Essential oils are becoming very popular and when that happens, you are bound to get knock offs. How do you sift through all these different brands and find the best place to buy essential oils? It’s not easy to find pure essential oils, but I’ve put together this list of the 4 best essential oil brands so that you know where to buy essential oils without all the leg work.
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Let me start off by saying this: PLEASE DO NOT BUY ESSENTIAL OILS FROM A GENERAL STORE! Essential oils that are found in general stores are often diluted or impure. You do not want to use these oils on your skin. These oils are normally for aromatic purposes only and even using them in the air doesn’t give you much benefit because they do not carry any therapeutic properties because of their impurity. Even if the bottle is labeled 100% pure, it may only be 5% pure (the law states that only 5% has to be pure to be labeled as such). To obtain high-quality, pure oils, you will have to visit a specialty store or order online. Read more about essential oil safety here!
INFORMATION THAT IS IMPORTANT TO ME WHEN CHOOSING A COMPANY OR BRAND:
- High Quality, Pure, Organic – I want my essential oils to be pure, high quality and organic or wild-crafted when possible to avoid any added chemicals.
- Origin – Most plants that essential oils come from are not able to grow in just one area. Does the company provide information about where their essential oils are harvested from?
- GC/MS Testing – This goes along with the purity, but I only want companies that will provide me a copy of the GC/MS Testing on their website or upon request.
- Botanical Name – Do they list the botanical name of each oil on their bottles? There are different kinds of some oils that can only be separated by their botanical names (ex: lavender angustifolia vs lavender officinalis).
- Education – Does the company provide education about how to use essential oils safely and effectively?
- Customer Service – I want a company that will honor their return policy and that makes it easy to contact them.
- Price – I don’t want to pay an arm and a leg to get essential oils. I want them to be affordable.
- Website – I want a company or brand that has an easy-to-use website that makes it easy to purchase their essential oils and other products that they may offer.
Essential oils that are found in general stores are often diluted or impure. You do not want to use these oils on your skin. These oils are normally for aromatic purposes only.
Through my research, I have found the following companies or brands to be pure and of high-quality. There are pros and cons to each, but we use all of them in our home. Here is a quick table about each brand and below you will find pros and cons of each company or brand.
Year Founded |
Quality Control | Other Quality Testing | Price | Education | Website Ease of Use | Other Products? | |
|
~1996 | GC/MS Testing | Muscle Testing | $ |
★★★☆☆ (Ok-not easy or hard) |
Tinctures, Herbs, Blessed Waters, Diffusers, Salves, Carrier Oils, Lotions, Cases, Supplements, and much more! | |
|
2011 | GC/MS Testing – Third Party | $ |
Facebook Group |
★★★★☆ (Easy) |
Carrier Oils, Diffusers, Lotions, Beard Oil, Jewelry, Cases | |
|
2008 | GC/MS Testing | $$$ |
Blog Videos Upline (depending on situation) |
★★★★☆ (Easy) |
Toothpaste, Laundry Soap, Hand Wash, Body Care, Hair Care, Supplements, Diffusers, Cleaners, Hand Sanitizer, and much more! | |
|
1987 | Certified Organic | $$ |
Books for Sale Nothing else readily found |
★★★☆☆ (Ok-not easy or hard) |
Herbs & Spices, Salts, Teas, Perfume, Candles, Diffuser, Carrier Oils, Tinctures, Supplements, Bath & Body Products, Empty Containers |
Other brands that I recommend but don’t use personally (I have found good reports on these companies but do not use them due to price, selection, etc.): Rocky Mountain Oils, Edens Garden, Aura Cacia
Overall, Butterfly Express is my favorite company to buy essential oils from. I love the fact that they muscle test their oils and not only rely on GC/MS testing and I love their blends more than other brands. Their educational resources are also much better than most other brands.
Pros:
Muscle Testing
When getting a new batch of essential oil, they get the GC/MS tests on each batch (they get a sample from several different suppliers) and they throw out any that do not meet their quality from GC/MS testing. Then they muscle test each one to choose which batch is the strongest and that is the one they sell to their customers.
Blends
I like their blends more than any other brand of essential oils. They are careful to create their blends because it matters how much of each oil is used and when it is added. This can create a whole different blend. In using their blends for different ailments I feel that their blends work better than blends from other companies.
Wide range of products
Butterfly Express has many other products that help you achieve all around health and wellness. They have blessed waters (homeopathics), tinctures, dry herbs, diffusers, carrier oils, cases, bags, educational books, soaps, lotions, supplements, and much more! I use and love ALL of their products except for their lotion and soap. All of the rest of their products are amazing!
Price
The prices are very reasonable and almost can’t be beaten. To be paying this much (or should I say to pay this little) for high-quality essential oils is amazing!
free shipping over $100
Yes, that’s a lot of oils to buy, but if you’re an avid essential oil user just place a big order every couple of months so you can take advantage of no shipping cost!
cons:
All Labeled Similar
Their labels are all the same color so when looking through a bunch of oils, it’s not as easy to pick out the one you need without reading each individual label.
No Supplement Label
They do not promote using essential oils internally and therefore do not have a supplement label on them. They are high quality and under the direction of a certified aromatherapist, I would feel safe using their oils internally.
website slightly hard to navigate
Website Slightly Hard to Navigate – They have 2 different sites: (1) Butterflyexpress.net – Blog for Education Purposes, and (2) Butterflyexpress.shop – Online Store, but also includes some educational resources. They have weekly videos that are posted to Facebook and YouTube and write blog posts about those discussions as well but there’s no link to that on their main page, which is Butterflyexpress.shop. While their main website is fairly easy to navigate, this can get slightly confusing once you try to delve into their educational resources.
The second company that I recommend is Plant Therapy. They are the newest company on my list but they are doing amazing things! They even just came out with a pet line for dogs and horses!
Pros:
kidsafe
For any of you that are using essential oils on kids, you can’t beat their KidSafe line. It takes the guesswork out of it! Some essential oils should not be used on kids because of adverse side effects. Do you need this fancy little label to use them on kids? No, but it helps! This is a lot easier than looking up each oil before using it on your children. They also have created several blends just for kids that are amazing. We use all of their nighttime blends (Nighty Night, Sweet Slumber, Sweet Dreams) and they work great. We also use several others like Better Than Kisses, Germ Destroyer, and Itch Away regularly as well. I also love that they come in pre-diluted roll-on bottles but you can also get the undiluted synergies to refill those bottles after using all of it.
colorful labels
Plant Therapy has colorful labels that make it easier to find the oil that you’re looking for.
usage information on labels
They include a couple of ways to use each oil on their label, making it easy to know how to use oils that you’ve never used before.
germ fighter
Yep…this one gets its own line! Their Germ Fighter blend is amazing! Hands down my favorite smelling protective blend from any company that I’ve tried. There have also been studies that it’s the strongest against bacteria than other companies as well (personal blog studies using Petri dishes, not full peer-reviewed studies).
organic
They carry many oils that are Certified Organic and they are only $1 or $2 more than non-organic in most cases. They are also continuously adding more organic oils to their line.
carrier oils
If you order their 16 oz bottles of carrier oils, they come with a pump which makes it really easy to fill roller bottles! This is so convenient and easy, just make sure not to order 16 oz of a carrier oil that you don’t use much of because it will likely go bad before you use it all. The only 2 that I order in such a large bottle is Fractionated Coconut Oil and Almond Oil.
Education
They have simple charts and videos and blog posts for every type of essential oil user, from beginner to expert.
Price
They are about the same price as Butterfly Express for most of their essential oils. It’s nice to get pure oils with all these other benefits for such a low price!
Oil of the Month Club
Want to experience more oils? They have a club that you can join and you get a new oil to experience every month. While this is a bit pricey depending on the oil you get, it’s a great way to find other essential oils to use and love!
free shipping
Their oils are discounted so much that this one doesn’t make a huge difference in my opinion but who doesn’t love free shipping?!
cons:
No Supplement Label
They do not promote using essential oils internally and therefore do not have a supplement label on them. They are high quality and under the direction of a certified aromatherapist, I would feel safe using their oils internally.
blends or synergies
While I do love their KidSafe blends, their other blends are a little hit and miss. Some are really great and others don’t work as well as other companies blends for the same thing.
I don’t really buy doTERRA essential oils anymore because their price is 3x my other favorite brands but I do use a lot of their products.
Pros:
products
From laundry detergent to toothpaste to hair care, they have got you covered! We still use their shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and hair gel on a daily basis.
supplement labels
Any essential oil that can be taken internally is labeled with a supplement label. It takes the guesswork out of it! However, be careful about their promotion of using oils internally. They should be used with caution, especially with certain health conditions and medication. They also NEED to be diluted when using internally as well. Only use essential oils internally after checking with a certified aromatherapist first.
loyalty rewards
This is a great way to get monthly shipments of the items you use most often and get points back to get free stuff.
germ fighter
Healing Hands is a non-profit organization that doTERRA works with to help provide clean water, health care, and education to foreign countries that need help. They even give loans to people in these countries that want to start a business. They also partner with other non-profit organizations to help others around the world in different ways. I love that doTERRA gives back like this. It's so much better than just sending a check somewhere.
cons:
Price
I have stopped buying doTERRA essential oils because of their cost. I can get the same oil for 1/3 what they charge. I love saving money because that means I can buy more and try new oils with the extra money. Win, win!
Education
While their website is great and has lots of educational resources, their people do not. Most of the time when I see someone promoting unsafe essential oil use, they are with an MLM company. If you sign up under someone that is giving bad advice about essential oil use, you could really put your health at risk. Some uplines don’t even give any help at all so you are stuck with this kit upon sign up and no idea how to use your oils.
I don’t use very many essential oils from this company but I love them and trust their quality. I mostly buy herbs and spices from them with an occasional essential oil if they have something that the other companies don’t.
Pros:
Organic
Their essential oils are certified organic. This is an easy way to trust their quality and source.
Herbs & Spices
I love their herbs and spices and order them to refill my spice cabinet.
Empty Containers
If you love to make things yourself, they sell empty containers on their site so you can add them to your current order and not have to purchase through another company.
cons:
Price
Their essential oils are a bit pricier than some of the first two companies that I have mentioned above. However, they are definitely not the most expensive, more in the middle of the price tier.
Labeled similar
They are all the same color so when looking through a bunch of oils, it’s not as easy to pick out the one you need without reading each individual label.
no supplement label
They do not promote using essential oils internally and therefore do not have a supplement label on them. They are high quality and under the direction of a certified aromatherapist, I would feel safe using their oils internally.
Conclusion
Now you know where to buy your essential oils and the 4 best essential oils brands, which are Butterfly Express, Plant Therapy, doTERRA, & Mountain Rose Herbs. These are by far my favorite companies and for very good reason! My top favorites definitely have to be Butterfly Express and Plant Therapy, so definitely check both of them out!
Want to do your own research to find the best essential oil company for your needs? I have done the research on the brands and companies that I recommend but if you have questions about another company or brand, read WHERE TO BUY ESSENTIAL OILS: WHICH ESSENTIAL OIL BRAND TO USE? Dr. Z does a great job of telling you exactly which questions to ask any company or brand to verify that they have pure, high-quality essential oils.
Lastly, if you're new to using essential oils, make sure you download our essential oil safety tips below or read our post about essential oil safety!

Sources:
Butterfly Express. Retrieved from https://butterflyexpress.shop/?beid=purefamilyessentials
doTERRA. Retrieved from http://my.doterra.com/purefamilyessential
Mountain Rose Herbs. Retrieved from https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/
Plant Therapy. Retrieved from http://www.pntrac.com/t/TUJGR0ZGSEJGTU1JTUdCRkxNSUlI
Zielinski, E. (2019, January). WHERE TO BUY ESSENTIAL OILS: WHICH ESSENTIAL OIL BRAND TO USE? Retrieved from https://naturallivingfamily.com/where-to-buy-essential-oils/



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