry standards for quality control of pure, unadulterated essential oils…I’m not even for sure what it is and I believe that it’s an internal testing method. Aromatherapy schools and professional essential oil companies who teach about and sell only certified organic or wild crafted essential oils are backed with GCMS certification, which is the industry standard.
Also, the National Aromatherapy Holistic Association sets the standards for professional aromatherapy education. I’m currently studying through Aromahead Institute and upon my completed studies I’ll be certified as a clinical aromatherapist. Some of the reputable EO companies are Aromatics Int’l, Stillpoint Aromatics and Mountain Rose Herbs, just to name a few.
You are correct in your assumptions that the aromatic plants grown in their own indigenous countries are the most pure and therapeutic…not grown here in the states. In addition – even in their indigenous settings – the chemical constituents can change in the same species of plant depending on the time of year harvested, how much rain was received, or any other changes in the environment that are prone to happen from time to time because of Mother Nature whims.
I have many more things I could add but you’re probably already tired of my ranting lol…thanks for your diligence in seeking out the truth.
Thanks for reading and no, I’m not at all thinking you are ranting! I will add that Mountain Rose Herbs was not doing any testing for years. I don’t know what they are doing now but they finally did some testing and found multiple adulterated oils. Thanks again!
Sourcetoyou.com is doTerra’s 3rd party testing site. You can enter the code on the bottom of your bottle and get results for that exact batch in your hand. No other company offers this. APRC is doTerra’s (and many other companies 3rd party testing). After the oil is distilled, a sample is sent to them, if it’s 100 percent pure doTerra accepts it. Then after it ships to doTerra another sample is thoroughly tested by APRC. doTerra also does it’s own in house testing to assure it’s 10it’s 100 percent pure.
First of all, thank you for doing all of the work and writing presented here and in your other posts! I have recently sent an email to doTerra asking them to delete my profile and membership (haven’t gotten a reply yet). The more I read about doTerra’s prices, so called “certification” (which in reality is just a registered trademark), health advices, and the more I read about MLM-structure, I decided I don’t want to be part of or support any of it. There are so many other places and companies to buy from, and I am also interested in buying as much organic as possible.
I just wanted to add something to your number 6. “Country of origin.” I found this “map” and list, it’s a Norwegian website from one of the doTerra-sellers here. But the main subject of the post is possible to understand even if you don’t speak Norwegian. Here is the link to it: http://www.gaverfrajorden.no/source/
Thanks! I have seen sourcing maps but they are confusing. I hope to dig into this more in the future–thanks for reading!
I bought from an organic company called melaluca. Their claim is that a multitude of these oils came from the exact same manufacturer. So young living, doterra, and melaluca all came from the same company but the others had a much higher price. If you go on you tube and look it up I’m sure you can find it. I love all the products from that company, they just had a large price tag and you had a monthly minimum order. It may be something that’s worth looking into if you are still interested.
Hi Amy–thanks for reading and commenting. I have some friends who sell Melaleuca. I have seen some information about that as well–from several sources. I would suspect it isn’t all of the same sourcing for all of the same oils but I mentioned that in this post too–if you go back and see I touched on it. Hope to see you around again!
I love the story behind doterra. About the certified organic is a problem for me because the last time I checked the companies are only required to be 70% organic to get the label. So not sure of that is awesome.
Hi there. I would love to hear what about the story you love. About the organic, actually there are different kinds of labels re: organic.
1. There is 100 percent organic
2. There is organic which is at least 95%
3. Made with organic means at least 70%.
After that you can indicate which ingredients are organic with something like an asterisk.
Hope that helps. I didn’t understand the last sentence of your comment–can you explain, please?
Hi, I am loving this series, thanks. About the “organic” issues. Organic certification is issued by the FDA and the USDA. FDA makes the Guidelines and USDA enforce/certify. That would mean that all products sourced outside of the U.S.A. cannot be certified, yes there are many agricultural products sold in this country that are certified yet from another country. Like all American laws, there are loopholes, if the farm is owned and operated by an American company or if the farm is involved in a sourcing program regulated or tied into USDA and there is always the possibility of more shady concepts such as American companies that own organic certified farms here but outsource to other countries when supply is needed. Also, other countries do have their own certification process, which is where you see the organic products from other countries. Now, why can’t Doterra follow the steps to become certified? Whole other thing but I do believe it has more to do with the fact that for that particular company its just not worth the investment of legal fees, paper pushing, marketing campaign, and product redesign. They seem to do just fine without it.
Thank you for reading. Actually you can certify them in other countries. I have heard mixed things on this….one company states that getting things certified isn’t that expensive. I think it depends on the certification company, etc. But some of them are quite reasonable from what I have seen so I’m not sure what to think. I would like to find out more about this and would love to hear more details from doTERRA.
You might want to check into when plants are harvested which might have something to do with the way it’s distilled. My thinking is if the plant is harvested at its peak the quality of the oil when distilled is going to be first distilled. As a opposed if it was harvested after peak season. It might also have something to do with the quality when the plants where harvested. If they didn’t get enough sunlight or water, it will effect the grade of the oil. There definitely a science to it. Another thought is they might add new plants to a batch that’s already been distilled making it a second distilled. Kind of what I do with my tea bags. I know I can get another cup of tea from it because it’s that strong. Or I would add a new tea bag to the one I’ve already used. Hope this shedds some light on this topic.
Hi there. Basically the distillation is very complicated but also simple. Some are saying that peppermint can be distilled twice while others are saying no, but there was never any assertion that it was more than peppermint and ylang, etc that were being distilled any way other than one way. Hope that helps. There are some comments on the posts that address this and I believe I updated the posts. Thanks for reading! You might want to sign up for updates as I hope to revisit this: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
so have you ever did any thing with earthroma oils let me know
I haven’t looked into them. Sorry. I would check this post for quality standards you can review for any company: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/ . I hope to come back to this topic in the near future–you can get updates here: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
I was really looking forward to your review on Mountain Rose Herbs. I’m not sure if I missed something, or you didn’t cover that company in depth. I read through all of you blog posts and it seems like everything was about YL or doT.
Hi there – I stopped talking w/ them at the beginning of the process since they told me that they weren’t produced in a food grade facility. I was of the impression that that was important so I stopped there. They also said that they didn’t test their oils but instead trusted their suppliers. Years later they told me that they had tested oils and found a number of adulterated oils, including organic ones. Since then more things have come to my attention so I’m not recommending them at this time. I hope that helps. I hope to revisit this topic soon–you can sign up for updates here: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
One fact you’ve brought out in one of your articles I disagree with. With Young Living you’re not required to buy or sell $100 a month. To stay active as a rep it’s $100 in a whole year.
Your not required to with d?Terra either.
if you want to receive a commission from DoTerra, you need to spend at least $100 a month. It is one reason why I won’t become a rep.
Thanks for sharing the information!
I have tried 2 different brands – Doterra and Twenty8 essential oils. Twenty8 is based in New Zealand and is 100% organic (No petrochemicals, No chemicals, No artificial Colours, No artificial aromas, No mineral oils used in their products). Even after following dilution guide, Lavender oil of Doterra gives me and my husband bad headache. We love Twenty& oils and blends in diffuser and topical. The effect is evident and feels like it is a high quality product. Maybe because it is so well produced (organic, chemical free, etc) we smell and feel the difference. I have heard that based on the quality of irrigation (floods affecting country of origin of the oil production) affect the smell of oils. A regular or an expert person using it will smell the difference.
Lavender comes under ‘top note’ category (aromatic note classification -top, middle and base). So it quickly evaporates and is light in aroma. But the Doterra lavender is quite dense. Also some of the blends of Doterra are quite strong. Not to forget Doterra is big brand as a MLM. They are trying to get more products in the market using essential oils. I use their daily supplements and that is effective. But for using essential oils I would prefer a genuine organically produced oils than Doterra who is more business minded.
It’s a pity that I cannot buy more Twenty8 oils because the custom charges are quite high. I live in Belgium.
You are so welcome! Hope to see you around again–interesting comments on lavender oil for sure.
After reading this, I would like to know which company you went with?
Thank you,
Emily
Hi there – thanks for reading! I just updated the bottom of the post to make it more clear where you can find the company that I decided on. Please let me know if that makes it easier to find and would be interested in hearing what you think!
So it looks like you went with Rocky Mountain Oils? I am not in it for the business aspect, but only am concerned with the quality of ingredients and the quality of the process used to make the oils. I noticed that your Frankincense is almost 1/2 the price of Young Living’s. (I only purchased 2 oils from a friend and am just getting interested in all of the benefits of other oils). How can it be so much less? Is the quality the same, if not better at Rocky Mountain?
Yes, I did. Which Frankincense were you looking at w/ RMO? And which w/ Young Living? There are different types.
You are nothing, but a person who didn’t site any real.pear reviewed research and a scammer yourself.adrienna. all of your sources magically dissapeared. You illufed every question every person asked and provide zero back ground on your expertise. Let alone real research. Then, you are tying to con people into your rock Mountain business. Man, your a bad con artist at best. A bad one.
Hi Ryan. I’m puzzled by your comment on a number of levels.
1. What peer (that is how it is spelled) reviewed research did you want me to post on this topic?
2. Why do you think I’m a scammer?
3. The sources that disappeared–what sources are you talking about?
4. I assume by illufed you mean “eluded”? What question would you like me to address. There are some questions I can’t answer due to concerns for anonymity or legal concerns. Otherwise I would venture to say that I am one of the most honest bloggers out there–willing to go back on things that I found out I was recommending that were wrong. Perhaps you should stick around my blog for awhile as you will see it happen again almost for sure.
5. I never said that I had expertise on this topic. I am an investigative style mom blogger who digs for information. I don’t say this to toot my own horn but I know things about many topics that most do not know only because I tend to dig deep.
6. I don’t have a “rock Mountain business”–I am an affiliate for them just as almost every single blogger is an affiliate for Amazon and other companies.
Please do explain. I would ask that you try to give me the benefit of the doubt next time, however. Thank you. May I ask if you are a representative for Young Living or doTERRA?
I first started out with young living, then they upped their mom monthly purchase for their points system. I found it too stressful to meet the requirements, so I canceled my membership. I started with doterr. My main complaint is having to buy a kit picked out by them to start. While I knew what oils I wanted. But couldn’t order the equivalent amount in the items I preferred.
What I would like to see is a loyalty system without the pressure to buy monthly. I feel like they’re trying to scam me. Just makes me loose trust, when they have to make you commit.
Right now I am looking for a high quality oil without the pressure to buy every month. I feel like a fish on a line!
thanks for your info and time!
You are so welcome! You can get a loyalty program with the company I recommend: https://wholenewmom.com/announcing-the-best-essential-oils-company-and-a-great-sale/
and right now you can get a free oil w/ purchase: https://wholenewmom.com/whole-new-mom-healthy-living-deals/
Hope that helps!
You should take a look at Plant Therapy. They have an entire kidsafe line that was made in collaboration with Robert Tisserand. Unlike doterra and young living, plant therapy posts their third party GC/MS reports right on each product page and it’s listed by batch number. Ylang ylang complete actually has more therapeutic benefits than its first distillation.
Hi there. Yes, I looked at them when I started this process and didn’t go w/ them for several reasons. I hope to revisit this issue hopefully in the not too distant future. In the meantime, if you’d like to sign up for updates you can do so here: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
I’m inundated with other personal and professional things but I have started working on this again as I have been able.
Thanks much!
I don’t trust MLM companies, and I use to be a distributor for Jamberry, SeneGence, and Norwex. I had a horrific experience with Monat, and then my SeneGence company started selling the same toxic hair products. I swear by essential oils, but I view MLM companies as scams so I did a lot of research on which non-MLM company had the best quality essential oils. I came across Rocky Mountain Oils and Plant Therapy Oils. They are both really great quality oils so I buy them both. Mostly the organic ones, bit if they don’t have the oil I need in organic then I go with the regular.
Hi Brittany. A lot of MLMs do have issues. Of course, there are issues w/ non MLMs too and I have had to remove both from my blog. I’m confused about your comment about SeneGence and toxic hair products. Did you mean the same products as Monat? Thanks!
I’ve been using YL for a few years now. I have zero complaints. Where some see the issue with court case as a negative. I see their response to the situation as a positive. They were forthcoming, open, made the necessary changes so that there were more checks and balances to stop it from happening again. They were so transparent during the whole ordeal that the judge made comments about it in his final notes. Isn’t that the same as your statement of ‘admitting when you’re wrong.’ That was considered a good quality no?
The farms may be visited by anyone at any time. My daughter has been to several. She sees first hand and has taken part in the planting, harvesting. The hand weeding. The distillation process. Observed the batch testing and grading.
Items go out of stock. If it doesn’t make the grade it doesn’t get sold.
I know that YL frowns upon unsubstantiated claims. You can’t control individual people, just like you can’t control the Safeway produce helper either. What comes out of people’s mouths is out of HO control. They are told what they can and cannot say though and there are consequences for not abiding by the rules.
Network marketing is not MLM – just thought I’d say that.
Also, I have seen first hand the ethical nature of Young Living. I was more impressed by it than anything else. Many YL members have been touched by the fires of late. YL was there to help and stand by their people. It’s a good company. And people who work hard – and no, I don’t sell the product – They do very well for their efforts. I would much rather help support a young mom raising kids than a box store. Any day.
I will not speak of DoTerra because I do not use their oils.
Hello there. Can you tell me what you mean by “network marketing is not MLM” please? Thanks!
Young living has great eco-friendly packages. DoTerra still ships on plastic.
The number of oils on YL is great!
The FDA approved YL oils make me more confident to put those in my body. They are great for cooking!
I still love some of the DoTerra mixtures… and the little capsules
Hi there – my understanding is that the Young Living labeling for foods is not an approval but a necessary thing that Young Living had to do in order to get them labeled for food usage since you can only have 2 uses indicated on each label. In other words, it doesn’t indicate purity.
When did the FDA approve Young Living Oils? I do not think the FDA has approved any essential oil company as of 12-1-2018
My understanding is that they simply allowed a separate label that has internal use on it since the FDA will not allow more than 2 uses on any given label.