As a public advocate and educator of essential oils, I receive hundreds of questions about essential oils each week.

And the number one question I receive by far is this:

What’s the essential oil brand that you recommend?

I get asked about oil brand choice often and can understand why…There’s SO much information to sort through out there!

Before I answer that question, I’ll say that there’s a lot of GREAT essential oil brands out there with a lot of passionate followers.

SO... if you already have an essential oil brand you love, and you ARE NOT looking for a new one, that’s great! I am genuinely happy that you are using oils you love and are getting the results you are looking for.

BUT… if you ARE looking for an essential oil brand, this article will tell you why I love the brand I chose.

5 years ago I was in your same shoes, I wanted to find a brand that I could trust.

I did a ton of research and comparison, checking 3rd party sites, sorting through articles, comparing smells, on and on and on –– it was overwhelming, and even emotional at times!

When it comes to choosing a brand, there can be many aspects that can factor into your choice, such as oil quality, your budget, your intention of use, the values you look for in a company, the additional resources a company does or doesn’t provide, the diversity in products offered, and more.

Each person’s priorities are going to differ. I respect every person’s choice of essential oils brand. This post is not out to bash other brands or guilt you into making the same choice as me. This is simply my story, and why I chose the brand I did, and why I recommend it to others.

This post is about why I chose and continue to choose Young Living as my favorite essential oil brand.

6 Reasons I Choose Young Living Essential Oils

Reason 1: They Own Their Own Farms & practice beyond-organic standards

Shortly after I became a Young Living member, I took a trip to see where they grow and make their oils.

Here’s an image of me walking through the Lavender Fields.

My trip to the Young Living lavender farm in Mona, Utah.

Hearing from our guide, I was amazed to learn how every single detail is considered in the farming process. They track the mineral content and acidity of the soil, use worm castings and composting for fertilizer, do hand weeding, and use essential oils for pest and disease control. While the FDA only requires certified organic plants to be grown in soils that have been free from banned fertilizers and pesticides for 3 years, Young Living, on the other hand will not use plants grown in soils that have had any dangerous substances used in them for at least 50 years!

Before harvesting plants to go to the distillery, Young Living conducts brix testing and measures oil composition levels on every crop to determine the perfect time to capture the peak therapeutic value of each plant. Instead of buying all their oils through brokers and outsiders, Young Living is one of the only companies in the world who owns their own farms and distills their own oils on site –– which means they have complete oversight of each step in the process, and their plants don’t have to lose precious therapeutic constituents while being transported to far away distilleries either. On the rare occasion that they do acquire plants or oils through brokers, they undergo the most scrupulous of testing to ensure that oil/plant matches their quality standards.

I remember in 2014, when Young Living was at an all-time growth spurt, one of their most precious and beloved oil blends, Valor, went out of stock. Young Living members were emotional…they wanted their Valor back! The problem though, was that one of the key oils used to create the Valor blend, Black Spruce, was in short supply. The weather had not been favorable for this plant––drought in certain areas of the world had caused low productions of Black Spruce oil.

When your product depends solely on natural botanicals, some of which must be grown YEARS in advance before harvesting for production, you can’t just snap your fingers and instantly create more ingredients when demand is outpacing your supply.

Young Living had opportunities to buy spruce oil through brokered sources during this ‘Valor crisis,‘ which would have allowed them to provide Valor to their customers, and profit significantly. However, the spruce oil offered to them through a broker didn’t meet Young Living’s quality and purity standards –– and so they rejected it!

While facing overwhelming demand — they rejected it!

Not being able to sell to Young Living then, this supplier turned around and sold it to another essential oil company, who then sold it to their customers. To me, the Young Living difference cannot be defined or encapsulated from a bottle label or outside regulation, but instead, an unwavering promise and commitment to their customers to never offer an inferior product.

Reason #2: premium testing: in-house AND third-party laboratories

When we went to the lab, I got to meet their team of researchers, and PHd scientists whose sole job is to develop new formulations, and innovate in the essential oil space. I learned first-hand about over twenty state-of-the-art tests that each oil is subjected to in triplicate throughout the distilling and bottling process.

I learned that instead of using high temperatures and harsh chemical solvents, they take their time and extract their oils by using low-temperature steam distillation. This process is a much slower and pricer method of oil extraction, but it’s the only way to ensure that the therapeutic molecules are preserved and that dangerous solvent chemicals don’t end up in the final product.

I was comforted in learning that Young Living voluntarily undergoes rigorous third-party testing from the top oil testing facilities in the world. They work with more than a dozen of the world’s leading, independent, and accredited labs who specialize in advanced product testing.

Each bottle of oil is labeled with a batch number so that it can be traced back to its origins.

Reason #3: quality = results = less $$$

Since launching The Essential Oil Revolution Podcast in December 2015, I have interviewed hundreds of essential oil practitioners, users, experts, and professionals. And without prompting, many of them have told me the same story over and over again.

The story goes something like this…

“I used to use different types of oil brands with my clients and myself. Sure, they smelled great, and I noticed some results, but it wasn’t until I started using Young Living oils that I finally understood what people were talking about when it comes to what these oils can do. Not only do they work, but I need WAY less oil to get results.”

When you are using essential oils for their therapeutic benefit, you deserve to use oils that are going to work. Oftentimes you only need 1-2 drops of a Young Living oil to feel their benefits, which in the end will save you money, time, and lessen your frustrations.

Understandably, because of their extreme commitment to purity and quality, Young Living oils are on the pricer side of oil buying options. However, since you generally need a lot less oil to get the job done, you will save more money in the long run, AND you’ll be supporting a company that prioritizes sustainability and gives back to the environment and more.

Reason #4: giving back

I’ll admit that when I see a big company touting their donations and charitable organizations, I can become a bit skeptical. In today’s brand-focused economy, it can be hard to tell the difference between a publicity stunt and genuine care. So when I started learning about Young Living’s charitable organization, The D. Gary Young Young Living Foundation, I approached with caution.

However, after witnessing fist-hand the passion and drive behind the Young Living Foundation and it’s administrative team, I became humbled. It turns out that the charity’s origins began when Gary Young himself, the founder of Young Living, took a trip to Ecuador and saw the poor conditions the community was enduring there. While establishing a farm in Guayaquil, Ecuador, D. Gary Young noticed the schoolhouse he passed each day. Forty-two students were all crammed into one tiny room, forced to share limited supplies, and sit at broken tables while their volunteer teacher gave lessons on a damaged chalkboard.

From there, Gary worked alongside local community leaders to build the town a brand new school building, now known as the Young Living Academy. This was in 2009, and marked the start of The D. Gary Young, Young Living Foundation. Today the school educates over 350 student and has an unprecedented 97% graduation rate!

They now contribute to over many different projects and Young Living completely covers that administrative cost of running the foundation so that 100% of each donation, big or small, goes directly towards helping others. They also partner with well-established organizations to maximize the aid that goes into each community.

When you attend any Young Living event, it becomes clear very quickly, that the Young Living Foundation is at the heart of what this company is all about.

Reason #5: They offer way more than oils

Let’s be honest here….true health does not happen with essential oils ALONE. Healthy diet, healthy lifestyle, and healthy nutrition are all key elements to achieving your healthiest potential. It turns out, that Young Living’s founder, Gary Young, was passionate about many different modalities of health and wellness before he started producing essential oils. In fact, the first product he ever developed was a a colon supplement designed to promote gut health.

Young Living has pioneered the science of integrating essential oils into vitamins and supplements, making them more bioavailable and effective to the body. And in a world full of cheap ingredients and short-cuts, Young Living only sources their ingredients from quality sources. They never takes short-cuts that lessen the quality of their products and can be trusted to produce effective and safe supplements and vitamins.

Not only do I love Young Living’s vitamins and supplements, especially the ones they make for kids (my children love the kid’s probiotics!), but I equally love their home and personal-care products as well. They specialize in the creation of non-toxic and eco-friendly products for the home. Their all-purpose household cleaner is my go-to for every surface of my home and my shower/bathroom products have upgraded significantly thanks to Young Living.

It’s clear by glancing their 600+ product options, Young Living is a company that’s all about wellness for the entire family; pets, children, women, men, babies, and kids.

Reason #6: Ongoing support and community

If you walk into your local Whole Foods or health food store looking to buy essential oils, you’ll likely find a dozen or so oil blends and single to choose from. But what happens if you have questions? What if you need help? What if you need a recommendation for which oils to buy?

Unfortunately, the average health food store employee will know next-to-nothing when it comes to essential oils. But, on the off-chance that they do, you may be able to pick their brain for a few minutes, but what about when you get home?

One of my favorite benefits of buying from Young Living is that I get access to a vast community or resources and support to help me learn about my oils and other products. Because I enrolled as a member using my friend’s referral number, I was given instant access to all of the support resources available for our community, AND I get to share those resources and community support groups with anyone who joins Young Living using my referral number too! Endless ongoing support, at NO EXTRA COST, thanks to the business model of network marketing.

Yup…Network Marketing gets a bad rap, that’s for sure…but it‘s actually the best marketing method Young Living could have chosen to get their products to consumers. Instead of spending millions on fancy advertising, paying a bunch of middle-men to get their products onto shelves, and trying to compete with the cheaper-quality oils on the shelves, Young Living passes that money along to its passionate members who are actually using and loving their products and willing to educate other members about how to use them.

To the right is a picture of me and my closest oil community members taking a beach trip together to learn more about our oils. I’ve met so many amazing people all thanks to Young Living’s willingness to let me be a part of sharing their products with others. When someone enrolls in Young Living using my referral link, I shower them with support. I send them my favorite learning resources, I plug them into our private communities, and I invite them to a virtual walk through of their new oils so that I can answer all of their questions face-to-face.

You can check out Young Living essential oils right here. This is my referral link, which allows you to become a member and get 24% off the retail price of oils (with your first order and every other order after that). There's no fee for being a member either, which I love!

If you're ready to order then I can also gift you with invaluable learning tools, exclusive member resources, and a virtual walk-through of your oils and member benefits. A virtual walk-through is a great way to get to know your oils and ask me any questions face-to-face.

I recommend starting with the Premium Starter Kit with Desert Mist Diffuser (pictured below) It’s the best deal, sets you up with a great arsenal of oils, and the diffuser is beautiful and easy to use.

Full transparency- when someone makes a purchase through my link, I do make a small percentage. Having said that, Young Living is a brand that I believe in, and I would promote them with friends even if I wasn’t a referral partner.

You can use my referral link here. If promoted to put in a referral number use 1993230.

p.s.s. Young Living has headquarters all over the world. If you live outside the U.S. click on the flag in the top left corner to search for your country to see if YL is available in where you live.