Most reviews of Young Living Essential Oils boast them to be the world’s best essential oils.
But is this really so? Are there no other comparable essential oils as good in quality and purity, as Young Living?
Plus: is it really true that Young Living’s quality is so outstanding? What is it, that sets them apart?
This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read my full disclosure policy here.
In this article, these are the questions we’ll openly discuss.
A Brief Company History
Young Living was established in 1993 by Gary Young. He is a committed founder, and came up with a proprietary production process, which he named Seed to Seal®.
Young Living Essential Oils reviews by independent peers consistently give high marks. That is why many people consider them to be “the best in the essential oils industry”. What, then, is the secret of Young Living Essential Oils all these years? I managed to roam online and discovered some exciting news about what many considered as “the World’s Best” – Young Living Essential Oils.
Young Living’s Quality Assurance
With my curiosity aroused, I began to ask the question – what is the truth about Young Living oils? What do most Young Living Essential Oils reviews really say about these wonderful herbal spa, bath and body care products?
Many articles across the web emphasize that the secret of Young Living Essential Oils is all in the process of production.
As compared to other essential oil brands in the market, Gary Young’s quality standards & control (QSC) as well as the distillation process of Young Living essential oil-based products is the most extensively-researched production process. While QSC for other essential oil brands may be subjected to strict requirements and independent-testing also, only Young Living Essential Oils offer the proprietary Seed to Seal production process.
This distillation process itself is a remarkable feature of the production of Young Living Essential Oils. As compared to other brands, which use low-heat steam distillation process and compression or cold pressed without any additives, Young Living oils are processed in a slow steam extraction procedure which effectively brings out the essential oils without any unwanted adulteration.
Interested in a more direct brand comparison? Have a look at this summary of Plant Therapy vs Young Living oils.
Are Young Living Essential Oil Certified Organic?
During my research, I came across the question of whether or not Young Living essential oils are certified organic or not.
According to Young Living customer service:
“To provide organic products to our members is very important and we strive to use organic matter in all the steps from growing, processing, to selling. We do not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides on our farms. Young Living cannot place the word ‘organic’ on our labels because we occasionally import some oils from different countries and most of these countries do not have organic standards that match the US standards. This is the reason why we cannot certify them as organic. Rest assured, though, that Young Living will not accept oils or plants that do not meet our strict standards.” YL Customer Service
Young Living Educates About Oil Benefits
Young Living Essential Oils have transcended their aesthetic use and reached out to people to share their beauty and wellness benefits as well.
The company has created an official Essential Oils Guide where you can learn about the advantages Young Living Essential Oils have over other essential oil brands in the market today.
For example, we can summarize the health benefits of therapeutic-grade essential oils (referring, of course, to the pure and organic Young Living Essential Oils).
Young Living Essential Oils Benefits Include:
- Physical and psychological benefits combined (lemon, lavender)
- Over-all raising of immunity to ailments (chamomile, clove)
- Natural pain relievers (peppermint, ginger)
- Antimicrobial benefits (geranium, eucalyptus)
- Against inflammation (chamomile, clove, peppermint, spearmint)
- Against stress and anxiety (lemon, lavender, frankincense)
- Insomnia (lavender, frankincense)
- Skin rejuvenation (valerian, lavender, Roman chamomile)
- Protection against common colds and influenza (lemon, eucalyptus)
- Digestive disorder (lemon, oregano, peppermint)
- For better circulation (cypress, German chamomile)
Young Living Essential Oils’ official website summarized why their essential oil-based products are “the world’s best”. The use of Young Living Essential Oils does not only offer the best spa treatment, it also offers the best of life’s experience which inspires us into a positive emotional state of health and mind, enhances our well-being, purifies our environment and immediate surroundings, rejuvenates us physically and psychologically, and creates a deep spirituality within its users.
Where to Buy Young Living Essential Oils
Young Living Everyday Oils Starter Set
Buy Here
Young Living is a so-called “MLM” – multi-level marketing company. This means, the company sets up sales representatives on a tiered scheme and ordering program, whereby everyone in the group gets a commission cut.
If you find a Young Living representative in your area, chances are they have been recruited and sub-recruited by someone above them, and someone else above them yet. This means that every person above you and above you and above you makes money off of your purchase, too. And they’ll try to sign you up as a member, too! The initial discounts – a “member starter kit” – offers great value. But once you’ve become a member “under them”, they make money off you & your referrals, every time you or your friends make a purchase.
You Don’t Have to Be a Member to Buy
Young Living Essential Oils
There is no requirement of a monthly order in a wholesale membership with Young Living. There is an optional auto ship program where members earn free products and points for ordering monthly – but it is not a requirement. To keep a wholesale membership open, one only has to order 50 PV (“Purchase Volume”) per YEAR. And, even at that, if an account goes inactive, it only takes a 50 PV wholesale order to re-activate. 1 PV equals to $1 USD.
If you choose to sign up as a member for Young Living oils, all of the starter kit and Essential Rewards program options are optional. I’ve successfully signed up as a member so I could have all of this information for you – without spending a cent!
That said, I do feel that nobody should overprice essential oils, or make unnecessary extra money off of their friends when they buy oils, as that might become more stressful than sweet. This whole sales structure also explains some of the steep pricing of Young Living essential oils as it would have to account for everybody’s piece of the commissions pie. Still – I do stand by the opinion that Young Living oils are of high quality and well-made.
Yes, You Can Buy Young Living Oils Online
Excerpt from the U.S. Young Living Policies and Procedures, explaining that yes, Independent Distributors may operate online websites to sell YL oils.
To avoid this signup and membership circus altogether, there are private sellers that distribute Young Living products as one-off purchases. For example, you can get the popular Everyday Oils Starter Kit here or the Young Living exclusive Thieves® oil blend here.
Yes, this IS legitimate!
Under Young Living’s U.S. Policies and Procedures, members may use websites to sell Young Living products, given that they comply with the requirements outlined in the policies.
Some of these requirements are:
- Display the Young Living Independent Distributor logo prominently.
- Must register the website to be used for sales, with Young Living.
- Such website must have a mechanism for receiving customer feedback and answering in a timely manner.
One such legitimate online distributor is 911HealthShop.com. They have been Young Living Distributors for approximately 10 years now. Their website was approved and authorized by Young Living’s Conduct & Compliance department years before the new retail policy took into effect. Not only are they grandfathered, but they are fully compliant. In fact, they passed again with flying colors this past September of 2019 and have Young Living’s blessing’s to continue retailing of their products on their website.
As a side note, Young Living’s current policy even allows brick and mortar retail store’s to sell the products to consumers without requiring customer’s signup with Young Living.
Switching Away from Young Living Oils
If you’re currently with Young Living but don’t want to continue to buy from them, maybe it’s time to look at other essential oil brands.
It can be hard to compare apples to apples, but I’ve done my best in the following articles:
- Plant Therapy vs Young Living: Scared to switch? Read this first!
- Edens Garden vs Young Living: A direct brand comparison.
I would also highly suggest Rocky Mountain Oils. They are amazing quality at fair prices (but not too cheap to make you question the quality). They’re certainly comparable in the broad list of essential oils they offer.
Are you really undecided on which direction to go with essential oils? Feel free to email me as well.
If You’re A Young Living Thieves Fan
The Young Living Thieves Line-Up
One of the many claims to fame of the Young Living essential oil brand is their line-up of Thieves® products: household cleaners, sprays, soaps, and of course simply an oil bottle of the proprietary blend. I’m no exception here, I think “Thieves” is a great product!
However – as with everything, there are many fine alternatives to the Young Living Thieves blend and I have written about them here.
You may also like to check out my DIY Thieves Oil recipe.
Young Living Diffusers
The Young Living Desert Mist Diffuser
Buy on Amazon
Young Living makes a few varieties of essential oil diffusers. One of the most popular current models is the Desert Mist Home Diffuser, a very solid and well-made diffuser unit. Its slick on/off buttons at the front of the “rose” make it easy to operate, including an on/off switch for ambient light settings.
This diffuser will help you create a spa-like ambiance in your home in no time.
How to Fix Your Young Living Diffuser
If you’re reading this and looking to fix your Young Living diffuser that has stopped working, I have created a few excellent help resources for you:
- How to fix your YL (or doTerra, actually!) diffuser
- How to clean your essential oil diffuser
- DIY diffuser repair kits from Diffuser Doc
What Do You Think?
I’d love to hear your opinion about Young Living essential oils – good or bad! My website is a platform for research and discussion and if you have something to share with all of us, please use the comments form below. I do read every comment so it might take a day or two for it to appear on the site. Talk soon!
Further Reading
Young Living Seed to Seal Process – Official Website
Young Living Essential Oils Guide – Official Website
Become A Member – Official Website
D. Gary Young – Founder’s Blog
I have been a member with young living for almost two years. I cannot say that for a single month out of those 2 years, young living got my order right. EVERY month they managed to mess it up and either not send me something (if not me then one of my members) if I call to resolve the issue over the phone, they say yes we resolved it, you will receive it as soon as possible, (that never happens)In fact we would wait weeks and weeks and when we call back to see where the missing item is, they would have no record of us even calling the first time. I have put up with this for almost 24 months. I tried to brag about young living and their products, I even managed to get 5 people to join under me, but when we all keep having problems with our orders month after month after month, it is getting hard to stay Put as a member here. I think that young living doesnt train their representatives correctly, or maybe they just dont care? Well if there customer service is so bad, it also makes me question the quality of their products. If they dont care about their customers, then why would they care about their products that their customers pay very expensive sums of money for?? Young living NEEDS to do better!!!!
Can you combine Thieves and Breathe Right?
Hi Cathy, yes, you can combine any blend or blends that you like together. However, after a certain number of essential oils in a blend, I’ve found the stacking benefits of the oils/blends diminish a bit. The optimal number of oils in a blend is around 3-6 oils. Thieves alone I believe has 5 single oils. If you mix many more than that, you may start to loose the synergistic effect. But in theory – yes of course you can blend any pre-existing blends together that you like. It is just not the most recommended practice I suppose.
Thanks for sharing. To me as I need to buy a variety of essential oils, price to me is priority so I used to buy from Green Herbology. They have a website of their own and also in shopee and lazada. Their products are good quality and cost effective.
Nice write…. Just wondering why you didn’t make mention of Plant Therapy? I heard that their products are good, most of them organic and affordable, and one outstanding thing is that there is a third party verification of the authenticity of their essential oils.
Hi Ify, thanks so much for your input! I have covered Plant Therapy Essential Oils in their separate brand review here.
I love Young Living oils and wouldn’t use any other! They work and they are not that expensive. Young Living actually rewards you with points back on every order (to spend on free product or oils) and they give you free promotions every month as well as free oils every 3 months just for being on their reward program, I love it! It’s totally optional though. Check out their SeedtoSeal.com video.
Very good information thanks
who cares how their marketing team is structured. All that matters is if the oils work, and they DO! For me at least. I bought the starter kit and fell in love with all the oils and the number of different ways to use them. It’s a healthier alternative to the harmful chemicals that we put into our body every day. Do you research! a lot of oils come off as “essential oils” but they contain harmful chemicals. The reason Young Living oils are so expensive is because of their seed to seal guarantee, that’s why.
I use both Plant Life and Young Living. Having a hard time finding info about Plant Life on the Internet though, that’s the first brand I tried. Any place you suggest I look to find out how they compare to these other brands you compared?
How does plant therapy compare to young living?
I am really happy to have found your site today . I have been an aromatherapist and teacher since the 90’s but sadly, in 2007 a simple hernia op put me in a wheelchair and since then had 12 surgery’s . I have now decided to make a come back ,I can’t massage any more etc but I really loved my job and it gave me great satisfaction for years seeing how aromatherapy improved the quality of life and health for many people . I have recently purchased a big amount of essential oils via Amazon from different companies . I suggest people be careful as many perfumed oils are being sold as essential oils and going by the reviews there is a lot of confusion amongst the public . Some companies have overpriced oils but then again those who offer sandalwood, jasmin, Melissa, or chamomile at less than 2 euros for a 10 ml bottle are to be avoided!
My mother sold YL back in the early 90s and that’s where I started.
I appreciate your comparison of essential oils and am glad to hear there are other companies that sound trustworthy. I started to use Young Living after a lot of research and am very happy with the quality of the oils – definitely not in to MLM but found that I can choose how I help others experience the oils – I love helping to educate others and I think that if you don’t want to pressure people then you don’t have to – it happens very naturally with me because I love sharing about them because of all the benefits I have experienced! Also not sure where the price comparison on the chart comes from – so honestly the review seems a little biased, I don’t know anyone who pays the RETAIL price for Young Living oils – a 15 ml bottle of Lavender WHOLESALE is $24.25 + tax vs. the $35 listed above. Thanks again for the info and just wanted to clarify the price comparison for a more honest comparison – as it isn’t really accurate.
Thank you for writing in Diane. That is an excellent point you make about most people shopping YL at discounted prices! I will follow up with this thought for sure.
Diane, she is getting $35 for the EO by YL because the 15ml bottle is $24.25 + $6.99 shipping, then they tax the shipping cost, which is an additional $3.25 where I live. That brings the grand total to $34.49, that’s close enough for me to call it $35. :)
I personally felt the review was fair. It’s her personal opinion, so she is biased in what she has found to be true about the brands.
I just started using EO and I appreciate people posting their opinions, good and bad. We all have different smell receptors and I agree it’s necessary to smell the brands for your self.
Diane, I have a friend who paid retail for YLEOs for 15 years, before she knew that she could become a member and get the 24% discount. She has since become a member and signed up for ER, placing a very large order each month.
Someone commented about the percentage of YL members who do not receive a check. About 94% of the YL members choose not to build a business, therefore, they do not receive a commission.
This is true.
I just got started with YL 8 months ago and we have made well over 2000$ so far and we didnt get serious about the business until 5 months ago. We have also gotten over 2000$ in free product.
I do not force anyone to sign up, I give out a lot of free samples, and I even offer to just buy them the oils and they pay me what it costs me, they chose to sign up themselves.
Hello !
thanks for the article, this is exactely what I was looking for,
I’ve started to look deeper into the essentiel oils world since I have hormonal acne issues (and regular medecines couldn’t help me), and for now, I tried a french brand only, but felt like the quality wasn’t there. It’s called ‘aroma zone” and they have a rich website with a tons of products and recipes !
You feel like you need to buy stuff just from looking at it,
so I went online looking for reviews and peoples’ personal experciences with the differents brands
I was going with young living, but boy it’s sooo expensive !, so I’m really really glad that I found your article, Usually it’s hard to trust compagnies with a more affordable price, you always feel like they propably reduce the price cause they lack in quality, but after reading your review, I don’t have this problem anymore :D
I didn’t start with Young Living. I tried several brands because I didn’t understand that lavender wasn’t lavender for every company.
There is no rating system for Essential Oils. If a company puts 1 drop of essential oil into a bottle of any oil they can legally call it 100% therapeutic grade Essential oil.
I don’t care what brand people use as long as they understand the difference in how a company processes their oils and farms their lands.
I bought the “cheaper” oils first like I said and found out I couldn’t ingest them because they have synthetics in the 100% “therapeutic” brands I was using. I stopped using oils altogether after I found that out, for awhile.
Also, most companies dilute their oils to make it cheaper as well.
I bought from the Health Food Store and online from a company that has high ratings.
The oils never helped me at all.
I was on anxiety medician that I was trying to get off of. These other oils made it worse and 1 top brand from the Health Food Store gave me the worst nightmares I’ve ever had in my life!
Then I found Young Living through a friend and she didn’t have to say 1 word to me. I smelled them. Wow!! I instantly calmed down! I SMELLED the difference. And I FELT the difference instatly.
The difference for me is this.
I got off of anxiety medicine that I had been on for 10 years that my Dr told me I would be on for THE REST OF MY LIFE!
Plus, I checked the price difference and from the oil companies that was using synthetics online and Young Living, on average Young Living was maybe $3-$5 more per bottle. I thought, “what have I been doing? I’m not saving anything if I’m using an oil mixed with synthetics and diluted anyway. I’d rather buy the real 100% Essentail Oil.”
Just do your research on the company no matter who you buy from. If they add any kind of synthetics to the oil do not use it. This is why your using oils in the first place. To get rid of toxins.
One more piece of info you might want to know before deciding on an oil company.
Let me give you an example of how important it is for a company to know the right time of day to harvest the plant and exactly how long to distill the plant to produce the chemical compounds the plant contains that is therapeutic to our bodies. Let’s take CYPRESS ESSENTIAL OIL, which has 280 known chemical constituents. If it is distilled for 20 hours you only get 20 of the 280 properties. If distilled for 26 hours you get none of the properties. Most market cypress is distilled for 3.5 hours. The correct length of time for distilling cypress is 24 hours to get the full 280 properties. And if you change the temperature for distillation just 10 degrees up or down but did writhing else just right, you get 11 chemical compounds you benefit the body. If you want Cypress to do the job it is intended to do, you MUST get ALL 280 constituents, no more, no less. Most people just do not realize essential oils have chemical properties in them and in order to get the full benefit out of that particular oil it has to be grown, harvested, and distilled the correct way or the oil has no benefit to us.
Btw, I do the business side of Young Living because I can’t help but educate others because there is a lot of false truths going on around the internet. If I talk to someone and they don’t want to purchase anything from Young Living, that doesn’t bother me at all. I respect their decision. I do it for the people like me that want to use EO” s but want to know facts. I’m here to answer questions for them so they don’t get confused but all the conflicting things said abbot EO’s on the internet.
Just educate your self. Don’t choose based on “feelings”. Choose a good company based on facts.
We’re talking about your health.
Good luck to everyone on your journey!
Essential Oils can change your life! ?
Thank you for your great comments. I have been in YL for 1 year and really enjoy the oils. I would love to connect with you and learn more about them. My husband is a chiropractor and nutritionist and he likes the oils as well. Here is my name if you want to send me a message over FB Messenger. I have a couple of questions. Thanks, Pamela Robbins
After reading all the great replies, I feel the need to weigh in! First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who expressed opinions (positive OR negative). I joke about having gotten hooked on YL by a coworker’s wife and that she’s my “dealer.” You know, the old “the first hit is free” trope. :) But the more I investigated the more I really liked what I was seeing with YL. I’m not interested in the business side of it – I’m also VERY wary of MLM companies, having fallen prey to hard-sell tactics before. But YL lets me just do my own thing at my own pace. I’m bad about giving EOs as gifts to friends and family – I’ve had such a great experience with YL that I like to share it.
The most important thing for me, believe it or not, has been the community I’ve found surrounding YL. Yes, I know a lot of it is marketing. However, I’ve gotten to know some folks that I otherwise never would have crossed path with. My upline team has FB groups that range from mildly busy to moderately busy, where advice is offered, classes are advertised, new items are discussed, etc. On top of that, they do “make and takes” several times a year to demonstrate what can be done with EOs. I went to one for Christmas a couple years ago and was blown away at how -easy- some of the things were to make! An EO rice bag? The longest amount of time a person would spend on making it is around 15m to cut the material out. And it’s something that would sell in stores for upwards of $20. Beautiful bath salt ornaments? 5m to make. $15 in stores to buy, with probably a grand total of $2 of materials. It’s that type of community where people are free to share their creativity and what works / doesn’t work for them that attracted me.
I’m also a person who loves to find connections with others. Finding something in common with another person invigorates me. So, when I walked into a small, German Baptist run country store and saw the YL signature diffuser on the counter, I had to say something to the lady who was working. We both laughed and talked about our experiences with YL. As I was leaving, the lady behind me was laughing and talked to the cashier about HER experiences with YL and how much she loved it.
I’ll probably never get in on the business side of YL – I’m not a sales person. However, when I look at the materials they put out, look at the time and energy they invest in working with and educating those who -want- to be on the business side, I appreciate that. While I’m not a “social justice warrior,” I prefer to support companies who try to do the right thing. Is every company going to be perfect? Nope. Just like not every -person- is perfect. But for me, well, I’m pretty sure I found the perfect mix of community, good product and education with a company that doesn’t seem to always put profit above people.