Essential Oils
You are probably researching and finding that there are so many different essential oil companies out there and having a hard time choosing the right one. Am I right? Trust me you are not alone. I felt the same way when I started on this whole essential oil journey. For the past few years, our family has tried a few different essential oil brands and I want to share with you what we have learned along the way. I will break down each brand by listing the pros and cons of each company.
First, What to look for in an essential oil company?
- 100% pure essential oil. If the ingredients on the website or bottle
list a carrier oil (such as sunflower seed or jojoba oil) then it is not pure essential oil. Also, if it states that it is a fragrance oil then it is not 100% pure essential oil. - Botanical names should be listed on every bottle and in every description on their website. For example, Basil’s botanical name is Ocimum basilicum.
- They should list what country the oil is from. Most companies get their oil from suppliers all over the world.
- Send all their oils to a third party testing facility and have the results available to the customer on their website or by request.
- Fair pricing. Prices do vary depending on the type of oil. Rose absolute, Rose Otto, Sandalwood, Melissa, Blue Tansy, Helichrysum, Jasmine absolute, Roman and German Chamomile essential oils are going to be more expensive.
Doterra
I was first introduced to essential oils years ago when a friend (a Doterra Representative) gave me a set of 3 essential oils (Lavender, peppermint, and lemon). It was a great starter set. I made an all-purpose cleaner, added some to my body lotion, and made some room sprays too.
Pros
- Quality essential oils.
- Informative website.
- They use
third-party testing facilities and publish their testing results on this website www.sourcetoyou.com - Great customer
service.
Cons
- Expensive.
- $35 sign up membership fee then $25 yearly membership fee.
- No free shipping on any orders.
NOW
My first purchase of essential oils was at our local health store. NOW essential oils were displayed at the front of the store. I checked out their website while I was in the store and read that they have been in business for over 50 years so I picked up a few to try out. I bought Tea Tree, Lavender, and Lemon essential oil and I really liked using them for my DIY cleaning products. Looking into the world of essential oils further I then decided to start researching more companies online.
Pros
- Can buy them at the local health food store.
- Affordable pricing.
- Quality essential oils.
- Sold in 1 and
4-ounce bottles. - Supply safety sheets for all of their oils on their website.
Cons
- Limited variety of oils.
- In house testing on most of their oils and only use
third-party testing when necessary according to their website so they do not publish test results on their website.
Plant Therapy
I received an Amazon gift card for my birthday and decided to pick up a few more essential oils from different companies to compare them to the NOW brand. There
Pros
- Quality essential oils.
- Great customer service.
An aromatherapist is available to email with any question you have about the oils and how to use them.- They offer a wide variety of oils.
- Free shipping on any order.
- Generous rewards program with no minimum monthly spending requirements. You earn as you buy their products and your rewards never expire.
- They have great offers and discounts throughout the year and every week they feature one of their oils at 15% off.
- Use
third-party testing for their oils and have the test results available to the public right on the product page. - The pricing of their oils
is affordable on just about any budget. - Their website has a lot of information available to their customers about how to safely use essential oils.
Cons
I honestly don’t have one to insert here!
Plant Guru
I decided to use up my Amazon gift card and try another essential oil company. Plant Guru had really good reviews too so I picked up a set that included 14 oils (10 ml each) for a great price.
Pros
- Quality essential oils.
- Affordable pricing.
- Use
third-party testing for their oils and have the test results available to the public right on the product page.*
Cons
- *They don’t have
third-party test results available for all of the oils, only 26 out of 100 oils have test results on the product page.
Young Living
I have some good friends that are members of Young Living and I decided to go ahead and get their starter kit that comes with 10 essential oils and a diffuser too. This starter kit cost $160.
Pros
- Quality essential oils.
- Use in house and third party testing*
- Great customer service.
- Informative website.
Cons
- Expensive.
- Pay for
shipping on all orders no matter how much you spend. - Need to become a member to be able to pay wholesale prices which means you have to purchase a starter kit (the cheapest starter kit is $45 + tax + shipping).
- To maintain membership status you have to spend $50 a year.
- They have a rewards program but you will need to spend at least $50 a month to earn those reward points and if you quit the program you lose all your rewards so you need to spend it before you opt out of the program.
- *They do not supply the third party test results to the public.
Nature’s Truth also known as Piping Rock
**BUYER BEWARE**
I did see Nature’s Truth essential oil sold at the local drug stores but Piping Rock sells online only. They are CHEAP! $4 for a 15 ml bottle of lavender essential oil. I did buy more than a few oils from Piping Rock online to try and I was disappointed in them. A lot of them didn’t smell right or had no smell at all.
I contacted the company and they assured me that they test all their essential oils they receive from reputable distilleries but they do not furnish any testing results. With that said most of the oils I bought from them went in the garbage.
The few that I kept are basically used as fragrance oils and do a good job deodorizing the garbage cans. I put a few drops on a cotton ball and put it on the bottom of the trash can and put a new trash bag in. It was really hard finding information from other people that used and/or tested the oils from this company.
After researching forever online I found Dr. Pappas website that does GC/MS analysis and reporting the chemical breakdowns of essential oils, CO2s, and absolutes on various essential oil brands. Check out his test report page. I was not surprised to see that a lot of their essential oils tested were fraudulent and found to have synthetic substances and/or carrier oils in them.
Final Thoughts
With the exception of Piping Rock/Nature’s
There are more than a few essential oil companies that have great products so why not try a
See also: