I’ve been using doTERRA essential oils for 2 years now (updated 8/28/15)! I have been through almost every single essential oil brand and company but when I started using doTERRA, I started noticing a huge difference…in fact, one of doTERRA’s blends, Elevation, is what started my journey into doTERRA and changed my life! .
Before I go into why I love doTERRA essential oils and address some of the common misconceptions about essential oils, I wanted to say one thing:I think it’s amazing that so many families are using herbs and essential oils. I love seeing testimonials from people who have used an oil and seen a drastic improvement. Regardless of the brand, I think it’s so great that people are turning to essential oils and natural healing and away from over-the-counter, synthetic drugs!
Why I Love doTERRA
1. I Like the Purity
doTERRA wanted to create a purity level that goes above and beyond organic. So they created an internal standard called Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade that is verified by 3rd party testing laboratories. They test their oils 7 different ways to make sure that they are pure and safe for therapeutic use. Even though doTERRA essential oils are not “certified organic“(read why in next paragraph), you can be assured that they are a step above organic.
Organic certification varies from country to country and state to state. doTERRA essential oils are sourced all over the world, so that is why organic certification is not possible. One of the ways they ensure their oils are free of pesticide, herbicide, extenders and solvents is through the GC/MS analysis process, which is one of the 7 ways they test the purity of their oils.
Have you heard different? There is many misconceptions and lies across the internet. Much of the untruth about the purity of doTERRA essential oils stems from a website that was anonymously published by one of doTERRA’s competitor. The website accused doTERRA’s peppermint of having a synthetic ingredient called “ethyl vanillin” in it. It was purposely set up to be anonymous and it was soon obvious who was behind the scandal of the fake test results. Thankfully, the truth of this website came out (doesn’t it always!) and the website has since been taken down.
Dr. Pappas, a world-reknown chemist, that does the third-party testing for doTERRA, along with other essential oil companies, published his testing results of doTERRA peppermint essential oil and stated:
As you can see from the report in which we looked at everything down to 0.01%, there is no finding of ethyl vanillin in the oil, despite what was claimed on certain other websites. So I guess it comes down to a matter of trust and who one chooses to believe on this issue. Before making that decision on who to believe however, it would at least be prudent for one to become educated about many aspects of the report which claims to have found ethyl vanillin. – source
2. I Like that they Do Third-Party Testing
Many people come to me with the concern that doTERRA uses third-party testing facilities. My first question is, “Why the heck is this a concern?” A company that uses an IN-HOUSE lab would be something that would concern me. I would be concerned about them being biased. So, I love that they use third-party testing of their essential oils!
3. I Like that they Source their Oils All Over the World
This was really important to me. I don’t buy my wine from Idaho when I can get it from France. Some things are MUCH BETTER to get outside of the United States. This is when you want to forget your “American-made” pride and realize that some herbs do not grow good in the United States…some do..but not all. So, doTERRA carefully selects and sources their essential oils from where it grows at it’s prime! Here’s a great video by Emily Wright, one of doTERRA founders, talking about where they source their essential oils and a world-map below on where their oils are sourced.
4. I like that they are Driven by Charity
“The doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation is dōTERRA International’s registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to improving lives through partnering with organizations that offer hope to millions around the world. Healing Hands seeks to bring healing and hope to the world, for lives free of disease and poverty, and to ultimately empower impoverished communities with the tools needed to become self-reliant. dōTERRA International, LLC provides for all overhead and administrative costs of the dōTERRA Healing Hands Foundation, ensuring that 100 percent of all donations go directly to those receiving aid.”
You have the option of donating to the Healing Hands foundation every time you order! I love that they work so much in communities of need. This is important to me in a business, and especially a business that I represent.
5. I like that they Educate
The education and ongoing support that you get with doTERRA is incredible. I have learned so much about essential oils, the safety of them, and the proper way to use them. My team and upline have educational team calls that you can join in and participate in. There is so many online tools that you can use if you would like to make a business out of doTERRA. I’m in a hundred Facebook groups that share and educate on using essential oils. There is so much support and that is what I love about the company.
When I was using store-bought essential oils, I had ZERO support. I had no one to go to and talk to about how to use the oils.
6. I like How Clean they Smell
The smell test is a good indicator of purity. I read one blog article on how doTERRA essential oils smell good because they are not “first distillation“. This prompted me to research more into this and what I found out was GREAT! Essential oils SHOULD smell good. This quote from the chemist, Dr. Pappas, speaks volumes on how Peppermint essential oil is distilled and how the information you read on the internet is not always accurate:
The plant is distilled for basically 2 hours and its done, no more oil is coming out so they shut the still down. Its absolutely ridiculous to think that the distiller, after watching his oil come over, seeing that his oil level is not growing, shuts the still down and then later thinks to himself “gee, I bet if I fire this still back up (wasting thousands in feul and labor) we can get some more oil out of that spent mint leaf we distilled yesterday.” Where do people come up with this stuff!!?? Now the MINT OIL can, and often is (thank God), taken for some further redistilling and/or fractional vacuum redistilling that can take place to further improve the quality of the oil by removing nauseating components of the whole oil (just tiny amounts of very bad smelling components get removed in this process). But NOBODY distills the mint biomass a second or third time. This is generally true, not just for mint, but for essential oil distillations in general. When I tried to explain it to the person posting this rubbish she basically did not believe me because her “research” of talking to retailers of essential oils apparently was of higher credibility. If people would just use some common sense they could look at this kind of misinformation and come to the conclusion that none of it makes sense. From an energy standpoint, why would anyone plan to shut down their distilling process just to start it up again later? The amount of energy required to get massive amounts of water boiling and enough steam generating to liberate the oil from large vats of biomass is quite astonishing and costly. Why not just keep distilling and just start collecting the oil produced at the tail end of the distillation in a separate container, if you want to collect what you think might be a different quality at the end of the run than at the beginning (by the way this is done with Ylang Ylang oil which is why there are the different grades of extra, I, II, III and complete). But aside from ylang ylang most all essential oil distillations are collected in one combined lot. And the only time I have ever seen a distiller shut down his process and restart it later was because of mechanical problems, running out of fuel, or just getting too physically tired to continue (in the case of sandalwood for example the distillation can go on for more than 24 hours and oil is still in the wood). I hope that this post will finally do some damage to this myth that has been circulated for decades now and we can finally put it to bed. – source
So, there ya have it. There is not 1st, 2nd, or 3rd distillations. The only that does undergo more than one distillation is Ylang Ylang, like Dr. Pappas describes above in the quote.
7. I Like that they Shoot for Quality, Not Quantity
I hear so many people talk about how ______ company has more variety of oils. I know this can be disappointing when your company that you love does not have a specific essential oil that you may be looking for. The reason for this is because doTERRA will not compromise their quality for their quantity. This is why many oils have come and gone and why doTERRA is always looking for a more sustainable and reliable source that is high in quality. I love that. I would rather have a limited quantity of AMAZING oils than a large quantity of low-quality oils.
8. I LOVE the Business Model
The compensation plan of doTERRA is incredible! It’s extremely generous and I am so happy to say that it is our top income source. In fact, my husband doesn’t even need to work at this point. In less than 8 months I achieved the rank of Diamond in doTERRA. I did NOT expect to achieve diamond that quickly, nor did I set out to do that. But once I started sharing with how essential oils were changing my life, people started jumping on board and my team grew enormously!
This YouTube video is great at describing what doTERRA’s compensation plan is and how it is very different than our main competitor. If you are interested in joining doTERRA for growing a business, please read my blog post on how you can start working with this company!
Essential Oils are for EVERYONE!
Regardless of what company you love or choose, I am just so overjoyed to see you reaching for oils instead of over-the-counter medication that is filled with side-effects and God knows what else.
However, if you would like to start your journey into using doTERRA essential oils, I want you to know that I would love to help you! My team is so supportive and you will be able to join our exclusive team groups and learn so much about essential oils. CLICK HERE to take a look at my current monthly specials and to get started in using essential oils!
Any rude comments or comments including links promoting a certain brand will be deleted. The purpose of this post was to share why I love doTERRA for my family and to provide some links and research for those who are trying decide if doTERRA is right for them.
Victoria says
I recently found your site and have been reading over it the passed couple of days! I love essential oils and before only used them in the bath, various bath products my 8 year old daughter and I make together and also in her hair but I’ve been wanting to open my horizon to using them all through out. I started this week with oil cleansing for my face with coconut oil and essential oils and I just read about your “no poo” method. I was wondering if you have completely switched to using all doTerra products or do you still order from amazon? I am very interested and would like to know what essential oil you use for your no poo method if it is no longer the wild orange.
The Paleo Mama says
It’s still Wild Orange and I order it from doTERRA now.
Brittany says
LOVE THIS! You put into words what I’ve been trying to say. Love DoTerra
Kari says
I love your explanation as to why you use doTerra EOs. Thanks for providing more useful information for those of us who seem to always have to defend our choice for using doTerra!
Jessie Andersen says
I’m going to share this post with my DoTERRA team. Thank you!
The Paleo Mama says
You’re welcome!
Nicci Brose says
I just started these amazing oils a few months ago and hope it becomes my full time job within the year. My family also just made the decision to become Paleo(how I found ya….looking for a paleo bday cake). Thanks so much for all your inspiration
Rae Reneau says
Hi there – I found your website through a Paleo search, and of course, you’re doing essential oils, too! I won’t speak the name of the company I’m getting a kit from as it’s a competitor of doTerra’s, and I understand there’s a bit of an intense rivalry there. But I just wanted to say I see no reason why you shouldn’t enjoy doTerra just as much as anyone else enjoys their essential oil brands, and I love the reasons you listed. Thank you for sharing them without taking other companies apart in the process!
I did research on doTerra and the company I ultimately chose to go with. I think both companies are great. But my ultimate choice arose partially out of convenience as I have a neighbor next door who utilizes this company and was able to help hook me up with them. I am so looking forward to start using essential oils, and it’s posts like these that make me excited about getting started!
Also – I love your blog and your Paleo posts, too. Keep up the excellent work, and congratulations on your journey out of debt and into a great position with doTerra!
Erica Cruz says
I have learned SO MUCH about essential oils in the past couple months! I just started getting into them last year – but I only knew about diffusion – and I was using another brand (which I will continue using for cleaning only). I signed up with DoTerra last month and so far I LOVE THEM. I am now learning all about topical and internal applications and applying the oils to my everyday life. I have been trying for months to get away from pharmaceuticals. Coincidentally I had a paleo friend of mine trying to convince me to do that a long time ago! Now I want to get rid of my acid pills and get off my AntiDepressants (in the weaning process now).
Your blog has such great information, along with a small few others — I look forward to learning more from you!
Jane says
Thank you for sharing your inspirationaly story and you reasoning behind using essential oils! I think it’s another way of expressing your love for “the simple Life” and I think it’s awesome and you Rock my friend! Keep on keeping on. I would love to learn more when I can comprehend more! Much luck and many successes continued to come your way! God bless you! <3
Jane says
and I think that Helping hands mission ministry is awesome! I have a dear friend from our church going on a mission trip to Tanzania to distribute operation Christmas Child shoe boxes to children coming up in the next 2 months and she is so excited. We love giving back and missions and ministries are an awesome way to do just that! Being the hands and feet of Jesus is what we are called to do! God is good all the time!
Greg says
Thanks for the article! I am a huge fan of doTERERA oils!
Brianne says
Hi there! I recently (2 weeks ago) signed up to become a dT wellness advocate… So as you can see, I’m still very new at this. I was (and I still am!) over-the-moon excited to share the great results I’ve been having with dT with my friends and clients. But just today, an acquaintance challenged my affiliation with dT. She said something about “purity” issues with dT, and to be honest, it put a (tiny little) chink in my excitement.
In doing some research online about their purity and testing standards, I came across your post and I’m really happy to read that you stand behind the company so proudly, and that you’ve also done YOUR research.
My question is, today (2 years after you first wrote the above blog post) do you still stand firmly behind dT and your above statements? I hope you’ll respond here, or privately to me (brianne@femfusionfitness.com). I feel like I need some “sister love” from someone who’s also an online presence (I also have a blog and plan to do some of my sales and outreach online). I hope to hear back from you! Thank you in advance!
Jackie Ritz says
I certainly do. Here’s a link to my latest blog to help you keep moving forward. https://thepaleomama.com/2016/02/launch-your-doterra-business/
Brianne says
Oh WONDERFUL! Thank you so much for getting back to me.
Katie says
Is doTerra cruelty free? Are all of their products vegan?
Jackie Ritz says
Here are a couple websites that will answer your questions.
https://doterraeveryday.eu/product-answers/
https://www.doterraeveryday.com/which-products-are-vegetarian-or-vegan/
Sal says
I went to these links and they seem to be broken or not found. I have done a search and cannot verify if doTERRA is a cruelty free company-
Jackie Ritz says
Here are a couple links to help you confirm that doTERRA is indeed cruelty free.
https://doterra.com/US/en/cptg-testing-process
https://consumewithcare.org/doterra-essential-oils/
https://ashleymarriah.wixsite.com/lifeessentials/why-choose-doterra-
Andrea says
Hi there – Great post I really enjoyed reading. I have the same question about if the products are cruelty free and I did try the link above but it didn’t take me to anything!
Thanks!
Lisa says
I have been using Young Living Oils for about 10 years and recently switched. The oils that I used before worked when I first used them, but it seemed like the potency went down over time. Also, after having been to a talk by Mr. Young I was creeped out. At the time, doTerra was just being thought up so for the highest grade of oils out there had a CEO I was thrilled supporting. That sounds shallow, but if he is the founder, what other creepiness was going on. I have been using “Deep Blue” for 5 days and my pain has been greatly reduced.
Wendy says
Hi Lisa, I am very curious, what’s so creeping about Mr. Young’s talk? Would you mind sharing?
Wendy says
Thank you, the Paleo Mom, I recently started learning about doTerra EO from a friend. In the past few days I have become quite nervous and desperate as I accidently found about the YL vs. DT war and so much on the web seem to be rating TL over DT. It’s quite relieving to read your post specifying the good things about DT. Thanks for sharing!
Abby Windsor says
Thank you for this wonderful article on why you chose doTERRA. I am a new wellness advocate and had someone ask me why doTERRA. Your article shut down the very negative claims I had read about DoTERRA and provided more insight and correction on those claims. Thank you, thank you!
Elyse says
Hi, thank you for your article, i am passionate about oils too and enjoyed reading what you’ve shared and the comments from others : ) … I followed the links to the previous questions on animal testing and whether doTERRA do this. I understand they don’t themselves but since they sell in China i am curious to know if they have had to go through the same laws as other cosmetic companies to be able to sell there – that being testing on animals. I work for an organic skincare company myself and we have looked into selling in China but when researching i was quite overwhelmed to see how many well known companies that market themselves as conscious and cruelty free are actually condoning and allowing animal testing on their products in order to reach more consumers in China. I don’t really see the difference whether it’s done in house or not, it should never be done. I am about to explore working with doTERRA more seriously but want to feel totally confident that there is no animal testing involved whatsoever before i do so..
If you could give any advice or enlighten me on the truth regarding this i would hugely appreciate it!
Many thanks : )
Jackie Ritz says
According to this link on the subject, Greg Cook of doTERRA confirms that “no animal testing is required for selling in China. doTERRA has never tested any products on animals…ever.” See: https://m.facebook.com/gregcookdoterra/posts/700395443369520