MLM Essential Oil Companies: Are They Worth It Or Not?
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Are MLM essential oils worth it? You can buy essential oils in stores, online, and also through direct sales/MLM (multi-level marketing) companies. Some say that the higher-priced oils from the direct sales companies are better quality, but are they?
I've worked with a number of essential oils MLMs over the years. Let's look at the essential oil direct sales companies up close to see the pros and cons of them.
MLM Essential Oils Companies
The 2 “Heavy Hitters” in the MLM essential oils business are Young Living and doTERRA. Be Young was another MLM oils company, but it's not around any longer.
There are a number of other MLM companies that offer essential oils, some of which have the oils as their main category and some that have them as a smaller offering. One example of this is Poofy Organics, but they only have a small number of blends for sale.
Of course, as companies start up or close down, or cease to be MLM, this list can change.
MLM Companies Selling Mainly Essential Oils
Here's a list of companies that sell essential oils. Only two of them are essential oil-based, which the others have essential oils as part of their offerings.
- Young Living
- doTERRA
MLM Companies Selling Other Products and Essential Oils
Most of these companies I do not recommend for various reasons; some worse than others.
- NYR Organics/Neal's Yard Remedies (NYR Organic had an MLM arm in the US, but they no longer do. They now only have this option in the UK.)
- Poofy Organics (solid company)
- Heart and Body Naturals
- Kannaway (a CBD company that sells only 3 blends of essential oils. I do not recommend this company.)
- Essante Organics (not recommended)
- Melaleuca (not recommended)
- LiveGood (not recommended)
- Swiss Just
- LeReve
- Jordan Essentials
- YOR Health
- Scentsy (they sell some synthetic and also some “pure” essential oils)
- HTE USA (they sell only 3 blends of essential oils)
From what little I know, LiveGood might be OK as far as quality is concerned, but I'm not completely sure about that. I don't recommend Melaleuca or Essante Organics. Melaleuca isn't transparent about ingredients and has unnecessary artificial colors in a lot of their products.
Essante has missing ingredients from their labels plus a lot of other issues going on that indicated a big problem regarding a lack of transparency.
My time with Young Living and doTERRA was kind of short, but I no longer recommend either of them.
Although I talk mostly about Young Living and doTERRA in this post, most of my concerns apply to all MLM companies that sell oils.
Benefits of Essential Oil MLMs
Education and Support
When you buy essential oils from a store, you typically can't get much support unless a salesperson in the store has a strong knowledge base about essential oils. And in today's work, that's typically not the case.
Shopping online provides more support, but it still might not be as much as the typical person needs. Any given website might have a bit of information about how to use any particular oil, and possibly some articles about oils usage.
If you work with one of the heavy hitters in the oil industry (Young Living or doTERRA), there is a lot more support via the community of sellers as well as training classes, and more.
That being said, there are some negatives even to these resources and their recommendations (see below for more information about this).
Money Saving/Making Opportunity
I'm all about saving money. So of course, when I can either buy something at retail or get the same things for 25-35% off (typical discount for an MLM representative), then you can bet I'm going to check into it.
Of course, you can save money by becoming a representative and getting a discount, but you can also make money when you share the products and selling opportunities with others.
When you buy something in a store or online, there's no such opportunity, unless there's a rewards or sharing program available.
So when done ethically, there is the option to perhaps at least get your oils paid for, and maybe make some additional income by buying from and working with one of these companies.
However, if you see the “Overpriced” section below, the savings might not really matter if you're already paying too much. In addition, there are hidden costs like annual fees, fees to access your loyalty rewards, and even to get your commissions. So the savings are not completely what they seem to be.
Negatives of Essential Oil Direct Sales Companies
Misleading and/or Unethical Marketing Practices
Much of doTERRA and Young Living representatives have been under the microscope for recommending their oils as being treatments for medical conditions. However, the concerns that I have about their marketing focus more on their purity claims.
Both companies claim that they have super high-quality oils that are “therapeutic grade,”
– Young Living calls their oils “Young Living Therapeutic Grade”
– doTERRA calls theirs “CPTG”
Each company has standards for what these things mean, but basically these “certifications” are made up by them.
It's also common practice for representatives from both companies to make claims about the purity of their oils that are simply false. For example, claiming that if the label on a bottle says that it's safe for internal use, the oils are pure.
That doesn't make any sense since there are plenty of things that are meant to be used internally that many people would call “unsafe,” like certain prescription or over the counter drugs, artificial colors, pesticides, and more.
You can read about more of the myths spread around in the essential oils industry in this post about Essential Oil Myths.
Pressure to Buy More Than You Need
Both companies have requirements for purchasing oils in order to get the most savings. Saving money is great, but reps typically end up purchasing more and more oils, eventually ending up with more than they can use.
At that point, you're really not saving money any longer if you keep buying oils just to “stay active” to earn commissions or to get a loyalty discount.
Dangerous Recommendations
Both YL and doTERRA have a heavy emphasis on internal and neat (undiluted) use of essential oils. I wasn’t too concerned about these things when I first started using essential oils, but I’ve completely changed my mind.
DoTERRA even has a Slim and Sassy blend that they recommend taking internally numerous times per day for a long period of time, in order to assist with weight loss. And during my short stint with Young Living, I noticed reps recommending using grapefruit oil internally for the same reason
Essential oils are super potent. It takes about 16 pounds of peppermint leaves to make 1 ounce of peppermint oil. That’s a lot of plants. So that's about half a pound of peppermint in one drop of essential oil. That equates to half a pound of peppermint (about 5 cups of leaves) in one drop of essential oil!
That kind of concentrated amount of plants is incredibly strong.
So strong, in fact, that some oil experts say that if you do use essential oils internally, especially “hot oils” like oregano, cinnamon, clove, and citrus oils, you need to make sure to supplement with probiotics because the hot oils destroy not only bad bacteria but also the good. That may or may not be true, but better safe than sorry.
It's simply not safe to ingest essential oils on their own. The only way it is considered to be safe is if they are well-diluted with a carrier oil or emulsified as in this adrenal cocktail.
Similarly, using undiluted essential oils on your skin is considered to be unsafe by many experts. This can lead to sensitization, and believe me, you don't want that to happen to you
I've heard it said that the reason Young Living and doTERRA (and other companies as well) recommend so much internal and undiluted usage of oils is to increase their sales. I don’t know if that is their motivation, but it's a logical conclusion.
Overpriced
Let's face it, oils that you buy from a direct selling company are typically very expensive. Even if they are pure essential oils, they definitely aren't the only pure, quality oils on the market.
Everyone knows that a good bit of the pricing of MLM products goes toward rewarding representatives with cash, trips, and more. A manager at one retail company told me that his understanding was that in the Direct Sales industry, the percentage of pricing that goes toward commissions and rewards for representatives is 40%.
Yes, retail selling costs money too, but in general, direct sales companies are known to pay out too much to representatives, especially when their company starts out.
Here's an example of the high prices:
Young Living's peppermint costs retail $32.57 (not sure why they have such unusual pricing) and $24.75 for members. DoTERRA's peppermint oil costs $34.67 retail and $26.00 wholesale/for members.
Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain Oil's Peppermint costs $16.75, and Plant Therapy's would likely cost $12 for a 15-ml bottle since their 10-ml bottle costs $7.99 (it's a bit more on Amazon).
Blind Devotion
Having intense loyalty to the point that one ignores problems with the brand makes all direct sales companies look bad. This isn't a problem that is only in the direct sales industry, but it's a well-known problem in that arena.
Once MLM salespeople start making a decent paycheck, it becomes very difficult for them to admit that anything with their company or products could be wrong.
This is definitely the case with both Young Living and doTERRA as you can see in the comments on this post, the post comparing doTERRA and Young Living, on Facebook, and more.
I was accused of:
– seeking to tear down doTERRA
– profit-seeking (some said the motive behind this series will be clear when I share the “winner.”)
– having an analysis totally lacking in science, is based only on “smell tests”
I was even accused by a Young Living rep of being a fake persona who set out to game Google to make affiliate income.
I assure you, the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) was pretty rotten for my posts in this series. No one would have written what I did in order to game the system.
This just shows how many reps from MLM companies are unable to accept criticism or concerns as being possibly true.
Most Companies Have the Same Sources for Oils
Many essential oils companies claim to have the best oils on the market, but that tends to be the case even more so for companies in the direct selling industry. However, for the most part, there are only a handful or so suppliers for most of the essential oil companies out there.
Granted, there are some smaller sources, but my understanding is that what typically happens is that almost all essential oils companies are buying from the same sources, and then some of the “bad actors” either sell lower quality oils while marketing them as more valuable varieties, or they add things to the oils or adulterate them in some other way to save money.
No Certified Organic Oils
This may or may not be a negative, depending on your perspective. If organic certification is something that's important to you, you'll have a hard time finding organically certified oils with most direct sales companies. They typically claim that their oils are of stellar quality, that's even better than organic. doTERRA , for example, claims that its CPTG “certification” is better than organic, and Young Living leans on its “Seed to Seal®” claim, which isn't completely true, as I explained in my post comparing Young Living and doTERRA.
While there are loopholes in the USDA organic certification process, some people do want that certification to lean on. For the prices that these companies charge, you can go to other companies and get certified organic oils for less.
To be fair, I think wild-crafted, indigenously grown oils can be higher quality than organic, but you would have to trust the company on the details about that sourcing without having the USDA's certification process to lean on.
More Posts On Essential Oils
– Which Essential Oils Company is Best?
– Qualities of a Good Oil Company Should Have
– How to Spot Fake Essential Oils
– Young Living vs. doTERRA
– Distillation, Bias, Vomit, and More
– Is It Safe to Use Expired Essential Oils?
– Why You Need to Emulsify Essential Oils
Final Thoughts
For me, I think the negative outweighs the positives. And if you read my post on Young Living vs. doTERRA, you can see even more reasons why I choose to avoid the direct sales arena for essential oils.
There are just too many other good options out there and a lot of other places to get an education. Hopefully you can find a lot of good information here, with more to come in the future.
So what do you think?
Are MLM Essential Oils Worth It Or Are They a Scam?
PS: Try putting straight lavender on mosquito bites. It takes away the itch and redness in seconds and helps shrink the lump. (YL lavender is safe to apply neat.)
Actually it’s not safe to apply any EO neat. Robert Tisserand says that he is even getting reports about issues w/ Frankincense sensitization. Diluting is crucial.
Diluting is crucial if using unpure oils. Did you know the FDA hardly regulates the oil market and a company can label a bottle 100% pure with only 5% pure ingredients. Did you know Young Living plants by hand and weeds by hand. Zero pesticides are used. So yes Young Living is 100% safe to use and lavender is the safest of all oils to apply topically. I only believe in Young Living. I’ve seen their farms in person and value their strenuouse testing process.
Hello Kat.
The issue is for pure oils as well. This is from Robert Tisserand, who is regarded as one of, if not THE expert on EO safety:
Pure or impure, it is not safe to use undiluted essential oils. Hope this helps. Are you sure that YL plants and weeds by hand? It seems that they don’t even know all about how their oils are being obtained: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/essential-oils-company-sentenced-lacey-act-and-endangered-species-act-violations-pay-760000 so how could that be?
I do have comments, but full disclosure: I use and sell Young Living.
1. You wrote that 40% of the price goes to the top earners. Is that any different than the 100% markup you pay when you purchase at any store? MLMs cut out the middleman and pay the distribution & advertising budgets to their distributors. There’s nothing shady about that.
2. Young Living has farms all over the world so they grow their plants where they are indigenous. Furthermore, the soil that we grow in is virgin – never touched by pesticides. They use oils that they rejected for not being the quality they want (ie: just like you can get a sour apple in a crop of apples) to keep pests away. No chemicals. I like that.
3. There are specific oils that are labeled for ingestion (at the FDA’s behest) called the “Vitality” line. Not every oil can or should be ingested. And most brands cannot be ingested at all due to the additives and impurities adulterating their oils, as you wrote about.
I’ve been to the Mona, Utah farm. It’s spectacular. I’ve walked in the lavender and stuck my face in the frothy fennel greenery.
I trust YL both for what I’ve learned and for what I’ve directly experienced. I’ve loved getting rid of so many toxins in my home – no more nasty chemical-laden cleaners, medicines, ointments, lotions, dryer sheets, air fresheners. That’s really what it’s about: improving the health of me, my family, my dogs!
Hi there.
Here are my thoughts.
1. Yes, that might be the case. I don’t know how to break that all down. I think basically w/ an MLM or a non MLM you want a great product and a great company.
2. I don’t know about the soil and if that is the case or not. Di
3. I really think that ingestion is risky. I am fine w/ another line that YL did but I think there is a ton of confusion about it b/c a lot of reps are saying it’s been approved by the FDA for ingestion and that is not true.
I’m glad you are removing toxins from your home. I just have concerns about questions that the company didn’t answer, the history, and some other things like this:https://www.sltrib.com/news/2017/09/19/utah-based-young-living-essential-oils-pays-760000-for-illegal-oil-imports/ How could that be the case if they are so on top of things? I would love to know what you think.
This issue has integrity written all over it. We found out internally, self-reported, and made things right and better than before. The company not only fixed the issues but ensured it could absolutely never happen again. I’m so very proud of the company I work for. (I have a much longer piece I would love to share but it’s too long for comment. I’ll send via email)
Hi there. My understanding is that it wasn’t found out internally and what I am confused about is that the company is all about Seed to Seal so how did this happen in the first place? Thanks.
As an owner of a company who has to write those checks and pay for the materials to mail them, I’m a bit surprised at your comment: “I don’t mean to be too sarcastic here, but that would sure be nice to earn $1.95 for cutting a check. I don’t see why there should be a fee to “figure out your commission.” Doesn’t software do that?”
While the software does calculate commissions, it’s a manual effort to make an adjustment. As well, the cost of envelopes, checks, special MICR ink for the printer and stamps is close to the $1.95 for each check.
I appreciated this article for the thoughts on the MLM industry regarding essential oils as I’m just getting started in selling those oils through LifeSpan Global and needed to know these thoughts so I can do this better in the industry.
MLM is the last bastion in financial independence, IMHO. We’ve also added an affiliate marketing program in conjunction with.
I’m here to serve and welcome any suggestions. Thanks for the article.
Hi Kim – thanks for commenting. I get your point. I’ll adjust the post. I would love to hear your thoughts on companies that charge for moving monies to banks, etc. There is a company called ewallet that has fees for having money in the account and also for transferring it out. I don’t know why some MLMs have these fees and some don’t. Maybe they just absorb them elsewhere.
Thanks for these series of articles, I am doing the research as we speak and you covered a lot of ground for me. In Australia we have Le Reve, and I was impressed with their purity and business process etc. The interesting thing I found was that LeReve don’t advocate ingesting them or putting the pure essential oils directly on the skin as they are too potent. And to always mix with a carrier oil for usage on the skin. In the past i found this a barrier to using them as I couldn’t be bothered mixing with a carrier oil etc. Now they have a roll on range with a premix of carrier oils and 3 essential oils which are packaged attractively and you could pop in your car/handbag etc. As a yoga teacher, now that I have herd their recommendation of not putting directly on the skin, I feel my duty of care is now in meditation to use the roll-on or a mix with the carrier oil so as not to be too potent. I also agree with your ideas about ingestion, think it is so potent and unnatural to eat so many rose leaves etc. The whole science behind aromatherapy is based on actually smelling it rather than drinking it! Anyway, Id love to hear your thoughts on LeReve! Thanks for you investigative time! Namaste
Thanks and you are welcome! This post might help: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/
Thanks for this:) I was really excited about joining DoTerra. Some influencers in my field are now Advocates and I am saddened that they are promoting a company that clearly does not have wellness as their priority. Just a quick scan of some of their products showed me they use carageenan-a known carcinogen in all of their soft gel tablets. I contacted them and their response was that the FDA allows it. I checked their deep blue product and found PEG 100 Stearate which has been linked to toxicity concerns, cancer and reproductive issues. This is just an initial scan. Imagine if someone really sat down and examined all of their products.
Anyway-needless to say I was so disappointed. I could never recommend this kind of company to those who trust and value my opinion. Thank you for researching and sharing your information.
Oh my – thanks for sharing. I haven’t looked at their products in a long time. Carrageenan – really? And PEG 100? I don’t like either of those. Thanks again. More to come on the oils – stay tuned. If you’re so inclined you might want to sign up for my newsletter here: https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
You are right…I just looked up both of those things you shared. Carrageenan is apparently used in experiments to stimulate inflammation so that scientists can then test drugs to see what the effect of them is on the inflammation. 🙁 Thanks again for sharing. I will add this to my post.
Did you ever check out Melaleuca Essential oils?
Hi there. I never looked too closely at their oils but they have artificial fragrance and color in a number of their other products so I’m not interested. This post should be of interest to you: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/pure-essential-oils-testing/
Can someone give me several essential oil companies that i are not mlm companies that i can join to sell oils? I have tried researching and cant find anything. Thank you!
Hi Jennifer. I’m not sure that there are any? How do you want to sell them? Are you thinking about private labeling? Can you tell me what about an MLM bothers you? There are things that bother me – just wondering about your thoughts and what you are wanting to do.
Set up wholesale accounts with the companies you want to buy from non mlm. However you need a business license with the state
You can do that with some companies but not with many that I know of and you would have to typically buy a large amt of oil, right?
I happen to know that “MIND BODY SOUL OIL” is looking for sales help and their commission is 15%.
They sell a Natural Formula that works and its great for: arthritis pain, backaches and neck aches, foot bunions, blisters and corns, heel spurs, sore feet, sports injuries, fast hangover relief, headaches, sinus issues, stress, cramps, hemorrhoids, gout, sore throat, burns, cold sores, itching, hair regrowth, psoriasis, sleep. (site removed by blog owner)
I think if you research Steven Barret, himself, you will find that his money is from western medicine entities that pay him to slam alternatives. He is a total discredit.
I think YL no longer gives their members a free month off each year, as of the fall of 2016.
Adrienne, Keep your chin up and thanks,
Thank YOU!