I recently was asked this and I wanted to share with you guys what I found in my research and my own opinion on this question. Essential oils are a commodity in this world like any other item that is sold to the public. You will have the good, the bad and the ugly. Most of the time it is good. I will never claim that other essential oil companies don’t have good oils. What I will claim is that Young Living will ALWAYS have good oils. That my friends, is the difference and why I am a Young Living member and continue to buy their oils. Trust is a huge thing for me and I never have to worry about the quality of their oils. With that said, lets get to the story I want to tell you today.
When a plant is distilled for an essential oil there are different avenues a distiller can take to get it to market. If they distill at high heat and quick time they will get more oil from the plant faster. This is great for volume. But it horrible for preserving the therapeutic compounds of the oil. Most plants need to be distilled at LOW temperatures for a longer distill time to get all the therapeutic compounds out of the plant. But if the distiller doesn’t care about that but just wants volume than yes, it is 100% oil, but it is not the same quality as an oil that has been distilled at the proper temperature.
Also, this same plant may have different varieties that give different healing properties, which in turn also changes the price. Lavender is a great example. Most companies will use “Lavandin” in their Lavender oil or blends as it is cheaper. However, “Lavender Angustifolia” is what is considered “true” Lavender and which has the most healing properties. It is also a traditionally lower yielding plant. “Lavandin” is a Lavender plant that has higher yields but different therapeutic qualities. For example, Lavender Angustifolia will heal burns. Lavandin will not due to its higher camphor content than can actually make burns worse. Essential oil bottles should say the name of the plant on the bottle. Look at this next time you purchase Lavender. You will want Lavender Angustifolia if you are looking to put on your skin. Lavandin is fine for perfume or linens. Not the best for your skin.
Almost all essential oil batches are bought by big brokers in the market. They in turn take those batches of oil and divide them to sell to different markets. They may take lavender oil, lace it with synthetics to improve fragrance and yield, label it “Perfume” grade and sell to the big fragrance companies worldwide. Or a broker may take the lavender oil, add an odorless solvent to increase yield, and sell is to unsuspecting companies that then bottle and sell their “100%” essential oil” to consumers.
You have to remember essential oils are NOT regulated by the FDA. So there is no standardized testing. No one is testing all these companies and their bottles of oil. To be honest this is a gray area in the essential oil world. Companies can get away with labeling a product as 100% even if it is not because who is checking?!?
Now I am not saying every essential oil out there is bad except Young Living. I am sure they are many companies out there with good hearts trying to get the best product they can to the customer. The truth is though that most of these companies are NOT testing their oils prior to bottling and selling. They are trusting their brokers and trusting their suppliers that what they are getting is the real thing.
What sets Young Living apart and why I trust them and pay the money for them is that they control the entire process from literally the seed that is planted in the ground to how it is distilled and bottled. They also test every batch of oil before they bottle to ensure the oil is what it says it is. They actually own their own farms (Gary Young grew up as a farmer and trained in the Lavender fields in France. How many essential oil companies can claim that?) Young Living grows their plants organically, and then distills them right there on the farm where they can control the distillation time and temperature. On the oils they have to purchase from outside their farms, they have staff onsite to watch the distill and packaging of oils and then they test it in their and outside labs to ensure it is what they say it is. Most companies don’t do these extra steps. It is time consuming and it costs money.
Whatever company you use, be sure to read that label carefully and even e-mail the company to see where they actually buy their oils from. Do they use brokers? Do they own farms? Do they test the oils before bottling?
I hope this has helped clarify things for you. Young Living is the leader in essential oils and is what I trust to use on myself and my family. If you are ready to purchase and see for yourself how wonderful essential oils are, please click here for more info and to purchase.
Kathy Thomas 