The Search for the Best Essential Oils Begins - Part 1

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Are you wanting to start using essential oils, but you 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 Oil Bottles from a variety of companies | Which Essential Oils Company is Best?

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.

Most of you tuned in for my recent posts on essential oils in which I talked about:

From all the comments and enthusiasm about these and other posts, I can tell you are just as interested in learning about essential oils as I am.

You can tell by those posts that I am a skeptic at heart and pretty detailed when it comes to sorting through all the information out there to find out what really works.  One of my readers (a friend of mine) once called me an "investigative reporter" of sorts.

My husband says that I "second guess everything."

I'm not sure which one is right :).

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 waaaaay 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.  Deep sigh.)

With the issue of the essential oil, I tried not to be too analytical at first, and simply used what had worked.  But then, things changed.

Wondering What the Best Essential Oils Company Is? I was wondering the same thing after I first started using them. So many companies say that theirs are the best, so who are you to believe? Come find out what I learned when I started asking questions. Things got a little dicey, and you'll probably be surprised by my conclusion.

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.

(Well, 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 [which I love, by the way].)

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 I figured that well, this stuff worked really well. 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--if they were good enough, or not that great.  And so I too started wondering.

At first, I thought, "This stuff (Young Living) 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.

The world of essentials oils is big.  Very big.

It did start out quite small for me, however.  Just a small list of companies.  I started out looking into these 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 will find the whole thing interesting and I hope you will 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

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

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 they 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.

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 awhile 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. I will talk about this company more in the future.

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 non MLM (multi-level marketing) company, 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.

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.

Trouble is, 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

Aura Cacia is adamant about not using its oils internally.

I personally have a number of Aura Cacia's 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!

Looking for more information on Essential Oils?

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, Advanced Aromatherapy, is in my shopping cart at Amazon now.  It comes very highly recommended by many aromatherapists.

Advanced Aromatherapy Book by Kurt Schnaubelt


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.

Which Essential Oil Company Do 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 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 Series:

- Best Essential Oils - The Qualities that a Good Oils Company Should Have - Part 2
- Which Essential Oils Company is Best - Troubles with the Oils Industry - Part 3
- Young Living vs. doTERRA - Part 4
- Are Multi-Level Marketing Oils Worth It? - Part 5
- Distillation, Bias, Vomit and More Concerns - Part 6

or 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.

10 things you need to know about essential oils report in ipad

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2,195 Comments

  1. I thought you would nail down the best oils for use as brand. The article just informs an opinion on products but does not specify say what is best according to brand of oil or specific uses of oil. It seems you like them all but haven’t proven or found data to understand what is the purest oil and it’s benefit. The same seems to be true for Copaiba & CBD oil comparisons.

    Reply

  2. I thought you would nail down the best oils for use. The stricken just forms an opinion on products but does not specify say what is best according to brand of oil or specific uses of oil.

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    1. Hi and thanks for reading--the series started to take on a life of its own. I hope to come back to the topic in the near future. Did you get all the way through it? I will be writing more about specific uses as well--is there something you would like to know about in particular?

      Reply

  3. I don’t feel anything more clear about which are the best essential oil companies I’m not sure which one you’re recommending having read this all I also think probably this is an American article so essential oil’s in Canada are probably where I need to be looking But I was still curious to know which company you felt was the best and I didn’t really get a sense that you made that distinction If you have a recommendation I would like to know because I do use essential oil‘s but my supplier in Ontario is no longer using the same source and I don’t feel as confident with them so I am looking to switch Thanks Linda

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  4. I just want to say that first you don't take in the oils ,you don't put in water or add to food it's a lot of people out here giving people wrong information and its making people sick and whats the one thing you ask from a company to make sure that their oils pure you didn't mention that

    Reply

  5. I am perplexed as to why you would not consider Plant Therapy. It is ranked very high on quite a number of other Essential Oil rating sites.
    I encourage to have a look at it please. I believe you would be very impressed with all of the readily available reports for each oil.

    Reply

    1. Hi there. I did consider them, but didn't go with them at the time for several reasons. I hope to revisit this in the near future--you might wish to stay tuned. I have some more articles on oils coming. Believe me, this is a very complicated topic and that doesn't mean that they are a bad company--just there is so much to consider and I am sure you can imagine that companies change all the time as well! Thanks for reading. Here's where you can sign up for updates: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/

      Reply

        1. Hi Janet--I take a lot of things into consideration when evaluating companies. I hope to revisit this topic in the not too distant future. Please do stay tuned for that!

          Reply

  7. I saw the original post for this and see you still have Heritage Oils here, but their name has now changed to Hopewell Oils and they can be found at hopewelloils.com. I live in Canada and they are in Waco, Texas. I order from them as they have very, very good oils at a much lower cost than I find elsewhere. While I do have a few oils from other companies - and varied companies as well - I find Hopewell's oils to be much better quality without fancy bragging rights. I hope you didn't leave them out of this "newer"review. Thanks so much for all the effort you put into this and the valuable information provided.

    Reply

  8. Hello thanks for the information, I'm new to the essential oils worlds so I do a lot of research and this article helps. Can you also help me with finding a company that sells pure carrier oils please?

    Reply

    1. Hello Stacy and welcome!!! The company that I went with sells them. You might be interested in subscribing to updates as I hope to revisit this topic. You can subscribe here: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/

      and this post has some more carrier oil information in it: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/essential-oil-emulsifier/ . Hope that helps and feel free to ask any questions. I have a Facebook group for healthy living as well that you can join--the information is just under each post and you can find it on Facebook as well--Healthy Living Community with Whole New Mom. Take care!

      Reply

    2. Hi Stacy,
      I use Plant Therapy. They are rated right up there with DoTerra, Young Living, etc. They have much better prices; however, as they are not a MLM company. They sell pure essential oils and pure carrier oils, along with hydrosols, lotions, balms, etc. They have loads of information on their website, including a blog that has a lot of information and DIY's for essential oils. I have learned so much from them about what are essential oils, carrier oils, hydrosols, etc and about how to use them and for what. I hope you check it out and have some fun.
      Sherry

      Reply

  9. Did you try simply earth? What did you think of it? I use both this and young living the prices at simply earth seem much better!

    Reply

  10. When you started off and made some sense of the oils you tried I thought that was what you were going to do. !!!! All the links went round and round and said the same thing over and over. I read through the whole article thinking that you have used the different oils and checked for yourself the results. But at the end of the article, I was still as confused about essential oils as I was before reading through your article. I wasted my time basically!!! I am in desperate need of finding something natural to treat the ADD problem my grand daughter seems to have. Not trying to be negative here, just felt the article stated what every other reviews have... nothing much.

    Reply

    1. Hello J.J. I'm sorry for the delay in responding. I have been inundated here.

      I'm a little confused by your comment and happy to help. There are links at the bottom of each post for every part in the series--1 - 7. The series really took on a life of its own in the middle and wasn't really something I planned out, which explains some of why it's confusing, but the links shouldn't be going "round and round"--they are all numbered so you should be able to go from 1-7 without a problem. I would think that 1 and 7 would be helpful for you.

      Can I help you with any questions? I also don't at all think that every other review stated that there was nothing much in the posts. In fact this series was about the most popular thing ever on my blog.

      This post might be of interest to you--https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/probiotics-and-adhd/

      And again, happy to help. I can't medically advise and the link above isn't meant to treat anything but everyone needs gut health support. Blessings!

      Reply

  11. What did you find about Eden Gardens oils? I didn't see in your report that this company had reviews. How did they compare? I have used them a lot.

    Reply

  12. I too have tried essential oil's from many different companies. I have very bad feelings about Young living. They make Insane claims about their blends, such as the blend inner child will help you get rid of childhood trauma, or like they are the ONLY real authentic EO company. Are ancient ancestors used essential oils in so many different ways and that's why we are all here still. Their claims, Their a pyramid scheme, etc, all wrong energy. I love the authenticity and all the generous amount of information that Annanda Apothecary in Boulder Colorado offers. You can call them and have a really well Educated person talk to you that any of your questions, and had to make your own blends. To me doTERRA is just a friendlier version of young living, without the creepy Gary Young of young Living being involved. Side note, Mountain Rose is fine they just didn't wow me like Annanda

    Reply

    1. Hi there! I hope to revisit this in the near future. I am not a fan of MRH for a number of reasons. I remember looking at Ananda - must go back and review my notes. Thanks and stay tuned!

      Reply

  13. I did see your recommendation for "EDEN's GARDEN" only because of the photos that were posted indicating such. Also, I can see you did an enormous amount of research as you gave an awful lot of information and thank you for that. However, I found all the links taking me in circles though to what I had already read . I'm still not exactly sure though why you chose "Edens Garden. I am guessing it was because of the 11 Signs you posted regarding what to look for in a quality EO. I feel that I now need to research into Eden's Garden to confirm those signs for myself. So sorry, but as a nurse and researcher myself, my goal in adding this comment is not in any way to be negative but instead to offer a constructive approach as to how you could have better secured me as a customer.

    Reply

    1. Hi there. I didn't recommend Eden's Garden. I'm assuming you mean an ad that showed up on my site--likely just b/c you are on an essential oils post or you were searching for them before. I'm not sure what is confusing you but happy to help if you can explain better. This is the post where I talked about the company that I went with: https://wholenewmom.com/announcing-the-best-essential-oils-company-and-a-great-sale/

      And you can subscribe here if you like--I hope to have more information coming soon! https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/

      Reply

      1. Aromahead is a learning institution. Not a maker/distributor of oils. Aromahead was the inspiration (in a round about sort of way) for Aromatics International, which sells oils, etc.

        Reply

  16. I am taking Dr. Josh Axe’s Essential Oil Institute for certification. I have purchased his Ancient Apothecary essential oils that he sells. Am having difficulty finding comparison with other oils such as Young Living, Doterra, etc.

    Once I complete the Institute classes, I want to jump right in with sharing and teaching. And one of the questions will be how does Ancient Apothecary compare with other oils. Have you any information?

    Thanking you in advance. Barbarann

    Reply

  17. Im surprised you didn't mention Plant Therapy essential oils. Plant Therapy has awesome essential oils, and not a mlm business! Therefore, affordable.... also their blends are created by renown Robert Tisserand.

    Reply

    1. Hi there. Yes, I looked at them at some point during or after this process and didn't go w/ them for several reasons--but it was after I had published the series, I think. I would have to go back through my notes. I do 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!

      Reply

  18. Do you know anything about the REVIVE EssentialL Company? It is hard to get any kind of in-depth information on this company. Something just doesn’t feel right with this company. Looking forward to your reply.
    Thanks, Marlie

    Reply

    1. Hello there. I did see some information on them and I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending them at this point. Thanks for reading. 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!

      Reply

  19. The book you mention is written by Kurt Schnaubelt. He owns a company called Original Swiss Aromatics which is where I buy most of my oils from. they have the real deal, from sources they happily disclose. My professor was a student of Mr Schnaubelt in Europe. A little pricey, but in my humble opinion, worth the peace of mind.

    Reply