Essentially Essential Oils - What you really need to know

I am fed up!  I have been using essential oils for several months now and I love them.  I love the stories that people have using them.  I love that not only do they smell good but they have been helping clear up colds in my kids.  These are all great things!  BUT, and yes that is a BIG BUT, what do you really know about essential oils?  Have you ever tried researching actual facts?  Essentially essential oils are the oils pressed from leaves or other parts of a plant.  There are several ways companies go about this but to get the best oil you want a cold pressed, cold steam.

So here are my frustrations, after extensive research for the best oils, how to figure out which ones really are the best, and what evidence supports they actually work, no one can really answer all of these questions.  If you go searching for them you will find tons of information and some of that information will be exactly what you are looking for but then they derail into a sales pitch for either Young Living or DoTERRA.  I do not want a sales pitch!  Just so you know this is not a sales pitch.  Even though I may prefer one brand over another I will never sales pitch you into anything.  I am just not that kind of gal.

I found this site that was helpful to give basic information.  Then after reading further more information on the actual process I knew more information on what to really look for.

For anything you are ingesting you want the purest oil you can find and it needs to be 100% therapeutic grade.  Side note to this - there are several oils like Tea Tree that you do NOT want to ingest.  Little known fact, the FDA only requires 5% of actual oil present to be considered 100% therapeutic grade which means you really need to be careful when buying oils.  So I found Whole New Mom, and I like her mostly because she reminds me of me and how much research I have done.  The only thing I do not like is that the differences she finds between DoTERRA and Young Living are how the companies are run but both products have their own positives and negatives depending on what you are looking for.

So what have I really found?  I still haven't made up my mind.  I go back and forth between DoTERRA and Young Living.  I have friends that promote both and like them both for very similar reasons.  I also have several Eden's Garden that are sold on Amazon for a much cheaper price.  I have lemon oil from Spark, Eden's Garden, and Young Living.  They all have a strong lemon smell and I can't tell much of a difference between all three however I have peppermint from the same three companies and the Eden's Garden has a very candy like smell which I have read is a bad sign.  I tend to enjoy the smell of DoTERRA blends much more than Young Living so ultimately I feel like between the two it's a toss up to which you enjoy more.  Both of these companies are very reputable with very pure essential oils.

Ultimately, do your research as best you can with the information you can find.  Don't get sucked into one company over the other just because of the stories you hear from friends.  Just like with many things, something that works for others may not work for you.  All of these companies have samples that they give to their MLM (multi-level marketing) consultants so ask for the samples and try them out for yourself.

Essential oils do work and can make a big difference in your life!  I will be making a final choice soon so check back for more information!