Which Essential Oils Company Do I Recommend and What's The Difference?

If it wasn’t clear by now, I LOVE essential oils and everything non-toxic products have to offer. As a registered dietitian, I care a lot about what goes INTO my body, but in the past two years I have become increasingly more aware that what goes ON and AROUND my body is just as important! I often discuss the pillars of health with my clients in my 1:1 coaching program, and “Environment” is one of the pillars.

I talk about how to empower yourself and learn to read product labels and my experience with this in my FREE EBook, that you can download for FREE here!

So you might be wondering, why Young Living when there’s a bazillion other companies out there, some of which are very similar? Or even cheaper?

Well I am here to discuss just that!

I am not one to recommend a product or practice without explaining the WHY behind that recommendation. Ask any of my clients- I LOOOOOVE talking about the why :)

So there are a few reasons I only purchase my essential oils from YL and am weary of purchasing products with essential oils in them from any other company, but the biggest reason is because there are hardly ANY regulations on essential oils. Like, at all. Unlike food, you cannot rely on labels to tell you what is inside. The FDA does not regulate essential oils or supplements, which makes my job as a RD a bit complicated when it comes to recommending supplements to my clients. Labeling laws also make things challenging sometimes…

For example, companies are allowed to claim a bottle of essential oil contains 100% pure essential oil (lavender for example) but it only ACTUALLY has to contain 5% of said oil. Therefore the other 95% could be chemical extenders, artificial fragrances, fillers, and other hormone disrupting chemicals. But the bottle will say 100% pure and does not need to list those other ingredients on the bottle at all!

Yeah… what?!

So you’re probably wondering, if there aren’t any regulations placed on any companies then why is Young Living any different-and aren’t they more expensive? It has to just be another MLM pyramid scheme, Holley…

Let me explain what I’ve found through research of Young Living as a company, because I too, once thought it was just an other MLM pyramid scheme and actually hesitated to jump in for a whole YEAR.

Young Living has what is called their ‘Seed to Seal’ promise. They own their own farms, or partner with farms around the world, and run their own distilleries, all of which are onsite on their farms (no other essential oil company in the world has this). Read about it here. So from the time they plant seeds on their own farms (which they only use essential oils on for pest control, no pesticides or anything unnatural by the way… because real oils are effective!) to the time they seal the bottles we purchase, they are fully in control of the process unlike most companies. This makes their quality control very strong, which is important to me.

In a market full of essential oils where you can’t necessarily trust their labels, I find a lot of comfort spending my money on a company that is totally transparent about their process. Also, if you can find a bottle of lavender at a department store for $5 now knowing that it costs WAY more money to properly grow, farm, distill, and bottle real lavender essential oil, shouldn’t that bottle probably cost a little more than $5? Just like grass fed beef from your local farmer costs more than conventionally farmed beef thousands of miles away from you? Yeah… that $5 bottle of lavender from the store likely only has a tiny bit of REAL lavender actually in it- and that lavender could be farmed with pesticides. This is also why a lot of people I’ve met and talked to (myself included) who’ve tried essential oils before have felt no difference or experienced any results or even have had negative results- because they actually might not have been using real oils. They could have even been using substances that had negative side effects.

Another thing I find cool about Young Living as a company is that they are so transparent AND passionate about their hands on farming practices. You can even visit any Young Living farm because they have nothing to hide! Their oils are therapeutic grade and NOT just fragrance grade- and again, the labeling laws on this are not regulated! But this basically means that certain oils are distilled longer to provide more benefits from a stronger more potent plant powered product. Many essential oils companies distill all of their products for the same amount of time, meaning those products are really only for aromatherapy and fragrance grade purposes. Not Young Living. ALSO YL has multiple products (their Vitality oil line, for example) that are safe to INGEST. Most other companies definitely do not want you ingesting their oils simply because their oils are not safe to ingest… maybe because they only actually contain 5% essential oil…

Also, you might notice once you join YL that sometimes products or oils go out of stock for a period of time at Young Living. This is because the company either turned away a crop of plants that did not meet their crazy amazing quality standards or needed to give a crop a break in order to continue growing high quality plants to make oils and not burn out any crops or species. Not accepting crops that don’t meet their standards as a rule and having environmental support standards too? Those are standards that I can get behind.

Now, I am aware that there are other companies out there who practice trustworthy methods, (and I love supporting them too!) but I have yet to find a company that is a one stop shop for ALL of my products- another reason why I chose YL. I buy our house cleaning products, hand soaps, dish soap, dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, hair and skin care products, makeup, muscle balms and other training tools, CBD (yes! CBD), essential oils, diffusers, supplements, and more from Young Living. I also love buying and DIYing gifts for holidays, baby showers, and birthdays that support health and wellness from a brand I trust for my friends and family! Nothing like giving the gift of wellness <3

I hope you found this post informative and helpful. If you want to learn more about Young Living and essential oils and get started on your non-toxic journey, read more here!

Stay healthy and well,

-Holley