If you’ve only spent a few minutes searching the web for natural remedies, I have no doubt that you’ve come across essential oils before. There’s all sorts of controversy about brands, where they come from, how they should be used and whether or not they even work.
To be honest, I was skeptic towards the entire realm of essential oils and blatantly ignored them for a long time.
But sticking my head in the sand didn’t do me any good. Essential oils weren’t going away and if I wanted to be an educated writer (and not sound like a dummy when readers asked questions), I had to at least do enough research to hold a water-cooler conversation.
I read TONS of articles on essential oils, on the different companies, and stories on how they were healing families everywhere. In the midst of this, we were experiencing success with essential oils in our own house: my skin was healthier, my kids were staying healthy and we had great check-ups from our medical professionals and dentists.
Then it hit me. Essential oils were making regular appearances in our lives, and in homemade health and beauty products. Clearly, they had ALREADY become a staple in our journey to natural living on a budget.
But that’s where I got stuck. The cost.
As a frugal-minded person, I naturally turned to my go-to source for affordable things online: Amazon.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in terms of eating real food on a budget was that brand doesn’t always matter. Sometimes it does yes, but more often than not it’s the list of ingredients that’s the most important.
I carried this same train of thought into essential oils and thought that so long as peppermint essential oil said “peppermint essential oil” as the ingredient, that I was safe.
But that’s not necessarily true.
Essential oils are highly concentrated and potent essences of plants, making the quality of the oil itself vital. However, there is no regulatory agency over essential oils.
The FDA says that so long as an essential oil contains 5% pure ingredients, it can be labeled 100% Therapeutic Grade. What this means for us is that a bottle of peppermint essential oil can contain just 5% peppermint essential oil and 95% something else and still be qualified and labeled as 100% Therapeutic Grade peppermint essential oil.
I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t sit well with me.
If I’m buying essential oils to be part of my medicine cabinet, relying on them to bring down my daughter’s 102 fever, then I need them to be 100% pure and work 100% percent of the time. Not just 5% pure and work 5% of the time.
Note: I’m not saying that any of the oils pictured above aren’t pure. They could be perfectly fine to use. But in my research, I wasn’t able to find enough information about the companies to be confident about using them for my family long-term.
Why We Quit Buying Essential Oils on Amazon
This started to make me wonder about the brands I was buying off Amazon. How could company A sell peppermint essential oil for $5 per bottle while company B sell the same size bottle for $10?
Putting two and two together, I’ve made two decision:
- I will no longer buy the cheapest essential oils from Amazon.
- I am committing to buying essential oils from Young Living.
Why Young Living?
Committing to a brand is a big deal in our house. Sharing this decision, this brand with you, and in turn making a recommendation is not something we take lightly. Mr. Crumbs and I have literally spent the better part of a year weighing the cost and quality of oils from several companies. We’ve even taken into account how each company runs their business.
I’ll share why we chose Young Living, but please know that you don’t have to agree with us, or even use essential oils at all if you don’t want to.
However, if it helps just one person sort through the barrage of data found when researching essential oils, then all is good. Ultimately, each family has to do what’s best for them.
With that said, here are the main reasons why we chose Young Living over other essential oil companies.
Quality
Young Living is one of the oldest essential oil company in operation (20+ years!) and is one of the few (if not only) essential oil companies that exclusively controls the oils from seed to production. Their “Seed to Seal” promise ensures their oils are always pure, authentic and not watered down.
Some of the policies and procedures with their oil production include:
- growing their own plants and trees on farms within the United States
- not permitting the use of any use of chemicals, pesticides or solvents on the plants
- weeding by hand, and using their own oils as a natural pesticide
- maintaining an open farm policy, so anyone can visit the farm at anytime
- using a proprietary, low-temperature low-pressure steam distillation to maintain the potency and integrity of the oil
- only using oils from the first distillation
- implementing both in-house and third-party testing for every batch of oil
Many other essential oil companies have oils shipped to them, essentially become a re-bottle and distributor of oils. This increases the chance of oils being adulterated or watered down.
Cost
Along with some of the highest standards for their oils in the business, Young Living is also one of the most affordable essential oil brands on the market.
As a wholesale member, right off I save 24% off the retail price. There’s no commitment and no fee to become a wholesale member. There’s no monthly minimum purchase, so I can buy what I need when I need it and NOT pay for product I won’t use.
If I find that I’m using oils so often that they need to be replenished each month, I can enroll in an auto-ship program, earn rewards on the oils I buy and then use those rewards to pay for oils instead of paying for them out of pocket.
If it turns out we’re not going through them as quickly as we thought we would, I can un-enroll from auto-ship at anytime.
Read more about how we afford essential oils on a budget.
Safety
Let’s be honest, I’m not an essential oils expert by any means. I’m learning as I go, and making plenty of mistakes along the way. But I’m surrounded by a team who either has answers or knows where to get them, and Young Living has customer care available nearly around the clock via email, phone or chat.
If I have question, I don’t have to rely on Google and sift through pages of possibly legit, possibly bogus information. I can get help from people who have been doing this decades long than me and know that their information is accurate. Plus, they hold seminars and conventions to continue educating members about essential oils.
That’s way more than I ever got in a package from Amazon (half the time I don’t even get the packing receipt).
Practicality
When you become a Young Living wholesale member, you buy a starter kit of oils. I was concerned that it would be filled with oils I didn’t used, therefore being a huge waste of money. As it turns out, all the oils I use on a regular basis were included, plus some new ones that I had been wanting to try anyway like Thieves, Stress Away and PanAway.
I mentioned this already, but since there’s no monthly purchase requirement, I’m saving money by buying only the oils we’re using.
When food and essential oils become your tools to stay above the wellness line, quality matters. It’s always our goal to get the best quality we can afford, and in terms of essential oils, we believe investing in Young Living and not buying the cheapest oil off Amazon is the best decision for our family, for this season in our lives.
Are you interested in using Young Living essential oils as part of your natural medicine cabinet?
Join my Young Living team with any Premium Starter Kit and enroll in Essential Rewards and I will give you a $25 product credit!
(FYI – Young Living does not require you to sell oils, nor is there a monthly commitment to buy.)
Here’s how to get started:
- Click HERE to visit the Young Living website. (Make sure 2298517 is in the member and sponsor field. Choose wholesale membership.)
- Fill out your information, choose a starter kit (I recommend the Premium Starter Kit) and decide on whether or not to opt in to Essential Rewards.
- Check out and confirm your order.
Young Living is the only essential oil company with the patented Seed to Seal process, ensuring you’re only getting 100% pure therapeutic grade oils. You can read more about why I chose Young Living HERE, and how we afford to buy essential oils on a budget HERE.
I find myself turning to essential oils more and more these days . I’ve always used Doterra . What’s the difference between the 2 ?
Hi Jamie, Doterra is also a decent brand. The main difference is Young Living has a bigger selection and more blends than Doterra.
What about buying YL products on Amazon? Do you find them to be the same quality as purchasing from a YL distributor?
Hi Missy! There are actually YL counterfeit operations, so I wouldn’t trust an Amazon seller – especially when it’s your hard-earned money!
Amy review about Ananda Apothecary?
I haven’t heard of them Steph!
All of these MLM companies have to make way for commissions in their products so you end up spending more money than you would otherwise.
You may be right John, but in my experience, some of the MLM brands of essential oils are better quality… you end up not needing as many to get the job done, and by using less, you save more.
I used to buy oils just anywhere for the scents only until I started researching the medicinal uses. I researched several companies and went with YL for the reasons you posted. I mainly use them in my diffuser. I use herbs for medicinal purposes make my own teas and tinctures etc. These I mostly grow or buy from a place local to me. I was actually supposed to go to a seminar on YL oils tonight but there’s something going around and I caught it. 🙁 I would like to use the oils for more than I do and hope to get to study this big book I have on the uses. I don’t like how so many people get so offended because people don’t use the same brand they do. There is an essential oil business close to me that is owned by a student I had in college, I’m planning on talking to her as soon as possible. She is a certified oil person lol whatever that title is. If I remember I will post here when I get to talk to her. Sorry for all the negativity here. Kinda takes away from the good you do. Not good at all. People…use what you are comfortable with. Be peaceful.
Hello,
I know nothing about how to use oils. Does anyone have any advice on how to learn. Website? Books? I appreciate any help I can get.
Beth
I am not also brand conscious but at times we need to depend upon the name to trust the ingredients and it’s purity. This post is actually useful and next time I need to buy essential oil, I know where to search.
Tea tree oil and Melaleuca are the same thing.
Thanks Kathy!
Honestly Denise, I haven’t heard of them… then again, I’m sure there’s plenty of smaller companies I haven’t heard of before. That’s what partially influenced my decision – I don’t have time to dig into every EO company out there!! I decided to trust a tried & true company that’s been around for ages, leaving the research up to the pros!
Ooh – thanks for the tip Angela!!
Hi Tiffany,
My husband and I have been long time followers and were pleasantly surprised when you chose YL as your essential oils provider! There are many good companies out there. It is exciting that you are entering the amazing world of essential oils!
Here are my pet peeves…. why can’t readers just be happy for YOU?
Why do certain aromatherapist have to be so defensive and imply that you are not knowledgeable about what is right for your family? …. because you don’t have a certification? or is it because you aren’t following their school of thought about essential oils? There is a quite a difference between the German schooling and the British schooling and the French schooling on essential oils and their uses. Most aromatherapist are certified under the British schooling which do not condone using essential oils topically or internally. The French schooling however happens to practice topical and internal use of essential oils. This does NOT make one practice better than the other!!! Your decision to follow one schooling verses the other is exactly that, YOUR decision…. sigh!
It is pretty clear from your blog that you do quite a bit of research when it comes to personally using and recommending products! Why do so many people have to post about other essential oil companies? Or even worse post inaccurate accusations about the company you chose? Really? Do they feel a need to somehow “save” you or your readers? Do they think your readers are too stupid to make their own intelligent decisions regarding essential oil providers, schools of thought and or usage?
It is standard blogging practice to make money from some of those recommendations. Why should YL be any different? If I as a reader don’t endorse a product or recommendation YOU post, it should not be my place to trash your decision, or discredit you as a knowledgeable blogger…. Here is a novel thought for those “disappointed” readers… simply don’t use that particular recommendation or product and move on to another post! We all don’t have to agree 100% on everything.
Anyhow, I am happy you have entered the world of essential oils and we look forward to reading how YL’s essential oils and standard practices (which btw haven’t changed over the past 24 years) impact your personal family on this journey to better health.
AMEN Leslie!!!!! 🙂
Thank you Leslie! 🙂
I agree with this 100% and I am not even with YL!!
I know that YL does independent studies, but I haven’t seen the results myself. I think results of the oils are most important, in addition to the things you mentioned, but it would be nice to see those results!
hello i am becoming a more DIYer and want to make my own soaps. i keep debating on essential oils and i found a recipe on how to make my own. i guess they would be more of an infused oil. using fresh herbs with a carrier oil ie coconut olive oil etc. However i want the potency and obviously the health benefits.. tried researching the difference between diy and store bought essentials but nothing came up. am i better off to buy or make my own as a beginner? TIA p.s excuse the run on sentences I’m on 2 hrs of sleep lol
Hi Lyndsay! I’ve seen DIY for infused oils, but essential oils are not the same thing. They’re pressed from the plant itself, and are incredibly concentrated. Infused oils have the flavor and scent of the herb, and can be used liberally in salad dressings or flavoring foods. Essential oils are very potent, medicinal grade and are only used a few drops at a time. I hope that helps to clarify!!
(PS – no worries on the sleep!)
I have to take time to read your article carefully and spend time on it, but wanted to say that I have been doing the same thing, just skimming over all essential oils articles because of the cost and wondering how to know if what you get is real or watered down sort of like the olive oil dilemma. I can’t afford to spend money on bad stuff but because of health issues in my family I would live it if these oils could help. Did you do any sort of testing on the oils to be sure of what you are getting? I’m just so leary of scams. Thanks for the info.
T
I’m sorry for all the flack you’ve gotten! We love YL for all the reasons you do! And I have done a ton of research myself, even on the hot topic of ingesting! If you don’t know about them, there’s some great resources that will confirm the science behind your decision to go with YL…. The Chemistry of Oils Made Simple by David Stewart, Chemistry of Essential Oils Made Even Simpler by Michelle Truman & Healing Oils of the Bible is also really good! What I found in doing my own research about YL is that most scientists who begin to do hardcore research on it, end up falling in love with YL using them themselves. I love your blog (& now even more 😉 )! Keep up the great work!
Great information! I love Young Living! Their customer service is amazing and the support in the Young Living community is fabulous 🙂
Hi KC! I know there are other reputable companies, but of all those I looked at, I believe YL to be one of the best in the business. The practice of using essential oils should be taken seriously, always with caution, and never “assumed” that they’re safe for all people in all circumstances!
I use lavender and tea tree 🙂
I love our YL essential oils. I chose them for the same reasons you did. If I try to buy my food from farmers so I know where my food came from, why wouldn’t I do the same with my essential oils?
You make an excellent point Whitney! Thank you for stopping by and sharing! 🙂
I’m sure they’re wonderful products, but $40 for a bottle of lavender does not seem affordable to me.
Hi Melissa! I think that might be the retail price you see. As a wholesale member, my price is $23.50.
Each of the larger bottles of Young Living oil holds about 250 drops. I can attest to the fact that I have bought other brands of oil and have needed to use a lot more drops of the off-brand oils. Plus, after leaving the off-brand oils in a plastic container for quite some time I noticed that there was a black residue on the bottom of the oil container. Clearly the oil had been “cut” with other substances.
Price for 15 ml Young Living lavender essential oil: 30.92 retail and 23.50 wholesale (after purchasing starter kit.. premium starter kits include lavender). There are 250-255 drops in the 15ml bottles of Young Living essential oil. As Hope states, you use much less of Young Living essential oils, as they are pure essential oil (no additives) and they work as intended…don’t just smell good.