Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link.
Rocky Mountain Oils
Rocky Mountain Oils is the best essential oil brand. They offer excellent customer service, care about the quality of their products, offer transparency in their business practices, have affordable prices and sell directly to their customers.
Below I will explain in more detail why this is the best essential oil brand.
The essential oil world is HUGE, with hundreds of different brands available, tons of hype and a handful of marketing tricks. There is much to consider and learn when it comes to choosing the best essential oil brand.
I have done the work for you by spending hours learning about how essential oils are produced, researching different brands, reading through company websites, checking into quality control methods and harvesting practices, looking at customer reviews, and personally emailing a handful of companies.
In order to choose the best essential oil brand, you need to consider a few things:
- How is their customer service?
- Do they take pride in the quality of their products?
- Is the company transparent about their harvesting and extraction practices?
- Is the company always working to improve?
- Are they a multi-level marketing company with high prices or do they sell directly to consumers, giving consumers a better price?
- How much do they educate their customers on how to use their products?
- Is their website easy to navigate and shop from?
I have considered the above criteria in my hunt for the best essential oil brand and Rocky Mountain Oils fits all of them.
In this article I will provide you with information on:
- Common Marketing Terms used in the Essential Oil World - You need to know the lingo that is used to persuade you to buy.
- Multi-Level Marketing Companies - Learn why companies like DoTerra and Young Living are not the best.
- What to Look for in a High-Quality Essential Oil Company - Criteria for being a trustworthy brand.
- My Favorite Essential Oil Company - The one I recommend and use.
Marketing terms
There are many marketing terms used to sell essential oils, it seems everyone is trying to define their oils as superior to others because they have this or that certification. Let's break down these terms so that you can be better informed as to what they mean.
- Therapeutic grade
- ISO Certified
- Afnor
- GRAS
- Gc/MS Data
- First Level Distillation
There is inaccurate information out there about the levels of distillation and many companies use it as a marketing tool.
This leads to confusing and erroneous information. The truth is that the majority of plants are distilled only once because they don’t produce enough oil for multiple distillations. So basically, every reputable company offering therapeutic grade essential oils will have first level distillation oils.
Multi-Level Marketing
There are a few big essential oil companies that operate as multi-level marketing (MLM) companies. An MLM uses a sales force that not only sells their products, but also recruits others to sell products. The person who recruits other sales people then gets compensated for the sales generated from their recruits.
The Three Largest Essential Oil MLM Companies:
- DoTerra
- Young Living
- Be Young
The negatives of MLM's:
- They use deceptive marketing terms and techniques such as creating their own certifications, like "certified pure therapeutic grade", or "GRAS certified"
- Their product prices are high because they have to pay multiple levels of people.
- They charge their reps hidden fees. It seems like you are saving money by being a rep for these oil companies, but charges for, "figuring out your commissions" and annual fees are not readily disclosed.
- They heavily promote the use of taking essential oils internally, which can be problematic, considering the people using them are not trained professionals, and essential oils are extremely concentrated and can be easily overused.
- There is pressure for reps to buy more than they need in order to get their free product or monthly discount.
I am not necessarily opposed to MLM's or the above three companies, but I know that you can get a better price, and a more positive experience from other essential oil companies.
Essential oil quality criteria
To be a high-quality, top essential oil brand, a company must meet the following criteria:
- Experience - The company must have a lot of experience within the essential oil world and with the uses and procedures of creating essential oils.
- Purity - The essential oils must be pure, this means they are not mixed with other oils or extracted with solvents. Low temperature and low pressure extraction is the slowest but best method for oil extraction. Oils are distilled with quality in mind. The oils are not adulterated by heating, blending, adding or further distilling the oils.
- Testing - Tests must be preformed to make sure the oils are high quality and not adulterated. Test results must be made public.
- Growing Practices - Plants are sourced from small farms or remote locations where no pesticides, herbicides or harmful chemicals are used. Only natural fertilizers are used. Plants are grown in their indigenous locations and sourced directly from farmers rather than a middle men who may hide synthetic or adulteration of oils.
- Reasonable Pricing - Not overly expensive, but not cheap either. Free shipping is a major plus.
- No Over-Recommending - Companies that recommend using oils internally for every ailment, or recommending using up large amounts of oils are to be avoided.
- Latin Names - Oils must have the botanical/latin name of the plant on the bottle, so that consumers know exactly what variety of plant they are getting.
- Reputation - The company must have many satisfied customers and offer excellent customer support.
After researching dozens of brands, I narrowed down my choice to five different essential oil companies. These included: Rocky Mountain Oils, Plant Therapy, Eden's Garden, Plant Guru and Fabulous Frannie.
I personally emailed these five companies, asking them how their company fit the above criteria, and I got responses from three of them: Rocky Mountain Oils, Plant Therapy and Eden's Garden.
After much thought and research, I have chosen the best essential oil company, the one that I am going to purchase all of my future oils from.
The Best Essential Oil Brand
My top pick for the best essential oil brand is Rocky Mountain Oils.
They offer amazing customer service, consider quality a top priority, offer transparency on all of their production methods and meet my above criteria for a high-quality essential oil brand.
Below I will share my email correspondence with Rocky Mountain Oils, so you can see why this is a top essential oil company. I have shared, in their words how they meet the above criteria.
Correspondence with Rocky Mountain Oils
Experience
"RMO has been around since 2004. The company worked closely with Native American Nutritionals, which has a long history of working directly with small farms and quality oils. We recently acquired Native American Nutritionals and improved the quality procedures even further throughout that process.
This is when our S.A.A.F.E Guarantee was created. The company has always worked to have professionals that ensure that the quality of our products are pure and effective. We have a full quality team led by a Chemist as well as employees training to become Aromatherapists."
Purity
"All of our oils are 100% pure, which means they do not contain any pesticides, fungicides or adulterants.
The distillation process is a major factor in yielding a quality product. There are several methods that can be used to extract essential oil from organic plant matter. These methods include steam, hydro, cold-pressed, CO2, and even extracting an absolute through chemical extraction. Rocky Mountain Oils sources essential oils that are extracted through the method that yields the purest and potent product."
Testing
"We test each batch to make sure that they do not have trace amounts of these chemicals present in the oils. If we find they contain anything unnatural, we immediately reject the batch.
You can read about our S.A.A.F.E Guarantee here, which outlines the steps our company takes to ensure our product line continues to meet the high standards that our customers, as well as our company have set for Essential Oils.
Lastly, all of our products are batched with a batch number, which allows every customer to purchase in confidence. This batch number can be used to pull up the GC/MS testing that was conducted on that specific batch of oil, verifying the authenticity of the oil.
Growing Practices
"It is important for any EO consumer to note that just because a product is sold as “organic”, it does not mean the oil is pure. This is why we have strict testing and high standards for each and every batch of oil that we receive from our sources. Although many of our products are organically grown, we are always looking for sources that yield the highest quality of oil, and that doesn't always mean that it is an organic source. As I mentioned above, even though some of our oils may not be certified organic, they are ALL pesticide free."
No Over-Recommending
"Although the quality of our products is of such that allows for them to be ingested safely. Our company recommends that our customers consult with a trusted professional prior to ingesting the products, we do not provide this information for our customers."
Latin Names
"You can view the extraction method as well as botanical name/Country of Origin for each product on each product page."
Reputation
"Rocky Mountain Oils is well known for several criteria, if a customer spent some time reading about us on the internet, they likely see the following points repeated over and over:
- High Quality
- Affordable - We run promotions monthly so our customers have opportunities to save money on an already cost effective product
- Excellent Customer Service Team - I recommend reading over some the reviews on our Facebook page, you'll even see that we have a very responsive badge for our Facebook messages. "
Why I Love Rocky Mountain Oils
- 90 day money back guarantee. You can try the product, and if you are unsatisfied for any reason, you can return it. No questions asked. It doesn't matter if you used 2 drops or 3/4 of the bottle, the full price of the product will be refunded.
- Return shipping is paid for by Rocky Mountain Oils
- Free US shipping
- Free international shipping over $199 (under $199 is calculated by weight)
- Excellent customer service - fast email response, phone number on the website
- Direct buying relationship with trusted suppliers
- Independent, third-party GC/MS testing results available free of charge
- Organoleptic and Refractive Index Testing
- No Adulterants
- Tests hundreds of samples to find the best essential oils before placing an order for processing
- Employs an in-house chemist for analyzing essential oil purity
- Each batch is carefully bottled by trained professionals using state-of-the-art equipment
- Steam distilled, cold-pressed and CO2 extracted oils
- Large selection of essential oil blends, single plant oils and rare oils
- Live Chat Support on their website
- Recipes on every sales page
- Easy to navigate website
Try Rocky Mountain Oils Today!
Any Questions? Please leave them in the comments below.
Yours Naturally,
Andrea
*note, this post contains affiliate links
hi,
I am a high essential oils user and I have read that using them for skin can broke the collagen due to the irritation. What do you think about that. Shall I consider stop using them.
Thank you,
Noelia
I have read that some essential oils can be damaging and irritating to the skin. There are some studies showing that lavender damages the skin, and most people know that citrus oils cause your skin to become very sensitive to the sun.
I think the key is to dilute and not overuse. You can use products with EO in them, but switch it up with some unscented products. Also, pay attention to how your skin reacts. If it gets red and itchy, then obviously stop using the product.
I personally have not seen damage done to my own skin from using products containing essential oils. I did once have a reaction to using pure tea tree oil on my skin, but that was just an uneducated mistake.
It is an interesting topic that I would like to learn more about. Your have sparked my curiosity, so thank you 🙂
Has anyone heard of the company Zija and their oils, Améo?
I have not heard of them Donita, thanks for sharing. Can you tell us more about them?
I love using essential oils as they have lots of benefits if using appropriately. This information is really beneficial to everyone who loves essential oil. Thanks for sharing!
You are very welcome 😀
There is so much products that are out there, but going organic is the way to go. I believe that we should take care of our skin in order for it to beautiful and healthy. Many person treat their skin to harsh and can benefit from oils such as organic products. Great job on your site.
Thanks Norman 🙂
I love essential oils and am always exploring new places to purchase them. One oil that I have been looking for in particular is Frankincense. But I am always disappointed with the scent. It is a very expensive fragrance. I have heard that it is a very beautiful fragrance but every time I purchase a bottle, it smells very strong and not at all sweet. I noticed that they have 3 choices and very different prices. Do you have a recommendation?
You are right that Frankincense is very expensive, and if you end up not liking the smell, that is a lot of money wasted! Rocky Mountain Oils is a top quality company, so you can be sure that their Frankincense is going to be the real deal.
Rocky Mountain Oils has 3 different types of Frankincense. They all have similar properties, with varying strengths and price points.
From the Rocky Mountain Oil website:
Frankincense, Carterii’s aroma is like the other varieties being balsamic, rich, warm, slightly spicy, sweet, and woody but also has a slightly citrusy top note.
Frankincense, Sacred’s aroma is like the other varieties being balsamic, rich, warm, slightly spicy, sweet, and woody with its sweet woodiness standing out most. Frankincense, Sacred is regarded as the most therapeutic and highly sought-after Frankincense oils in the world.
Frankincense Serrata’s aroma is like the other varieties being balsamic, rich, warm, slightly spicy, sweet, and woody but has more earthy notes.
What an informative post. Always wondered the difference in the essential oils as there are so many out there.
It is very important to know the all that information for herbs as well! I will be shopping for my oils at Rocky Mountain for sure as I want the best! Their prices are pretty good as well.
Cheers
Nichole
There are so many oil for sure! Thanks for the comment Nicole. We love Rocky Mountain Oils, they make amazing essential oil blends and single oils. Information is key when deciding what to buy, especially essential oils, as you want pure, therapeutic grade.
WOW Andrea you have given me more information to think about. I have always been very interested in certain practices to make oils which include the growing, harvesting and purity of the oils. The benefits and the education on how to use oils are extremely important. I have had some really good results with sleep, anxiety and cleaning with oils. I love the information on your site especially the recipes and how to’s.
Thanks Helen, I love using essential oils for cleaning, and they can really help to change your mood 🙂
When you say that you have gone through many sites and pooling the information all together to create one clear source such as your site here, you are not kidding.
You have presented a lot of information I was unaware of with how to consider which essential oils would be best. It’s obvious that I’ll need more time researching things through your site to get a better understanding.
Thanks for the great detailed article, looking forward to reading more.
You are right Travis, I put a lot of work into it!
I have never seen a better website on essential oils. It is amazing how many fakes are out there. You did a great job exposing them and making a case for Rocky Mountain Oils.
Have you found that oils can be effective in the treatment of degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimers?
Thanks for your comment John, I have not personally seen the use of aromatherapy on degenerative brain diseases but I have read about essential oils being used for the treatment of symptoms of dementia, such as anxiety, sleep problems, and even memory and cognitive function.
Lavender and lemon balm have been shown to reduce anxiety. Peppermint can stimulate the appetite, bergamot aids sleep, and rosemary helps memory and cognition.The studies are just beginning and there is no solid proof that essential oils can help, but what has been studied looks promising.
Your post is useful for me to select the best essential oil products. I really don’t know about it
There are a lot of brands out there so being educated really helps. Thanks for the comment!
I am currently a DoTerra rep and I love the product, I have been looking for a more cost effective way to go about treating a variety of ailments I suffer from and family members also suffer from. I wouldn’t ever stop using Doterra as it has proven to really help but something I noticed on Rocky Mountain Oils, (I just purchased 6 bottles and am very happy with them) Is that none of the ones I purchased are marked as proven to take orally. Is that the case with all of their oils? You were saying that they are 100% pure and many of the kinds they make are with other companies shown safe to take internally so I am wondering if they do not make them that way just to avoid possible law suits from people who may or may not cause problems. Are many of them actually safe taken internally but they leave that up to the person taking them or have I just bought 6 kinds that are not to be taken other than topically, diffused or for household use? Thanks so much for time, the article is excellent.
I believe that Rocky Mountain Oils has chosen to not explicitly recommend taking essential oils internally. They do not say that you shouldn’t and they do not say that you should. It is up to an individual if they want to take something internally. There is a lot of controversy about the internal use of essential oils. Companies such as DoTerra and Young Living say that their essential oils can be taken internally as long as they are within the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) category. These include oils from foods and herbs that we can normally eat such as lemon, thyme, orange, peppermint, etc. You would not want to take certain oils internally because they are from plants we cannot eat. The problem with companies that promote the internal use of essential oils is that their sales reps are not aromatherapists, they have little knowledge on ingesting essential oils safely.
There are people that argue that we should not take ANY essential oils internally, even the GRAS ones, unless we are working with someone who knows what they are doing. This is because essential oils are extremely concentrated. For example, if you consume one drop of lemon oil, you are actually consuming the equivalent of one pound of lemons.
The Alliance of International Aromatherapists gives this statement on the internal use of essential oils:
AIA does not endorse internal therapeutic use (oral, vaginal or rectal) of essential oils unless recommended by a health care practitioner trained at an appropriate clinical level. An appropriate level of training must include chemistry, anatomy, diagnostics, physiology, formulation guidelines and safety issues regarding each specific internal route (oral, vaginal or rectal). Please refer to the AIA Safety Guidelines for essential oil use.
Here is a statement found within the second edition of Essential Oil Safety written by aromatherapy experts and educators Robert Tisserand and Rodney Young. They recommend the following: “…only practitioners who are qualified to diagnose, trained to weigh risks against benefits, and have a knowledge of essential oil pharmacology should prescribe essential oils for oral administration.” [Robert Tisserand and Rodney Young, Essential Oil Safety (Second Edition. United Kingdom: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, 2014), 50.]
I cannot answer your question on whether the 6 oils you bought can be used internally, you would have to contact Rocky Mountain Oils and ask them 🙂
This is a question I’ve asked myself many times. there are so many great brands out there, and people have really strong feelings about them (probably informed by the MLM issue you mention). I personally have used both Eden’s Garden and Plant therapy but have never tried Rocky Mountain. I’ll definitely check them out after this thorough and helpful review, thanks!
Awesome, glad you liked the article Penelope 🙂
Andrea thank you for such a comprehensive review. I’ve only just started to venture into the world of essential oils and have been looking for this kind of honest information. I don’t like the MLM companies, mostly because I believe their interests lie somewhere other than with the best interests of their customers. I’m going to give Rocky Mountain Oils a shot, thanks for the tip!
You are welcome Shirley 🙂
Very informative and helpful, just what I needed! Thank you for doing the hardwork and research!
You are welcome Manika!
Do your receive any commission from RMO for writing this review ?
Hi Michelle 🙂 We do receive a commission. RMO is an excellent company that provides a small commission for us when someone buys. However, we wrote this article before signing up to receive commissions. The commissions that we receive on this site help keep us doing what we love and bringing our readers great information.