12 Questions To Ask An Essential Oil Company

When it comes to essential oils… QUALITY MATTERS!!!

You may have noticed essential oils are everywhere. They can be found at your local grocery store and in big box stores, and everywhere in between nowadays.

When using essential oils its important to use the best, highest quality oils you can find. Inferior oils can be toxic and should always be avoided. Make sure that you get your essential oils from a trusted source- preferably one that owns their own farms and manages the entire process from beginning to end. Essential oils are HIGHLY concentrated so its vital that you make sure the oils you choose are genuine, and free of any pesticides, synthetic chemicals and additives. You’ll also want to know the source material (species of plant, non-GMO seeds) from which the oils are extracted come from but also the growing conditions and the type of distillation process used to extract the oils. Its extremely important that they be distilled under OPTIMAL conditions- using low temperatures and low pressure. The plant material needs to be distilled for a specific set amount of time and temperature unique to that plant in order to protect and preserve the delicate chemical constituents contained within.

Not all essential oils are created equal and most oils on the market are what is called “perfume grade” or “4th & 5th distillation” oils. Essential oils produced for the perfume industry are distilled at high temps and high pressure. They are over-processed, chemical laden, highly adulterated and de-natured products that, in reality, are little more than cheap smelling scents at best. What you don’t know can hurt you!

Unfortunately essential oil companies are not required to tell you…
– if chemicals, high temperatures or high pressure were used during in the distillation process
– whether or not the plant material was grown without synthetic fertilizers or soil amendments
– whether or not the material used was sprayed with toxic pesticides and chemicals

NO other essential oil company in the world does what Young Living Essential Oils does to produce the most AUTHENTIC, premium-grade essential oils.
We’ve been at this since 1994 and have the most stringent standards in the industry. The standards, or process, we’ve set is called SEED-TO-SEAL. The short definition means we begin by carefully choosing the land on which to grow crops on and then selecting and growing from the best non-GMO seed, harvesting, distilling, and testing EVERY SINGLE BATCH of essential oil multiple times.

Soil health and soil nutrition are critical for enabling the natural genetic expression of essential oils in the plants we grow. Crop rotation is part of our balanced approach to sustaining healthy soils. Other sustainable practices we use include cover crops, mulches, organic fertilizers, microbial amendments and other proprietary approaches.

Only after doing all that, and more, do we begin formulating, packaging, and marketing the highest quality, premium-grade essential oils. Our whole SEED-TO-SEAL process IS what separates us from all others. Our farms and distilling processes are a MAJOR factor, but not the only factor, in placing Young Living Essential Oils head and shoulders above the rest.

Young Living’s SEED TO SEAL® premium-grade essential oils are produced exactly the way nature intended and still provide all the life-giving properties contained in the plant. They’re worth every penny and some can be very expensive. Consider them an investment in yourself. One can’t expect to use oils produced for the perfume industry and get the same type of response as you would from our SEED TO SEAL® premium-grade essential oils.

If you’re considering using a different essential oil company you might want to begin by asking them how long have they’ve been in business. You already know how long Young Living has been in business. And then ask them the following critical questions BEFORE proceeding.

Twelve Questions to ask an Essential Oil Company

by Dr. David Stewart

Here are some questions to ask when approached by another essential oil company:

1. Does their company own any farms on which to raise herbs for oils? And if they do, are they new farms on land formerly polluted with herbicides, pesticides, and chemicals that contain residuals from the past, or are they farming land that is clean, which has never been cultivated or has been untilled for at least the last 50 years?

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

3. Do they have anyone on staff with a trained nose who can analyze oils by their smell? (There are less than 200 people in the world with noses sufficiently trained to discern the chemistry of a fragrance.)

4. 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 without pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers?

5. 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?

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

7. Do they know if their distillery personnel understand the art and science of distilling, exactly how to pack the cookers, how to administer the steam, how to maintain minimum temperatures and pressures throughout the cooker, and how to continuously monitor the process throughout distillation to make sure the oil produced contains all of its components in the proper proportions?

8. If their supplier makes a mistake in the distillation or harvesting processes that results in an inferior grade of oil, does that supplier sell the oil anyway or do they discard it?

9. 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.

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

11. 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?

12. Do they know if their company has tested their company’s oils side by side with Young Living oils in the same lab to make a fair comparison? And if so, where is the data?

This is not a comprehensive list of questions you could ask, but if their answer to any or most of the above is “no,” or “I don’t know,” then how do they know their oils are “pure therapeutic grade” and that they are “as good or better than those of Young Living?” Without such knowledge, how can they make any verifiable claims that compare Young Living Oils with their brand?

With Young Living, you know that the answer to all of these questions is “Yes.”

Young Living owns and operates four large farms in Utah, Idaho, France, and Ecuador [at the time this article was written], all of which were clean and free of chemicals for at least 50 years before Young Living agreed to buy the land. In fact, the land in Idaho had never been farmed before Young Living, and the Ecuador farm is being cleared from primitive jungle, free from human contamination for thousands of years.

Young Living also has an expertly trained staffed, fully equipped laboratory for testing oils including a gas chromatograph, a mass spectrometer, and other equipment whose value adds up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Young Living also has small labs on their farms to test the plants right from the field as they mature to determine the exact season and time of day to harvest the crop for the best oil. This is necessary because plants change their chemistry throughout the season and throughout the day, varying from week to week and hour to hour.

Gary Young is one of the few people in the world who can smell an oil and tell you what compounds are present, which are missing, and in what quantities. An essential oil company needs a person like that to check every batch of oil to make sure it is up to [premium-grade+] standards. Such people can discern certain aspects of oil chemistry that a laboratory cannot measure.

Young Living markets more than 100 species of oils and cannot possibly raise them all on their own farms. When they purchase from other growers and suppliers, they may not only initially (conduct) site visits to verify that the oils are being produced and packaged properly, but they have a program of making repeated visits from time to time to make sure the standards are being upheld.

Gary Young has personally trained his distillers in the art of distilling. Besides the science to know exactly how to pack the cookers, the still operator must also learn the art of how to listen to the sounds of the steam inside the cooker and to be able to feel the outside of the cooker and diagnose how things are going inside to determine what adjustments need to be made.

Young Living distills oils at minimum pressures and temperatures to gently coax the oil and all of its compounds into the finished product, even though significant money, time, and labor can be saved by distilling at high pressures and high temperatures, like many companies do. High pressure/high temperature distillation may produce an oil with the fragrance compounds of an oil, but will not contain all of the [chemical compounds and the benefits that they produce]. Young Living never uses solvents to finish off the distilling process as many companies do.

By climbing inside of an actual cooker and visually noting the patterns of steam flow, Gary Young was able to determine that a dome-shaped lid caused the oil-bearing steam to curl and back flow into the plant mass, thus altering the chemistry and losing some constituents, while a cone-shaped lid allowed the steam to spiral directly up, out, and into the condenser without turbulence.

Many of the techniques and skills applied in growing and distilling Young Living oils are trade secrets, known only to Gary Young and his trusted employees.

Young Living oils are bottled as they emerge from the still in their complete natural state without adulteration (adding compounds) or refinement (removing compounds).

In a few instances when mistakes were made and a batch of oil grown and distilled by Young Living did not measure up to Gary Young’s standards, the oil was discarded, poured out on the ground. Some companies would have sold such oil anyhow, if not to their customers, then to another retailer. Young Living will never do that. They would rather be in short supply of a given species than to market an inferior product.

While you are asking questions to another company representative, you might also ask how long they have been in business? Young Living was founded in 1991. Gary bought its first farm in 1992 near St. Maries, Idaho, and its second farm in 1995 near Mona, Utah. Gary Young and the company are committed to ensuring a current and future supply of top grade essential oils indefinitely into the future.

If you ever get the opportunity, visit a Young Living farm and distillery and you will begin to see for yourself the care and dedication it takes to produce the finest essential oils in the world.

The factors that make Young Living unique and outstanding in the world of essential oil companies are so numerous they cannot all be presented in an article like this.”

Dr. Stewart continues… “…you cannot afford to use oils whose chemistry and origins are uncertain. I have complete trust in the quality and integrity of Young Living oils. That is why I will neither use nor consider any other brand.”

WHAT DOES GENUINE, PREMIUM-GRADE MEAN?

Prior to Young Living there were NO standards by which to measure the quality of essential oils as the AFNOR standards that exist were developed for the perfume industry. Years ago, Gary Young actually coined the term “therapeutic-grade” to help differentiate between his essential oils and those produced by the perfume industry. Because there is still no set standard. Many other essential oil companies have jumped on the bandwagon and started using the same term, or say their oils are “certified”. Anyone can label their bottle “therapeutic-grade”, or anything else they want because there is NO standardization of the industry, other than the AFNOR standards set for the perfume industry. Young Living’s SEED-TO-SEAL process is what sets us apart from the rest of the industry. There is no other essential oil company in the world that goes to the same great lengths, or that has the same stringent standards to ensure that each and every bottle produced is the highest quality, PREMIUM-GRADE essential oil, providing you with consistent, reliable results, time after time.

Many of the techniques and skills applied in growing and distilling Young Living oils are trade secrets, known only to Gary Young and his trusted employees. By climbing inside of an actual cooker and visually noting the patterns of steam flow, Gary Young was able to determine that a dome-shaped lid caused the oil-bearing steam to curl and back flow into the plant mass, thus altering the chemistry and losing some constituents, while a cone-shaped lid allowed the steam to spiral directly up, out, and into the condenser without turbulence.

Young Living distills every plant…
– at a SPECIFIC temperature,
– for a SPECIFIC amount of pressure
– and for SPECIFIC amount of time, in order to assure that ALL the chemical constituents available will be in the final product.

We take the time to gently coax the plant to release the oil and all of its compounds into the finished product. Significant money, time, and labor could be saved by distilling at high pressures and high temperatures, like most companies do.

Young Living never uses solvents to finish off the distilling process as many companies do. The oils are bottled as they emerge from the still in their complete natural state without adulteration (adding compounds) or refinement (removing compounds). Our SEED-TO-SEAL process ensures that all the constituents that make the oil premium-grade are present at the right percentage.

High pressure/high temperature distillation may produce an oil with the fragrance compounds of an oil but it will not contain all of the beneficial chemical compounds.

You can have a genuine oil from another company, but if the plant was distilled at the wrong time of day or with incorrect distillation procedures, the constituents that make the oil the highest quality, premium-grade will NOT be there. This means that the resulting essential oil will NOT have a ALL of the available beneficial chemical constituents that it’s capable of producing.

PROVING PURITY AND CHEMICAL COMPONENTS

Young Living has an unwavering commitment to producing genuine, authentic essential oils so we conduct many different tests on our essential oils… its part of our SEED-TO-SEAL process.

Dr. Stewart reaffirms that Young Living is the only one company from North America “that regularly sends samples to Europe to ascertain compliance with EC-AFNOR-ISO standards for essential oils.” The AFNOR_ISO standard is not sufficient to prove if an oil is of beneficial value. The beneficial action of an oil depends on the chemical properties of an oil which are dependent on several factors… where and how it was grown, harvesting methods, distillation processes, climate, altitude, how it was packaged, and even what time of day it was harvested. These are factors not considered by AFNOR-ISO.

NO ANIMAL TESTING

Young Living® has a policy against testing the efficacy or safety of its products on animals. Young Living’s products are formulated to be safe for nearly all users; therefore, animal testing is neither required nor performed in our product development process. Animal testing is not required nor performed with Young Living products sold domestically or in any of our International markets.

Young Living has set the standard
that everyone else is trying to reach

ASK YOURSELF…
WHY DO OTHER COMPANIES COMPARE THEMSELVES TO YOUNG LIVING?

Other companies are constantly comparing themselves to Young Living. That’s because Young Living has set the standard that everyone else is trying to reach. Many people ask me how Young Living compares to other companies. I say “They don’t!… unless they’re taking every single step that Young Living is taking.” Young Living is the “BEST” of the best! Its a bold statement yes, but because of our entire SEED-TO-SEAL process and all that it entails, we’re confident that we have the very best essential oils in the world.

There are many essential oil users, especially massage therapists, who were total skeptics of our claims who, after doing a side-by-side test of their brand of oils with ours, are now full-fledged, PASSIONATE users of Young Living’s essential oils. They were blown away at the results our oils produced and have gladly made the switch.

Personally, I prefer to purchase my oils from the teacher, not the student; from the grower/distiller, not a company that simply brokers or resales oils. When it comes to purchasing essential oils, I don’t want just good oils, I want the “cream of the crop”, not the leftovers. No other essential oil company has the “SEED-TO-SEAL” process, much less invites anyone that wants, to come participate in it. Talk about transparency! With our SEED-TO-SEAL process I’m assured of consistent, reliable results and believe this process places Young Living head and shoulders above the competition.

You may be one of those individuals who have used essential oils before but were disappointed and less than thrilled with the results. It may be because you were using inferior oils. Don’t throw the proverbial “baby” (essential oils) out with the bath water. Give Young Living Essential Oils a try… in my opinion they are the leader in essential oils and sincerely believe that you’ll notice the difference once you’ve experienced the REAL THING!

If you’re still unsure I challenge you to do a side-by-side test. Grab yourself a bottle of our Peppermint essential oil and compare it to others. Does it smell like the plant it comes from or does it smell like chemicals or perhaps candy (both an indication of adulteration)?

Our story started more than 20 years ago with a simple, home-built essential oil distillery. Today, our farms and community span the globe. Because of our proven commitment to provide nature’s best, millions trust us to deliver superior essential oils.

As the world leader in the cultivation and distillation of essential oils we believe that everyone deserves a life full of abundance and wellness. Our vision is to bring the life-changing benefits of essential oils to every home, family, and lifestyle. This means we’re constantly expanding and improving our farms and global partnerships while staying committed to our Seed to Seal quality commitment. With our continued global growth, our commitment to creating genuine, premium-grade essential oils and products through environmentally conscious methods also continues to grow. With locations on six continents and more than 25 open markets, Young Living’s global presence is undisputed.

 
+Term changed due to regulatory authorities

Testing Standards for Young Living Essential Oils

Young Living vs. Other Brands of Oils

WARNING– References to the use of essential oils refers SOLELY to Young Living Essential Oils. Before taking oils internally always verify if it’s safe for internal use. Never attempt to use other oils in the same way as it may be dangerous or toxic! Because of their SEED-to-SEAL process Young Living oils are the ONLY ones that I would ever consider ingesting!