Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Are you interested in Young Living essential oils?  Have you read the reviews on them?

The essential oils industry is booming and growing rapidly worldwide. The total market value of essential oils sales worldwide is anticipated to grow from around 17 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 to about 27 billion dollars by 2022. So the essential oils business opportunity is growing with the industry and selling essential oils from home or online is also making money for tons of people. A lot of companies are getting in on this huge opportunity.

Young Living is probably the most well known essential oils company with over $1.5 Billion in annual sales.  According to Young Living they are the world leader in essential oils, with their strict Seed to Seal® process that produces pure essential oil products for every individual.

But how do you know which are the best essential oil brands? After all, this is an industry that isn’t regulated by the FDA. Oil quality varies greatly depending on the distillation process and traces right back to the plants, seeds and soil. So how do you know which are the best essential oils?  Did you know there’s a huge difference in both the quality and effectiveness of the essential oils? Your choice is vital both in terms of your families health and your income potential.

In this Young Living essential oils review, on the health side I’ll cover: do Young Living essential oils work, just why are Young Living essential oils so expensive and are Young Living essential oils worth the money. Also, on the business side, I’ll cover the pros and cons of Young Living and whether the Young Living business opportunity is a good fit for you.

I have had first-hand experience with Young Living as a customer so I’d like to share my honest opinions in this Young Living essential oils review so you have a complete picture of what is Young Living about.

Young Living Review Summary

Company/Product name: Young Living

Product Type: Essential oils, health and Wellness Network Marketing/Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)

Price: US$150-170 for Starter Kits

Founder: Founded by Donald Gary Young in 1993, master distiller

Best For: Women, mums with children or baby

Summary: Young Living Is a world-class MLM company that is a world leader in essential oils, with their strict Seed to Seal® process that produces pure essential oil products for every individual. Young living also has nutritional, cleaning and personal care products

Young Living Essential Oils is a good MLM company mainly because they don’t run their business the way traditional MLM companies do it. One very unique difference is that they don’t require you to keep paying any ongoing monthly fees just to ensure the MLM structure does not collapse.

Rating: 88/100

Recommended: Products: YES if you value quality over price, Business: Read on

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Having first hand experience with Young Living as customer means that I am able to provide you with all the necessary information. This also means that this will be thorough and comprehensive review.

What Are Essential Oils

Before I came across Young Living, I’d heard of essential oils but really didn’t much about them besides that they smelled lovely so were used in aromatherapy.  I didn’t know about their real health benefits until my Naturopath prescribed them to improve my blood results and inflammatory markers given I had coronary health concerns.

For starters, I know a lot of people out there do not know much about essential oils are, so let me just give a quick summary…

But if you just want to find out more about Young Living, feel free to skip to the next section below.

“Essential oils are the highly concentrated version of the natural oils from plants”. “These concentrated plant extracts retain the natural smell and flavor, or “essence,” of their source”. “Inside the plant, they provide the plants with protection against predators and disease, and also play a key role in plant pollination.” [Source: Essential Oil Haven]

So Why are Essential Oils Essential?

So think of Essential Oils as part of the lifeblood for plants to survive.  Inside the plants they are referred to as plant volatiles and are in the plants because they have specific biological functions for the plants that produce them.

If a plant is dehydrated and it’s withering, it can still revive if you give it enough water in time. And that’s possible because of the presence of these essential oils.

“Essential oils have been used throughout history in many cultures for their medicinal and therapeutic benefits”. “As these properties in plants carry forward into the essential oils, folk medicine since ancient times have made use of essential oils in medicinal practices. Modern scientific studies and trends again lean towards more holistic approaches to wellness and a revival of essential oils for physical and psychological health and well-being applications.” [Source: Essential Oil Haven]

There’s growing medical studies that essential oils are very helpful to the health of our human body. Different kinds of essential oils have different purposes and benefits to our body, a simple search of PubMed shows some 20,000 research articles like this one Essential Oils: New Perspectives in Human Health and Wellness – NCBI.

That’s why essential oils are so powerful as one of the best natural home remedies with uses from things like antiseptics for cuts, alleviate sore throat/headache, depression, as anti-inflammatory, relaxing, and stimulating substances, and with potential and modern uses in clinical medicine.

Disclaimer: To avoid legal issues, we cannot say Essential Oils are “scientifically proven” to CURE or TREAT diseases, etc. Essential Oils are just natural home remedies which have “therapeutic properties“.

How are Essential Oils Extracted from Plants?

You may be curious how do we go from the plant, seed, tree etc to get the Essential Oils that we use today.

Generally, it’s through a process called Distillation.

Onсе dіѕtіllаtіоn is соmрlеtе, thе еnd рrоduсt іѕ a hіghlу соnсеntrаtеd portion of essential оіl, whісh hаѕ thе сhаrасtеrіѕtіс fragrance and рrореrtіеѕ of thе рlаnt frоm which it wаѕ еxtrасtеd. If distillation іѕ best practice, this еѕѕеntіаl оіl соntаіnѕ thе true essence of thе plant іt соmеѕ from. This іnсludеѕ thе ѕmеll, but mоrе іmроrtаntlу the рlаnt’ѕ hеаlіng рrореrtіеѕ and other plant сhаrасtеrіѕtісѕ.

Apart from distillation, Young Living also adopts methods like cold pressing and resin extraction (tapping).

Throughout the essential oils industry, essential oils are generally extracted by “distillation, often by using steam. Other processes include expression, solvent extraction, sfumatura, absolute oil extraction, resin tapping, wax embedding, and cold pressing”.  I’ll come back to these, particularly solvent extraction later on. Solvent (hexane) extraction is widely used throughout the industry to extract 2 to 3 times the amount of oil from the plants but at a cost of these solvents, synthetics, fillers and impurities remaining in the final product.  

It is known that solvent (hexane) extraction methods tends to leave a residue (US Pharmacopeia sets the limit at 290 ppm for hexane), however it is not known for sure how much the low concentration residue affects the humans using the oils over the long term.

Do you want an essential oil with these nasties in it?  What could those chemicals be doing to your body?

What is Young Living Essential Oils About?

Young Living is well known as the world’s global leader in producing the best, purest and most authentic Essential Oils.

“They state they are committed to establishing and maintaining the ultimate, industry-leading standard in essential oil products. For Young Living, the non-negotiable benchmarks for delivering a product that our customers can feel great about are multifaceted and exacting.” [Source: Young Living Quality]

After years of growing and distilling Essential Oils, D. Gary Young decided to start a new company Young Living in 1993. And as Young Living grew in sophistication, so too did a base of passionate customers who could gain a better understanding of the benefits of essential oils and plant based products.  A movement was growing. It was the company’s passion for quality, dedication to its custom seeders and innovation pioneering the Essential Oils movement that has propelled Young Living form the small family farm in the late 1980’s to the global enterprise of 18 farms and over 5 million customers all over the world today.

Young Living operates through the direct selling / network marketing / MLM business model.

A key benefit is this model gets the highest quality products to the consumers without retail price add-ons and other inefficiencies in the traditional distribution channels. So their products can’t be found in retail outlets because they sell their products direct by their own “independent distributors” known as “associates”. Basically they аrе thе ѕаlеѕ force іn their MLM dіѕtrіbutіоn system.

3 Different Grades of Essential Oils

Dіd you know thаt not аll essential оіlѕ аrе сrеаtеd equal? Let me share the different grades of essential oils below to help you know what you are buying and what to look for in an essential oil.

“Thе quality of еѕѕеntіаl oils vаrіеѕ wіdеlу, аnd if you uѕе thеm fоr thеіr рrореrtіеѕ уоu need to make ѕurе уоu аrе buying a higher grade аnd quаlіtу оf the оіl”.  “The Essential Oil grades are very important because it directly affects your health. There are generally 3 grades of Essential Oils”:

1. Perfume Grade – 100% Synthetic Essential Oils. It’s іmроrtаnt tо know thаt ѕуnthеtіс fragrance оіlѕ mау соntаіn any number of tоxіnѕ: ѕulfаtеѕ, parabens, bеnzаldеhуdе, bеnzуl acetate, аnd рrоруlеnе glусоl juѕt to mention a fеw. In аll, thеrе аrе dоzеnѕ of commonly used chemicals in thеѕе products, 95% оf thеm dеrіvеd frоm реtrоlеum bурrоduсtѕ.  Manufacturers must add toxic solvents also, so this toxic chemical mix basically mimics the aroma but there are no therapeutic benefits to the body.  This grade is really just for the fragrance aspect of it.  You’ll find this in air fresheners, shampoos, body washes, perfumes and more.
2. Food Grade – A mix of Synthetic and Pure Essential Oils. They can contain synthetics, pesticides, fertilizers, chemical/synthetic extenders, or carrier oils. They may try to be pure but they also want to cut down their costs and by cutting corners and cost savings they contain these nasty impurities. Vast majority of store bought ones sit in these first 2 grades.
3. Therapeutic quality – 100% Pure Essential Oils. They are usually made from organically grown plants distilled at the correct temperatures using steam distillation. They’re definitely mоrе expensive but these аrе the oils that hаvе the truе thеrареutіс benefits tо оur bоdу.”

[Sources: Home Made Lovely, Maple Holistics]

You probably realize by now, Young Living is the company that produces all natural and 100% pure essential oils.

Take lavender oil for example, the ONLY ingredient is lavender plants, without anything else. That’s why Young Living Essential Oils do not have an expiry date. Pure and natural essential oils do not expire.

For the common essential oils you can buy at local health food stores or cosmetic shops (I wouldn’t mention brand names here), the majority of them are either Perfume Grade or Food Grade.

That’s a huge difference!

Why Are Therapeutic Grade Essential Oil Prices So Much Higher

“One thing I’ve noticed often is people buying lesser grades because the therapeutic grade of oil cost a lot more. To make therapeutic grade oils takes time, careful processes and a lot of materials. You are paying for the quality of the essential oil, and if you are ingesting it or using it for therapeutic reasons, you want to ensure it has benefits for you and without all the chemicals right?

It takes less time and materials to make a synthetic essential oil, and so the cost factor should be a lot lower. When the oil has the therapeutic benefits you are wanting to take away from the oil, you have to realize you are paying for all the work that went into making that one bottle of your oil.

When you use therapeutic grade essential oils you can benefit from their antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, and even antimicrobial. Thеу offer healing properties аnd іn some hоmеѕ, they аrе uѕеd as a nаturаl medicine thаt hаѕ nо side effects.”

[Source: Home Made Lovely]

Young Living’s Seed to Seal® process:

The Young Living Difference

How does this “Seed to Seal®” Process Work?

Young Living’s line of genuine therapeutic grade essential oils and unique essential oil blends are sourced from the world’s finest plants. So it all starts from the Seed.

Young Living uses a specific Cultivation process on their farms, so that their seeds are grown and harvested using sustainable and environmentally responsible techniques.

A low-pressure and low-temperature steam Distillation process is thе оnlу way tо preserve thе bеnеfісіаl properties of thе oils. This рrосеѕѕ іѕ fаr ѕuреrіоr tо thе іnеxреnѕіvе, hіgh-рrеѕѕurе, high-temperature рrасtісе соmmоnlу uѕеd tо distill еѕѕеntіаl оіlѕ іn оthеr соmраnіеѕ.  For certain select oils in their supply chain, Young Living uses resin tapping and cold pressing also.

Young Living uses several rigorous Testing methods in both internal and third-party laboratories to ensure their oils are not diluted, cut or adulterated.

Seal is the final phase with the bottling process using strict quality controls as well as start-of-the-art equipment in their massive production facility in Utah.  Once products are bottled and labelled, they are shipped worldwide.

Young Living essential oils are not diluted with chemical аnd ѕуnthеtіс additives аnd аrе саrеfullу рrераrеd tо mаіntаіn plant integrity. Thіѕ соmmіtmеnt tо purity mаkеѕ Young Living’s essential oils thе wоrld’ѕ рrеmіum еѕѕеntіаl оіl line.

What does the “Seed to Seal” process mean tо уоu?

Young Living grows their own plants (e.g. lavender, peppermint, jasmine, clary sage, etc.) on their company-owned farmland, which gives them a much stricter degree of control over the complete manufacturing process. Literally from the seed in the ground to sealing the products.  This is why their “Seed to Seal” process and philosophy has become both a mantra and a modus operandi which drives the organisation forward.  Young Living believes in keeping the entire process as “untainted” as possible to ensure their essential oils are as pure and as potent as possible.

That’s what they say, but what do independent experts say?

One of the largest independent labs for chemical analyses of essential oils, collected samples from Young Living’s Utah distillery. Here’s what James Kababick, director concluded: “Young Living has united modern steel technology with Old World gentle distilling techniques to create fill-bodied essential oils that are far different from what we normally see.”

A Defining Moment 

Came for Young Living in 2014 when their compliance program identified a sourcing issue in Peru.  They determined this may have triggered a violation of the Lacey Act, which is the US Law regulating what can be done with certain protected plants or plant products.  They conducted their own investigation with the assistance of outside counsel. Upon completion of this internal investigation in 2015 they decided to voluntarily disclose this issue to the US Government.  

Young Living spent the next 2 years rectifying this situation.  Young Living responded the way forward moving companies do, they found and solved the problem to help ensure plants are correctly sourced.  Young Living is committed to compliance and have developed a comprehensive Lacey Act Compliance Program to help ensure that plant products come from legal and sustainable sources.

Young Living corporate owned farms, partner farms and Seed to Seal® certified suppliers must meet the standards of their Lacey Act Compliance Program.  This is the gold standard for Lacey Act compliance and Young Living is the first and only essential oils company to have a comprehensive and specific Lacey Act compliance program that has been reviewed and accepted by the US Government.

Under this compliance program, Young Living ensures the safely legally and sustainably source plant products. They audit suppliers and plant materials to ensure they meet the legal and protective guidelines set forward in this program.  The 5 step process of the Lacey Act compliance program includes: education, evaluation, certification, risk assessment and online auditing and monitoring.  Young Living investment in implementation of the process demonstrates their absolute dedication to be the best company.

Young Living focuses on providing their customers the highest quality essential oils and plant based products. They can feel good about using them themselves, with their families and in their homes.

Note that other companies used this self-disclosure by Young Living to bash the company on social media and the internet.  They spread mis-information by only telling parts, and not the whole story as outlined above.

Are Young Living Essential Oils Worth The Money?

First off what are the Young Living products?

Young Living Product Range

For this next part, I won’t go into all the specific details of each of the products because Young Living simply has too many products.  From a business builders point of view this is great because your customers can use Young Living products all throughout their house and lives.

There are already tons of blogs and videos out there sharing how different products can help you in different ways.

My focus in this Young Living review is to give you the information you need to decide if Young Living is the right business for you or the right products for you.

So I’ll just briefly talk about the diverse product categories they have and what are their signature products.

Essential Oils and Essential Oil Blends

Young Living’s main products are clearly their essential oils. All the other products contain or are related to essential oils.

Essential oils are aromatic, volatile liquids, found within many shrubs, flowers, trees, roots, bushes and seeds.  Young Living’s pure essential oils are very concentrated making them far more powerful than the botanicals they are extracted from.

Young Living’s essential oils are classified into “Singles” and “Blends”. Singles are pure oils with just one ingredient. When essential oils are working in harmony, their combined effect can be transformative.  So blends are made by combining two or more pure essential oils to produce different aroma and therapeutic effects.  Do you like cooking? Their “Culinary” range has many of the Single oils that are perfect for culinary use, they can be added to favorite recipes for a delicious kick of concentrated flavor.

If you want to become a Young Living Independent Distributor, you have to purchase their Premium Starter Kit which costs US$150-$170. That’s your entire start-up cost. No ongoing fees.

You can watch the video below showing you all the things inside the Young Living Starter Kit:

Next I’ll list down some of the most common Essential Oils and their respective benefits:

• Peppermint: Awesome for headaches or tension. Cools fatigued muscles and joints after physical activity. Prоduсеѕ a fосuѕеd еnvіrоnmеnt when diffused to help you stay on task.  Really good for energy like your afternoon slump so you can inhale or apply pre-workout also. Prоvіdеѕ a refreshing experience whеn mіxеd with уоur fаvоrіtе ѕhаmроо оr whеn applied tо skin аftеr a wаrm day in thе sun.
• Lavender: Prоmоtеѕ fееlіngѕ of саlm, ѕооthіng аnd fights occasional nеrvоuѕ tеnѕіоn.  Hаѕ balancing рrореrtіеѕ that calm the mіnd аnd bоdу. Supports aging skin and relief from insect bites. Good for relief of anxiety/stress.  If you’ve ever used the store bought ones, compare it to this and you’ll quickly learn this is real lavender.
• Lemon: Diffuse it to create a more focused environment, super fresh and super uplifting, Add Lemon to skin care products to help reduce the appearance of aging, Use its aroma to create an uplifting atmosphere. Helps alkalize your body and high in D-Limonene which has a range of preventative health benefits.
• Thieves: Antibacterial and antiviral properties makes it a great germ killer and immune booster.  Good for preventing illness and keeping yourself and your home hygienic.
• Frankincense:  Great for skin, known to help with dramatically with sun spots, wrinkles, moles, scars.  Great for mood elevation and sense of purpose.
• PanAway: Good for relieving sore/fatigued muscles, joints and strains.  Great to add to a bath with espom salts for sore muscles. Cools the skin after physical activity.
• DiGize: For anything digestion and soothing your tummy. Alleviates stomach-ache, bloating, constipation, food poisoning, motion sickness.

Home and Personal Care Products – Thieves (Natural Cleaning)

Thieves® is actually one of the Essential Oil blends which they have turned into a series of home care products since it’s so effective and powerful.  These products being safe alternatives to your home, so you can replace harsh chemicals with naturally-derived formulas that work effectively and smell amazingl.

Do you know how many chemicals you are exposed to on a daily basis throughout your home, office, driving and daily life?  Well the Thieves® range can help get your home chemical free.

You may be wondering why on earth would a product be called “Thieves®”…

Going way back to the 15th century in France, where the Black Plague was running rampant. There were four thieves who were notoriously robbing the infectious dead and dying people of all their possessions yet miraculously never contracted the highly infectious plague.

Legend has it that to protect themselves from the plague as well, they formulated a special aromatic combination comprised of Clove, Rosemary and other botanicals and doused themselves with this special herbal concoction.

In the end, they didn’t get infected but they got caught. So, the thieves were captured and a judge offered a lighter sentence if they would share their recipe of how they were able to be around those afflicted long and often enough to rob them but not be affected by the plague.

Years later, D. Gary Young, the founder of Young Living, studied the history and re-created an Essential Oil Blend using the recipe. He names this product after these “Thieves”.

So what Thieves® do is that they have powerful antibacterial and antiviral properties. That’s why it’s very useful to boost our immune system and prevent us from falling sick.

Since it’s so effective and natural, the recipe has been used to make other household products such as laundry soap, hand soap, dish soap, toothpaste etc…and even animal care products.

One of the core tenets of the Young Living corporate philosophy is that their products should be all-natural and non-toxic.  The Thieves Household Cleaner should be a staple in every home, giving you a deep clean without dangers of synthetic ingredients. This all-purpose cleaner can be used on any surface of your home for dusting, spot cleaning, scrubbing or any other cleaning need.

Wellness Products – Healthy and Fit

Young Living also has healthy drinks with multivitamins, healthy snacks, supplements to boost your nutrition, fish oil infused with essential oils, anti-aging products, weight management products and many more.  These feature pure essential oils as well as powerful antioxidants and whole-food nutrients.

Let me elaborate on NingXia Red which is a nutrient rich drink infused with antioxidant-producing superfruits and essential oils that promote proper cellular function and energy production.  This energy drink is kind of like the “Red Bull” of the Young Living product line but without all the sugar, artificial colours and chemicals whereas NingXia Red is just pure and has abundant health benefits. 

Personal Testimony: How I initially became a customer was from expert advice and prescription from my Naturopath.  I eat well and take a variety of supplements but still had some health concerns that my Naturopath was helping me with. These essentially came from being too acid which her testing showed.  So on her highest recommendation, I decided to NingXia Red; Lemon Oil and Alkalime with the goal to make me less acidic as well as give me antioxidant protection and make me more energetic. My blood results and inflammatory markers have significantly improved and I’m feeling more energetic too.  You can read my NingXia Red review here.

Beauty Products

Last but not least, the beauty products are one of the most popular product lines.  Their beauty products are comprised of all-natural ingredients, including essential oils, that are designed to promote a healthy, vibrant and youthful look.  With the full range of facial care products as well as body care products such as shower gel, shampoo, body soaps etc

So this range covers bath and body, men’s care, kids and babies and a whole range of mineral cosmetics.

You can see from this diverse product range that the products can be used all throughout a health conscious person’s home, body and life.

Young Living Essential Oils Review – What About Young Living Product Quality

Next let’s look at the common questions around quality:

1. What Is Young Living Therapeutic Grade?
2. Are Young Living Essential Oils organic?
3. Strict production and distillation versus solvent extraction

What Is Young Living Therapeutic Grade?

As I covered earlier, Young Living the world leader in essential oils, with their unique and strict Seed to Seal® process that produces pure essential oil products for every individual. This is not a marketing term or slogan, this is Young Living’s philosophy and actual process from start to finish.

Young Living believes in keeping the entire process as “untainted” as possible to ensure their essential oils are as pure and as potent as possible.

Whilst other companies may use “Therapeutic Grade” or “100% pure” as marketing slogans, it’s important to understand that “every essential oil Young Living distills or sources has the highest naturally-occurring blend of constituents to maximize the desired therapeutic effect.” This is the Young Living Therapeutic Grade™ (YLTG) promise.

“For example: Have you ever wondered what makes clove essential oil Young Living Therapeutic Grade? Young Living’s clove essential oil is distilled from the flower of the plant—unlike imitation clove oil that is distilled from the stem or leaf. While the clove stem and leaf are certainly less expensive to distill and have the same aroma as oil distilled from the flower, you will not find the highest amount of the naturally-occurring eugenol in essential oils that are distilled from these parts of the plant. Eugenol is the compound that gives clove oil the important antiseptic and anesthetic properties you and I have come to rely on in the Thieves products—to purchase a lesser quality clove oil would be denying these important therapeutic benefits.”

“Many partner companies approach Young Living with their supply of clove but are turned away because the oil does not meet the high standards of YLTG set by D. Gary Young. Unfortunately, many of the rejected oils find their way to other essential oil companies.”

[Source: Young Living Therapeutic Grade]

Are Young Living Essential Oils Organic?

More and more people are becoming aware of the toxic chemical load from all the food, our homes and daily lives, so is the rise in interest in “organic” and chemical free food and essential oils.

Being one of the top producers of essential oils in the world, people may be wondering is Young Living organic? Do they follow organic guidelines? Are Young Living oils organic?

Firstly, what does “organic” actually mean?

According to the USDA blog not all products that USDA considers organic are unadulterated and pure.  Why? Well according to their own standards, “a raw or processed agricultural product sold, labeled or represented as ‘organic’ must contain… not less than 95% organically produced raw or processed agricultural products.” This mеаnѕ the rеmаіnіng 5% соuld be ѕуnthеtіс соmроnеntѕ аnd the еѕѕеntіаl оіl wоuld ѕtіll be соnѕіdеrеd “оrgаnіс.”

The USDA blog also states “Produce can be called organic if it’s certified to have grown on soil that had no prohibited substances applied for three years prior to harvest. Prohibited substances include most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. In instances when a grower has to use a synthetic substance to achieve a specific purpose, the substance must first be approved according to criteria that examine its effects on human health and the environment.”

So Having the “certified organic” label, therefore, does not guarantee the best possible product.   So should the fact that Young Living is not “certified organic” concern you? It shouldn’t bother you and there are several reasons why Young Living is not seeking to get that certification.  In fact there are some big problems with this certification:

1. Young Living will not farm on land if it has any farming history for 50 years prior – to ensure completely clean soil, instead of the 3 years for the USDA requirement.
2. The USDA still allows for synthetic substances to be used if approved first. Young Living simply does not use synthetic substances.
3. To obtain the organic label, 95% must be organically produced raw or processed, but 5% can still be synthetic.  So having the “certified organic” label does not necessarily mean that it’s the best product out there.
4. Also Young Living believes in sourcing and growing plants where the climate best suits so they can produce the highest quality oils.  This means that essential oils sometimes come from plants grown in other countries, which don’t have that same organic standards as USDA certified organic seal due to each country having their own regulations around organic practices.

So, are Young Living essential oils organic? Young Living essential oils are not labelled with the USDA’s certified organic label.  But when you look at the meaning behind this version of “organic”, you’ll find that Young Living’s oils not only fit the criteria, but far exceed it.

In fact, Young Living’s standards go way above and beyond the USDA’s standards. Young Living’s highly strict “Seed to Seal” standards regulate the company’s processes and also of its suppliers. In fact, while the USDA’S certification process only relates to growing conditions and end contamination levels, Young Living also takes the methods of distilling and producing an essential oil very seriously and far exceed organic standards.  An “organic” certification for all the Young Living corporate owned farms and partner farms would be a multi-year process and excessively expensive.  Young Living’s standards far exceed USDA requirements for that little sticker that actually doesn’t mean what people interpret it to mean.

In summary, the quality control measures that Young Living mandates upon itself and its partners go way beyond the current USDA organic standard, which is why they are able to deliver 100% pure, unadulterated essential oils with all the natural ingredients and therapeutic properties that occur as nature intended.  So they are functionally active and provide the best health benefits to you the consumer.

Young Living’s Strict Production and Distillation Versus Solvent Extraction so common in the industry

As mentioned above in the “Seed to Seal” process, Young Living uses a low-pressure and low-temperature steam Distillation process is thе оnlу way tо preserve thе bеnеfісіаl properties of thе oils. This рrосеѕѕ іѕ fаr ѕuреrіоr tо thе іnеxреnѕіvе, hіgh-рrеѕѕurе, high-temperature рrасtісе соmmоnlу uѕеd tо distill еѕѕеntіаl оіlѕ іn оthеr соmраnіеѕ.

So this is the cost saving measure many other companies use to produce inferior essential oils. What is even more concerning to me is that many competitors are using solvent (hexane) extraction.  This is widely used throughout the industry to extract 2 to 3 times the amount of oil from the plants but at a cost of these solvents, synthetics, fillers and impurities remaining in the final product.  Really, do you want an essential oil with these chemicals in it?  What could those chemicals cocktails be doing to your body?

This leads me to another commonly asked question.

Young Living Essential Oils vs doTERRA

When doing my research on this I learned that there is some bad feeling and politics between the two sides and sadly a lot of smear tactics have been used.  Unless you have a lot of time to invest for little benefit I suggest that your time is better spent elsewhere. I had to invest some time to understand the issues and I am only interested in the truth and presenting this to my readers.

If you’ve read this far in the blog post, you’ll know that I also insist on the highest possible quality of essential oils.  I take the health of my family, my loved ones and myself as the highest priority and am willing to pay a bit more for this privilege.  Do you and your loved ones deserve the best quality?

So this is what I have learned and are my key takeaways.

1. dōTERRA has a library of information describing it’s Essential Oil Production, a critical difference here is they use solvent extraction.

There are pages and pages of information on their website “dōTERRA University” then “Living dōTERRA” then there are pages of impressive looking subjects in “Module 3: Essential Oil Production.”  Diving into this I was very surprised that they disclosed their solvent extraction which you could easily miss reading this amongst the sea of information there.

Here comes the key disclosures “Choosing a good solvent is an important first step. Typically, less polar compounds (such as pentane or hexane) or alcohols (such as methanol or ethanol) are used as solvents.”  Then this bombshell “Only 1–5 percent of the solvent will remain in the final product.”

It is great that they are honest.  So straight out they are using solvent/hexane extraction so there are petrochemicals in the final products.  Many companies do this because it produces 2 to 3 times the amount of oil from the plant.

Young Living uses low-pressure and low-temperature steam Distillation process and cold pressing being the only ways to preserve the beneficial properties of the oils.  Also a small amount of oils are distilled from resin. Young Living essential oils are not diluted with chemical аnd ѕуnthеtіс additives аnd аrе саrеfullу рrераrеd tо mаіntаіn plant integrity. Thіѕ соmmіtmеnt tо purity mаkеѕ Young Living’s essential oils thе wоrld’ѕ рrеmіum еѕѕеntіаl оіls line.  Therefore being the only “pure” oils.

I queried Young Living’s Product Support team for more detail on how Young Living do it differently to NOT use solvents for flower material.  Here’s their reply:

“We do not use alcohol or solvents of any kind in the distillation process for our essential oils. Solvent extraction is only used for absolutes (Jasmine and Onycha). Ethanol is used as the solvent for our absolutes. The solvent is flashed off during the extraction process leaving only the natural components found in the plant material.”

“We do not use CO2 extraction for any of our essential oils. Most Aromatherapists do not think that CO2 extracted oils are essential oils, as they have not been obtained by distillation. The argument against anything other than distillation appears to rest on the method (heat) and potential impurities from petrochemical solvents. CO2 produces a slightly different essential oil chemical profile compared to the distillation process thus purists advocate the traditional, historical time proven methods of distillation.”

I love it that Young Living are essential oil purists. Surе іt costs more tо bе as реrfесtіоnіѕt аѕ Young Living, but if consumers realise they are using essential oils that dōTERRA’s website states contain solvents, would health conscious people want to use those products? 

Given all this, it doesn’t surprise me that a dōTERRA rep advised me that dōTERRA does not suggest taking the absolutes internally.  I agree!

2. Fillers

dōTERRA disclose that they use synthetics and impurities in their process to ‘perfect’ their oils. It’s good that dōTERRA want to improve and use natural ingredients but sometimes this is using natural fillers. For example some of their blend oils have organic plants but these are fillers with no aromatic component, so cheaper to produce to make more money.

Are the essential oils sold 100% pure, without chemical fillers, additives or synthetics?  If not, I recommend finding another essential oil company.

3. Founders

dōTERRA essential oils were founded in 2008 by a group of health-care and business professionals, some of which used to work at Young Living.  This raises many questions on whether recipes, distillation processes and secrets were also taken as part of the breakaway. How do these origins as a breakaway from Young Living sit with you?

4. Frequencies

Did you know that pure essential oils have the highest frequencies of any measured natural substance and this has a range of health benefits?

Practitioners have tested the Young Living and dōTERRA essential oils and found that dōTERRA have lower frequencies when tested.

Conclusion

I’ve done a lot of due diligence in this doTERRA vs Young Living comparison so feel free to ask me any questions. Look there are more points of difference, but it’s not the best use of our time and energy and I don’t want to get into any of the politics that goes on.

“Not all essential oils are created equally. Young Living will never knowingly compromise by adding synthetics, contaminants, or cheap fillers, or by using unethical production practices.” [Source: Young Living Seed to Seal®]

What I’ve found from my own research and personal experience is that Young Living is the world leader in essential oils, with their unique and strict Seed to Seal® process that produces pure essential oil products. This means the  best, purest and most authentic Essential Oils.  They believe in keeping the entire process as “untainted” as possible to ensure their essential oils are as pure and as potent as possible.  That’s for you and your health.

Plant Therapy Essential Oils vs Young Living

A friend of mine was hard-core Plant Therapy for a while and did her own research.  With her 3 children and family’s health in mind, she made a conscious decision to switch and now really loves Young Living essential oils.  She has been very happy and really notices a big difference in product quality.

So I thought I’d do a quick Plant Therapy Young Living comparison.  Again the kicker for me is that Plant Therapy absolutes are extracted via solutions.  I contacted them directly and they confirmed  they use  solvents usually hexane depending upon the supplier, for Vanilla Oleorein, Rose Absolute, Jasmine Absolute, and Boronia Absolute.  Also their website discloses they use solvents, usually hexane that extracts the volatile elements for their absolutes.

We have a young child and the health of our family is too important to be introducing more solutions, solvents or chemicals into our bodies. We are striving towards better health and not the other way around.

Rocky Mountain Essential Oils vs Young Living

Rocky Mountain Essential Oils also have a good reputation.  Like Young Living, their quality control also involves GC/MS (gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) Testing.  Rocky Mountain Oils were founded by a group of people interested in providing authentic essential oils for a reasonable price. They don’t seem to have the same complete and extensive quality process as Young Living’s strict Seed to Seal® process.

Again the kicker is that research shows me they don’t use solvents except where necessary.   That’s a chance I don’t want to take.

Young Living Essential Oils vs Other Oils

If you want to look at others, it’s your choice.  Unfortunately, not all brands do the necessary research and quality control when producing essential oils. Sadly, they focus on profit instead of the consumer’s experience, but such brands are easily exposed.  I don’t recommend going for the cheapest oils, they probably have additives and chemicals to enhance the oil’s essence.  Again, it depends on how important your health is to you, whether you’re seeking to reduce chemicals and solvents exposures, and that’s all your choice.

There are tons of other companies out there fancy websites and using marketing slogans. Rocky Mountain Oils, Plant Therapy Essential Oils and Edens Gardens Essential Oils are some of the better known companies.

If you want to do your own research, then perhaps the most important to question to ask is whether the essential oils sold are 100% pure, without chemical fillers, additives or synthetics?

For similar reasons as described in the comparison with doTERRA, I chose Young Living Essential Oils because I know – without any doubt that right from the time the seed is planted, right throughout every process until it finally goes into the bottle – proper care and precision has been taken to ensure only the highest quality oil on the market. Young Living is the ONLY company in the world who has taken it one step further by having their own farms, doing their own harvesting, cultivating, distilling, testing and bottling of their products as well.

Plus given they are the most pure and authentic oils this is very important. Given authentic essential oils act the best, they will have a positive effect on your body and mind.  If you don’t experience that with Young Living then feel free to try another brand.

Are Young Living Essential Oils Worth The Money? My conclusion

Evеrу соmраnу аnd іndіvіduаl ѕеllіng еѕѕеntіаl оіlѕ in thе marketplace tоdау claim tо hаvе thе vеrу “best” аnd mоѕt “рurе” oils аvаіlаblе. How dоеѕ ѕоmеоnе wіthоut any background or knоwlеdgе оf essential oils know which oils are the best?

After exhaustive research and experience, what i’ve found and experienced follows.

When you consider the number of organic plants that go in each bottle, the work on the soil, the whole “Seed to Seal” process including the testing, this all costs money.  That is the difference, others companies use fillers, it means less plants per bottle and more other cheap things in them. Also there’s no such rigorous testing, no regulation, no soil control etc.  So sure when you look at a 15ml bottle of Lavender oil, there are cheaper alternatives on the market, now you know why.

But this may surprise you.  Did you know that Young Living oils are the cheapest drop for drop?  1 drop lasts longer and works deeper. Less drops are needed in a diffuser to get the aroma.

So the question of why are young living essential oils so expensive is a common misconception and incomplete without considering value and effectiveness.

So let’s take Young Living’s Lavender Essential Oil for example, at a wholesale price of US$24.25 per 15ml bottle (this gets even cheaper with their customer loyalty program).  The ONLY ingredient is lavender plants, nothing else. Thаt’ѕ whу Young Living Essential Oils don’t have any expiry date. Pure and natural essential oils do not expire. Lavender is great for relaxation and promoting a restful nights sleep. But even at that price, the Price per Drop is a mere $0.10 and we love to diffuse this oil which lasts around 4-7 hours intermittently with a Young Living diffuser, normally 3-5 drops.  So lavender works out at about $0.09 per hour.

Hannah’s Testimony: I use 3-5 drops and set my diffuser to intermittent flow so it lasts the whole night into the next day. My room is pretty large and I can smell it still when I wake up.

Debbie’s Testimony:  I use 2 drops in my diffuser in our 30 square foot camper. Keeps bugs out and smells great. Especially when you’re camping with 3 basset hounds and this mix lasts all day and most of the night. Great night light too.

So comparing the price of 15ml bottles is incomplete.  Given 1 drop of Young Living oils last longer and work deeper.  If you try this you’ll learn this is real pure lavender.  Plus, take into account that not only are you saving money but you are also reaping health benefits! You don’t get that with the cheap stuff. In fact you may be doing more harm than you think with the cheap stuff! 

Personal Testimony: I used to be a coffee drinker and saw my Naturopath to assess my overall health given I had cardiovascular health concerns.  My blood results were showing acidity and inflammation with many negative health effects. I learned of the coffee negative health effects and could see exactly what coffee was doing to my own health – from getting tailored/personalised expert advice from my Naturopath.  

I had to find a healthy alternative to coffee and energy drinks. So on her highest recommendation I decided to NingXia Red. This is a nutrient rich drink infused with antioxidant-providing super fruits AND essential oils.  So I take NingXia Red daily.  Not just for the energy but the cardiovascular benefits which is SO SO important to me.

However NingXia Red is caffeine free so doesn’t have the caffeine and adrenal kick.  I asked her what could I add to give even more energy and mental clarity. She recommended Basil and Peppermint essential oils.  I’ve been amazed at how potent and powerful these are. So I add 1 drop of each to my morning shot of NingXia Red. This will last 250 days and works out at $0.09 per drop of Peppermint and $0.10 per drop of Basil, this is so cheap, powerful and I’m loving the mental clarity, alertness and health benefits this gives me.

And as the ѕауіng gоеѕ, YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU GET! 

How Can I Be a Part of Young Living?

There are 2 ways you can be a part of Young Living, either as a Retail Customer or as a Wholesale Member (though this one can really be broken down into two):

1. Young Living Retail Customer

Do you want to try Young Living’s amazing products? Here you buy at retail pricing with no requirements and no fees.

This type of membership is completely free to get connected.

• No membership fees.
• No yearly fees.
• No obligation.
• No selling.

This type of membership allows you to easily order the oils and products that you need at retail pricing, plus shipping and tax – think of it like purchasing from your own private store.

Click here (and choose your country) or contact me, if you want to become a Young Living Retail Customer.

2. Young Living Wholesale Member

This can really be broken down into two types

• Member as Customer (buy at wholesale pricing – no fees, there is just the low $50/year purchase requirement)
• Member as Business (Distributor) (buy at wholesale pricing – no fees, again there is a purchase requirement – read more below)

Member as Customer (Save 24% with Wholesale Pricing) 

This type of membership signs up as “Member” and requires the purchase of a starter kit, that you freely select for yourself. There are great kits that range in price from $45 if you just want to try a few products to the typically $150-$170 with a more complete range of products with bonus diffuser.

If a diffuser isn’t something you’re interested in, or you already know what things you’d like to order, the Basic Starter Kit ($45) is a great way to get in, and then уоu can bеgіn оrdеrіng the рrоduсtѕ уоu wаnt аt whоlеѕаlе, whenever you want.

• Save 24% off of retail pricing.
• Access to the extensive library of essential oil and wellness product education and usage tips
• No membership fees.
• No yearly dues.
• No obligation.
• No selling required.

If you wish to keep wholesale pricing, the only requirement is that you purchase about $50 worth of products per year (Personal Volume (PV) of 50) – which is super easy to do.

If you’re interested in deeper savings, you can also sign up with Essential Rewards (regular orders) to save up to 44% off of retail. You must be signed up as a member to be able to enroll.

So this is the cheapest way of how to order Young Living essential oils as a customer.

Click here (and choose your country) or contact me, if you want to become a Young Living Member as Customer.

Member as Business (Distributor) (Save 24% with Wholesale Pricing)

If you want to make some money while sharing Young Living’s highest quality products with your friends, you should consider becoming a Young Living Member.

As a Young Living Member you create your own “Business Center” enabling you to:

• Purchase Young Living products at the cheapest possible discounted price
• Sell Young Living products and make retail profits
• Help others to become Young Living Members (your downline) and earn commission from their sales and consumption.

It is similar to thе іnfоrmаtіоn above, wіth a few сhаngеѕ. If уоu lоvе essential oils, сhаnсеѕ аrе thаt уоu аlrеаdу ѕhаrе whаt уоu knоw wіth fаmіlу аnd friends. By being a member, you can earn a commission when those people (and more!) buy oils from you, or sign up under you. Just like being a wholesale customer, you are required to purchase a starter kit, which range in price from $45 to typically $150-$170 (depending on the products you prefer) OR a customised enrolment order (100 PV minimum)..

Yоu only hаvе tо рurсhаѕе a starter kіt оnсе (same аѕ above). If уоu wіѕh to еаrn a соmmіѕѕіоn check, you muѕt аlѕо bе enrolled іn thе “Essential Rewards” program. Tо bе еlіgіblе fоr рауmеnt, уоur mоnthlу Essential Rewards order ѕhоuld be at оr over $100/mоnth (100 PV)—which іѕ surprisingly еаѕу to dо.  (They also have monthly specials that can earn you free exclusives.) (Note: There are also some bonuses that you are eligible for at the $50/month (50PV) level, but the $100 level opens you up to commissions and several more bonuses, making it a much faster way to begin covering the cost of your Essential Rewards orders.)

I’ll explain Young Living’s compensation plan in the next section Young Living Business Opportunity.

Click here (and choose your country) or contact me, if you want to become a Young Living Member as Business.

What Is The Young Living Business Opportunity?

I briefly mentioned earlier that Young Living has an arm of their business structure that offers the direct selling / network marketing / MLM business model opportunity to people who would like to become independent distributors of their products.  People may want to do this for a number of reasons, for example:

1. Get cash back on their products for referring people to Young Living products and aim towards getting their monthly order for free
2. Earn a part-time income and aim towards achieving financial independence

These people basically actively promote the Young Living products by using them themselves (which they can get at a wholesale discount once they sign up to be members) and also by educating others about the products and encouraging them to sign up as members as well.

Like most MLMs, there is an elaborate compensation plan, which is difficult to understand, and requires a 31 minute long video to explain it.

But let me summarize it for you…

Young Living Compensation Plan

Like all MLM companies, with Young Living the 2 main ways to make money is by either selling their essential oils products or enrolling new members to sell more products.

Is Young Living a Pyramid Scheme? Young Living is NOT a pyramid scheme because you are only ever buying products and these are real products to sell and you can’t make money simply by just enrolling new members.  In contrast, pyramid schemes are based on money and money only, check out this article from Entrpreneur.com

New members must purchase products in order for you to earn commission.

Here are the 4 most common ways (your Job has only 1 way, right!) to make money with Young Living:

1. Retail Sales

This is easy enough to understand,.you buy at wholesale and earn retail profit anytime you sell products to customers.

There are 2 ways this can happen:

• Online: Customers purchase products at the retail price either directly from your links that you can message or online and you make the 24% profit over the wholesale price.
• In Person: If you sell them personally and are on Essential Rewards (regular monthly orders), you can effectively save up to 44% off retail price and make up to 44% retail profit if you choose.

2. Fast Start Bonus

The Fast Start Bonus pays you 25% commission on the first 3 months on each of your new enrollees’ purchases (PV). (up to $200 per month per enrollee)

When your enrollee enrolls their own new members, you also earn 10% for the first 3 months’ PV of any subsequent new members. (up to $80)

3. Start Living Bonus

You get a $25 bonus for each new member that you enroll with a Premium Member Starter Kit. To qualify, for the Fast Start and Start Living bonuses you must have a personal monthly order of 50 PV.

4. Unilevel Commissions

You can earn a monthly unilevel commission on the volume generated by your downline organization. If you’re serious about building a Young Living business this is where things become passive and you enjoy earning passive income because you’re leveraging your downlines to earn commissions.

To qualify for unilevel commission, you need a minimum personal order of 100 PV each month.

When you do so, Young Living will pay you 8% on your first level of members, then 5% on their enrolled members and 4% on the next three levels as well.

Young Living Unilevel Commissions

Other ways to make money with Young Living

Young Living has a third bonus called Rising Star Team Bonus Pool where you can earn shares based on 1% of all Young Living’s monthly commissionable sales. You can earn one share if you build three legs of at least 300 sales volume each and if you meet more volume criteria you can qualify for 2 more then 3 more shares.

Once you achieve the rank of “Silver” or higher, they add additional Generation Commission of 2.5% to 3% and also have a Generation Leadership Bonus where you can get shares of 6.25% of Young Living’s monthly commissionable sales, this is really quite generous.

If you achieve the leadership rank of “Silver” or higher you’ll care less about the initial bonuses I mentioned earlier because your commissions will be making you a decent amount of money

Then also the Diamond Leadership Bonus if you are doing really well and like chasing targets.  This is very lucrative if you can achieve this.

Young Living Ranking System

Here is the chart showing the 10 different ranking levels in Young Living:

If you are able to rise in ranks, you will be eligible to more and more bonuses and your commissions will snowball.

Your rank depends mainly on your Organization Group Volume (OGV) and Personal Group Volume (PGV). These are basically meeting group sales volumes targets.

For more information on all the rules and terminology in more detail, feel free to check out the compensation plan PDF here.

Here’s a short video to explain all this, what you need to know and do, when you first get started with a Young Living business:

Is Young Living For You?

In my opinion, Young Living products are for everyone because we all live in a chemical filled world with toxic and unnatural substances in our everyday lives, regardless of where you live, your gender or age.  Young Living has a range of products for personal care, skin care and beauty, children & baby, vitamins & supplements, household cleaning, pets and the highest quality essential oils.

You can swap so many products you are currently using to far healthier products from Young Living.  So I believe everyone can benefit from Young Living’s products. That’s why one of the Young Living’s vision is “to bring Young Living Essential Oils to every home in the world.”

So the products ARE for everyone, but who is the Young Living business for?

There’s one special group of people who are the best fit to build this Young Living business – Mum with baby or children!

If you’re a mum with a baby or a child or even considering having children, Young Living can be perfect for you.

Here’s a couple of reasons why:

1. Women are more concerned about beauty, skincare and making the whole home healthy
2. Women with baby/child are very concerned about the health and hygiene of their little girl or boy
3. Women more naturally share good their experiences of products and healthier living

So if you’re a mum with any children, you can easily and naturally share the benefits of Young Living’s Essential Oils to your friends who are also mums.

Mum’s typically not only purchase things for themselves, they usually also purchase things for the whole family. So men, why don’t you thank all the ladies who do this!.

More importantly, they readily spend a lot of money provided it is good for their children to ensure they are healthy and are in good care.  Just picture any mum with a sick or unhealthy child, she wants the best for her children.

Does that make sense?

As for guys, grandparents and other groups of people, it is also very possible for you to build a successful business with Young Living. So many people are becoming more and more health conscious these days.

Everyone has the potential to succeed with Young Living. Just that the best and most profitable target market are “Mum’s with children” and there are countless success stories here.

Get connected with our Young Living community. We’ve got an experienced Naturopath willing to help anyone with better health and we don’t do any “recruiting”. We also integrate Internet Marketing with Multi-Level Marketing.

When you sign up as a “Member”, you will get invited to our private Facebook group, led by our highly qualified Naturopath willing to help you and anyone you know with better health.  This is a place to learn everything you need to know about Young Living’s amazing products and you’ll get to be part of this inspired community of like-minded people.

In addition she runs regular online monthly health challenges, a great and easy way to grow your business without “recruiting”, you simply help people who want better health.

How to Start Your Young Living Journey?

Here’s a few simple steps to follow:

1. Go to Young Living getting started page here!
2. Choose membership type as a “Member”
3. Select your country, language and make sure the number 16682920 appears in both the sponsor and enroller ID fields, then go to the next page
4. Make sure your Premium Starter Kit is selected because it’s the most recommended product that you should purchase in order to start on your journey (cost US$165, you can select any others $150-$170 that best suit your needs. These kits are loaded with products worth about $300 if bought individually – so it’s nearly half off.  This is the only cost you need initially in order to start this business). OR You can choose a Customised Enrolment Order too if you want.
5. Select the diffuser you prefer (Desert or Dewdrop) if you chose Premium Starter Kit
6. Choose the monthly Essential Rewards regular order(*1) (only if you wish to)
7. Go to the next page and enter your name, delivery details, and your member login information (this page comes after step 3 if in Australia (and perhaps other contries too) then you can order your starter kit)
8. Confirm your shipping
9. Check out your order with how you’d like to pay
10. Congratulations! You’re now officially a Young Living Member who is able to promote Young Living products and earn commissions!

*1 Consider the Optional Essential Rewards:

When checking out with your starter kit, feel free to select “NO” for the Essential Rewards monthly order option or select “YES” and choose your order for the next month. Here you can choose discounted packages or your own customized a la carte orders. If you don’t want a package and you just want to customise your own, I highly recommend this.

You get 10-25% back worth of points each month with orders of 50 PV (Personal Volume, which typically equates to the same US $ value) and discounted shipping.  This is perfect for anyone wanting to be a “Member as Customer” (described above).  Then you can purchase products that you would be buying anyway (cleaning products, shampoo, vitamins, toothpaste, mineral cosmetics, men’s care, pet shampoos and even pet dental chews).

The second option if you want all this and more, monthly Essential Rewards orders of 100 PV enables you to get commissions and free gifts from Young Living and more.  This is perfect for anyone wanting to be a “Member as Distributor” (described above) or if you  want to earn a little money by simply referring anyone to your sponsor who shows interest in your awesome products.  Pretty cool hey?

So for Essential Rewards, you do NOT have to use the discounted packages, you can tailor it to meet your needs.  It’s also great that you can simply push back your orders if you have enough product or cancel anytime without penalty.

Other Benefits of your FREE Young Living membership with any Premium Starter Kit and wholesale membership:

• Yоu’ll hаvе ассеѕѕ to any product аt 24% оff for lіfе. Prеttу cool, right?
• No order minimum – оrdеr when you want, аѕ оftеn аѕ you wаnt аt 24% оff rеtаіl рrісеѕ
• Effectively save even more with the 10-25% through the optional Essential Rewards
• Even thоugh Young Living calls thеіr whоlеѕаlе mеmbеrѕ “Members” thіѕ dоеѕ NOT mеаn thаt you are ѕіgnіng uр to sell оіlѕ аnd there іѕ nеvеr any pressure tо dо thаt.
• Your own mеmbеr numbеr tо ѕhаrе wіth friends, so іf thеу get connected thrоugh you, Young Lіvіng wіll send you a check…again thіѕ is OPTIONAL аnd nеvеr required.

What’s inside the Young Living Premium Starter Kit?

The most popular Premium Starter Kit includes:

A home diffuser of your choice: Desert Mist™ Diffuser OR Dewdrop Diffuser
Premium Essential Oils Collection (5ml bottle each):

• Lavender,
• Peppermint Vitality™
• Lemon Vitality™
• Citrus Fresh Vitality™
• Frankincense
• Thieves® Vitality™
• Raven™
• DiGize™ Vitality™
• PanAway®
• Stress Away™
• Valor®
• Peace and Calming®

PLUS

• 2 AromaGlide™ Roller Fitments
• Thieves Waterless Hand Purifier 1-oz. sample
• Thieves® Spray
• 2 NingXia Red® 2-oz. samples
• Product Guide and Product Price List, Essential Oils Magazine, Essential Edge News, Member Resources

All of this for US$165, this is a great value discount over buying all these products individually and a great range of Young Living’s products to really try and enjoy.

Feel free to follow the instructions here and choose the starter kit that works best for you needs or contact me at [email protected] and I’d be happy to assist you with any queries you may have.

Pros and Cons of Young Living

Pros of Young Living

1. Highest Quality Pure Essential Oils

Like I’ve mentioned earlier on about the 3 grades of essential oils, Young Living produces the most pure and natural essential oils that are genuine and free of synthetic chemicals. The brand has the purest product available on the market today.

Beware of synthetic or part synthetic oils that you can purchase from typical retail shops. I’m not saying all the essential oils produced by all other producers are not natural.

I’m just saying there are so many that are not 100% pure.

Synthetic essential oils may have good aroma but be very careful as they could be harmful to the skin and human body.

If you want to do your own research, then perhaps the most important to question to ask is whether the essential oils sold are 100% pure, without chemical fillers, additives or synthetics?

For similar reasons as described above in the comparison with doTERRA, I chose Young Living Essential Oils because I know – without any doubt that right from the time the seed is planted, right throughout every process until it finally goes into the bottle – proper care and precision has been taken to ensure only the highest quality oil on the market. That’s their strict Seed to Seal® process.

They developed the industry-changing Young Living Therapeutic Grade standard. Founder D. Gary Young sets the culture and has been a well known advocate for maintaining an industry standard for purity.  His motivation has been to insist on only the purest forms of essential oils, and NEVER using any synthetics.

In this article, I’ve covered extensively above about the pros and cons of Young Living essential oils and just how high their quality is over the rest of the market.  Sure the products are not cheap, but given 1 drop lasts longer and works deeper, on a price per drop basis they are very reasonably priced.

2. Young Living has its Own Farms Globally

The vast majority of essential oils brands out there don’t have their own farms.  Many produce synthetic oils so it’s often about getting the cheaper ingredients and making the most profit.

Young Living is the ONLY company in the world who has taken it one step further by having their own farms, doing their own harvesting, cultivating, distilling, testing and bottling of their products as well.

If you want to produce the most pure, natural and best quality essential oils, you really need to have your own farms.

Young Living has global farm all over the world, including North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia.

Young Living farms stand apart in the essential oils industry and set the standard for the soil, planting, growing, harvesting, distilling and producing essential oils.

3. No Ongoing Monthly Costs

Yes, you heard that right! There are no ongoing monthly fees or costs for Young Living.

If you’ve had experience with other MLM companies, you’ll know that many of them require you to keep paying them money and receiving products you may not need, sounds familiar?

Young Living doesn’t do any of that. All you need to start on your journey is to purchase a one-time US$150-170 Starter Kit.

Normally, MLM companies will make the auto-ship compulsory to keep your account active.

For Young Living, auto-ship is optional and you only need to purchase a minimum of 50 PV in 12 months for your account to be active.  This will suit perfectly anyone who wants to be a Young Living Wholesale Member as a Customer.

For those that want to be a Young Living Wholesale Member as a Business, there’s a minimum of 100 PV per month to be met in order to qualify for unilevel commissions.

To help you, Young Living has this Essential Rewards program to best achieve the Personal Volume requirement.  This is a generous member loyalty program called Essential Rewards (ER), Young Living has thrown in Essential Rewards Points that are redeemable for free product.

• Earn 10% back on your ER volume from 1-3 months
• Earn 20% back on your ER volume from 4-12 months
• Earn 25% back on your ER volume from month 13 onwards.
• Reduced shipping cost on all ER orders
• Qualifies you for all of Young Living’s compensation plan with 100 PV ER orders
• Loyalty gifts of free products

4. No Binary Compensation Plan

Many MLM companies use the Binary Compensation Plan model, with the sales pitch that you only have to build 2 legs and many see this is simple.

However it has limitations, in order for you to earn commission, you keep getting sales volume on both your left and right hand side.  What this means is that you need to have downlines on your left and your right.

Most importantly, you’re continually working to balance each side because you’re only paid based on the smaller leg.

The advantage of Young Living’s simpler compensation plan is that it doesn’t have this binary structure where you’re constantly working trying to balance your sides. With Young Living, you’ll earn a commission as long as your customers and downlines purchase something or make sales.

Basically it’s much simpler, complexity free and can lead to solid residual income.

5. No Need to Recruit Your Family and Friends

Now this might surprise you.

Did you think you must recruit people in order to make money in MLM?

Yes, the more members and customers you have, the more money you can potentially make. However, our team doesn’t teach you to recruit your family and friends to make money.

Instead, what Young Living Distributors in our team do is organize free workshops on topics like living a toxic free lifestyle, happy healthy kids and mums, make your own natural cleaning products etc and showcase the benefits of the essential oils.

Here are some other ideas that work for some in our team:

• Hormones talks are popular
• Children’s health
• Men’s health
• Emotional healing
• All about NingXia Red
• Questions and answers all about Young Living
• “Make and takes” are loads of fun

Particularly for our team, we don’t try to “close” people or indirectly force them to buy or anything like that.

When you sign up as a “Member”, you will get invited to our private Facebook group, led by our highly qualified Naturopath willing to help you and anyone you know with better health.  This is a place to learn everything you need to know about Young Living’s amazing products and you’ll get to be part of this inspired community of like-minded people.

In addition she runs regular monthly online health challenges, a great and easy way to grow your business without “recruiting”, you simply help people who want better health.

Also, we combine internet marketing with network marketing.  Have you ever seen this in the network marketing industry?

Essentially we build websites, YouTube Channel, Facebook Page, and a funnel to drive traffic and sales.  Everything is optional, whatever best suits your needs.

We also offer our customers more offers along the way.  They only buy because they are well informed, with our Naturopath answering any questions, and then they choose to do so.

Let me know if you are aware of any other MLM teams doing their business like this.

If you’re interested in Young Living Products or Business, I recommend you to get connected with our community because you’ll have a much better head-start than other people and ongoing support in whatever direction you choose and whatever help you need.

6. 25+ Years of Experience

Young Living was founded back in 1993. So it has been in business for more than 25 years.

Their sales continue to grow and surpassed $1.5  billion in 2017, making them the largest essential oils company.  With “more than 3,000 global employees, 4 million members since founding, 16 corporate and partner farms around the world, 13 offices operating in 22 markets, and products shipping to 133 countries.”  Young Living has grown even more since then!

In addition, there’s a team of PhDs  on Young Living’s Scientific Advisory Council and products backed by scientific research.

This shows that this company is legitimate and it works. The products can help anyone and the business depends on whether you’re able to make it work for you

Cons of Young Living

1. Can You Make Money with Young Living? Income seems low…

Despite you not having to keep paying ongoing monthly fees like many other Network Marketing companies do, their income disclosure statement looks pretty similar to many other MLM companies:

2017 Young Living Income Disclosure Statement

2016 Young Living Income Disclosure Statement

2017 Statistics: 90% of all BUSINESS BUILDERS earn an average range of $312 to $2,819 per year.
2016 Statistics: 94% of all MEMBERS earn an average of $12 per year.

This Income Disclosure may imply a low earning potential for Young Living. However the truth is that there are a lot of people who join as “members” and never even start building their business with Young Living. All they did was created the membership accounts and probably purchase their products a few times.  Their income disclosure statement describes these “Preferred Customers” and highlights that they are 89.5% of all members.

That’s probably why they changed the statistics in 2017 to exclude the “Member as Customer accounts” that I described earlier who probably just created a member account to save 24% with Wholesale Pricing.  So for the 2017 statistics they have only included the “active Business Builder” member who are members who made at least one product purchase in the previous 12 months and has personally enrolled at least one person during the lifetime of the member account.

Breaking down their numbers further, only 3% of that 10.5% of members who are active Business Builders are ranked Silver to Platinum which is where the decent income levels kick in.

I’ve noticed the people serious about this business are really getting some good results and income. This is especially so for stay-at-home-moms. So If you’re a mother with a child, Young Living can be a great fit for you. There are countless success stories here.

Just like any business, your results still depend on the amount of effort you’re willing to put into your business.

2. Controversial Claims

Way back in 2014, Young Living was warned by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for promoting some products for conditions that cause them to be drugs under Federal legislation.

They were involved in the controversy because many Distributors were being caught to promote Young Living making claims like “combat Ebola virus” or “cancer protection”.

These are not allowed to make such claims since Young Living Essential Oils are not qualified to be drugs that can treat diseases.

That’s why they got this warning, fair enough and lessons learned.

You can refer to the document here if you want to find out more.

Just like any MLM company in health and wellness, you can’t make medical claims. These past mistakes of certain members seems to have been solved and there are no real controversies recently. And the fact that Young Living is in business for more than 25 years shows it’s legitimate and helping many people.

What about buying Young Living on Amazon?

Be careful here because anything you don’t buy directly from the company, anyone could add or adulterate.  Sure Amazon is safe for books but don’t buy Young Living products on Amazon because you don’t know if they are genuine, they could be fake cheaper oils and that’s not worth the risks to your health.  

The only guarantee you gave that they are pure and not tampered with is to purchase direct from Young Living as a member.  There is no other way to ensure you have true correct oils. Why would anyone rely on a third party when you have money back guarantees purchasing from Young Living?

Is Young Living Essential Oils a Scam?

Young Living Essential Oils is clearly NOT a scam. Rather, Young Living is a benevolent company driven by a great mission to change and improve people’s lives, particularly their health. Do Young Living products work? You can find tons of product testimonials online. Like any product online, sure there are some Young Living products complaints but these are far outweighed by positive product testimonials.

You only have to look at their purest world-class products and their effort in helping people in need. Particularly the work of the Young Living Foundation to help poverty-stricken children and families to reach their potential by providing wellness and education opportunities.  So they help them attend university

On the business side, Like any company you’ll find Young Living complaints on the internet.  There are mainly 3 types of people who will tell you it is a scam or post negative Young Living reviews online:

• Former distributor of Young Living who failed – These are often from Young Living distributors that got started, but were not trained the right way, so because it didn’t work for them, some of them call it a scam. It is not. Since they failed, they may believe this MLM compensation model doesn’t work. But in reality it can work, it’s just whether you’re doing it right or not.
• Haters of MLM who want to pitch other business opportunities to you – We all know people around us who despise MLM, probably because again, they’ve failed before or they’ve lost their friends doing so. That’s why they’re so critical against all MLM companies.
• Sadly there has been some smear tactics used by one of their competitors.  With false articles, false Young Living essential oils complaints, tampering of samples for testing, and other junk circulating around the internet Young Living is the best and largest in the industry. Therefore they are going to be right on a lot of peoples radar; it’s just the way it works when you’re that successful.

If you’ve read this far, I’ll assume that you’re wise enough to NOT be swayed by these groups of people into believing that Young Living is a scam.  I hope this helped you to understand what is the Young Living Essential Oils scam? It is not a scam.

As you can see from their quality products and fair compensation plan, Young Living is a legitimate business which has the potential for you to build a decent passive income.

But the question is…

Is it really for ME?

Why I Started My Young Living Journey Despite Retiring from MLM?

The products can benefit everyone, but the business is not for everyone.

Even though Young Living is a legitimate business, I understand that it is definitely not for everyone. Sure there are no promises that you can achieve success easily.

To be honest, I prefer other business models over MLM. I’m sure many of you do as well. That’s probably because there are simply too many over enthusiastic distributors who have been too pushy and direct with too many people.  They have given the MLM industry a bad reputation.

Like I mentioned earlier, I didn’t  know much about essential oils before coming across Young Living. Plus the fact that we’re all tired of pushy MLM reps. It doesn’t really make sense for me to be part of this company right now.

But here’s WHY I started my Young Living journey… 

The reason is simple. I met a great sponsor. She’s the Naturopath I talked about earlier on and is solely interested in helping you and others live healthier lives.

I wasn’t sure if I would participate as a distributor, but I had such a great product experience, so it was a no brainer to setup my own wholesale member account.

She doesn’t believe in any of the typical MLM tricks and never tried to “close” me and sell me anything.  Rather she was purely motivated to help me with my health and with the business if I wanted. She was also making a ton of money so I was really intrigued.

Now, I’m working with her and some other friends as a team to help others build in the same way.

I’m not good at networking and presenting. If I do this on my own, I’ll definitely struggle.

I’m not good at all the science and benefits of all the products, If I tried to present this, I’d probably struggle.  But all I need to do is connect people into her community, expertise and system, whether online or offline.

Where I can really help is with building websites and internet marketing. The BEST way to reach any potential customers is by having a website.  No matter how you look at it, there are vastly more people on the internet than people you know personally. Yes over 4 billion people online out there.

Running a blog around essential oils can be a vehicle to drive sales online for your Young Living business. Your website is your gateway to the world and that’s where I can help you take this to a whole new level.  The fact you’re reading this article right now shows that it works. Even if you already have a successful offline or online business and you’re looking to grow it, My Top Free Recommendation can teach you how to grow it.  I’d be your personal coach and mentor to help you do this.

So my role in my team is just to be the back-end guy managing the internet marketing stuff and helping anyone who wants to build an online business.

Specifically for Young Living, we have a fantastic team with various strengths that you can tap into to maximize your own potential.

I hope you feel I’ve been objective and authentic throughout this Young Living review and you don’t think I’m “praising Young Living just because I’m  a Member.”

My Suggestion for You…

If you’re a mum with any children, Young Living can really be for you. I’ve seen a lot of mum’s thriving in this business simply because it’s so easy for you to share essential oils and this business opportunity with other mum’s. Plus you can have really healthy products around the home and for your family.

When you add on direct help and support from our Naturopath, our private Facebook group and inspired community, and online mentoring from me, you have a lot of support.

If you’re not a mum but you’re interested in this business opportunity, I would recommend you to follow the instructions here and get connected with our community and see how we can work best for you.

That being said, this is my personal opinion for you to consider. There’s lots of money to be made in essential oils, and many people happily run full-time or part-time businesses in this booming health and wellness niche. There are many angles and many business models.  As an essential oil enthusiast, you need to figure out the best way that suits you to promote your products if you choose to start this type of business.

Either way, I’m happy to help you with whatever you decide and answer any questions you may have.

For those of you who are more interested to make money online in any niche instead of through an MLM system, check out my guide here!

Feedback

So do you now understand What is Young Living about? and what is the Young Living business opportunity? From the many things I shared about Young Living, are you more interested in the products or the business opportunity or something else?

Do you have any questions do you have for me? Feel free to leave a comment or question in the comments section at the end of this article. I love hearing your stories and insights and look forward to hearing from you. I’m happy to help!

About John Stanley

Jоhn іѕ a Fаthеr, Husband, Entrерrеnеur аnd Internet Mаrkеtіng Suрроrt Cоасh. Evеr ѕіnсе hе ѕtаrtеd hіѕ Onlіnе Buѕіnеѕѕ he lоvеѕ wоrkіng frоm аnуwhеrе аnd thе lарtор lіfеѕtуlе. Thіѕ means bеіng сlоѕеr tо our сhіld аѕ ѕhе grоwѕ uр. When hе’ѕ nоt buіldіng wеbѕіtеѕ, hе’ѕ ѕреndіng рrесіоuѕ time wіth оur lіttlе girl аnd fаmіlу, еxеrсіѕіng аnd еnjоуѕ trаvеlіng. Follow me:· Twitter· Instagram· Facebook