Why I Chose Young Living Essential Oils Over Other Brands

When I set out to move toward a “greener” lifestyle, essential oils weren’t even on my radar. Seriously. Sure, I wanted to live more naturally, but had no clue what that meant.

And then…after complaining about how exhausted I was (and coffee wasn’t helping), a friend recommended that I try diffusing some lemon and peppermint in the mornings.

I may have laughed.

But I was super tired, so I figured it was worth a try.

And now, I’m the one that’s laughing. Do you want to know why? Because my friend made me a sample of her diffuser blend. I put it in a differs that I had laying around…

And I was sold. The house smelled amazing, I had more pep in my step, I can actually WANTED to get out of bed so I could start the diffuser!

Maybe there was something to this oily business after all….

Once I knew that oils worked, I had to do some research. There are a lot of oils out there, after all!

Could I just go to Whole Foods and buy some oils from their “wellness” section?

Or did I need to sign up with Young Living or DoTerra?

So I started to do some research. I love to research. And here’s what I found:

 I’m All About Integrity (And So Is Young Living)

Young Living has been around for over 20 years. There’s no other company that can say that. And in fact, Young Living is above board.

Not all oil companies can say that. As if that weren’t reason enough, Young Living doesn’t use fillers or anything artificial in their oils. If it says ‘peppermint’, it’s just peppermint essential oil, plain and simple.

Young Living Boasts 88 Single Oils & 78 Oil Blends

That’s a LOT of variety! And all of Young Living’s oils are Therapeutic Grade. Additionally, many Young Living oils are also GRAS (such as basil, oregano, and lemon), or generally regarded as safe for consumption (though not all are, so please read labels!).

This is a big deal, as most “essential oils” available today (including those at Whole Foods) are not up to Young Living’s standards. Most of the oils that you find, say, in the supermarket or through other companies are “rebottled”…this means that they are not grown or distilled by the company, but purchased from a wholesaler. Yuck.

That just doesn’t sit well with me. How do I know where I’m getting my oils if they are being bought from a third party and then passed off as safe?

This is where Young Living really steps up (and where they earned my business).

Young Living Essential Oils Stand Out

Most of the essential oils on the market today not therapeutic grade. 

In fact, they’re really only suitable for cosmetics and perfumes.  Young Living’s oils unique in that they produce a therapeutic, or medicinal, grade oil.

See, Young Living has a propriety method for producing their essential oils that allows them to obtain the purest product out there.

No Fillers, No Funny Business.

Young Living calls process “Seed to Seal” because they literally control every minute detail of the process from the time the seed goes into the ground until they seal the bottle and send it to you.

The following information was obtained from the Young Living website:

Seed to Seal

1.  Seed -Potent essential oils come from plant species that have been authenticated by Young Living experts. Species certification involves scientific research, field study, university partnerships, and on-site planting certification.

2. Cultivate – Through cultivation on the four Young Living farms, Young Living Essential Oils has mastered the creation of pure, potent essential oils. The company takes this knowledge around the world to co-op farms to certify that these farms’ growing processes meet Young Living’s strict quality standards.

3. Distill – Young Living’s proprietary low-temperature, low-pressure steam distillation process ensures that the beneficial plant compounds in every batch of essential oil remain uncompromised during the extraction process.

4. Test – Each essential oil must pass Young Living’s stringent testing to ensure the optimal bioactive natural compounds are present. Young Living uses its own internal labs, in addition to third-party audits, to verify that international purity and potency standards are met and surpassed.

5. Seal – Young Living completes the Seed to Seal process by carefully sealing each bottle of essential oil before shipping them to members worldwide.

For more information on Young Living’s exclusive Seed to Seal process, please see the Seed to Seal website.

So Why Doesn’t Everyone Do It This Way?

I was shocked to learn that most other essential oils are extracted using high heat, high pressure, and chemical solvents. Wait. Chemicals? No thanks.

Now, understand that while the final product may still contain the aroma of the plant, these harsh methods destroy any therapeutic qualities of the oils.

Using lower-quality oils (aroma grade) for therapeutic purposes is never recommended and can be extremely toxic. So don’t do it. Okay?

There are currently no standards when it comes to labeling a bottle of essential oil.

Get this: a company can use terms like “100% Natural”, “100% Pure”, “All Natural”, etc., but none of these terms are regulated!  

I’d put my money on this: it’s probably mass produced, adulterated, and laced with stuff you don’t want on or in your body. I’d be willing to bet that you can’t find the processing methods on the company’s website.

With other oil companies, it’s very likely that the therapeutic compounds have been destroyed by heat, pressure, and chemical solvents. Yuck.

But remember, there are no quality standards for essential oils, so you have to know where your oils are coming from and how they were processed.

Because of Young Living’s Seed To Seal transparency (and the fact that they welcome visitors to their farms), I trust Young Living.

You Need To Know Where Your Oils Come From

Before you get started with any oil company, ask yourself these questions:

1. Does their company own any farms on which to raise herbs for oils?

2. Does their company have their own fully equipped testing laboratory to verify an oil’s composition?

3. If their company purchases oils from outside suppliers, do they visit the distilleries and farms of those suppliers periodically to observe if the herbs are grown organically (i.e. without pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers)?

4. Do they know if the grower has a testing laboratory on the farm to determine when the crop is at its peak for oil harvesting?

5. Do they know if the crops were actually harvested at their peak time and, if so, was there an inordinant delay in taking them to the still and into the cookers?

6. Do they know if their distillery personnel understand the art and science of distilling to make sure the oil produced contains all of its components in the proper proportions?

7. If their supplier makes a mistake in the distillation or harvesting processes do they discard it?

8. Do they know if the the cookers in the distilleries of their suppliers have domed lids or cone shaped lids? Most stills use dome-shaped lids. Cone topped cookers deliver a better grade of oil than dome tops.

9. Do they know if their suppliers supplement the distillation process with solvents to exatract additional oil from the plant matter?

10. Do they know if their suppliers bottle their oils directly from the distillery without modifying the composition of the natural oil by adding anything or taking anything away?

Source

Essential Oils WORK

Everything else aside. I use Essential Oils because they work for me. And they work for my family.

I am constantly blown away by the fact that my oils have helped us in so many different ways. I also love that my friends and family are finding the same great benefits. And I want you to know what it’s like to love these oils.

If you’re here, I’ll bet that you want to know how essential oils can help you (or your family). Good thing you’re here because I was just going to go into how essential oils can help you.

How Essential Oils Will Help You

Let’s start with the basics: essential oils are kind of like a swiss army knife. They can do a LOT. 

One of my absolute favorite oils is lavender. I LOVE it. Did you know that the applications of lavender include:

• relaxation
• healthy skin
• Lavender Lemonade (when you use the Vitality blend)
• less stress
• getting rid of weird smells

…and a whole lot more. Seriously! I never go anywhere without my bottle of lavender. If you’re just getting started, a great way to learn about oils is to use them when you need a little boost in your day!

Healthy Living Makeover

I love a good makeover, and I’m sure that you’ll agree, it would be nice to not have to use the standard thing to treat basic issues. Have you seen the warning labels on them? Have you ever read them?!

NO.THANK.YOU.

Imagine providing a safe, effective, and natural alternative. It’s possible! You just need your own essential oils.

If you’d like to get started on building your essential oils collection, then I would absolutely recommend picking some up.

Getting Personal With Oils

I found that oils were a very personal decision, and I use them to help with some very *ahem* personal issues. If you have concerns that are personal, or specific, I would encourage you to do a little legwork and find out which oils are recommended for your specific needs.

Remember that you get to choose how to care for yourself. I’m sure that up to this point, you’ve been nodding along, because, like me, you want what’s best for your family. But what about your partner? Ish was beyond skeptical when I told him I wanted to try essential oils. In fact, he called them “snake oils” for a long, long time. So I just kept using them…and offering…and…

Finally, he was asking which oils would help with his sore shoulder (Panaway), and how to relax after a long day (Peace & Calming with Lavender). He even got on board with Thieves oil in the diffuser and Thieves cleaner around the house. Now he’s my biggest advocate, and also the larger part of my Essential Rewards orders each month!

How To Buy Young Essential Oils

Update June 13, 2019: Thanks for visiting BREA: Getting Fit! The site is currently under new ownership and we are no longer promoting the sale of Young Living Essential Oils. There’s still some great information on this page so we thought we’d leave it up. We only recommend therapeutic grade, non synthetic essential oils – you can buy them online.