Sunday, June 8, 2014

{Essential Oils} How I Saved Money by Switching To.....

Alrighty, let's dig into this last essential oil post, shall we?


You all have been SO patient as I've outlined all of my research and guinea pig testing (hi, family!) where essential oils are concerned. If you are just jumping into this series, I would love for you to take a second to go back to the previous posts and catch up on where we've been:
Now that we are all on the same page, I have a confession to make.

I wasn't overly thrilled when I found out what the best, most effective, most affordable essential oil company was.

Oh, I know that sounds backwards. Wouldn't I be thrilled to have finally landed on the company that we were going to use. Well....

Here's my fear. I'm a blogger, right? I help support my family with this blog. It's great! But I never, and I mean NEVER post things that I can't get behind 100%. I've turned down more campaigns than I can count because either they weren't relative to me/you or I just couldn't ethically endorse them. As a blogger, my reputation is really all I have in this space. If that is gone...POOF...you might as well move on to another blog.

And that's why I started to get a bit nervous when it became readily apparent which brand of oils were the best. I kept thinking to myself, "My readers will never believe that this is unbiased if I tell them who really won the essential oil battle at our house!"

Gosh, darn it.

But I opened this can of worms, so I guess I best cough up the answer. Just know that as we work through this post, this truly IS the brand that I believe is best. Furthermore, I had actually planned a long post about a different essential oil company that I was going to pair with a giveaway for some of their oils, but 
I had to scrap the whole thing when their oils did nothing to support my immune system. Not only was it frustrating, it would have been unethical for me to continue with that post after the results I experienced.

So all I ask is that you don't discount what I'm saying or leave until you read the WHOLE post, okay? I mean, you've read this far. You might as well read all of my reasoning and the facts behind my choice.
We chose to use Young Living Essential Oils.

They are hands down the best, most effective, and most affordable essential oil company. And I want to walk you through exactly how it fits my list of requirements.
How are Young Living Essential Oils the Best:
  • They are the ONLY company that owns their own farms. Not only that, but they own more than 10,000 acres on six different continents so that they can grow plants in their natural habitats. Plus, they know when to harvest (some plants can only be harvested in a two hour time frame in the mornings in order to maintain their therapeutic value) and have distilleries right on the land.
  • They plant on fields that have been untouched by chemicals and follow those plants from seeds all the way to the bottles. "Organic" oils can legally come from GMO seeds, but Young Living takes that a step further by avoiding even those. If it's possible to be more than organic, Young Living has figured out how to do it.
  • They have 20 years of experience, and have set the international standard for essential oils.
  • They are the ones who invented the stringent tests that essential oil companies use. Most companies don't do all of the tests because they can be pricey, but Young Living conducts them all. On every batch of oil. Every time.
  • They only bottle and sell approximately 30% of the essential oils that they distill. The remaining 70% are sold off to other essential oil and soap companies as fragrance oils because they don't meet the extremely high quality control that Young Living has in place.
  • They have the most single oils and blends available. And they are all organic!
  • They have wholesale pricing available when you buy a membership (like Costco or Sam's Club!)

How are Young Living Essential Oils the Most Effective:

Not all oils are created equal!

The Essential Oils Pocket Reference, Fifth Edition has a section that talks about real lavender oil vs. lavandin (a hybrid) which is often cut with the synthetic linalyl acetate. The adulterated hybrid smells the same and is often sold AS lavender but is definitely not the same. However, companies can produce this synthetic adulterated substance in much larger quantities for a lower cost, so that is often what is passed off for the real thing, "For every kilogram of pure essential oil that is produced, it is estimated that there are between 10 and 100 kilograms of synthetic oil created (p. 22)."

On top of that, The Chemistry of Essential Oils Made Simple says, "A common practice is to take a decent grade of essential oil and dilute it 90% to 95% with an odorless, colorless solvent (usually an inexpensive petrochemical) so that what was a pound of good oil becomes ten or twenty pounds of diluted oils to be sold as if it were the original substance. thus multiplying the profit. Such diluted oils often carry labels saying "Genuine" or "100% pure," which is allowed by the U.S. FDA....Mysteriously, for every pound of frankincense distilled in the world, more than a dozen pounds are eventually sold (p. 12)."

Something's not right here.

Remember how last time we talked about how bottles of essential oil are only required to have 5% of the oil be actually pure? Yeah, what companies are really saying is that the 5% is the 100% pure part of the oil. Sneaky, sneaky! It makes me nervous, and I end up feeling a little bit ripped off when I read that. If I buy a $10 bottle of essential oil from the wrong company, I may actually be buying only $0.50 worth of pure oil and $9.50 worth of filler and synthetic substances. Whoa, not cool!

So the integrity of the oil in the bottle is really important! 5% worth of pure oil is not going to have the same effect as 100% (true, 100%) pure oil. The oils work faster, you need less, and you don't spend as much with a true 100% pure bottle of essential oil.

You must trust the company that you are buying from, and Young Living has proven over and over that they are trustworthy. I don't worry about synthetic substances or diluted bottles with their company.
How are Young Living Essential Oils the Most Affordable:

There are cheaper essential oil companies for sure! There is no denying that. But if they don't work, then the oils are a waste of money. That's just logical! The cheaper companies have to be as or more effective than Young Living to even be considered. Or I might as well wallpaper my bathroom with dollar bills, you know what I mean?

But I can actually do one better than just telling you that they are affordable. I can show you! Take a deep breath, because you are about to read through a slew of numbers!

I like cold, hard facts. So I want to show you how I saved money by switching from the other, cheaper essential oil companies to Young Living. Remember that awful 5 weeks of absolutely bottomed out immune system stuff that I had to deal with earlier this year? If you don't, then please stop right now and go read that post so that you know what I'm talking about. It's really important to have the back story on this.

After unsuccessfully trying to use essential oils to support my body’s systems for all of those weeks, I was ready to throw them all in a box and set them out on the curb. But I decided to give it one last try. I switched back to Young Living. I figured that I really had nothing to lose at that point.

I actually kept track, drop for drop, exactly which and how much oil I used while trying to find that happy wellness plateau that I knew existed out there somewhere. I also went back and added up what we paid to treat my 2nd round of bronchitis with prescriptions, doctors' bills, and tests (which is the opposite of being well). Wellness is an investment. It doesn’t just happen. So my goal was to compare what I spent to maintain wellness vs. what I spent when I didn’t do anything but just live like a typical American.
The total cost was 5.5 hours of time spent waiting for medical attention + $57.87 on the 80/20 portion of our insurance plan. If we hadn't already maxed out our initial deductible (because we've been so sick this year!), then that number would have jumped to $274.15. For ONE round of bronchitis.

What this chart doesn't include is the cost of the over-the-counter meds and cheaper oils that I also used, and the follow-up doctor's appointment and repeat spirometry test and chest x-rays three weeks later to make sure that my lungs were clear. I couldn't fit all of that on the chart! So the number that you see on the chart is just PART of what I actually spent to fix the 2nd round of bronchitis. The number gets much higher when you include everything that I actually spent just for that one illness.

Again, as humans, we get sick. That’s just life. It’s not really something that can be avoided unless we live in a bubble. The idea here is to keep our wellness level in such great shape that we have very happy immune systems. Make sense?


After my very rough spring, I wanted to do everything I could to get immune system back on track. I was desperate! Since I had the essential oils, that's where I focused. I started by taking the cost of the bottle of oil (using my wholesale member prices) and dividing it by the number of drops in the bottle so that I would know exactly how many pennies worth I was rubbing, ingesting, and diffusing. We are on a budget over here, so cost is an extremely important factor in decisions we make. Here is what I used to start intensely focusing on my wellness:

My total? 5 days to feel awesome and $24.41 worth of oils.

$24.41 worth of Young Living oils!

And from that point on, I was 100% sold that Young Living has the Best, Most Effective, and Most Affordable oils.

SAVED money by switching back to Young Living. Not to mention a lot of miserableness and the weeks of downtime that come with completely ignoring y body!

But there was one more thing that I had to deal with. Like I said in my last essential oil post, I had an extremely bad experience with a previous multi-level marketing company. It's made me understandably skittish about getting too close to another one (Side note: I think most of the companies make GREAT products, but generally speaking, people in them can get burned). While I realize that some people aren't too concerned about that and just want to get started with essential oils, others want to take a more conservative approach to diving in. Totally understandable! There are two ways that you can try Young Living, which means that you can pick what makes you the most comfortable: 

1. If you want to try just 1 or 2 oils to see if you like them, you can set up a Retail Account and get only what you are the most interested in. No pressure to buy more. Just the chance to give the oils a try on your terms. In fact, if you set up a retail account through my link to order an oil and would like more info to accompany that oil, I'd be happy to send you a small booklet if you will reach out to me with your address. I would love to help you learn how to use that oil in your home and love the results! theishumquads "at" gmail.com

2. If you like the oils or want to start with the same Premium Starter Kit that I have (highly recommended!), then you can sign up for your own wholesale membership.Full disclosure: I get a commission if you use my membership number as a referral. However, I'm all about the research and education behind oils, so I will take that commission, turn around, and use it to buy and ship you a Wellness Resource Kit. The kit is not put out or created by Young Living, but it has things in it that have been helpful to me, and I think it will be helpful to you as well. It has a reference book that covers how to use the oils along with a few other items like a dropper bottle for carrier oils and a roll on bottle for easy application. I'll also add you to a really fantastic group for members that I'm in. They give real help in real time to real questions. It's been invaluable. If you want more info on a Young Living membership, my Wellness Resource Kit, or the private FaceBook group, you can jump over to this post. (I had to break it into a separate post because this one is too long!)

I care so much about you using the best, most effective, and most affordable oils, giving your family a leg up when it comes to wellness, and making sure that you have the research and education to use oils safely and effectively. Please understand that I'm not saying to abandon modern healthcare. I'm a big fan of what the medical community has done for my family, and I will gratefully use them again when necessary. Essential oils are simply part of an overall wellness lifestyle that keeps people feeling awesome! I only wish that I had found them years ago. 


*deep breath* Sheesh! Can I ramble or what? Are you still with me?

Finally, thanks for following along on my essential oil journey. I hope that you enjoyed reading my research and found it helpful. I'm going to continue researching and learning about these, so stay tuned for some fun things coming up, like, how to make your own all natural lip balm customized with your favorite essential oils! Meanwhile, please head over to the second part of this post for info about getting your own essential oils!

The information contained in these posts are for educational and entertainment purposes only. They are not meant to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or ailment. Please do your own research and make your own informed decisions when you are considering lifestyle and health changes. Particularly if you are pregnant, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult a doctor before starting anything new. Any links leaving this site are the opinion of the author of those sites and should be treated with the same caution as what you read here. This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

38 comments:

  1. I loved reading what you learned!!! You have an amazing way of presenting information!! great job, friend!!!!!! :)

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  2. Your posts have been the most helpful in my own research so far. Your generosity and sincerity have really affected my thoughts on EO companies. Gonna check out that other post you mentioned now! :)

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  3. Loved this article and will share!

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  4. I found the link to your blog on a Young Living group on facebook. I started with young living and have stayed there. Reading your research was awesome! I must say when you got to the end here about which company you chose, I was holding my breath because...............of the research you had done. lol I am so glad you chose Young Living. I am 56 and just learning as of May this year. As the younger generation would say, You Go Girl. Hugs sent to you and your family.

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  5. Is there a bias on this blog or is it my imagination?

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    1. There definitely is! I'm biased towards the company that I think is best. If I had ended up deciding that another company was the best, then I would have been biased towards that company. But in my opinion, Young Living ended up being the best, so I choose to purchase the essential oils that my family uses from them. :)

      Opinion pieces always carry a bias. ;) I just hope that how I ended up with this opinion makes sense and gives others another tool to consider when researching essential oils for themselves.

      All the best!

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  6. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing all the detail and reasoning you have shared! Well put! I'll definitely be emailing you soon to try them out! :-)

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  7. I just did an online "class" on these oils last night. I've been hearing about them and got some good info last night. Then went to google this morning to learn more. This blog was JUST what I needed. THANK YOU!!! I'm going to try a few of these oils.

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  8. What do you think about Native American Nutritionals? Just curious as to why you didn't review them. I think I saw something about them on another one of your posts about EOs, but there wasn't an extensive review. Thanks.

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    1. I was going to ask the EXACT same thing, and see there is still no response :(

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    2. I wish I could review every essential oil company out there in depth, but they are multiplying extremely quickly as interest grows in this field.

      I thought about reviewing NAN, but I was looking for marked differences between the companies that I was choosing to review. I didn't see much with NAN that set it apart from a lot of the other companies that I was already trying and reviewing.

      Young Living has a Seed to Seal Promise that they 100% back up. From what I could tell, NAN doesn't monitor their oils from the point of seeds on their own farms. They buy them already distilled, and then bottle them.

      What I was most interested in was quality and knowing that nothing happened to my oils before I used them on my kids. Young Living monitors their oils from the point of seeds. I don't know if you knew this, but organic plants can be grown from GMO seeds and still get the organic label. I know that Young Living is making sure that their seeds are non-GMO, heirloom quality, and then using that same scrutiny through every step of the process. I like knowing that I can walk onto a Young Living farm and see them hand weeding the plants in order to protect them and give us the finest oils available. I actually had a lady a few months ago who drove to the lavender farms in Utah to see if I was telling the truth. She bought oils on the spot! (that is some serious researching!)

      I went with Young Living because I felt that they take care of their seed/plant/harvest/distill/bottle process with the same concern that I have when I'm looking at products for my family. In other words, I felt safest with them! :) And then, of course, there was the part where they actually worked! :) You can read more about that process here: www.seedtoseal.com

      By the time I got that far into my research, I realized that NAN couldn't offer the same level of careful quality control that Young Living does.

      I hope that helps!

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    3. Thank you for all your research and information that you post it is truly a huge help.

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  9. I've been using YL oils for 7 mths... Never looked back. They are amazing. Thanks for such an extensive experiment w/so many EO's! Great information for people who are researching!

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  10. I'm curious if you plan on re-visiting any of this information or research now that there's a new company out with clinical grade oils?

    I'd love to know what you think since you've tried so many of them and really looked into the different companies that were available before.

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    1. "Clinical grade oils" is marketing jargon, I'm afraid. That grade of oils doesn't actually exist. I know which company you are referring to because I was very interested to learn if there were actually better oils out there...I want the very best for my family! I would definitely urge you to consider them with the Young Living Seed to Seal promise in mind along with comparing the longevity of that company to the track record that Young Living has. Lots of questions are always a good thing!

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  11. WHERE CAN I GET SAMPLES TO TRY????

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  12. I noticed doterra oils are not in the list of comparisons. Can you give me a pro verses con between them and young living oils?

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    1. It's my understanding that doTERRA was started by people who quit Young Living - and that they only purchase and re-package/re-sell essential oils, they do not have their own farms and grown their own products like Young Living does.

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  13. I asked on your 1st blog whether you became a oiler or not... Question answered! You did! Thank you for your research! I just started using Young Living and have been very skeptical... So I will continue on the journey... I have been tossed back and forth over the use of EOs or not. These posts have answered a lot of my questions! Thank you.

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  14. I really enjoyed reading your blog and the replies on essential oils. Thanks for all the information.
    Katherine

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  15. I was going to sign up for the Premium Starter Kit, but as I filled out the info I was asked for my social security number. I'm not planning on selling the oils; I just want a membership. Am I required to give my ss#? I always try NOT to give that out, especially over the internet.
    I enjoyed your article very much. I've been thinking about trying essential oils for a while, and your in depth review convinced me to give them a try. Thanks!
    Denna

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    1. Hi Denna!

      Yes, there is a work around for the social security number that people use when they don't want to give out that info over the internet! Please send me an email so that I can help you with that! theishumquads "at" gmail.com

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  16. I have been using the oils for a few months now and was a little annoyed that Young living is priced so high.. I was thinking about defecting to the other oils out there but now I am going to stay put because of your research.. I don't have to learn the hard way. If it is not broke then don't fix it :) thanks for your hard work!

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  17. Thank you for doing all this work. You have answered all thequestions I had! Best part was your $ chart :)

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  18. Thanks so much for this. I'm just beginning my research on EOs. Everyone around me used DoTerra... but there was just something about it that I'm not 100% about. Maybe it is the rebel in me that has to be different.

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  19. Thank you so much for taking the time to share this!! It's been tremendously helpful & I fully intend to stock up on some YL oils soon!

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    1. Thank you for validating my choice of YL oils. That quality assurance is what sold me, and now having some other data helps.

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  20. I am a 70 yo woman and use YL oils...not only did I appreciate your analysis but more importantly I enjoyed and appreciated the integrity with which you presented the information. Your virtue and accountability is refreshing and hopeful in a day of marketed deception. I pray God bless you and all that concerns you...thank you for being honest.

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  21. Thank you for helping me make the better choice in essential oils!!!!!

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  22. I am a 56 yo retired nurse. I started eating plant based almost two yrs ago. I have also been researching natural healing methods. Herbs, foods, and even colloidal silver. Where can I find good info on HOW to use the oils?

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    1. Educating the members on our team on how to effectively use oils is one of the main things that we do! We make sure that everyone has the information they need to successfully use oils! I'm constantly teaching classes, and we have a Facebook group as well that is awesome! We'd love to have you join us if you are willing to give Young Living a try!

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  23. Thank you for this post. I am just starting to venture into Essential Oils and have so many questions. But I wanted to hear from consumers vs. sales reps about the best oils on the market. Your post is confirming what I've already been finding (that YL is the best on the market). It's just a tough pill to swallow when you are starting out. I still have kids to feed!

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  24. What carrier oils do you use and where do you buy them? Thank for your research!

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    1. My favorite are coconut oil, fractionated coconut oil, and almond oil. I always look for organic, unrefined. Most places carry at least one of these at this point, including Walmart and Aldi!

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  25. Thank you so much for this awesome article. I was thrilled to find out that YL owns their own farms and grows their own products. You'll be hearing from me! :)

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  26. I used the company Miracles for awhile. I would say they are second best next to Young Living. Then I moved on to DoTerra for awhile but found exactly as you - they use others oils and slap a label and their prices are high and frankly in comparison between DoTerra and Young Living, Young Living is a much higher quality oil and their membership perks are better. I am a die heard Young Living member now and I am so glad I took that step. I was also skittish as I used to sell Mary Kay and - well, just yikes - I was glad to see that Gary Young has not become the worship idol that Mary Kay did. It's about the importance of the product and it's effectiveness in helping people live healthier happier lives. Love this company and thank you for clarifying what can be an overwhelming subject for so many people.

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  27. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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