Have you heard of essential oils? You have used them for years? Yeah, me too!
So a few weeks ago I came across some information that left me in utter shock. These disturbing reports seem to have been public for some time, yet not oft talked about, concerning the founder of the popular essential oil MLM company Young Living, Gary Young. You can read more about it here and here.
And if you already aware of it, and would like to get a refresher in chronological order, check out this time-line.
From the fake diploma, to keeping his healthy infant underwater of an hour (which lead to her death), to performing surgery without a license, to multiple arrests and jail time, whether mr. Young is seeking to elevate his ego or his bank account, I do not know and it does not matter. What I do know is that the man cannot be trusted. So how can you trust the very essential oils he is promoting?
I did some digging online and found out that, in fact, you cannot wholeheartedly trust the purity of YL essential oils. Independent testing, as in, paid by random concerned YL representatives and consumers, show that the oils in fact do have adulterations. Not just one oil. Different blends and single oils. Not just one time. Repeat testing on the same type oil. Different batches. Results show FAKE. See here.
To me, that means that the practice of mixing the essential oils with other synthetic products has been on-going and wouldn’t come as a surprise to the responsible parties. After a few days of trying to comprehend the evidence and manage the shock and heart-brokenness of trusting this company, I decided to do what is right – throw away all of my YL oils! Yes, it’s caboodles of money! However, I cannot continue using them on my body or around my family if I do not know the constituents of the make of them. It is just not safe!
I choose to take inventory of the damage, and I admit my error of not thoroughly researching as I usually do. When I signed up with YL several years ago, as the company was emerging, I blindly trusted the opinion of close family members and friends. Goodness, everyone was using Young Living. Essential oils were the newest natural remedy, and with a baby and little time on my hands, I figured that surely all those people can’t be wrong, and quickly fell in love with the benefits of essential oils. If there was a bandwagon, I surely was on it like it was headed to the Promised Land. Sadly, this train didn’t take me there. Nonetheless, it has served as a reminder to not put my guard down, to keep my OCD tendencies and research, research, research – ask questions, poke – until I feel satisfied that I am indeed offering the best for my family. Isn’t that what we all want?
The past weeks, with my racing mind trying to distinguish between what is truth and what’s a lie, made me obsess over finding a clean essential oil provider, if there ever was one. So if this is your exploration, feel free to check out what I have found to meet my family’s standards and what I recommend to friends. Let me say that I choose not to use the other big MLM company that sells essential oils. I haven’t encountered issues with DoTerra’s quality, however, I do believe that their oils are over-priced, due to consultant commissions, extravagant conferences, pay-outs, etc; and they can easily be found at better prices – no commitment of shipping or reaching a monthly rewards goal – and with equal or better quality.
Lastly, after some thorough research, phone calls and personal testing, I feel confident in the products being offered at Rocky Mountain Oils. The labels come with easy to understand names, the website provides useful information, even for beginners – recipes, comparisons – including the origin of harvesting and GCMS reports. I love the transparency and the fact that they use small farmers in regions indigenous for the plants. All crops are pesticide tested, gmo-free and organically grown. Plus, as of recently, they are offering six essential oils which are USDA-certified organic. If you are looking for pure and natural essential oils, I highly recommend giving RMO a try. And with their excellent customer service, and 90-day return policy, you have nothing to loose but see for yourself how amazing they are!
This post obviously contains referral links to amazing products. I truly love all the products I have used so far and would gladly recommend to all of my friends.
UPDATED: A conversation with a friend made me realize that I had omitted a link, showing RMO’s out-performing the major brands in a “protective blend” experiment, testing efficacy against bacterial growth. The link to the results has been added.
Please be advised that there are several tests that show favorable outcomes for RMO, which (along with personal testing) aided me in the decision of using them; you can easily find them online or even perform some at home, (e.g. the paper test). As always, I implore everyone to do their own research and feel comfortable with their decisions.
Sources:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/09/how-essential-oils-became-the-cure-for-our-age-of-anxiety
https://jakeorton2015.wordpress.com/2017/01/23/the-disturbed-dr-the-truth-about-gary-young-founderceo-of-young-living/
http://gary-young-fraud.blogspot.com/2017/01/a-dangerous-mind-gary-young.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/young-living-gary-young-founder-essential-oils-2020-7
https://holisticessentials.ca/the-day-young-living-broke-my-heart/
https://holisticessentials.ca/an-update-on-yl-and-the-cinnamon-bark-testing/
https://www.reddit.com/r/antiMLM/comments/85z454/a_history_of_young_living_founder_gary_young/
https://adulteratedoils.wordpress.com/2015/09/09/damning-evidence-that-young-livings-oils-are-adulterated/