Young Living vs. DoTerra: Why I Ditched Both of Them
This post may contain affiliate links from which I will earn a commission. Learn more in our disclosure.
If you use essential oils, you’ve likely wondered at some point 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 one is the better choice.
In this post, I look at both companies in a different way than most other writers do. I worked with both companies, and now work with neither. Read on for my thoughts including some information you’ve likely never heard before.
When I started using Young Living oils, I was pretty excited about the results we got, but later had second thoughts about ethical issues regarding the founder. So, I decided to try doTERRA.
There were some good things about both companies, but soon I ended up in the middle of a lot of complicated information.
Following are some basic points comparing doTERRA vs. young living, but we’ll also get into the weeds. I think you’ll see why I came to the conclusion that I did, of not being a sales rep for either company.
Side note, please know that I’m not sharing all of my concerns with these companies because some companies are eager to sue and I don’t need that in my life.
Enter your email & I'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus, you'll get healthy living updates too.
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. In fact, 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. In fact, they can definitely be 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 it’s important to give credit where credit is due.
Problems With Young Living
Reputation and Ethics
Young Living literally made essential oils mainstream and that’s something to be applauded.
However, there are some pretty not-so-savory things on the internet 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 also making misleading statements related to the sourcing of Frankincense oils. (source and source)
OSHA Violations
OSHA is the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, a government agency in the US that has the purpose of making sure that working conditions are safe for employees.
While looking into both companies, I found out that Young Living has 20 OSHA violations, with 10 of them being referred to as “serious.”
To be fair, Young Living is a company that’s been around for a long time, 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 and some people consider some of the OSHA violations to be ridiculously stringent, but in this case the lid of a distilling vessel blew of, killing the man who was working right by it.
If Young Living cleaned up their procedures correctly, then possibly their new procedures are now better than ever. However, it’s still worth noting.
At the time I wrote this post, I didn’t find other companies having OSHA violations, but I didn’t look into all of them, as there are too many for me to do so. However, note that doTERRA now has a violation which you can see more information on 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 many other companies source their oils from wherever the plants grow naturally for higher quality.
Misleading Effectiveness Claim
In the enrollment literature that I got from Young Living, a Thieves® Oil brochure mentioned this study. It was cited to addressed 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 and not 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).
This of course wasn’t an official spectrometry test, and none of us is a trained 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, all or many 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 Spikenaard oils between 2014 and 2016.
However, this whole topic is very confusing because apparently 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, the book, My Word Made Flesh, was sent out to many high ranking Young Living distributors. the book was cowritten 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,” making this book problematic for many (source and source).
I heard that the book was removed from the internet, but it appears that you can buy My Word Made Flesh here.
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 their 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 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 (source). 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 Put 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'” (source).
DoTERRA claims on their website that every oil that they well 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 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. (source).
Is doTERRA’s Peppermint a Complete Distill?
This 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.
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?
In one video, one of the founders of doTERRA stated that their peppermint smelled amazing because it was from Washington. However, other peppermints are sourced from Washington as well, so that can’t be the reason, unless all of them from Washington have the same scent.
Then later, a representative told me that 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 distill 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 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 and is of highest therapeutic quality.
Ingredient Labeling Problems
Thanks to Kitchen Stewardship, I realized that doTERRA didn’t used to disclose all of the oils in their bug repellant blend. At the time she wrote that post, the label stated that it was a “proprietary blend.” No thanks. Not including ingredients on a 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 (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.
Lack of Country of Origin Transparency
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 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 that 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 really 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 a ways in which each is better than then other. However, there are also some negatives that both companies share, mostly due to them being MLM essential oil companies.
However, there’s another odd thing that I found out when looking at both companies.
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 have the same source for at least some of their oils.
Here’s the evidence for this.
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 not showing at that link now unless you pay to see it.)
- 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, 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 if 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 them.
My Preferred Source for Essential Oils
I hope to revisit this topic in the near future, but for now, you can see what happened when I started looking to find a quality essential oils 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 are your thoughts about these companies and this information?
Thanks so much for your incredible research. I have always went with YL mainly because the store I worked in carried them. Then life got busy I moved on to other journey’s and have come full circle back to oils again. YL was not going to be my first choice again and although about 1 mile from my house is a big distributor of doTerra, it just wasn’t working for me. Now I feel after some checking I will try Rocky Mountain. This is all for personal use. Not looking to sell or practice. Only refer friends as needed. So I am appreciative for all your hard work. Thanks truly, thanks. Very informative!
You are soooo welcome! Happy to answer any questions. I hope they work well for you. I will most hopefully be writing more about essential oils in the near future so stay tuned :)!
I was curious to know if you have tried to research the batches of oils (indicated by the serial numbers on the bottom of each bottle). With these batch numbers, you will be able to see the tests that were run on each of these specific oils. All of the oils are 3rd party tested as well.
Hi there. What would you like to know about the batches?
I love essential oils! In my own research, however, there is no such thing as “Therapeutic Grade” for oils. To claim that is rubbish and a ploy to get you to buy something.
Yes, it can be complete rubbish. Here is a post I wrote that includes that information: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/essential-oil-purity-myths/
The information was well known at the time it happened. I was in YL since 1995 so I remember getting that letter from Gary Young about Do Terra and the compliance issue…yes I’m sure now in 2019 they are very much careful of what their distributors say but this was a long time ago, when they got in trouble for saying things they weren’t suppose to. Whereas Young Living, when I first joined in 1995 I was told by my upline to never ever say the oil cured anything. So I was in compliance always. When I got that letter from GaryYoung, I was shocked that distributors were saying those things. In fact I stopped selling Young Living at vendor fairs because I couldn’t compete with Do Terra distributors saying their oil cured diseases. Customers would ask me if my oil cured disease and I had to say what Young Living told me to say, then they went over and bought from the Do Terra vendor. Whereas when I asked a Do Terra distributor at a health fair that I only attended (not as a vendor), they told me what all there oils cured. So I had first hand experience with this. I still use YL oils but haven’t sold any except to family and friends for years because of the lies some distributors say. It’s just too hard to compete for sales, when you have to stay compliant and others don’t.
Interesting. So are you saying that doTERRA has since stopped this practice?
Essential oils do not heal, they bring good being, that’s why we cannot say that they heal, I am in France, I do not know in other countries, but if we said that essential oils heal, we would be out the law, because it is like practicing illegal medicine. Oils are not recommended depending on the individual person. And the work we do is to know the product & especially the person, also tell them to talk to a doctor before use.
Most Young Living Distributors know this but the reason there is tension between Young Living and Do Terra is that Young Living sued Do Terra years ago after Do Terra was an established business…why…..because former corporate Young Living managers quit Young Living and stole the formulas and other documents and then they used that information to create their own line of oils. This is why Do Terra oils and Young Living oils are so similar. They only needed to add a bit more of one of the ingredients to change it slightly, which is allowed so as to make that oil their own formula. Unfortunately the lawsuit wasn’t started by Young Living until Do Terra had a huge foothold on the essential oil market industry. By that time it was too late to stop Do Terra and the thousands of distributors they had.
Another reason for the tension is that Do Terra distributors think it is ok to say that their oils CURE DISEASE…which is a no-no. I remember Gary Young writing an email to everyone of his distributors, years ago telling us that if we ever made a claim about curing disease like the Do Terra distributors were doing that we would be dismissed from Young Living, losing our business and our downline. The FDA came after Do Terra for spouting those cure comments and then lumped Young Living into the complaint since at that time, these were the only essential oils companies out there. So Gary got on top of it making sure his distributors were compliant with the FDA. I get upset when people tell me Young Living is the same as Do Terra or that Do Terra is better. Young Living has integrity and also has complied with the FDA regulations. I’ve been with a Young Living since 1995, so I remember what all has happened with Do Terra’s beginnings
Hi there. That is interesting that you state that about doTERRA distributors because my experience is that doTERRA is very very heavy handed in not allowing their distributors to say anything about any kind of disease–even to the extent that it used to be that if a blogger was a rep for them and had anything on their site that seemed like anything close to medical advice, they would ask the blogger to remove that even if it wasn’t related to oils. Where did you get that information?
As she said it was years ago. doTERRA has since (at the corporate level at least) put a ban on that kind of talk. There ARE still a large number of reps that still make the “Cure” claim to help them sell the products. My own “up-line” has a naturopathic degree and will talk about doTERRA oils using something along the lines of ” We can’t legally SAY these oils cure but….”
Adriana, I’ve learned in my 82 years that the best source of information is God and that being prayerful and feeling inside for our answers is the only way to really know for sure. All this other stuff is mental and leaves out the Spiritual so in the final analysis, God only knows and we all have the ability to tune into Him.
Yes, I would agree that God is a fantastic source of information. However, I would also say that it’s never a good idea to just go by feelings to sort out what is the truth.
By the way, have you written about your testimonial about your experience with essential oils anywhere? I also would be interested in knowing if you ever used any other brand of essential oils or was it Young Living from the start and nothing since? What is your favorite oil?
I tried to write you an answer back to your email but your return email doesn’t work. I think the best oil for anyone has to be pure and uncontaminated. So what you get depends upon the source and the testing. And It may help to have it grown where you live since it seems food is best for us that way, but who can always do that with food or e-oils. If that was the case, none of us could have oils to use! It’s not easy distilling oil. I personally love YLEO I know they’re pure, even thought some people like to say bad things about Gary Young, it seems to always be that way when someone is successful. But I’ve been using yleo oils for 20 years and feel they’ve saved my life, I was poisoned on formaldehyde years ago and had a terrible struggle till I was introduced to YLEO and literally, the oils and pure personal care products are wonderful and would be good for anyone. Not only that, Gary and Mary Young, and they new managers since Gary has died are wonderful, loyal and dedicated people. So anything bad that is said about them, I do not believe. I know them personally and they are exceptionally, honest and true people and very very dedicated to providing the most pure and perfect products. I have friends who use do-Terra and love them. And I’m sure there are others that are good, it depends on the purity and whether or not they contain the naturally occurring properties as in nature. It would be good if we could all grow our own but have you ever tried to distill an oil? It’s a very laborious job! I for one will be forever grateful for Gary and Mary Young and their dedication and yes I’ve heard the bad stuff but it seems that’s the way it is when someone is successful, someone always has to try to take them down. The best way to find which oil is best is to try them out for yourself. If anyone has any questions about yleo, I’d be happy to respond.
Hi there. Do you mean that you clicked reply in your email and that didn’t work? If so, what did you see?
It is great to talk here regardless b/c then others can learn from our conversation.
Yes, pure and unadulterated is great. Adding a carrier oil or less expensive oil isn’t dangerous, but it’s deceptive.
It is better to use indigenous plants due to the quality of the plant, typically.
As for YL purity, there have been some reports about their oils being adulterated, but the company responded. That kind of analysis gets pretty technical.
I am not saying that YL isn’t good in saying this, but trying an oil really isn’t enough at all to determine if it’s best b/c even adulterated oils can work well–you need to look at the whole picture including testing, sourcing, etc., and then a lot of it comes down to believing and trusting b/c a company could even put up false tests results and it would be very hard to know that. This has for sure happened.
I’m glad you have had so many positive experiences :).
Thank you for this article. I’ve been using DoTerra for several years now based on all of the positive banter online but my nose tells me different. When I compare DoTerra side by side with YL, I’m sorry but YL hands down, smells so much purer/cleaner to me. DoTerra has a clear chemical undertone which makes me think they use chemical extraction. I’ve also been turned off by the fact their lemon oil tastes nothing like lemon when I add it to my water but perhaps this is because it’s oil as opposed to juice? Either way, I’ve recently converted back to YL and could not be happier. If only the process to finding out the truth were easier and more transparent, ugggg!
You are so welcome! I hope to revisit this topic in the near future–you’re welcome to sign up for updates here: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/ . Hope to see you around again!
This article intrigued me and irritated me all at once. Lol. First the use of the word Indigenous. Indigenous plants or “native” plants are plants that grow naturally in a given environment, in a geologic time- and this includes plants that have occurred naturally, and develop or existed for many years in an area. To say that lavender is NOT an indigenous plant of North America is not entirely correct. Lavender grows like wildflowers in some areas where I am from. As do many other healing plants. If it is grown in a greenhouse where its growth is cured and manipulated, then of course it is not considered Indigenous. I studied landscape design and garden maintenance and plant identification and knowledge is a huge part of that. As well as being an absolute plant and essential oil enthusiast. My naturopath doctor used Do terra, and she wanted me to rep. I love Do terra, even drank it, but what I found is their essential oil scents never lasted long. I never found them chemical smelling. ONE THING TO REMEMBER is FDA regulations and ALL regulations differ between Canada and the United States and I MEAN DIFFER. You can buy a jar of Nutella in America, Canada and Italy and neither of them will taste the same as the other. Canada puts too much sugar in it, Italy’s tasts like hazelnut & Cacao more and America’s tastes more like chocolate. Same with essential oils. Regulations differ worldwide and unfortunately oils and distributors or rather manufacturing and production MUST adhere to the guidelines of the country they are being manufactured in. So I’ve used essential oils from China that smell more toxic than say America. I’ve used ones from Canada that smell more pure than America. I’ve used ones in America that smell more pure than Canada. But I did find Do terra’s scents don’t last quite as long. If I took lavender seeds and rubbed them on my wrists, they lasted longer. Some of Do terra’s employees have now started Saje. Sage is also. quite pure and really lovely and they do work. Utterly beautiful essential oils. Do Terra’s oils also work, I have used them extensively. As for YL I haven’t used them enough but the ones I have, have worked efficiently for me. There is NO ONE SOLUTION FITS ALL in essential oils as it is like perfumes, and I mean expensive perfumes, real perfumes. I could put Dolce & Gabbana on my wrist and it smells flowery, if my husband put it on, it smelled musky. IT depends on YOUR BODY CHEMISTRY, as well, and what part of your body needs healing. I’ve gone into my naturopath some days and Frankincense and sweet orange have lifted my spirits and grounded me. Other days Frankincense made me turn my cheek. The philosophy with oils is that your body tells you what you need at the time because the oil is attributed to body parts and what needs to be healed. So if one oil tempts your buds one day and not another, it could be that’s not what needs to be healed for that day.
Some of my favourite oils and many will argue the purity of course, are the Aura Cacia. They are versatile, consistent and they never fail to give me results and the scent is longer lasting. I have been using them for 30 years. I never ever though use ALL one brand or another because life is not like that. It’s like saying you only like English Lavender and not French but even within the English Lavender there are varying smells. So much goes into it, I mean even in terms of the crops. There are so many levels to an oil that to say one is better I believe is wrong, there is only better FOR YOU. We do not all have the same body chemistry, genetics, environmental upbringing, illnesses, or ailments. What may “cure” one may not “cure” another and that is the joy of essential oils. (I used the word cure because I have been cured by essential oil therapy.) The endless possibilities that lie in fragrance because fragrance does heal. You only need to walk through a garden or a wooded area, or forest and smell the pines, plants and flowers and you have your answer. 🙂 OH and to respond to one statement above…Peppermint plants grown and distributed in Canada, really do smell like a Candy cane. I planted them, I’ve used them in water and drinks. Again, you have to take into consideration soil. It’s the whole reason wines don’t ever taste the same. Soil. Environment. Climate. Location of Sun 🙂
Hi there – I do plan to rework this post but alas – so little time! Anyhow, indigenous is often defined as being native and apparently lavender came here from Europe. So that’s where that information is from. I agree on the body chemistry part for sure and about soil variations, etc. Oils shouldn’t smell the same with each batch for sure!
Thanks for your due diligence!!
You’re so welcome!
I like to go with a company that does not charge alot for postage & handling. there are several other competent companies besides those two, that have high quality oils.Appreciate your advice & insight.
Thank you! I hope to revisit this topic in the near future. Hope to see you around again! You can subscribe here to updates if you’d like. https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
I see you did not mention the laws suit the two companies have agaist one another or that do Terra founders were once working for Youg living and broke way taking with with themboth experiance and trade secrets . I supposed that really is not the point the artriclel but is fanicilty to me any way
Hi there. Yes, you are right about that. What do you think about that? I know that there was a lawsuit but I heard that doTERRA won it if I’m not mistaken?
Sue Mitchel-Runow
9:25 AM (8 minutes ago)
i came to web this morning to try and see what has happened with cases, but I don’t know about the lawsuits yet….will look for more info. the search did bring me to your webp age again and am impressed with research you are doing. thank you so much
Hi again. I just looked it up and doTERRA seems to have won. That doesn’t mean that they were in the right b/c judges and juries can be wrong, but that is what happened. Thanks for the kind words!
Just online attempting to figure out the best essential oil to purchase….any ideas? I see other brands like piping rock, organic ones etc and obviously the big ones (doTerra and young living). I have one from doTerra but wasn’t wanting to spend quite that much but also wanted to get a pure oil. Help!
Hi Katherine. Welcome. I am planning to revisit this hopefully soon but you are actually in the middle of a series that I wrote. I might have to make the whole thing easier to navigate but here is the first post:
https://wholenewmom.com/the-great-essential-oils-showdown-in-search-of-the-best-essential-oils/
and here is the final one: https://wholenewmom.com/announcing-the-best-essential-oils-company-and-a-great-sale/
Hope that helps!
Hello – read most of your information on essential oils and your recommendation of Rocky Mountain Oils. I am from Canada and wonder if you have heard of or know of New Directions Aromatics
Yes, I have heard of them. I hope to revisit this in the near future–you can sign up for updates here if you like. Thanks! https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
Is there a way to reply to your email?
Yes I use godesana. The reasons I started with these was because when I found out that Alexandria Brighton was the original formulator for Young Living and heard her testimony about them becoming adulterated I was not much interested in YL anymore and that is one reason I think she may have divorced Gary, who knows. I also have heard that doterrra oils are also adulterated. I cannot say I know all of this to be fact. I used YL many many years ago and I would guess that is when Alexandria was formulating them. For some unknown reason I quit using them and when I went back a few years ago I sensed they were not the same. I received a massage with the godesana oils and knew something was right with them. I signed up. I have sensed that they have high integrity however how is one supposed to know that, Also I like the fact that we do no have to buy a sales kit to buy wholesale. I am very curious what you found about form visiting with them and why you are not doing a comparison. Please respond. I love to know about companies through background info because who know what they are telling us is on the up and up. NB
There should be a way reply in the email that you got w/ my comment on it–did you not see that? Please do let me know. There have been some glitches on the blog and I’m trying to get everything fixed!
I thought they seemed like a nice company but their sites are very hard to navigate and oils are pricey–they have about 5-6 different sites, if I’m not mistaken, and it’s very confusing. It’s hard to know everything about every company–and there are so many out there!! I’m hoping to dig into this all again, but even so, I am not able to post everything I have found out b/c of threats, etc.
have you ever checked out Alexander Brighton’s oils sold through Go Desana?
Hi there. Yes, I did. In fact I spoke with the company for quite awhile. Do you use them?
I prefer doTerra. The founders started with Young Living and broke off when they decided to source from the countries of origin. Young Living has some great oils too. My preference just happens to be doTerra.
Hello.
I distill oils in Indonesia.
You do not seem to have a good grasp on the issue of organic certification.
Some countries just do not have this available(such as Indonesia), but the laws do not allow spraying of pesticides/herbicides for most crops.
By demanding certification, you are not allowing third world countries that are very poor to export their livelihood and to make a better life for their families and communities.
The truth about organic certification is that the industry s very corrupt and the highest bidders win and get by not meeting the standards set for certification.
Go to the Cornucopia Institute to read about this problem
Thank You
Gary
Hi there, Gary. I appreciate your commenting (and reading!). I am totally open to this being the case–I have heard from several companies, however, that being certified organic isn’t that pricey. I am aware that so many of these things can be an issue–and of course there are loopholes. I know for some the certification can give great reassurance, but I know of one company that really appears to be lying. What are we to do?
Can you tell me how much it costs for a company to be certified organic?
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?