So you’ve decided you’d like to explore the world of essential oils and buy your first bottle…
Where should you start?
If you’ve done any research, you’ve probably discovered there are many places to buy essential oils: countless websites; various wholesalers; specialty retailers; and even mass market shops at your local mall. If you look hard enough you can even find them in bulk food stores!
One thing that’s important to remember is that essential oils can very easily be diluted or made impure with inferior substances like vegetable oil or alcohol.
This is bad, because the purer an essential oil, the more reliable its effects. Some impure oils can be harmful if used improperly.
Some companies go so far as to add less expensive oils to more expensive ones—and then label the oils with the expensive name. When it comes to essential oils, it really is “buyer beware.” (Or at the very least, “buyer be educated.”)
It’s important, in other words, to do your homework before you buy essential oils. Here are some tips to help you make a smart purchase.
Pay attention to price
Price doesn’t necessarily translate to quality but it often does. A low-quality oil can be quite inexpensive, while a bottle of a high-quality oil that happens to be rare can cost nearly $200.
If you can’t consider any other factors, use price as a rule of thumb—all other things being equal, the highest-quality oil will usually be among the most expensive options.
Why?
As we discussed in OilSimple’s Guide to Essential Oils, many factors can affect the price of an essential oil:
- Whether or not the plant that supplies the essential oil is rare
- How difficult it is to harvest the plant
- The quantity of oil that a particular plant produces
- Where the plant is grown and the local agricultural conditions
- What particular quality standards the grower has adopted, and more.
And since different companies have different approaches to all of these factors, that means that price—and, yes, quality—can vary significantly depending on the brand name on the bottle.
Purity matters
Be on the lookout for phrases like “fragrance oil” or “perfume oil.” These mean you’re dealing with an oil that simply isn’t pure.
If you have doubts, flip the bottle over and look at the label. If you see something else besides a single ingredient on a bottle of essential oils—or anything more than a collection of pure essential oils in a proprietary blend—steer clear.
Watch out for words like “Aqua,” which is simply water.
Also pay attention to the presence of cheaper oils, like amyris, which masquerade as more expensive ones. (Sandalwood, in this case.)
Here are two ways to trust in the purity of the oils you’re buying.
First (and most obvious) look for some indication that the oils are actually “pure.”
That “pure” designation can be abused, though, so don’t rely on it exclusively. Pure essential oils can come from bad crops; they can sit in their bottles for years; or they can be stored in an improper bottle.
If you’re really concerned about the purity of your oils, dig deep to see whether the essential oil has been certified as a natural health product. Here in Canada, for example, most doTERRA oils have a Health Canada ID number to indicate that they’re safe, effective and of high quality under their recommended conditions of use. Other countries may have similar programs.
You don’t need to worry as much as you’d think about “organic,” however. Some countries that harvest the plants that make essential oils simply don’t have organic certification programs. More importantly, just because an oil is organic doesn’t mean it’s effective—if you organically grow an inferior plant, you’ll only ever produce an inferior oil.
Rather than accept “organic” at face value, dig deeper and look for indications that an essential oil:
- Has the correct chemical composition.
- Contains no heavy metals, pollutants, pesticides, or GMOs.
- Is not contaminated with bacteria, mold, or fungus.
- Smell, taste, look and feel the way they should.
Embrace buying online or through home distributors
If you can’t buy in a store—or don’t choose to—there are lots of trustworthy online sellers of essential oils. For example, doTERRA—in our opinion, the purest, most effective oils in the world—sells their oils exclusively online and through home distributors like OilSimple.
In other words, if purity and quality are important to you, don’t be deterred the fact that you can’t buy doTERRA lavender oil on a shelf at the mall.
The bottom line is if you choose oils from a company with a worldwide presence and a reputation for quality, such as doTERRA, you’ll have more choice, better service, and a better product than you would if you took a chance on the dusty shop down the road.
And if you’re worried about shipping, don’t be. Most well established online companies have expert experience in packing and shipping fragile essential oil bottles in the mail.
How to buy essential oils for less
One easy way to buy doTERRA oils at a significant discount is to become a doTERRA wholesale customer.
This is how OilSimple gets our essential oils, and we couldn’t be happier—we now purchase all our oils at a lower cost, while earning points to get more oils for free. (And so much more.)
Here are just a few of the benefits of a doTERRA wholesale membership:
- Buy essential oils at wholesale prices (up to 55% off in discounts and points).
- Earn points with every purchase, then use those points for free oils.
- Get ongoing support, resources and articles from OilSimple.
- Receive a free one-on-one consultation to answer your essential oil questions and help you plan how to use your oils.
Confused? Think of a wholesale membership like your Costco card—buying it once a year entitles you to save so much on a wide selection of items. The only difference is with doTERRA, the “warehouse” comes to you!
If you’re still on the fence, maybe this will help. With OilSimple and doTERRA, you’ll never have to sell anything, and you’ll never be asked to make a minimum order.
(Unless you want to, of course; contact us if you’d like to learn how to build a doTERRA business or set up a repeating monthly order to make buying essential oils even more hassle-free.)
Ready to get started? Here’s how.
Becoming a doTERRA Wholesale Customer
- Click this link to start the process: http://oilsim.pl/joinwithoilsimple
- Select your language and country (e.g. English / Canada)
- If you’re shopping from Canada, decide whether you want to pay in Canadian dollars and get faster shipping, or make your purchases in US funds from the United States warehouse. (Hint: You won’t pay duty or taxes if you shop from the States, but you won’t pay exchange fees when you shop from Canada.)
- Then choose “Wholesale Prices” and follow the remaining steps in the process.
With OilSimple, natural wellness is Simple!