What Company Has the Best Essential Oils?
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Are you wanting to start using essential oils, but don’t know where to start? You’re ready to buy, but don’t know what company has the best essential oils?
You’ve come to the right place.
Essential oils are all the rage these days. People say that they can do everything from being a natural ear infection remedy, to helping with weight loss, to healing eczema, and more.
I’ve written various posts on essential oils in which I talked about:
- Are Essential Oils a Scam and
- Using Essential Oils for Tummy Aches, Head Tension and More (with more of my skeptical thoughts)
Hopefully you can tell by those posts that I’m a skeptic at heart and pretty detailed when it comes to sorting through all the information out there to find out what really works. In fact, many of my readers and friends have called me an “investigative reporter” of sorts.
My husband says that I “second guess everything.”
In one sense, second guessing is a good thing. I’ve saved our family a lot of money by avoiding problematic purchases.
But sometimes I can go overboard and spend way too much time analyzing a product or purchase. (Kind of like driving all over town to save a few pennies. Not smart, especially as I saw gas at $4.11/gallon coming home from church last night. Big sigh.)
When trying to sort out this issue about which essential oils company is best, I tried not to be too analytical at first, and simply used what worked. But then, things changed.
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The Search for the Best Essential Oil
In the Are Essential Oils a Scam? – A Skeptic Looks at Thieves Oil, I shared how I held off trying really any essential oils at all for years before trying Thieves® from Young Living.
Truth be told, I did have a few old bottles of essential oils in my linen closet. One bottle each of orange, eucalyptus, melaleuca (tea tree) oil, and rose oil, which I bought for topical use to brighten up my laundry [ended up never using it] and for my Homemade Chest Rub and Homemade Rose Water Spray.
This time around, before buying the Thieves oil and signing up as a Young Living Distributor, I dug around a little, but not too much.
I asked about all the rumors surrounding Gary Young, the founder of Young Living and I also asked some questions about purity of essential oils.
I got some satisfactory answers and was pretty amazed at how well the Thieves oil had worked. And I was thrilled to have great resources in my natural health care arsenal.
I mean, who wants to put more toxins in your body if you don’t have to, right?
However, after my post on Young Living’s Thieves and the other oils (Wintergreen and Peppermint, etc.), a number of readers started asking me about other oil companies. And so I too started wondering.
At first, I thought, “This stuff works great, and I’m pretty worn out right now, so I am just going to leave this alone and not start digging for more information”
But the “investigative reporter” in me just couldn’t leave. it. alone.
So I started poking around.
Today I’m sharing with you the beginning of my investigation.
Other Essential Oils Companies
There were some essential oils companies that I knew of, and some that a few readers recommended to me.
One of my readers was a doTERRA rep who said I really should check out their company to see how it measured up to Young Living.
Little did I know what lay ahead of me.
I started out with just a small list of companies, but the list quickly grew as the series went on and as more and more readers commented and as I went down more and more rabbit trails.
I think you’ll find the whole thing interesting and I hope you’ll learn a thing or two about essential oils and the companies that sell them.
The Competitors:
(UPDATE: A lot changed after I started this series. Please follow the links at the bottom of this post to see how interesting everything got – you can hop on over to read Part 2 of “The Best Essential Oils” here.
To start off, following are the essential oils companies that were “on my radar” and so I started with these, wondering if I should stick with Young Living or switch to another company to be my family’s “best essential oils company” of choice
- Mountain Rose Herbs
- Aura Cacia
- DoTerra
- Young Living
- Heritage Oils
- Native American Nutritionals (now Rocky Mountain Oils)
- North American Herb and Spice
and more. Truth is, I called a TON of companies and read up on others. These all included: - NOW oils
- Butterfly Express
- Spark Naturals
- Edens Garden
- North American Herb and Spice, and on and on.My head really started to spin with all of the phone calls and notes I was taking, but I started with just those listed above and went from there.
This is not an exhaustive list as there are a TON of essential oils companies out there. After writing this series I felt like I really opened a can of worms, but these are the companies that I started with.
Hang with me – it gets pretty interesting from here on out.
IMPORTANT UPDATE
I’m updating this post years later to add important information. I do not have all of the information in this series on why I didn’t choose certain companies so I would appreciate you not accusing me of coming to silly conclusions. I have gotten threatening emails (some of them were cryptic threats), and have been warned about being sued if I published certain things.
My family is important to me and while I don’t like to succumb to this kind of bullying, I have to weigh the cost of all of this. I am trying to be as upfront as I can about my decisions. Just know that what you are reading here is not the whole story. Not at all.
The Challenge
Following are some of the companies that I looked into.
1. Young Living Oils
I first tried Young Living when I thought that essential oils were a scam. I used them for a while and since I wanted to get as many savings as possible on the oils, I purchased monthly, took advantage of discounts, and stocked up quite a bit.
2. doTERRA Oils
Just before starting this series, several of my readers told me that I should really look into doTERRA as well, before making a hard and fast decision about which company to go with long term. So, I signed up with doTERRA as well. Follow along and you will see what happened next.
3. Mountain Rose Herbs
I like Mountain Rose Herbs’ mission and have a few bottles of their oils. When I contacted them they told me that they did not recommend internal use of their oils as they were not produced in a food-grade facility.
Much later (after this whole series was done) I contacted them again and they said that this was not the case. The company also told me several times at later dates that they didn’t test their oils but trusted their sources.
4. Butterfly Express
This seemed like a good company to check out, but I ran into quite a bit of trouble getting information from them. When I called to ask them a number of questions, I was able to get some information, but then I was told that they didn’t have time to talk with me.
5. Native American Nutritionals (now Rocky Mountain Oils)
When I first contacted this company, I thought that their prices seemed a little high for a company that wasn’t an MLM, but the more I talked to them the more interesting it all got.
You’ll have to read more in the series to see what happened with this company….
THE VERDICT: Probable high quality with no apparent earnings opportunity. Need to check into this company more.
6. North American Herb and Spice
From all I could figure out, this is a great company.
However, all they make is oregano oil.
So if you just want oregano oil, then this is a good place to turn.
THE VERDICT: Oregano is a pretty amazing oil, but I want more than just that in my natural healing arsenal.
7. Aura Cacia
I personally have a number of Aura Cacia oils that I bought prior to really digging into oils. I can’t say anything except for my personal experience which is that they don’t smell as potent as some of the other oils that I have.
I do like the company but for now, I’m not choosing to get my oils from them. That being said, I think that they have a lot of great information about oils and their use.
Well, this is a long enough post already – thanks for sticking with me!
Onto the other competitors in the next post and see what happens!
A Great Essential Oils Book for Your Library
There are so many books out there on essential oils, that it’s hard to know what to buy. I have a bunch, but this one, The Encyclopedia of Essential Oils, is a fantastic choice. It’s very highly recommended by many aromatherapists.
Encyclopedia of Essential Oils
This is one of the bestselling essential oils books of all time with information on plant origins, therapeutic uses, folk traditions, and more of 165 oils. Great for everyone from beginners to experienced aromatherapists.
At the bottom of each of my posts in this series are books or other kinds of products that I love that relate to essential oils.
The Essential Oil Company I Prefer
If you’re in a hurry to find out which essential oil company I went with at the end of this search, read the following post:
– Announcing “the Best” Essential Oils Company – Part 7
More Essential Oils Posts
Over the years, I’ve rewritten some of the posts in this series to make them more helpful. Here are some more posts to help you on your essential oils journey.
– Qualities of a Good Oils Company
– Tips to Spot Fake Essential Oils
– Young Living vs. doTERRA
– Are Multi-Level Marketing Oils Worth It?
– Distillation, Bias, Vomit and More Concerns
you can also read this post on Essential Oils Testing which gives you more information on how essential oils are tested for purity.
Free Essential Oils Report and VIP Newsletter Access
Also, if you go and grab my Free Report on 10 Things to Know About Essential Oils Before You Buy, you will not only get more myth-busting essential oils information, but you’ll get access to my VIP newsletter as well–complete with updates, great healthy living offers, of course new posts on essential oils, and more.
What are your thoughts?
I’m I interesting in making things with the oils.
Great – welcome! There are a lot of options on my site (and elsewhere). What kind of thing are you interested in?
Here’s a Skin Scrub that I personally love: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/homemade-sugar-scrub/
Hi. My name is Mistie Hernandez. I’m a RN of 10 years, Mom of 3 daughters, I have an autoimmune disease called lupus which I was diagnosed with 5 years ago. The Meds either didn’t help, stopped helping, or had horrid side effects. One of my friends invited me to Young Living party. I signed up. The oils have not cured me but have given me back some quality of life, in many ways. I’m a believer that there is good in western medicine and eastern medicine and we are best when we take from both and find the balance that is right for each person as an individual each with specific needs. I’m just saying hello. I like reading the blog and all the different opinions. I think some could post more tactfully as there is no need to be rude or defensive. We will never find anyone we agree 100% with on everything. We should speak with truth, and respect. This is a great place to learn and share. I assume we are all adults here, so we should all act accordingly.
Welcome, Mistie! So glad you are doing better! I would love to hear what helped you. Have you heard about the AIP Diet? We have a pretty new Healthy Living Community on Facebook – thought you might like to know about it. We’d love to have you join us if you’re interested. Your heart about learning and being respectful is just what I would like this blog and that group to be about. https://www.facebook.com/groups/171490083677560/
Isn’t young living the only company who handles their products from seed to bottle?
I greatly appreciate your info!
Hi there. Actually there are more companies making this claim these days. Also, did you see that YL was caught exporting oils illegally and they said that they didn’t know it was happening? I am not saying that I know all of what was going on but how could that happen if they control everything from seed to bottle?
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/essential-oils-company-sentenced-lacey-act-and-endangered-species-act-violations-pay-760000
Well I found this site hoping to see a company that has 100% pure essential oils also for consumption. I feel if you can not use peppermint oil or other oils internally then something is wrong with that oil, perhaps I’m expecting too much here.
I am still scouring the net to find 100% pure peppermint oil so I can use it for spiders, ants, etc. But on the other hand if I want to make peppermint candy I can.
Thank you for all your investigations on these oils but either I’m not paying close enough attention or you haven’t listed a company with 100% essential oils also for consumption.
Hi and welcome. Ingesting of oils is something that of course is controversial. The issue is purity and not what a company says about whether it’s supposed to be used for that purchase or not. And then, of course, that it’s recommended that you be careful w/ ingestion and work w/ a practitioner or aromatherapist before doing so. However, if you have covered those bases (or choose not to) then really all you have to do it purchase a pure oil. My purity standards are here: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/ .
They are cautious regarding internal use, as am I, but that doesn’t mean that they are not pure.
Hope that helps!
Hi! I chanced upon your website and found it to be very insightful. I just started using essential oils and guess which company that found me? One of the largest MLM companies in the world!
I am not a big fan of MLM companies but I have heard the following from people around me:
“There are 5 grades of essential oils and Young Living is one of the highest grade.”
“Young Living went through 21 tests to check the purity and intensity of their oils. Their lab partner is one of the government appointed agencies. Most companies usually only go through 10-19 tests. The more tests conducted, the more pricey the fees.”
“Mountain Rose Herbs oils fall under between Grade 2 – 3”
“Rocky Mountain Oils has oils that belongs to Grade 3. They mainly get their oils from 3rd party oil distillery and quality control is a concern.”
“Grades of essential oils are determined by scent, purity, tests conducted, etc.”
Could you share with me your opinion on the above statements that I have gathered from different people around me?
Thank you very much!
Hi there. Thanks for reading!
So I have never heard of grades of oils. Can you direct me to where that information is coming from?
As for RMO, their purity guidelines are here, so I’m not sure of how their quality control is a concern: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/
Can you ask them that?
I have a lot of myths dispelled here: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/essential-oil-purity-myths/
Hope that helps. Feel free to reach back out. YL was caught exporting oils illegally which seems odd to me given their claim that they have a “seed to seal” guarantee b/c they stated that they didn’t know it was happening. How can they now know if they have control over everything?
Hi!
Thank you so much for your reply!
I am not too sure about the grading either because I can’t seem to find any such numerical grading system online. Apparently it is from a school’s textbook and only certified aromatherapists will know about it? Any aromatherapist here can help shed some light on this? Otherwise I can visit the library to try to find some text on it.
I am interested to learn more about this numerical grading system and if anyone can help, please do share your knowledge! 🙂
Hi again. I just looked this up and you can see here that it doesn’t exist. Did someone tell you this about the textbook?
https://naha.org/assets/uploads/The_Quality_of_Essential_Oils_Journal.pdf
Hope that helps. There is a lot of nonsense going around out there.
Hi, thanks so much for finding and sharing this information with me! It is much appreciated 🙂
You are so welcome! Thanks for reading and for commenting!
I am very interested in learning more about essential oils and how they can benefit me.
Welcome! Please feel free to sign up for my newsletter here: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
and we have a new Healthy Living Community here. We’d love to have you! https://www.facebook.com/groups/171490083677560/
I read through all parts. Thank you for your research and time. I’m so sorry to see you met people along the way who were just not kind about things. I’m so glad you were able to find what works for your family. All the best.
Thanks for reading! I would love to have you in our Healthy Living Community on FB if you’d like to join us. It’s small still but good convos going on all the time :). https://www.facebook.com/groups/171490083677560/
it’s scarce not easily accessible
Not sure what you are talking about, please?
I’ve found that a good deal of the books on Eos. regurgitate the same anecdotes about each oil . Then i came across a book called The Intelligent Healing of Essential Oils. This book is all science, the author explains the effects of essential oil on a cellular level much of which you need a biochemistry degree to understand but he also speaks of clinical trials (that aren’t widely publicized in the states) done in mainly France, where they’re making amazing progress in treating auto immune diseases, depression and a myriad of other afflictions but he also stresses again and again the importance of pure, unadulterated oils and states that over 90% of oils on the market are impure but he gives a list of four vendors he trusts they are; White Lotus, Natures Gift, Original Swiss and Labofflowers. I’m not affiliated in any way with the author of the book or any of listed vendors
I think I have this recommended on my blog in another EO post. Thanks for reading!
I use plant therapy and edens garden. I trust them 100% and their customer service is outstanding. Their prices are affordable and their oul quality is amazing.
I have used essential oils from Piping Rock.com for several years and am very well satisfied with the results (and the prices!)
Glad you are having good results! This post has my current standards about choosing a quality essential oils company for purity and I just added one more thing to the list. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/
Hi
I have found your article very interesting. Recently i have been trying Butterfly Express EO and i have been a little disappointed. They seem to have consistency of water. Have you been able to do any research on them?
Thanks for your hard work
Hi there and thanks! I called them to talk about their oils and the rep whom I spoke with said she couldn’t talk w/ me any longer to answer any questions b/c they were watched as to how much time they spent on the phone. So I left it there.
would you recommend young living over doterra?
Personally I would not.
But keep in mind that I left both companies.
Why did you leave?
I wasn’t satisfied with their answers to my questions–or they just wouldn’t answer at all. I asked doTERRA about why their peppermint smelled different and couldn’t get anywhere. Both myself and my upline (a shining star in the company) couldn’t get answers.
With Young Living, they had a Thieves brochure touting the research on the product but when I looked it up, it was on Eucalyptus and not their product. I am pretty sure those are accurate details. I got a generic response back about it.
I felt there should be a better place for me to spend my money and that I could help my readers by pointing them to another place as well.
If you decide to do any more investigating, I would love to know what you think about Plant Therapy. I have been purchasing most of my oils from them for quite some time. The customer service from them cannot be beaten, IMHO. The oils (and I’ve purchased many) are very fragrant; and shipping is free. I love love love this company.
Thanks! I looked into them when I started this and hope to revisit the whole issue later. Please stay tuned! You can sign up for updates of posts here:
https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
Verditas by Pranoram. USDA Organic and Ecocert. Amazing company and products and very transparent with great educators. Would recommend including this one in your research.
Aura Cacia, GuruNanda and Now foods essential oils are the best essential oils I’ve ever had. They’re not pricey. Well, with the exception of Frankincense, Myrrh, Rose absolute and Otto. (I found frankincense essential oil for about $6 at Walmart. That’s cheaper than getting the oil for $25 or more) They’re not like most essential oil companies where the oils were not derived from plants. Those 3 companies make the oils pure. They do wonders to my hair, skin, and overall health. As long as they’re the real thing, I’m happy.
Hi there and welcome. I just want to encourage you to be careful just believing that a company is selling pure oil just b/c they say that they are. I caught a company telling me that they used only natural fragrance and later they admitted to me that they weren’t. I have removed companies from my blog when they haven’t been transparent. You might want to look at this post to see what my standards are for purity. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/ There are groups that are sending some oils in for 3rd party testing and they are finding out that some companies are not really selling pure products. Hope that helps!
Hope that helps :).
Thank you for your hard work in researching the companies. I really appreciate it. Will go with RMO from now on.
You are so welcome!
Hello,
I thought you might found this brand Aroma Tierra (www.aromatierra.com) useful, especially for oils from Middle East such as Frankincense, Myrrh, Geranium, Chmomile German etc. Best part is that they have good quality oils at great price, and they ship internationally. I have been ordering their oils especially Frankincense and Carrot Seed.
Cheers!!
Thanks for reading and commenting. I added this post a long time ago with purity standards. You can check to see if they measure up. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/
I am curious how Eden’s Gardens ranks compared to Rocky Mountain Oils? Thanks!
Hi there. I didn’t go with Eden’s Garden for several reasons when I did this series. Of course companies change what they are doing from time to time. I would look at this post to see if they measure up: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/
Thank you for your post and for sharing your experience with both the YoungLiving and DoTERRA. I appreciate the list you provided for the different EO companies.
I found on Amazon a couple of companies: ArtNaturals, Radha Beauty, and OnePure beauty. Do you know much about these companies? I am on a search for quality EO from a reputable company as well and not only that, fair pricing as well.
I have looked at one and was not happy. You would have to look here to see how they measure up :). https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/
I use Radha Beauty regularly. The oils are very reasonably priced and good quality. Her customer service is on point, although I have had NO issues to report, she is very attentive to her customers.