YL LEMON ESSENTIAL OIL
Young Living’s lemon essential oil is cold pressed from the rind of Citrus limon. Lemon oil
consists of 68 percent d-limonene, a powerful antioxidant. It is refreshing in water and
may be beneficial for the skin. Lemon oil also promotes clarity of thought and purpose and
has a purifying citrus scent that is invigorating, enhancing, and warming and is known as
one of the most fragrant essential oils.
As with all of Young Living’s essential oils, each batch of lemon oil must pass Young Living’s
stringent testing to ensure the optimal bioactive natural compounds are present. Young
Living uses its own internal labs, in addition to third-party audits, to verify that
international purity and potency standards are met and surpassed. Through this process,
Young Living has certified that its lemon oil is free of all pesticides and other chemical
residues. A pesticide free product means that no detectable pesticides, naturally occurring
or synthetic, have been identified in the product. As a result, Young Living’s lemon oil may
be safely consumed as a dietary supplement.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Financial health of Young Living Lettter
Dear Young Living Distributor:
Recently, rumors have been spread concerning the financial health of Young Living. Almost always, these
statements are made without knowledge of the truth, due to the simple fact that Young Living is a privately
held enterprise. Publicly held companies are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission to disclose financial information to the public. Privately held companies are under no such obligation, and for a number of business and personal reasons, they rarely disclose their financial information to the public.
We do not know how these false rumors originate, and normally we do not comment on rumors or other
unsubstantiated claims. However, due to the persistent nature of these fabrications and to formally state the
facts, we have chosen to voluntarily share with you, our distributors and friends, some of our fundamental
financial information.
Young Living is a financially sound company. Since 2004 we have been consistently profitable. Our cash
and working capital balances are robust and enable us to self-fund our current growth and global expansion.
We believe that our financial health would be the envy of many other companies in our industry. Our strong
financial health and history helps ensure that we will be able to continue our amazing growth and support of
all our distributors and customers that depend on us to bring pure therapeutic-grade essential oils and related
products into their homes and lives.
The following financial ratios are often used by financial analysts to gauge a company’s financial health. To
provide a reference point for our ratios, we selected a few publicly traded companies in our industry that are
fairly well known and established. We invite you to compare this same information to that of any other publicly traded company.
The ratios below are derived from the 2013 1st quarter financials of each company, which is the most current
information available. The performance ratios are computed based on net income before tax expense to make the ratios comparable. Please refer to the definition below of each ratio to understand how it is computed, as
there are many different variations of these ratios.
Young Living Nature’s Sunshine NuSkin Mannatech Avon
Liquidity Ratio:
Current Ratio 1.69 2.43 1.72 1.46 1.46
Performance Ratios:
Return on Assets (ROA) 0.16 0.15 0.27 0.09 0.01
Return on Equity (ROE) 0.26 0.24 0.54 0.21 0.09
Debt Ratio: 0.41 0.39 0.49 0.57 0.84
Debt to Equity Ratio 0.69 0.65 0.96 1.32 5.34
Assets Turnover 2.80 1.97 1.82 3.62 1.31
3125 Executive Parkway, Lehi, UT 84043 • Tel: 801.418.8900 • youngliving.com
Definitions
Current Ratio – Current Assets/Current Liabilities. A measure of general liquidity that is most widely used to
make the analysis for the short-term financial position or liquidity of a firm. Higher is generally better.
Return on Assets (ROA) – Annualized Net Income before Tax/Total Assets. An indicator of how effective the company is at turning a profit with its assets. Higher is generally better.
Return on Equity (ROE) – Annualized Net Income before Tax/Total Equity on March 31, 2013. An indicator of how effective the company is at rewarding its shareholders. Higher is generally better.
Debt Ratio – Total Liabilities/Total Assets. Indicates the percentage of assets that are acquired with debt.
Lower is generally better for long-term financial stability and health.
Debt to Equity Ratio – Total Liabilities/Total Shareholder’s Equity. A measure of how much debt versus equity the company is using to finance its assets. Lower is generally better for long-term financial stability and health.
Asset Turnover – Annualized Revenue/Total Assets. This measures the amount of sales generated for every dollar of assets. Higher is generally better.
In conclusion, we are proud of Young Living’s history and are anxious to be part of its future. Young Living is a remarkable company driven by incredible distributors and founders. Our products, which are second to none, speak for themselves. As a company, we are experiencing record-setting growth. To read a press release on Young Living’s explosive growth, please go to the following link: http://www.youngliving.com/en_US/news/newsArticles/189-young-living-announces-record-growth.html.
This type of growth is usually reserved for smaller companies who are new-market entrants and rarely
experienced by companies who have been the leader in the market as long as we have been. We have built a
very sound financial structure that is equal to or better than that of long-standing, successful companies in and
outside of our industry. We let our numbers and our continued success speak for themselves.
Regards,
D. Gary Young Founder and CEO
Travis Ogden Chief Operating Officer
Kevin Pace Chief Financial Officer
FAQ Young Living Essential Oils
YOUNG LIVING ESSENTIAL OILS
FAQ’s
Company
Q. What makes Young Living unique compared to other essential oil companies?
A. While creating and defining the essential oils category over the past 20 years, Young Living has achieved impressive and steady growth and continues to improve its position as the world leader in essential oils in the rapidly expanding $22.5 billion market for natural health solutions. Distributorships are growing at a record pace, and Young Living’s impressive compensation program and training programs are helping distributors earn rapid, residual, and significant incomes.
Young Living attributes its success to its founder’s relentless search for new and innovative essential oils and uses, its intensive commitment to quality, and its aggressive reinvestment in herb cultivation and extraction and in research and development. Not only does Young Living have a solid financial base and a staff of experts with unequaled enthusiasm and knowledge, but it is also on a mission to transform the world and the lives of everyone it touches.
Here are nine key elements that make Young Living different from any other organization in the world:
Young Living:
1. Owns herb farms and custom-built essential oil distillation facilities around the world: one in Utah (USA), two in Idaho (USA), and one each in Ecuador, Peru, France, Oman, Taiwan, and Israel
2. Has one of the largest libraries of references for essential oil analyses, with over one million references to identify compound structures
3. Has one of the largest libraries of peer-reviewed scientific research studies on essential oils in the world
4. Has a founder who has devoted almost 30 years to studying and growing aromatic plants for the extraction of therapeutic-grade essential oils, who continuously travels the world searching for new aromatics, visiting other extraction plants, and researching the finest essential oils being produced. He has studied essential oils at nine foreign universities and has spoken at a United Nations UNIDO Congress and numerous other conferences and seminars on essential oils.
2
5. Has developed and manufactured state-of-the-art low-pressure, low-temperature steam and hydrodistillation chambers and separators for the distillation of the finest essential oils possible by capturing all of the chemical constituents of the plants, ensuring a complete chemical profile for maximum therapeutic benefit
6. Owns the largest pure, non-hybrid Lavandula angustifolia lavender farms in the world
7. Has a founder who has published 17 research papers and 9 books on the application and therapeutic benefits of essential oils and herbs
8. Has state-of-the-art labs that test each batch of essential oils to verify that they meet Young Living’s high standards of quality
9. Offers totally unique and natural products that get excellent results for home use, office environment, natural medicine facilities, clinics, hospitals, and universities
10. Honors its stewardship as the world leader in essential oils to champion nature’s living energy, essential oils, and desires to inspire individuals to wellness, purpose, and abundance. Its mission is to take essential oils into every home in the world!
Q. What are the goals of Young Living’s Executive Management Team?
A. Young Living has a highly skilled, creative, and dedicated Executive Management Team that has a renewed focus on strategic planning, internal and external partnerships, team building, creating record-breaking growth, international expansion, and terrific momentum in every business aspect (see http://www.youngliving.com/en_US/company/managementTeam/).
Q. What kind of growth is Young Living experiencing? Where is Young Living headed?
Now in its 20th year, Young Living is poised for unprecedented growth and expansion. Gary Young’s vision has enabled Young Living to:
• More than double in size over the last few years
• Experience rapid growth in all markets, including the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, the EU, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Hong Kong, and Singapore
• Ship over 10 million items to over 100 different countries annually
• Enroll over 250,000 (and growing) distributors globally
• Inspire and renew the lives of countless people through Young Living’s products and business opportunity
• Cultivate seven flourishing Young Living farms
• Build the most comprehensive historical research library on essential oils
• Launch hundreds of innovative essential oil-based products
3
Q. Is Young Living financially stable?
A. Yes. Young Living has never been more financially stable than it is today. With very little debt, strong inventory and cash balances, and immense revenue acceleration (see http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130417-911485.html), the company is indeed financially stable. Young Living is expected to continue growing at record rates.
Q. Has there been an increase in employee turnover recently at Young Living?
A. No. For a growing company like Young Living, overall employee turnover remains at a constant and typical level. Some employees move on for any number of reasons, as in any company.
Q. Why does Young Living do more than sell essential oils?
Young Living views its farms; its research relationships with medical professionals, hospitals, and clinics; and its philanthropic efforts as unique assets with an unmatched power to guarantee quality, provide validating research, and change lives.
Q. Why did Young Living recently modify its compensation plan?
A. Young Living introduced a new, groundbreaking compensation plan to offer Independent Distributors greater financial incentives and assistance as they build a successful business.
The former plan promoted a bonus payout that was additional to the compensation plan. It was originally intended to help Young Living grow in its infancy, but Young Living has now outgrown that plan. Many distributors were “stuck” in the bonus and did not see normal, organizational growth that would produce the desired income.
In the new plan all the bonuses are within the commission structure. Distributors will be able to advance more quickly in rank, see tremendous growth in their organizations, and enjoy helping others build their businesses. Tremendous research and planning have made this the most generous and easily understood compensation plan in the history of Young Living. Highlights of the plan include:
• New bonus levels
• Profit-sharing opportunities
• More accessible advancement
• Travel incentives
• Increased leadership opportunities
• Easy to understand and teach
“This is an amazing time for Young Living, with our record-breaking growth and the new improvements to our compensation plan. It is really going to set a precedent in the industry,” said D. Gary Young, founder and CEO.
4
Quality
Q. Does Young Living Take Essential Oil Quality Seriously?
A. One of Young Living’s defining attributes is taking quality so seriously that it has developed its own Seed to Seal® process. It owns the farms, plants the seeds, and then cultivates, harvests, and distills the aromatic plant materials with its proprietary distillation technology to ensure the highest quality profiled essential oils in the industry.
Young Living has farming and distillation operations throughout the world, including North America, South America, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia, all of which produce the finest essential oils anywhere in the world. Whether an oil is produced on a Young Living farm or from a qualified, trusted distillator/partner, every batch of oil is tested for compliance with Young Living’s therapeutic-grade standard and rejected if it does not comply. Again, no other company is more dedicated to consistently delivering such high quality products.
Young Living currently rejects approximately 30 percent of all essential oils received for analysis. These oils are found to be extended, adulterated, or subtherapeutic. It is a sad fact that these rejected oils will probably be marketed and sold by other less discerning companies, often at a lower price.
Young Living's founder, D. Gary Young, has spent 30 years acquiring knowledge on herb cultivation and proper essential oil distillation and has worked with the foremost world experts on essential oils, including the following:
• Marcel Espieu (20-year president of the Lavender Growers Association in France)
• Henry Viaud (most renown essential oil distillator in the world)
• Herve Casabianca, PhD (foremost analytical chemist of essential oils in the world today and who helped write the European AFNOR standard for essential oils)
• Jean-Claude Lapraz, MD (early pioneer in essential oil research)
• Radwan Farag, PhD (analytical chemist and dean of the Biochemical Department at Cairo University, who has written many published papers on essential oil research)
• Kurt Schnaubelt, PhD (chemist and owner of Swiss Aromatics)
• Countless other experts
Moreover, employees in Young Living’s Chemistry Lab, Research and Development department, and Quality Assurance department have spent almost two decades working with Gary Young and other researchers to refine and develop the unique Young Living 100% pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade essential oil standard. Every year, Gary and Young Living staff members travel across the world to personally inspect essential oil distilleries and herb cultivation farms to ensure the highest therapeutic quality.
5
Q. Why do some Young Living Oil blends contain carrier oils?
A. Eleven of Young Living’s oil blends include a specially selected carrier oil to optimize the therapeutic effect for targeting specific needs.
Q. Does Young Living test every lot of essential oil?
A. Young Living tests every lot of essential oil, whether from its own farms or from its trusted growers/partners and suppliers. Each essential oil is subjected to state-of-the-art analysis at the Young Living Chemistry Lab. Its team of scientists subjects every essential oil to as many as seven tests, including gas chromatography (GC), mass spectrometry (MS), refractive index, FTIR, optical rotation, organoleptic analysis, specific gravity analysis, and others when needed.
Additionally, Young Living protects against adulteration by inspecting/auditing its farms and steam extraction facilities around the world to examine the herbs that are cultivated, check the essential oils being distilled, and take reference samples directly from the separator to store as a reference in the Young Living Quality Control Labs.
Q. Does Young Living use outside, independent labs?
A. Young Living uses world-class independent labs to confirm in-house analysis. Young Living also sends essential oils out for advanced tests such as carbon isotope analysis. Most of Young Living’s day-to-day essential oil chemical assays are conducted at the Young Living Chemistry Lab in Spanish Fork, Utah, which houses the most advanced analytical instruments available for analyzing the composition of an essential oil.
Q. Why does Young Living say its oil standards are “beyond organic?”
A. The Young Living therapeutic-grade standard goes beyond organic in purity, scope, and potency. Many of Young Living’s essential oils come from wild-crafted material growing on a mountainside, from virgin forests, or native plants that have been growing in a particular region for centuries. Such harvests are technically not “organic.” For example, frankincense grows wild through the hills and mountains of Oman in areas untouched by urban pollution and factory runoffs. Are these frankincense trees organic? Will the resin they produce ever be certified organic? There are no plans for certification at this time. But it is from these wild, native trees that Young Living contracts with local Bedouins to gather the frankincense resin to be distilled at its facility in Salalah, Oman. This is just one example of how Young Living exceeds existing world standards.
Q. Where does Young Living acquire frankincense?
A. There are many species of frankincense that come from different countries in the world. Young Living has a distillery and farm in Salalah, Oman, where it distills the resin of the sacred frankincense (Boswellia sacra) tree, which grows in Oman. The oil produced is the most prized frankincense in the world and the one believed by archaeologists to be the frankincense taken to the Christ Child. Young Living is the only company with a license issued from the Omani
6
government to legally distill and export it. Anyone else making that claim is not telling the truth. Young Living also distills Boswellia carterii, which comes from Somalia and is distilled in Kenya.
Boswellia frereana comes from Western Somalia. This oil is used more in the perfume industry, as it has little therapeutic value, except in oral hygiene. Comparing Boswellia sacra and Boswellia carterii to Boswellia frereana is like comparing a diamond to cubic zirconium. It might smell nice, but you need to carefully consider the source and species of your frankincense if you are using it for therapeutic application.
Young Living also distills sweet myrrh (Commiphora erythraea) at its facility in Oman. This sweet myrrh, as it is referred to in the Bible, is gathered from a mountainous region of Yemen and shipped to Oman. It is being distilled for the first time in hundreds of years.
Q. What is Young Living’s therapeutic-grade standard, and how does it compare to standards such as AFNOR and ISO?
A. When Gary Young started researching essential oil quality in the early 1980’s, a patchwork of different independent standards existed, including Grade A, AFNOR, ISO, and others. Many of these standards did not necessarily correlate with the health benefits of the essential oils.
More than 30 years ago, Gary Young first coined the phrase “therapeutic-grade” while conducting clinical trials with essential oils in his clinic in Mexico before Young Living was established. He created a new essential oil category for quality in which essential oil compounds were linked to various therapeutic effects. This began what would become the therapeutic-grade standard of essential oils.
Gradually, other companies began using this term to describe their oils. It is important not to confuse these imitators with the Young Living therapeutic-grade standard. Some oil sellers would have you believe that there are other laboratories, organizations, or associations qualified to certify an essential oil as therapeutic-grade. This is not true.
Using the Seed to Seal process and the experience of the science and application for over 20 years, only Young Living is qualified to certify essential oils as therapeutic-grade. Gary Young has spent three decades developing the therapeutic-grade standard on which Young Living is based today:
• Clinical research of essential oils conducted by medical professionals
• Investigation of historical and traditional uses
• The many farms that are the beginning of the Seed to Seal process
• Analyses of thousands of peer-reviewed scientific studies of essential oils that use gas chromatography (GC), mass spectrometry (MS), and various other instruments to test thousands of batches of oil
7
To date, Young Living’s library of peer-reviewed research papers on essential oils encompasses thousands of articles and is one of the largest in the world.
The Four P’s
For simplicity Young Living’s therapeutic-grade standard can be summarized with the Four P’s philosophy: Plants, Preparation, Purity, and Potency.
Plants
Young Living’s therapeutic-grade standard begins with selecting the correct family, genus, and species of an herb and ensuring it is grown in the proper soil, at the correct altitude, and in the best weather conditions. For example, a number of different species of frankincense resins are collected in different regions of Arabia, Africa, and India. Some of these species include Boswellia sacra, Boswellia carterii, Boswellia serrate, Boswellia papyrifera, and Boswellia frereana. Each species has very different components and properties.
Moreover, even among trees of the same species (e.g., Boswellia carterii), resin quality and oil quality vary dramatically, depending on where the trees are grown. Are they located in a wetter coastal area? Or do they grow in an interior, semi-arid location? At what altitude do the trees produce the most resin? Is the tree located in Arabia, India, or Africa? All of these factors are critical in determining the selection of a truly pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade frankincense essential oil to obtain the greatest healing benefits possible.
Many people believe that Boswellia sacra, or sacred frankincense, is the frankincense referred to in the Bible that was taken to the Christ Child at his birth.
Gary Young spent years visiting the countries of Arabia and Africa to investigate the different species of frankincense and the specific regions in which these different species were growing. Both Boswellia sacra and Boswellia carterii were historically used for healing, which led Gary to continue his research to eventually scientifically document these two species of frankincense as the only ones producing oil with a chemical structure suited for medical research. Using analyses such as gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, HPLC, chiral GC/GC-MS, optical rotation, and specific gravity, Gary was able to identify the frankincense species with the optimal therapeutic benefits.
Preparation
Even the best herbs can be ruined or damaged if they are not cultivated, harvested, and distilled properly. Plants must be harvested at the right time and then very specifically distilled, after which the oils must be handled carefully to protect their living energy and volatile compounds.
For example, the distillation of frankincense is a closely guarded art that has been handed down from generation to generation. The sticky gum resin must be distilled in a specially designed steam extractor using a carefully controlled method to keep the gum resin from becoming glued to the walls of the equipment, burning or scorching, and producing inferior-grade oil with little therapeutic effect. The distillation technique takes several hours and a lot of patience to obtain all the volatile compounds that give frankincense its great healing attributes.
8
Purity and Potency
Every batch of aromatic plant material, whether distilled on Young Living’s own farms or obtained from one of its outside partners, is subjected to state-of-the-art analyses at the Young Living Chemistry Lab. With the most advanced equipment in the world, Young Living’s Quality Assurance department subjects every incoming lot of essential oils to a battery of tests. Oils that exhibit even the slightest hint of possible tampering or adulteration—even if provided from a trusted supplier—are either rejected outright or sent to outside laboratories for even more in-depth testing using techniques such as carbon isotope analysis.
Young Living’s past experience with Helichrysum italicum essential oil demonstrates its commitment to this standard. A few years ago, Young Living rejected and returned several million dollars- worth of helichrysum, even though this oil was badly needed and was in short supply at the time, since it is very difficult to find and only a small amount is produced for the world market. While this shipment of Helichrysum italicum had a very similar aroma as previous lots, its chemistry was different, and at best the oil could only be classified as subtherapeutic, so it was rejected.
Frustrated distributors often ask why a product is not available. This is because Young Living refuses to sell inferior oils. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to locate pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade essential oils that have not been extended or tampered with by adding synthetic compounds. Moreover, many essential oils are only distilled once or twice a year, and the temptation to adulterate is becoming more rampant. Many brokers increase their profit by altering specific essential oils by adding synthetic compounds to increase the volume of the oil that they sell.
The bottom line is: Firsthand knowledge of growing, harvesting, distilling, and analyzing oils gives us a tremendous advantage in understanding every aspect of production. Young Living’s Seed to Seal process focuses on producing pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade essential oils that meet the Young Living standard of excellence, and the proof is in the exquisite oil that is unique to itself with its individual aroma and specific benefits.
Competition
Q. Is Young Living concerned about competition?
A. No. As the world leader in essential oils, Young Living is focused on continuing to provide the very best essential oils and the very best education and business opportunities to its distributors. Naturally, new oil sellers will enter the marketplace with marketing hype touting the opportunity to make money or with health claims that have only the backup of other writers and publications.
Anyone can buy oils from brokers and small producers to sell to the public, but no one else has the exclusive Seed to Seal process like Young Living. This is what sets Young Living and its products apart from everyone else. Because of the Young Living farms and the knowledge of growing, harvesting, and distilling, it is easy for Young Living to establish the therapeutic-grade standard and lead the way in the essential oil industry. Young Living’s commitment to plants,
9
preparation, purity, and potency guarantees that the products it delivers will remain undiluted with a Seed to Seal process that produces the highest therapeutic quality essential oils available.
Q. Is Young Living protecting itself from former employees who are now competitors?
A. Any highly successful business will create imitators, many of whom will try to cut corners and minimize reinvestments in order to maximize profits. As the world leader, Young Living has seen a number of such competitors come and go. Young Living reserves the right to take legal action if a competitor violates laws or attempts to gain unfair advantage and recently has done so in one instance. Young Living chooses to maintain the high ethical industry standard but will respond, although Young Living prefers to address competition with its Seed to Seal story, continuously provide innovative products with uncompromising quality, and produce the highest quality, pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade essential oils in the world.
Q. I have been contacted by a competing essential oils company. What questions should I ask?
A. Young Living does not release confidential customer information to any third party. However, if you are contacted by a competing essential oil company, you have the right to ask where and how they obtained your contact information. Furthermore, you can determine their level of commitment to quality by asking questions such as the following:
• Does the company test essential oils both in-house and with independent labs?
• Does the company guarantee 100% pure essential oils produced from botanically verified plants?
• Does the company personally research and experiment with planting, growing, harvesting, and distilling of aromatic plants?
• If the company claims its products are “certified,” specifically which essential oil experts or independent “certification” laboratories have certified it?
• Does the company have in-house expertise and commitment to quality assurance?
• How was the company founded?
• Has the company dedicated numerous years to gain knowledge about essential oils?
• What is the background of those they consider to be essential oil experts?
• Does the company own its own farms or strictly regulate the farms that produce its oils?
• Does the company distill its own aromatic plants or partner with other growers?
• Does the company offer a large essential oil collection, or is it primarily focused on profiting from a small group of popular oils that have a pleasant aroma?
• Does the company routinely visit its suppliers and partner-distilleries to ensure that the best practices are adhered to?
10
• What peer-reviewed research has the company published? Has it tested its oils in clinical settings?
• Are the company’s standards based on a library of thousands of scientific articles, essential oil gas chromatograph tests, and data from hundreds of thousands of user experiences?
Q. Some competitive essential oils smell sweeter—almost like candy or perfume. Why are they so different from Young Living's?
A. Young Living harvests, distills, and sells therapeutic-grade essential oils—not confection- or perfume-grade oils. Pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade essential oils that have proven potency are not designed to smell candy-like; rather, they have their own unique aromas with their very specific actions and unmatched therapeutic potency. An overly sweet aroma is actually a hallmark of a rectified, cut, and/or confection- or perfume-grade essential oil, rather than a pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade oil.
Q. May I use the term “therapeutic-grade”? Other oil companies in the marketplace use the term “therapeutic-grade” or variations thereof, and they say it’s protected. What are my rights?
A. You may use the term “therapeutic-grade” to promote Young Living essential oils. When D. Gary Young conducted his first essential oil research in his clinic over 25 years ago, he pioneered the term “therapeutic-grade” to make a distinction between oils sold in the market place and those he had brought home from France and was studying in his clinic. This phrase has now become very common and is used by most essential oil companies, even those selling very low therapeutic-grade essential oils.
The Seed to Seal process Young Living uses when planting, cultivating, harvesting, and distilling is crucial to retaining the vital compounds of the plant material. Without the exact blend of naturally occurring plant chemicals, an essential oil can lose its beneficial properties and fail to produce the desired effect. Every essential oil Young Living distills or sources has the optimal naturally occurring blend of constituents to maximize the desired effect. Young Living is able to make this statement because of its strict Seed to Seal process—illustrated by the Four P’s (as discussed above)—that guarantees the optimal potency of every Young Living essential oil.
Q. I would like to come back to Young Living after being with another company where the results are less than advertised. Am I still welcome?
A. Young Living welcomes back all former distributors with open arms. Young Living is confident that you will find your sponsor ready and willing to give you the support and guidance you need.
Q. Has Young Living been disparaging former employees or business competitors?
A. No. Young Living would never participate in such inappropriate, unprofessional, and unnecessary activities. Young Living has no need to disparage other companies to promote itself. Young Living’s company mantra is to focus on the positive things it knows are true, not on what 11 critics are inventing about the company. Young Living welcomes an open dialogue with anyone interested in learning the truth. Young Living has seen that an honest and careful examination of the facts defuses the situation the vast majority of the time.
Q. Other companies are saying negative things about Young Living and Gary Young. Are they true?
A. You should carefully consider the source of such information. Competitors have a financial incentive to disparage Young Living and Gary Young at every turn to mask their lack of expertise, unethical behavior, and shallow understanding of essential oils. When wild statements and accusations are made, you should demand proof. Ask yourself, “Why would others build their new business based on slander and on attacking others? What are the facts? What is the truth?”
D. Gary Young
Q. What is Gary Young’s background? How did he become an expert on essential oils?
The Beginning D. Gary Young is an unusual and visionary man, who through tremendous adversity and the most amazing circumstances finds himself teaching seminars, formulating in his laboratory, plowing fields with his tractor, designing and building equipment for his farm and distillery operations worldwide, and running a multimillion dollar business.
He grew up in the mountains of central Idaho with no electricity or running water, where he and his five siblings were taught by their parents how to live from the earth. Growing up in poverty, with marginal education, life was harsh and demanding. But against all odds, this young man was determined to have something better. Perhaps no one understands the concept of making a difference more than D. Gary Young. Today, as the founder and CEO of Young Living Essential Oils, it is hard to imagine the difficult path this man has walked in order to achieve today’s success.
At the age of 24, in the mountains of central British Columbia, Canada, Gary suffered a near-fatal logging accident that left him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair for life, according to the doctors and all medical prognoses. Dependent on morphine and in a drugged and deepening state of depression, his mind filled with darkness and all hope vanished. After a failed third suicide attempt, he realized that he had to make a change. This is when Gary began to venture down a new life’s path in search of natural ways to heal his body.
Discovery
This path led him to the discovery of many different healing modalities that included the world of nutrition; and after 13 years, struggling with intense pain, he was able to walk without assistance. With strong determination he ran a half marathon, finishing 67th out of 970 participants.
He went back to school, studying naturopathy with emphases in both nutrition and psychology, for strength in and knowledge about emotional healing. Receiving a doctoral degree in 12 naturopathy and a master’s degree in nutrition, he was driven to search for greater knowledge and the discovery of other healing modalities used in other areas of the world.
He opened a private family practice in Chula Vista, California, and a research clinic in La Mesa, Mexico, where he was determined to understand degenerative diseases and find ways to restore health naturally. It was in this clinic that he began his study of essential oils. One of his patients gave him some translated medical research that had been conducted in Europe, which he found very exciting.
He flew to Geneva, Switzerland, to attend a medical conference on the research and potential benefits of essential oils. This began a greater path of enlightenment, as he returned to his clinic with 13 oils from France to see what he could discover.
For eight years he conducted clinical research on the effects of essential oils on the human body.
Belief
Not only did he see greater results with his patients, but he saw the unexpected, not only for his patients but also for himself. Still in constant pain from his accident, he was very excited when the pain was significantly reduced after applying the oils. His research of usage and application was unprecedented—new to the modern world. His discoveries were unparalleled in modern science; and as spectacular as they were, the world wasn’t ready for them, and he was taunted and laughed at as he persevered.
He saw the difference between essential oils sold in the marketplace and the essential oils that he was using in his clinic. To distinguish the differences between them, he began using the term “therapeutic-grade,” although the world still laughed at this “snake oil salesman,” who was determined to tell the world about essential oils.
Nothing could stop the truth that he had discovered, that he knew would help millions of people if only they could have the opportunity. His dedication to his mission intensified as he discovered more and more. He immersed himself into the history of early medicine and essential oils and traveled from the ruins of ancient Egypt to the archives of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the British Museum Library in London, his own laboratory, and the chemistry department at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, to prove the validity of this ancient science.
As early as 1997, he was asked to present the research he was conducting on single oils and oil blends at Weber State University. The same year he presented a paper on organic farming and germination at the UNIDO World Congress on essential oils held at Anadolu University in Eskisehir, Turkey. In 1998 he was the only American invited to speak at the First International Congress on Integrated Medicine held in Grasse, France. Since that time, the demand for him to speak and present his research has continued to increase every year, as he shares his knowledge with thousands of people worldwide.
Transformation
Although Gary’s introduction to essential oils was through medical science, he was fascinated with how they were produced. Growing up on a ranch and learning to farm, he had a tremendous 13 advantage. He understood the earth and what it took to grow healthy crops, but he had no experience with aromatic plants. His desire to learn took him to France to study the plants and learn the art of distillation. Year after year he returned, spending weeks and months studying with Europe’s greatest teachers.
Gary brought lavender seeds home with him from France and planted them in a quarter acre piece of ground behind his office. He built his first distiller by welding two pressure cookers together and distilling his first lavender crop on the kitchen stove, which produced only a tiny bit of oil. As crude as it was, it was the beginning of an immense enterprise that would grow to having farms and distilleries around the world for the cultivation of aromatic plants and the extraction of essential oils.
Marcel Espieu, the former president of the Lavender Grower’s Association in France for 20 years, at first laughed at “this American” who thought he could duplicate what generations of French lavender growers had in their blood.
Marcel paid Gary the greatest compliment of his career when he spoke at the Young Living Convention in 2002 and said to the thousands of people attending, “The student has now become the teacher, and the teacher is now the student.”
Gary continues to travel throughout the world furthering his research, sharing his passion with others, and bringing therapeutic essential oils to those searching for a natural way to health and longevity as well as to financial prosperity. His dedication, passion, experience, and vast knowledge in this field have earned him the recognition as one of the foremost authorities on essential oils in the world. Not only is Gary’s personal story remarkable, but it is paralleled by his success in the business world.
His Mission D. Gary Young’s personal experiences have made him who he is today. Added to his empathetic, loving, and kind nature, he has a driving commitment to help those in need. Overcoming tremendous adversity himself, Gary knew he could help others in their quest for wellness and prosperity. His life’s mission has been to inspire people to find healing through natural means— through God’s precious oils—to learn how to take care of their bodies as God intended, to have greater understanding and compassion for one another, and to achieve mutual respect and honor, even in our differences.
Founder of Young Living Essential Oils Gary chose the vehicle of network marketing to teach people and to take the oils to the world. He and his wife Mary founded Young Living Essential Oils 20 years ago, with only three employees to begin their business. It quickly grew and today is one of the fastest growing network marketing companies in North America.
D. Gary Young’s commitment to understanding the remarkable, therapeutic power of plants has resulted in the world’s largest line of essential oils, blends, and supplements infused with essential oils. Gary has traveled the globe to discover how to best support both physical health and emotional wellness. His discoveries have helped hundreds of thousands of people experience14 the benefits of natural healing and have made Young Living unquestionably the world leader in essential oils.
Young Living now cultivates thousands of acres of farmland on five continents and has a product line of more than 400 essential oils, nutritional supplements, and personal-care items. The Young Living farms and distilleries enable Young Living Essential Oils to maintain its position as the world’s leading grower, distiller, and provider of 100% pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade essential oils. Young Living’s success extends to hundreds of Young Living employees worldwide and more than 250,000 Independent Distributors across the globe.
Author Among his many achievements, D. Gary Young is also an accomplished writer. He has published 9 books on essential oils and natural health and co-authored 17 published papers based on his years of scientific research and discovery.
In his quest to find the truth about the legendary frankincense, he found himself in many remote places in the world, thirsting for the ancient knowledge that had been lost to the modern world. He wanted to know everything about frankincense and myrrh—the oils that were taken to the Christ Child. What did the ancient people know that we didn’t know?
Every time he returned to Arabia, he felt like he was coming home. His experiences and discoveries were so amazing that he wrote a historical novel called The One Gift and made a documentary film, so people could come to understand life on the caravan and how these ancient resins were transported and used daily, eventually reaching the far corners of the earth. The caravan trading centers were the beginning of international commerce, influencing the development of our world through language, intercultural communication, and healing.
It has been a fascinating journey for Gary that will culminate in the most intricate and comprehensive books written about “God’s healing oils.”
Philanthropy Throughout D. Gary Young’s travels, he has seen firsthand the harsh realities of poverty, illness, and conflict affecting much of the world. Having grown up in poverty with little education, he can relate well to these impoverished communities. These experiences inspired him to start the D. Gary Young Foundation, which has given aid to numerous projects, including:
• Building a new school (the Young Living Academy) in Chongon, Ecuador
• Tsunami relief
• Hurricane Katrina aid
• Miners’ aid
• The Cinterandes Foundation mobile surgical unit that goes into the jungles of Ecuador
• Building schools and a water system for Tarahumara Indians in Durango, Mexico
• Medical mission trips to Ghana and Kenya with Young Living Essential Oils
15
The D. Gary Young Foundation provides all the school supplies and latest technical teaching aides to foster education and learning in a clean and drug-free environment. The school is built with a full kitchen to serve nutritious meals daily. The mission of the D. Gary Young Foundation is to provide educational, medical, and economic support to individuals and communities worldwide.
Commitment
The life of D. Gary Young is an example of overcoming obstacles, including poverty, disabling injury, ridicule, and other challenges, to excel in his desire to learn and become successful. His amazing story will inspire and motivate others to believe, transform their lives, and achieve their dreams. He is a man of great faith and belief in God, who loves his home and his family. His greatest joy is being of service to his fellow men and helping people reach their highest potential.
The Future
Q. What is the future of Young Living?
A. Young Living is on a steady growth path. With a mission to have essential oils in every home in the world, there is much to be done. That excitement and dedication is a driving force in the hearts of Young Living’s distributors. They have the determination and passion to succeed individually, which Young Living celebrates with great joy. Know the truth and don’t be afraid to speak it.
For more information about Young Living and its mission, please visit www.youngliving.com.
FAQ’s
Company
Q. What makes Young Living unique compared to other essential oil companies?
A. While creating and defining the essential oils category over the past 20 years, Young Living has achieved impressive and steady growth and continues to improve its position as the world leader in essential oils in the rapidly expanding $22.5 billion market for natural health solutions. Distributorships are growing at a record pace, and Young Living’s impressive compensation program and training programs are helping distributors earn rapid, residual, and significant incomes.
Young Living attributes its success to its founder’s relentless search for new and innovative essential oils and uses, its intensive commitment to quality, and its aggressive reinvestment in herb cultivation and extraction and in research and development. Not only does Young Living have a solid financial base and a staff of experts with unequaled enthusiasm and knowledge, but it is also on a mission to transform the world and the lives of everyone it touches.
Here are nine key elements that make Young Living different from any other organization in the world:
Young Living:
1. Owns herb farms and custom-built essential oil distillation facilities around the world: one in Utah (USA), two in Idaho (USA), and one each in Ecuador, Peru, France, Oman, Taiwan, and Israel
2. Has one of the largest libraries of references for essential oil analyses, with over one million references to identify compound structures
3. Has one of the largest libraries of peer-reviewed scientific research studies on essential oils in the world
4. Has a founder who has devoted almost 30 years to studying and growing aromatic plants for the extraction of therapeutic-grade essential oils, who continuously travels the world searching for new aromatics, visiting other extraction plants, and researching the finest essential oils being produced. He has studied essential oils at nine foreign universities and has spoken at a United Nations UNIDO Congress and numerous other conferences and seminars on essential oils.
2
5. Has developed and manufactured state-of-the-art low-pressure, low-temperature steam and hydrodistillation chambers and separators for the distillation of the finest essential oils possible by capturing all of the chemical constituents of the plants, ensuring a complete chemical profile for maximum therapeutic benefit
6. Owns the largest pure, non-hybrid Lavandula angustifolia lavender farms in the world
7. Has a founder who has published 17 research papers and 9 books on the application and therapeutic benefits of essential oils and herbs
8. Has state-of-the-art labs that test each batch of essential oils to verify that they meet Young Living’s high standards of quality
9. Offers totally unique and natural products that get excellent results for home use, office environment, natural medicine facilities, clinics, hospitals, and universities
10. Honors its stewardship as the world leader in essential oils to champion nature’s living energy, essential oils, and desires to inspire individuals to wellness, purpose, and abundance. Its mission is to take essential oils into every home in the world!
Q. What are the goals of Young Living’s Executive Management Team?
A. Young Living has a highly skilled, creative, and dedicated Executive Management Team that has a renewed focus on strategic planning, internal and external partnerships, team building, creating record-breaking growth, international expansion, and terrific momentum in every business aspect (see http://www.youngliving.com/en_US/company/managementTeam/).
Q. What kind of growth is Young Living experiencing? Where is Young Living headed?
Now in its 20th year, Young Living is poised for unprecedented growth and expansion. Gary Young’s vision has enabled Young Living to:
• More than double in size over the last few years
• Experience rapid growth in all markets, including the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, the EU, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Hong Kong, and Singapore
• Ship over 10 million items to over 100 different countries annually
• Enroll over 250,000 (and growing) distributors globally
• Inspire and renew the lives of countless people through Young Living’s products and business opportunity
• Cultivate seven flourishing Young Living farms
• Build the most comprehensive historical research library on essential oils
• Launch hundreds of innovative essential oil-based products
3
Q. Is Young Living financially stable?
A. Yes. Young Living has never been more financially stable than it is today. With very little debt, strong inventory and cash balances, and immense revenue acceleration (see http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130417-911485.html), the company is indeed financially stable. Young Living is expected to continue growing at record rates.
Q. Has there been an increase in employee turnover recently at Young Living?
A. No. For a growing company like Young Living, overall employee turnover remains at a constant and typical level. Some employees move on for any number of reasons, as in any company.
Q. Why does Young Living do more than sell essential oils?
Young Living views its farms; its research relationships with medical professionals, hospitals, and clinics; and its philanthropic efforts as unique assets with an unmatched power to guarantee quality, provide validating research, and change lives.
Q. Why did Young Living recently modify its compensation plan?
A. Young Living introduced a new, groundbreaking compensation plan to offer Independent Distributors greater financial incentives and assistance as they build a successful business.
The former plan promoted a bonus payout that was additional to the compensation plan. It was originally intended to help Young Living grow in its infancy, but Young Living has now outgrown that plan. Many distributors were “stuck” in the bonus and did not see normal, organizational growth that would produce the desired income.
In the new plan all the bonuses are within the commission structure. Distributors will be able to advance more quickly in rank, see tremendous growth in their organizations, and enjoy helping others build their businesses. Tremendous research and planning have made this the most generous and easily understood compensation plan in the history of Young Living. Highlights of the plan include:
• New bonus levels
• Profit-sharing opportunities
• More accessible advancement
• Travel incentives
• Increased leadership opportunities
• Easy to understand and teach
“This is an amazing time for Young Living, with our record-breaking growth and the new improvements to our compensation plan. It is really going to set a precedent in the industry,” said D. Gary Young, founder and CEO.
4
Quality
Q. Does Young Living Take Essential Oil Quality Seriously?
A. One of Young Living’s defining attributes is taking quality so seriously that it has developed its own Seed to Seal® process. It owns the farms, plants the seeds, and then cultivates, harvests, and distills the aromatic plant materials with its proprietary distillation technology to ensure the highest quality profiled essential oils in the industry.
Young Living has farming and distillation operations throughout the world, including North America, South America, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia, all of which produce the finest essential oils anywhere in the world. Whether an oil is produced on a Young Living farm or from a qualified, trusted distillator/partner, every batch of oil is tested for compliance with Young Living’s therapeutic-grade standard and rejected if it does not comply. Again, no other company is more dedicated to consistently delivering such high quality products.
Young Living currently rejects approximately 30 percent of all essential oils received for analysis. These oils are found to be extended, adulterated, or subtherapeutic. It is a sad fact that these rejected oils will probably be marketed and sold by other less discerning companies, often at a lower price.
Young Living's founder, D. Gary Young, has spent 30 years acquiring knowledge on herb cultivation and proper essential oil distillation and has worked with the foremost world experts on essential oils, including the following:
• Marcel Espieu (20-year president of the Lavender Growers Association in France)
• Henry Viaud (most renown essential oil distillator in the world)
• Herve Casabianca, PhD (foremost analytical chemist of essential oils in the world today and who helped write the European AFNOR standard for essential oils)
• Jean-Claude Lapraz, MD (early pioneer in essential oil research)
• Radwan Farag, PhD (analytical chemist and dean of the Biochemical Department at Cairo University, who has written many published papers on essential oil research)
• Kurt Schnaubelt, PhD (chemist and owner of Swiss Aromatics)
• Countless other experts
Moreover, employees in Young Living’s Chemistry Lab, Research and Development department, and Quality Assurance department have spent almost two decades working with Gary Young and other researchers to refine and develop the unique Young Living 100% pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade essential oil standard. Every year, Gary and Young Living staff members travel across the world to personally inspect essential oil distilleries and herb cultivation farms to ensure the highest therapeutic quality.
5
Q. Why do some Young Living Oil blends contain carrier oils?
A. Eleven of Young Living’s oil blends include a specially selected carrier oil to optimize the therapeutic effect for targeting specific needs.
Q. Does Young Living test every lot of essential oil?
A. Young Living tests every lot of essential oil, whether from its own farms or from its trusted growers/partners and suppliers. Each essential oil is subjected to state-of-the-art analysis at the Young Living Chemistry Lab. Its team of scientists subjects every essential oil to as many as seven tests, including gas chromatography (GC), mass spectrometry (MS), refractive index, FTIR, optical rotation, organoleptic analysis, specific gravity analysis, and others when needed.
Additionally, Young Living protects against adulteration by inspecting/auditing its farms and steam extraction facilities around the world to examine the herbs that are cultivated, check the essential oils being distilled, and take reference samples directly from the separator to store as a reference in the Young Living Quality Control Labs.
Q. Does Young Living use outside, independent labs?
A. Young Living uses world-class independent labs to confirm in-house analysis. Young Living also sends essential oils out for advanced tests such as carbon isotope analysis. Most of Young Living’s day-to-day essential oil chemical assays are conducted at the Young Living Chemistry Lab in Spanish Fork, Utah, which houses the most advanced analytical instruments available for analyzing the composition of an essential oil.
Q. Why does Young Living say its oil standards are “beyond organic?”
A. The Young Living therapeutic-grade standard goes beyond organic in purity, scope, and potency. Many of Young Living’s essential oils come from wild-crafted material growing on a mountainside, from virgin forests, or native plants that have been growing in a particular region for centuries. Such harvests are technically not “organic.” For example, frankincense grows wild through the hills and mountains of Oman in areas untouched by urban pollution and factory runoffs. Are these frankincense trees organic? Will the resin they produce ever be certified organic? There are no plans for certification at this time. But it is from these wild, native trees that Young Living contracts with local Bedouins to gather the frankincense resin to be distilled at its facility in Salalah, Oman. This is just one example of how Young Living exceeds existing world standards.
Q. Where does Young Living acquire frankincense?
A. There are many species of frankincense that come from different countries in the world. Young Living has a distillery and farm in Salalah, Oman, where it distills the resin of the sacred frankincense (Boswellia sacra) tree, which grows in Oman. The oil produced is the most prized frankincense in the world and the one believed by archaeologists to be the frankincense taken to the Christ Child. Young Living is the only company with a license issued from the Omani
6
government to legally distill and export it. Anyone else making that claim is not telling the truth. Young Living also distills Boswellia carterii, which comes from Somalia and is distilled in Kenya.
Boswellia frereana comes from Western Somalia. This oil is used more in the perfume industry, as it has little therapeutic value, except in oral hygiene. Comparing Boswellia sacra and Boswellia carterii to Boswellia frereana is like comparing a diamond to cubic zirconium. It might smell nice, but you need to carefully consider the source and species of your frankincense if you are using it for therapeutic application.
Young Living also distills sweet myrrh (Commiphora erythraea) at its facility in Oman. This sweet myrrh, as it is referred to in the Bible, is gathered from a mountainous region of Yemen and shipped to Oman. It is being distilled for the first time in hundreds of years.
Q. What is Young Living’s therapeutic-grade standard, and how does it compare to standards such as AFNOR and ISO?
A. When Gary Young started researching essential oil quality in the early 1980’s, a patchwork of different independent standards existed, including Grade A, AFNOR, ISO, and others. Many of these standards did not necessarily correlate with the health benefits of the essential oils.
More than 30 years ago, Gary Young first coined the phrase “therapeutic-grade” while conducting clinical trials with essential oils in his clinic in Mexico before Young Living was established. He created a new essential oil category for quality in which essential oil compounds were linked to various therapeutic effects. This began what would become the therapeutic-grade standard of essential oils.
Gradually, other companies began using this term to describe their oils. It is important not to confuse these imitators with the Young Living therapeutic-grade standard. Some oil sellers would have you believe that there are other laboratories, organizations, or associations qualified to certify an essential oil as therapeutic-grade. This is not true.
Using the Seed to Seal process and the experience of the science and application for over 20 years, only Young Living is qualified to certify essential oils as therapeutic-grade. Gary Young has spent three decades developing the therapeutic-grade standard on which Young Living is based today:
• Clinical research of essential oils conducted by medical professionals
• Investigation of historical and traditional uses
• The many farms that are the beginning of the Seed to Seal process
• Analyses of thousands of peer-reviewed scientific studies of essential oils that use gas chromatography (GC), mass spectrometry (MS), and various other instruments to test thousands of batches of oil
7
To date, Young Living’s library of peer-reviewed research papers on essential oils encompasses thousands of articles and is one of the largest in the world.
The Four P’s
For simplicity Young Living’s therapeutic-grade standard can be summarized with the Four P’s philosophy: Plants, Preparation, Purity, and Potency.
Plants
Young Living’s therapeutic-grade standard begins with selecting the correct family, genus, and species of an herb and ensuring it is grown in the proper soil, at the correct altitude, and in the best weather conditions. For example, a number of different species of frankincense resins are collected in different regions of Arabia, Africa, and India. Some of these species include Boswellia sacra, Boswellia carterii, Boswellia serrate, Boswellia papyrifera, and Boswellia frereana. Each species has very different components and properties.
Moreover, even among trees of the same species (e.g., Boswellia carterii), resin quality and oil quality vary dramatically, depending on where the trees are grown. Are they located in a wetter coastal area? Or do they grow in an interior, semi-arid location? At what altitude do the trees produce the most resin? Is the tree located in Arabia, India, or Africa? All of these factors are critical in determining the selection of a truly pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade frankincense essential oil to obtain the greatest healing benefits possible.
Many people believe that Boswellia sacra, or sacred frankincense, is the frankincense referred to in the Bible that was taken to the Christ Child at his birth.
Gary Young spent years visiting the countries of Arabia and Africa to investigate the different species of frankincense and the specific regions in which these different species were growing. Both Boswellia sacra and Boswellia carterii were historically used for healing, which led Gary to continue his research to eventually scientifically document these two species of frankincense as the only ones producing oil with a chemical structure suited for medical research. Using analyses such as gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, HPLC, chiral GC/GC-MS, optical rotation, and specific gravity, Gary was able to identify the frankincense species with the optimal therapeutic benefits.
Preparation
Even the best herbs can be ruined or damaged if they are not cultivated, harvested, and distilled properly. Plants must be harvested at the right time and then very specifically distilled, after which the oils must be handled carefully to protect their living energy and volatile compounds.
For example, the distillation of frankincense is a closely guarded art that has been handed down from generation to generation. The sticky gum resin must be distilled in a specially designed steam extractor using a carefully controlled method to keep the gum resin from becoming glued to the walls of the equipment, burning or scorching, and producing inferior-grade oil with little therapeutic effect. The distillation technique takes several hours and a lot of patience to obtain all the volatile compounds that give frankincense its great healing attributes.
8
Purity and Potency
Every batch of aromatic plant material, whether distilled on Young Living’s own farms or obtained from one of its outside partners, is subjected to state-of-the-art analyses at the Young Living Chemistry Lab. With the most advanced equipment in the world, Young Living’s Quality Assurance department subjects every incoming lot of essential oils to a battery of tests. Oils that exhibit even the slightest hint of possible tampering or adulteration—even if provided from a trusted supplier—are either rejected outright or sent to outside laboratories for even more in-depth testing using techniques such as carbon isotope analysis.
Young Living’s past experience with Helichrysum italicum essential oil demonstrates its commitment to this standard. A few years ago, Young Living rejected and returned several million dollars- worth of helichrysum, even though this oil was badly needed and was in short supply at the time, since it is very difficult to find and only a small amount is produced for the world market. While this shipment of Helichrysum italicum had a very similar aroma as previous lots, its chemistry was different, and at best the oil could only be classified as subtherapeutic, so it was rejected.
Frustrated distributors often ask why a product is not available. This is because Young Living refuses to sell inferior oils. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to locate pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade essential oils that have not been extended or tampered with by adding synthetic compounds. Moreover, many essential oils are only distilled once or twice a year, and the temptation to adulterate is becoming more rampant. Many brokers increase their profit by altering specific essential oils by adding synthetic compounds to increase the volume of the oil that they sell.
The bottom line is: Firsthand knowledge of growing, harvesting, distilling, and analyzing oils gives us a tremendous advantage in understanding every aspect of production. Young Living’s Seed to Seal process focuses on producing pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade essential oils that meet the Young Living standard of excellence, and the proof is in the exquisite oil that is unique to itself with its individual aroma and specific benefits.
Competition
Q. Is Young Living concerned about competition?
A. No. As the world leader in essential oils, Young Living is focused on continuing to provide the very best essential oils and the very best education and business opportunities to its distributors. Naturally, new oil sellers will enter the marketplace with marketing hype touting the opportunity to make money or with health claims that have only the backup of other writers and publications.
Anyone can buy oils from brokers and small producers to sell to the public, but no one else has the exclusive Seed to Seal process like Young Living. This is what sets Young Living and its products apart from everyone else. Because of the Young Living farms and the knowledge of growing, harvesting, and distilling, it is easy for Young Living to establish the therapeutic-grade standard and lead the way in the essential oil industry. Young Living’s commitment to plants,
9
preparation, purity, and potency guarantees that the products it delivers will remain undiluted with a Seed to Seal process that produces the highest therapeutic quality essential oils available.
Q. Is Young Living protecting itself from former employees who are now competitors?
A. Any highly successful business will create imitators, many of whom will try to cut corners and minimize reinvestments in order to maximize profits. As the world leader, Young Living has seen a number of such competitors come and go. Young Living reserves the right to take legal action if a competitor violates laws or attempts to gain unfair advantage and recently has done so in one instance. Young Living chooses to maintain the high ethical industry standard but will respond, although Young Living prefers to address competition with its Seed to Seal story, continuously provide innovative products with uncompromising quality, and produce the highest quality, pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade essential oils in the world.
Q. I have been contacted by a competing essential oils company. What questions should I ask?
A. Young Living does not release confidential customer information to any third party. However, if you are contacted by a competing essential oil company, you have the right to ask where and how they obtained your contact information. Furthermore, you can determine their level of commitment to quality by asking questions such as the following:
• Does the company test essential oils both in-house and with independent labs?
• Does the company guarantee 100% pure essential oils produced from botanically verified plants?
• Does the company personally research and experiment with planting, growing, harvesting, and distilling of aromatic plants?
• If the company claims its products are “certified,” specifically which essential oil experts or independent “certification” laboratories have certified it?
• Does the company have in-house expertise and commitment to quality assurance?
• How was the company founded?
• Has the company dedicated numerous years to gain knowledge about essential oils?
• What is the background of those they consider to be essential oil experts?
• Does the company own its own farms or strictly regulate the farms that produce its oils?
• Does the company distill its own aromatic plants or partner with other growers?
• Does the company offer a large essential oil collection, or is it primarily focused on profiting from a small group of popular oils that have a pleasant aroma?
• Does the company routinely visit its suppliers and partner-distilleries to ensure that the best practices are adhered to?
10
• What peer-reviewed research has the company published? Has it tested its oils in clinical settings?
• Are the company’s standards based on a library of thousands of scientific articles, essential oil gas chromatograph tests, and data from hundreds of thousands of user experiences?
Q. Some competitive essential oils smell sweeter—almost like candy or perfume. Why are they so different from Young Living's?
A. Young Living harvests, distills, and sells therapeutic-grade essential oils—not confection- or perfume-grade oils. Pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade essential oils that have proven potency are not designed to smell candy-like; rather, they have their own unique aromas with their very specific actions and unmatched therapeutic potency. An overly sweet aroma is actually a hallmark of a rectified, cut, and/or confection- or perfume-grade essential oil, rather than a pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade oil.
Q. May I use the term “therapeutic-grade”? Other oil companies in the marketplace use the term “therapeutic-grade” or variations thereof, and they say it’s protected. What are my rights?
A. You may use the term “therapeutic-grade” to promote Young Living essential oils. When D. Gary Young conducted his first essential oil research in his clinic over 25 years ago, he pioneered the term “therapeutic-grade” to make a distinction between oils sold in the market place and those he had brought home from France and was studying in his clinic. This phrase has now become very common and is used by most essential oil companies, even those selling very low therapeutic-grade essential oils.
The Seed to Seal process Young Living uses when planting, cultivating, harvesting, and distilling is crucial to retaining the vital compounds of the plant material. Without the exact blend of naturally occurring plant chemicals, an essential oil can lose its beneficial properties and fail to produce the desired effect. Every essential oil Young Living distills or sources has the optimal naturally occurring blend of constituents to maximize the desired effect. Young Living is able to make this statement because of its strict Seed to Seal process—illustrated by the Four P’s (as discussed above)—that guarantees the optimal potency of every Young Living essential oil.
Q. I would like to come back to Young Living after being with another company where the results are less than advertised. Am I still welcome?
A. Young Living welcomes back all former distributors with open arms. Young Living is confident that you will find your sponsor ready and willing to give you the support and guidance you need.
Q. Has Young Living been disparaging former employees or business competitors?
A. No. Young Living would never participate in such inappropriate, unprofessional, and unnecessary activities. Young Living has no need to disparage other companies to promote itself. Young Living’s company mantra is to focus on the positive things it knows are true, not on what 11 critics are inventing about the company. Young Living welcomes an open dialogue with anyone interested in learning the truth. Young Living has seen that an honest and careful examination of the facts defuses the situation the vast majority of the time.
Q. Other companies are saying negative things about Young Living and Gary Young. Are they true?
A. You should carefully consider the source of such information. Competitors have a financial incentive to disparage Young Living and Gary Young at every turn to mask their lack of expertise, unethical behavior, and shallow understanding of essential oils. When wild statements and accusations are made, you should demand proof. Ask yourself, “Why would others build their new business based on slander and on attacking others? What are the facts? What is the truth?”
D. Gary Young
Q. What is Gary Young’s background? How did he become an expert on essential oils?
The Beginning D. Gary Young is an unusual and visionary man, who through tremendous adversity and the most amazing circumstances finds himself teaching seminars, formulating in his laboratory, plowing fields with his tractor, designing and building equipment for his farm and distillery operations worldwide, and running a multimillion dollar business.
He grew up in the mountains of central Idaho with no electricity or running water, where he and his five siblings were taught by their parents how to live from the earth. Growing up in poverty, with marginal education, life was harsh and demanding. But against all odds, this young man was determined to have something better. Perhaps no one understands the concept of making a difference more than D. Gary Young. Today, as the founder and CEO of Young Living Essential Oils, it is hard to imagine the difficult path this man has walked in order to achieve today’s success.
At the age of 24, in the mountains of central British Columbia, Canada, Gary suffered a near-fatal logging accident that left him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair for life, according to the doctors and all medical prognoses. Dependent on morphine and in a drugged and deepening state of depression, his mind filled with darkness and all hope vanished. After a failed third suicide attempt, he realized that he had to make a change. This is when Gary began to venture down a new life’s path in search of natural ways to heal his body.
Discovery
This path led him to the discovery of many different healing modalities that included the world of nutrition; and after 13 years, struggling with intense pain, he was able to walk without assistance. With strong determination he ran a half marathon, finishing 67th out of 970 participants.
He went back to school, studying naturopathy with emphases in both nutrition and psychology, for strength in and knowledge about emotional healing. Receiving a doctoral degree in 12 naturopathy and a master’s degree in nutrition, he was driven to search for greater knowledge and the discovery of other healing modalities used in other areas of the world.
He opened a private family practice in Chula Vista, California, and a research clinic in La Mesa, Mexico, where he was determined to understand degenerative diseases and find ways to restore health naturally. It was in this clinic that he began his study of essential oils. One of his patients gave him some translated medical research that had been conducted in Europe, which he found very exciting.
He flew to Geneva, Switzerland, to attend a medical conference on the research and potential benefits of essential oils. This began a greater path of enlightenment, as he returned to his clinic with 13 oils from France to see what he could discover.
For eight years he conducted clinical research on the effects of essential oils on the human body.
Belief
Not only did he see greater results with his patients, but he saw the unexpected, not only for his patients but also for himself. Still in constant pain from his accident, he was very excited when the pain was significantly reduced after applying the oils. His research of usage and application was unprecedented—new to the modern world. His discoveries were unparalleled in modern science; and as spectacular as they were, the world wasn’t ready for them, and he was taunted and laughed at as he persevered.
He saw the difference between essential oils sold in the marketplace and the essential oils that he was using in his clinic. To distinguish the differences between them, he began using the term “therapeutic-grade,” although the world still laughed at this “snake oil salesman,” who was determined to tell the world about essential oils.
Nothing could stop the truth that he had discovered, that he knew would help millions of people if only they could have the opportunity. His dedication to his mission intensified as he discovered more and more. He immersed himself into the history of early medicine and essential oils and traveled from the ruins of ancient Egypt to the archives of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the British Museum Library in London, his own laboratory, and the chemistry department at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, to prove the validity of this ancient science.
As early as 1997, he was asked to present the research he was conducting on single oils and oil blends at Weber State University. The same year he presented a paper on organic farming and germination at the UNIDO World Congress on essential oils held at Anadolu University in Eskisehir, Turkey. In 1998 he was the only American invited to speak at the First International Congress on Integrated Medicine held in Grasse, France. Since that time, the demand for him to speak and present his research has continued to increase every year, as he shares his knowledge with thousands of people worldwide.
Transformation
Although Gary’s introduction to essential oils was through medical science, he was fascinated with how they were produced. Growing up on a ranch and learning to farm, he had a tremendous 13 advantage. He understood the earth and what it took to grow healthy crops, but he had no experience with aromatic plants. His desire to learn took him to France to study the plants and learn the art of distillation. Year after year he returned, spending weeks and months studying with Europe’s greatest teachers.
Gary brought lavender seeds home with him from France and planted them in a quarter acre piece of ground behind his office. He built his first distiller by welding two pressure cookers together and distilling his first lavender crop on the kitchen stove, which produced only a tiny bit of oil. As crude as it was, it was the beginning of an immense enterprise that would grow to having farms and distilleries around the world for the cultivation of aromatic plants and the extraction of essential oils.
Marcel Espieu, the former president of the Lavender Grower’s Association in France for 20 years, at first laughed at “this American” who thought he could duplicate what generations of French lavender growers had in their blood.
Marcel paid Gary the greatest compliment of his career when he spoke at the Young Living Convention in 2002 and said to the thousands of people attending, “The student has now become the teacher, and the teacher is now the student.”
Gary continues to travel throughout the world furthering his research, sharing his passion with others, and bringing therapeutic essential oils to those searching for a natural way to health and longevity as well as to financial prosperity. His dedication, passion, experience, and vast knowledge in this field have earned him the recognition as one of the foremost authorities on essential oils in the world. Not only is Gary’s personal story remarkable, but it is paralleled by his success in the business world.
His Mission D. Gary Young’s personal experiences have made him who he is today. Added to his empathetic, loving, and kind nature, he has a driving commitment to help those in need. Overcoming tremendous adversity himself, Gary knew he could help others in their quest for wellness and prosperity. His life’s mission has been to inspire people to find healing through natural means— through God’s precious oils—to learn how to take care of their bodies as God intended, to have greater understanding and compassion for one another, and to achieve mutual respect and honor, even in our differences.
Founder of Young Living Essential Oils Gary chose the vehicle of network marketing to teach people and to take the oils to the world. He and his wife Mary founded Young Living Essential Oils 20 years ago, with only three employees to begin their business. It quickly grew and today is one of the fastest growing network marketing companies in North America.
D. Gary Young’s commitment to understanding the remarkable, therapeutic power of plants has resulted in the world’s largest line of essential oils, blends, and supplements infused with essential oils. Gary has traveled the globe to discover how to best support both physical health and emotional wellness. His discoveries have helped hundreds of thousands of people experience14 the benefits of natural healing and have made Young Living unquestionably the world leader in essential oils.
Young Living now cultivates thousands of acres of farmland on five continents and has a product line of more than 400 essential oils, nutritional supplements, and personal-care items. The Young Living farms and distilleries enable Young Living Essential Oils to maintain its position as the world’s leading grower, distiller, and provider of 100% pure, genuine, therapeutic-grade essential oils. Young Living’s success extends to hundreds of Young Living employees worldwide and more than 250,000 Independent Distributors across the globe.
Author Among his many achievements, D. Gary Young is also an accomplished writer. He has published 9 books on essential oils and natural health and co-authored 17 published papers based on his years of scientific research and discovery.
In his quest to find the truth about the legendary frankincense, he found himself in many remote places in the world, thirsting for the ancient knowledge that had been lost to the modern world. He wanted to know everything about frankincense and myrrh—the oils that were taken to the Christ Child. What did the ancient people know that we didn’t know?
Every time he returned to Arabia, he felt like he was coming home. His experiences and discoveries were so amazing that he wrote a historical novel called The One Gift and made a documentary film, so people could come to understand life on the caravan and how these ancient resins were transported and used daily, eventually reaching the far corners of the earth. The caravan trading centers were the beginning of international commerce, influencing the development of our world through language, intercultural communication, and healing.
It has been a fascinating journey for Gary that will culminate in the most intricate and comprehensive books written about “God’s healing oils.”
Philanthropy Throughout D. Gary Young’s travels, he has seen firsthand the harsh realities of poverty, illness, and conflict affecting much of the world. Having grown up in poverty with little education, he can relate well to these impoverished communities. These experiences inspired him to start the D. Gary Young Foundation, which has given aid to numerous projects, including:
• Building a new school (the Young Living Academy) in Chongon, Ecuador
• Tsunami relief
• Hurricane Katrina aid
• Miners’ aid
• The Cinterandes Foundation mobile surgical unit that goes into the jungles of Ecuador
• Building schools and a water system for Tarahumara Indians in Durango, Mexico
• Medical mission trips to Ghana and Kenya with Young Living Essential Oils
15
The D. Gary Young Foundation provides all the school supplies and latest technical teaching aides to foster education and learning in a clean and drug-free environment. The school is built with a full kitchen to serve nutritious meals daily. The mission of the D. Gary Young Foundation is to provide educational, medical, and economic support to individuals and communities worldwide.
Commitment
The life of D. Gary Young is an example of overcoming obstacles, including poverty, disabling injury, ridicule, and other challenges, to excel in his desire to learn and become successful. His amazing story will inspire and motivate others to believe, transform their lives, and achieve their dreams. He is a man of great faith and belief in God, who loves his home and his family. His greatest joy is being of service to his fellow men and helping people reach their highest potential.
The Future
Q. What is the future of Young Living?
A. Young Living is on a steady growth path. With a mission to have essential oils in every home in the world, there is much to be done. That excitement and dedication is a driving force in the hearts of Young Living’s distributors. They have the determination and passion to succeed individually, which Young Living celebrates with great joy. Know the truth and don’t be afraid to speak it.
For more information about Young Living and its mission, please visit www.youngliving.com.
The Young Living / doTerra Decision By: Jen Rollins, Whole Living Co-op
The Young Living / doTerra DecisionJen Rollins, Whole Living Co-op
(The following is a summary of my personal findings during my comparison and exploration of MLM opportunities of both companies and is intended only to benefit others in their pursuit of knowledge of these companies. These are my opinions and personal experiences and are not to be interpreted as official opinions of doTerra, Young Living, or any of their affiliates.)
My name is Jen Rollins and I am privileged to coordinate a whole foods co-op based in
Arlington, Texas. My family has been on a journey of modifying our health and nutrition from the
conventional American diet of processed foods and pharmaceuticals for the last 10 years. I love to
share the information I have discovered with others so it (hopefully) doesn’t take them as long as it
did me to discover this information so they can make an informed decision for what is most
beneficial for themselves and their family based on their needs and goals. Although we had been
transitioning to a more natural lifestyle and utilizing local farmers and producers, we were rather
late in discovering the amazing benefits of high quality, therapeutic grade essential oils. I had many
friends that gladly shared their opinions on what oils to use for this or that, and I had been invited
to a few classes on how to use essential oils, but had never been able to coordinate my schedule
with their availability until late November 2012. It was then that my friend invited me to her house
to attend an essential oils class.
I was excited to learn about the oils and experience them. The first oil I tried was
lavender, which was a big step for me since all lavender-scented things made me feel ill and have a
horrible migraine. When I smelled this lavender I was amazed at how sweet it smelled and how it
didn’t give me an instant headache. I gladly passed bottle after little brown bottle, dropping and
applying oils as instructed by the leader of the class. At the end, I was sold and was excited to
start using these oils on a daily basis. I ordered my starter kit, took my book home to start reading,
and felt that the final piece to my family’s holistic health puzzle was in place.
Over the next three months I discovered that there is a lot of controversy over the big
essential oil companies. Although IPC’s were respectful of the other companies (at least in my
personal circles) there were definitely a lot of passionate opinions on quality, purity, compensation,
and ethics of the leading essential oils distributors. I had people hang up on me because I
mentioned a certain company’s name, and had others make a disgusted face at me when I mentioned
which oils I used. I decided I had better learn more about this issue so that I understood not only
what everyone was so worked up about, but where I would stand on an issue that I had unwittingly
stumbled into the night I ordered my first bottles of oils.
So, what’s the big deal? Aren’t all oils created equal?
Well, the short answer is no. I found through classes, research, and use of the oils that
many of the reactions I had previously to essential oils purchased from health food stores or
vitamin shops were actually sensitivities to probable contaminants that were concentrated during
the distilling process. I also found out that there is a big difference in the sources of materials
from which oils are extracted and what you don’t know can hurt you. Companies don’t have to tell
you if they use chemicals or ultra high temperature to extract oils from organic material. They also
don’t have to tell you if they spray their fields or use synthetic fertilizers or soil amendments to
grow their crops, or even where they come from. I knew I was committed to purchasing oils from a
company that was willing to tell me where they are getting their crops from and making sure that I
was truly investing in safe and beneficial oils. This brought me to two companies: doTerra and Young
Living.
Without going into all the drama, Young Living is the more established of the two companies,
in business for over 20 years with domestic and international farms and partnerships with other
countries for research and harvesting. The six owners of doTerra were employees of Young Living in
some capacity and left YL to found their own essential oils company. Each company accuses the
other of miscellaneous professional misdeeds, and as with any relationship gone bad the waters are
so muddy there will probably never be a clear answer as to who did what. Once I became aware of
the controversy, I did a general inquiry and decided that both companies had a high quality product
(probably the highest quality products out there) and if a person chose to invest in either company
they would have a high quality, pure oil with great health and healing benefits. However, as I used
the oils more and listened closely to what I was hearing in classes and through leaders, questions
were raised in my mind about if the sales pitches made sense.
I found a blog by a natural mom who had the same misgivings and spent over a year
researching the topic of essential oils. She not only tried the big two, but also several smaller
essential oil companies. Her article (found here) and the other six articles attached to it helped me
understand the difference in oils and extraction processes, and although it answered a lot of my
questions, it raised more based on what I had been told by not only my direct upline, but also with
high level team leaders. I attended conference calls, consulted with customer service, and even
spoke with representatives from the other essential oils company, and I found answers I was
confident with. Ultimately, it was the misinformation and lack of knowledge of consultants and
leaders in doTerra that led me to my decision to leave their company and purchase Young Living
essential oils exclusively for my family and my co-op.
Just the facts, Ma’am, just the facts…
Okay, the fact is, if you’re reading this you probably are aware of the conflict what I just
told you is probably nothing new. You have probably seen or been informed of some of the hotly
debated issues and, like me, have questions that need to be answered so you can make the best
decision for yourself, your family, your business, or your future. So, here are the questions I had,
and the answers (or lack thereof) I found:
Q: Aren’t YL and DT oils the same? (a rose by any other name…)
A: Not really. If you have ever sat through a doTerra “class” or spoken with a rep, you have
probably had the experience of having a bottle of doTerra Lavender or Peppermint essential oil
given to you to smell while they point out how much stronger the aroma is than YL and make some
comment about how smelling is believing or if they smell stronger they must be stronger. Sounds
logical, right? Well, for those coffee drinkers out there, let me give you an example: blonde coffee
beans are so lightly roasted they don’t even really smell like coffee but boy do they give you a jolt
of caffeine! Dark roast beans have been roasted the longest and have a strong, smoky smell and
taste, but they actually have the least amount of caffeine in them. Why? Because the longer and
hotter they are cooked, the more caffeine is removed. So, just because something smells stronger
doesn’t mean it is stronger.
The reason some of doTerra’s oils have a stronger, sweeter smell than other brands of oils
is because they are complete distillations. I had two separate customer service reps with doTerra
confirm that Peppermint and Lavender are complete distillations. I have been told that other oils
such as orange and lemon are as well. I have tried to confirm this with doTerra, and although I am
still a current IPC in good standing with doTerra and have requested this information in writing
three times they have not responded. I also called Young Living to find out if their oils were
complete distillations and was informed that their individual oils are first distillations and 100%
pure with no additives or dilutions. I personally did a side-by-side direct comparison of doTerra and
Young Living essential oils and was very puzzled at my findings. I found four essential oils from
doTerra that had a “sweeter”, stronger smell. I knew that the oils were essentially the same and
should be the same strength since they are 100% pure with no additives or carrier oils and not
diluted in any way or had anything added to them to make the smell stronger or more fragrant. The
four oils were Lavender, Peppermint, Lemon and Wild Orange (lavender and peppermint smelled
“candy-like” while lemon and orange smelled like fruit juice, not rind). All the other doTerra single
oils, in my opinion, had an “off” smell that I didn’t notice as much until I compared them directly
with Young Living’s oils. The YL oils I smelled had a more pure, clean and plant-like smell. The
doTerra blends had a distinct pungent smell to them that I never noticed in any of the Young Living
blends (and I compared about 30 of them). And these were my personal oils that were only two
months old and had been kept in my home at a constant 72 degrees so I knew they were good oils.
Also, my mother and grandmother are very sensitive to smells and were unable to use several of the
doTerra oils because they were too strong-smelling. They have both used the Young Living oils and
found them not only tolerable but pleasant and are very happy using them. I personally grew
concerned when I started getting a headache from using the doTerra Lavender and have had no
such reaction from the Young Living Lavender, so that was a huge selling point for me.
It really puzzled me how those particular four oils were so different, especially when those
four oils are ones heavily promoted at every doTerra class and presentation I have attended. It
became clear that doTerra developed these oils somehow to naturally have a particularly stronger
aroma than their Young Living counterparts and I wanted to know how they did it. I finally found
information that discussed 1st, 2nd, 3rd and even 4th distillations of certain oils and the resulting
change in aroma when those distillations were blended. In particular, peppermint develops a less
plant-y smell and a more candy-like aroma when it is more distilled or when the multiple distillations
are blended. Similarly, lavender develops a candy-like sweetness when distilled longer and blended. I
was concerned as to how many of their oils doTerra was selling that were complete distillations. I
know we live in a society that puts perfumes and smells in everything so doTerra may be trying to
appeal to a market that craves strong smells, but at what price? Complete distillations are a blend
of first, second, and sometimes third and fourth distillations, with each subsequent distillation
requiring higher temperatures and pressure to extract the oils. This process can and often does
damage the components of the oil. Again with a coffee analogy, the first distillation is like the first
part of a brewing of coffee- strong and dark. However, as the grounds brew longer there is less
coffee and more water that comes out, so the last part of the brew is quite weak. The final pot of
coffee is a blend of the strong and the weak, which is inherently less potent than the first part of
the brew.
There is such a difference in the phases of distillation that the oil cost changes based on
the distillation. For example, the ultra pure and 1st distillation of oils is the most expensive, the 2nd
distillation costs less, and if a plant can still produce oils for a 3rd or 4th distillation the resulting
oils are so inferior they are sold cheaply and often used as fragrances only due to their inferior
quality. I experienced this difference when I tried YL Peppermint oil for the first time. doTerra’s
Peppermint smells like an actual peppermint candy- very sweet and strong. The YL oil smells more
like a peppermint plant in my opinion. I was used to putting a drop of Peppermint on my hand and
licking it to ingest it and although it is strong it is not overbearing, so I opened up my new YL
Peppermint and did the same with it. The YL oil was much, much stronger than the doTerra oil I had
been using- so much so that it nearly took my breath away! I totally understood that although the
oil may smell stronger it definitely doesn’t prove anything about the strength of the actual oil- the
milder smelling YL oil was way more potent than the doTerra one!
Q: doTerra emphasizes quality and testing and claims that they are the only ones that do GC/MS
testing (gas chromatograph and mass spectrometry) to verify their purity. Is that true?
A: Young Living does the following tests on every incoming batch of their oils: gas chromatography,
GC/MS, heavy metals analysis, Microbial, Flash Point, Optical Rotation, Refractive Index, and
Specific Gravity. Oils that exhibit even the slightest hint of possible tampering or adulterationeven
if provided from a trusted supplier-are sent to outside laboratories for even more in-depth
dissection using techniques such as carbon isotope analysis. (cited: Essential Oils: Finding Answers) Furthermore, Young Living regulates quality throughout the process with their Seed to Seal policy,
whereas doTerra has working relationships with outsourced farms but is not involved with
regulation or testing of the life cycle of the plant or the history of the land they grow on like Young
Living.
Q: Is there any validity to the lawsuit?
A: Basically the courts are allowing the lawsuit to progress so they are seeing enough evidence that
it merits further deliberation. Personally, I am not sure how much of the infractions will be legally
enforceable but I personally spoke with two different Young Living reps at different times, and
they both informed me they were contacted by an owner or executive of doTerra and asked to
move their team from YL to doTerra. Whether or not there are legal consequences for their
actions, in my opinion that is not the way to do business.
As far as copying blends, well that one is pretty easy to investigate for yourself. For
example, Young Living created the Raindrop technique and uses an oil blend called Aroma Siez.
doTerra has the Aromatouch technique and uses a blend called AromaTouch which is an exact copy
of Aroma Siez with Grapefruit essential oil added in. A second oil used in the original Raindrop
technique is Young Living’s Valor blend, which has spruce, rosewood, blue tansy and frankincense in a
carrier oil. doTerra’s technique uses their Balance blend which is spruce, rosewood, frankincense,
and blue tansy in a carrier oil. Notice any similarities? Several other oil blends are similar but the
citrus component has been swapped, like in Thieves you have lemon and in On Guard you have wild
orange but the other four oils are exactly the same. You can compare many other blends by viewing
the blends on each company’s website or the books Modern Essentials for doTerra and Essential
Oils Pocket Reference for Young Living. There is a great chart on doTerra’s resource site that
compares the oils, although I have found some oils are not accurately compared- you can view it
here.
Q: Aren’t the blends the same and don’t they cost about the same?
A: Well, this one has a two part answer. Yes a lot of the blends are similar because the owners of
doTerra worked in key leadership roles with Young Living before starting their own company. That
is where a part of the Young Living lawsuit comes from: whether doTerra is benefiting from
proprietary knowledge of oils and blends. Although many blend recipes are known and fairly easy to
duplicate, there is still a basic understanding that doTerra has copied a lot of what Young Living
developed. When I compared the ingredients of oil blends that were intended to treat similar
conditions, I found consistently that the doTerra blends used less expensive oils rather than the
more expensive oils. For example, one blend swaps Melissa for Oregano and another swaps Rose for
Rosemary. However, the blends are similar price even though the Young Living blends have more
expensive and potent oils in their blends. Also, when you take into consideration the fact that Young
Living is using 1st distillations and doTerra utilizes some complete distillations that further
illustrates the greater value in the Young Living oils. This makes me wonder where the extra money
is going in doTerra…
Q: What about the compensation plan? doTerra has way more high level leaders and they make more
money quicker, right?
A: No, not really. This one got me at first until I realized that doTerra’s monetary levels for
achieving a new rank are lower than Young Living, and once you make a rank you never go down in
title (although you’re not paid on a title but on actual volume). doTerra reps are also strongly
encouraged to grow their teams deep, not wide like YL. Therefore it appears you have more volume
than you actually do, and since you can advance to a title quicker and never lose that title you could
have 1,000 high rank consultants that aren’t even working the business or getting paid since you get
paid commission on your sales, not your title. Also, many leaders in doTerra advise their teams to
move members around to develop deep legs on their teams, which often results in new consultants
being placed under people they don’t even know. This happened to me personally and was very
frustrating in my efforts to develop a business.
Also, Young Living pays their reps more for longer in many areas. For example, doTerra pays
a quick start bonus of 20% for each new enrollee’s purchases for 60 days, however Young Living
pays 25% on all purchases for 90 days. I also didn’t like the fact that I had multiple upper level
leaders in doTerra state how much better it is to be in doTerra because they have a lot more
executive consultants, therefore being easier to advance. However, the executive level in doTerra
is actually equal to the Senior Star level in Young Living, and the Executive level in Young Living is a
higher level of compensation and overall volume per consultant. I felt this was very misleading and
deceptive on the part of doTerra representatives.
Q: doTerra has a great variety of oils just like Young Living, right?
A: Young Living has many more individual oils and oil blends than doTerra does. They also address
the aromatherapy side of essential oils, as well as the use of oils for emotional healing and therapy.
This is something doTerra does not address. Also, Young Living is actively seeking out new oils and
developing them for the market, whereas doTerra is simply choosing the easier or more common oils
to promote. Young Living also has unique products such as NingXia Red and Frankincense and Myrrh
resins and a resin burner that are not offered by doTerra. Young Living also offers a great variety
of oils and items in a wide range of prices which makes it possible for many people to be able to
purchase oils and items from Young Living on their individual budget. They have multiple diffusers in
all price ranges and designs whereas doTerra only has two. Also, Young Living has multiple strains of
oils- they have two different Frankincense oils, three Eucalyptus oils, and multiple oils that doTerra
does not offer at all.
Q: doTerra has a lot of training materials and presentations that I can use as an IPC, and Young
Living doesn’t have as much. Isn’t it harder to teach a class without all of that?
A: I have found multiple errors and “truth stretching” in the doTerra presentations I have seen. I
wouldn’t use them because of it while I was with doTerra. For example, the doTerra presentations I
have seen cite the cancer study by Dr. HK Lin using Frankincense essential oil successfully against
bladder cancer while promoting their Frankincense. However they don’t inform you that the
particular form of Frankincense that was found successful in the study is boswellia sacra which is
where Young Living gets their Sacred Frankincense (one of the YL Frankincense variants). You can
hear him state specifically the Sacred Frankincense he was using in this YouTube video. It is also
confirmed in this article. Boswellia carteri, the other YL Frankincense oil, was also cited in this
article as being effective against cancer. However, doTerra only offers boswellia frereana. To me
that is deceptive and misleading. I was also told directly and adamantly by a high ranking executive
within doTerra that they only use first distillations and “there is no such thing as a complete
distillation or second or third distillation”. However, I have confirmed this with customer service
reps as well as multiple sources online that not only are there complete distillations but also that
doTerra sell oils that are complete distillations.
Q: doTerra oils are a higher quality of oil since they are CPTG, a new rating of essential oils, right?
A: CPTG is a brandmark (slogan) created by doTerra and is not an official classification. As a
matter of fact, Young Living oils are now being covered by some health insurance companies as
medicinal supplements. Because the insurance company found a difference in the oils they only cover
Young Living oils- doTerra oils are not covered.
The fact is it’s really hard to reinvent the wheel. You can’t patent essential oils, which is
what drives the pharmaceutical companies crazy, and that has led to a lot of similarities between
these two companies. Unfortunately the way each company negotiates their business operations is a
grey area that can only be regulated by ethics and morals. I have seen firsthand how
representatives and leaders from both companies conduct themselves and I am confident in my
decision to support and represent Young Living oils. I feel that for me to invest my time, effort,
and reputation in a company I need to be confident that they are operating in a way that I can
support, as well as making sure I am utilizing and offering the highest quality product at the highest
potency for the cost. In all these areas I feel confident that Young Living is that company for me,
my family, and my business. I am also proud to support a company that is leading new research and
development of essential oils and EO based products, which has a leader who continues to pursue
new leads and opportunities to develop beneficial and safe essential oils. You will have to decide for
yourself which company you can support with your resources, and I hope that the information I
have to offer will help you in that decision. Either way, a safe therapeutic grade essential oil from
either company is much better than its’ pharmaceutical alternatives so no matter what I hope more
people will discover the blessing of essential oils and focus on growing knowledge of their benefits
and uses rather than which company you buy from.
Resources
Whole New Mom blog: which essential oils are best? http://wholenewmom.com/what-to-buy/bestessential-
oils-company-young-living-review-doterra-review/
(please read all seven articles on the wholenewmom.com site related to this topic, they are very
informative and educating)
Essential Oils: Finding Answers http://www.modernalternativehealth.com/2012/10/24/essentialoils-
finding-answers-part-2/
doTerra/Young Living blends comparison chart http://www.everythingessential.me/Hints/
BlendsCompared.html
Can Frankincense Help Cancer? http://ologsinquito.hubpages.com/hub/Can-Frankincense-Help-
Cancer
Dr. Lin Frankincense interview (YouTube) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=897_84HJ4d4
Essential Oil Quality http://www.aromatherapy-school.com/aromatherapy-schools/aromatherapyarticles/
aromatherapy-essential-oil-quality.html
Frankincense Oil Kills Bladder Cancer Cells http://www.naturalnews.com/
025892_cancer_frankincense_oil.html#ixzz1noJIgfAU
(The following is a summary of my personal findings during my comparison and exploration of MLM opportunities of both companies and is intended only to benefit others in their pursuit of knowledge of these companies. These are my opinions and personal experiences and are not to be interpreted as official opinions of doTerra, Young Living, or any of their affiliates.)
My name is Jen Rollins and I am privileged to coordinate a whole foods co-op based in
Arlington, Texas. My family has been on a journey of modifying our health and nutrition from the
conventional American diet of processed foods and pharmaceuticals for the last 10 years. I love to
share the information I have discovered with others so it (hopefully) doesn’t take them as long as it
did me to discover this information so they can make an informed decision for what is most
beneficial for themselves and their family based on their needs and goals. Although we had been
transitioning to a more natural lifestyle and utilizing local farmers and producers, we were rather
late in discovering the amazing benefits of high quality, therapeutic grade essential oils. I had many
friends that gladly shared their opinions on what oils to use for this or that, and I had been invited
to a few classes on how to use essential oils, but had never been able to coordinate my schedule
with their availability until late November 2012. It was then that my friend invited me to her house
to attend an essential oils class.
I was excited to learn about the oils and experience them. The first oil I tried was
lavender, which was a big step for me since all lavender-scented things made me feel ill and have a
horrible migraine. When I smelled this lavender I was amazed at how sweet it smelled and how it
didn’t give me an instant headache. I gladly passed bottle after little brown bottle, dropping and
applying oils as instructed by the leader of the class. At the end, I was sold and was excited to
start using these oils on a daily basis. I ordered my starter kit, took my book home to start reading,
and felt that the final piece to my family’s holistic health puzzle was in place.
Over the next three months I discovered that there is a lot of controversy over the big
essential oil companies. Although IPC’s were respectful of the other companies (at least in my
personal circles) there were definitely a lot of passionate opinions on quality, purity, compensation,
and ethics of the leading essential oils distributors. I had people hang up on me because I
mentioned a certain company’s name, and had others make a disgusted face at me when I mentioned
which oils I used. I decided I had better learn more about this issue so that I understood not only
what everyone was so worked up about, but where I would stand on an issue that I had unwittingly
stumbled into the night I ordered my first bottles of oils.
So, what’s the big deal? Aren’t all oils created equal?
Well, the short answer is no. I found through classes, research, and use of the oils that
many of the reactions I had previously to essential oils purchased from health food stores or
vitamin shops were actually sensitivities to probable contaminants that were concentrated during
the distilling process. I also found out that there is a big difference in the sources of materials
from which oils are extracted and what you don’t know can hurt you. Companies don’t have to tell
you if they use chemicals or ultra high temperature to extract oils from organic material. They also
don’t have to tell you if they spray their fields or use synthetic fertilizers or soil amendments to
grow their crops, or even where they come from. I knew I was committed to purchasing oils from a
company that was willing to tell me where they are getting their crops from and making sure that I
was truly investing in safe and beneficial oils. This brought me to two companies: doTerra and Young
Living.
Without going into all the drama, Young Living is the more established of the two companies,
in business for over 20 years with domestic and international farms and partnerships with other
countries for research and harvesting. The six owners of doTerra were employees of Young Living in
some capacity and left YL to found their own essential oils company. Each company accuses the
other of miscellaneous professional misdeeds, and as with any relationship gone bad the waters are
so muddy there will probably never be a clear answer as to who did what. Once I became aware of
the controversy, I did a general inquiry and decided that both companies had a high quality product
(probably the highest quality products out there) and if a person chose to invest in either company
they would have a high quality, pure oil with great health and healing benefits. However, as I used
the oils more and listened closely to what I was hearing in classes and through leaders, questions
were raised in my mind about if the sales pitches made sense.
I found a blog by a natural mom who had the same misgivings and spent over a year
researching the topic of essential oils. She not only tried the big two, but also several smaller
essential oil companies. Her article (found here) and the other six articles attached to it helped me
understand the difference in oils and extraction processes, and although it answered a lot of my
questions, it raised more based on what I had been told by not only my direct upline, but also with
high level team leaders. I attended conference calls, consulted with customer service, and even
spoke with representatives from the other essential oils company, and I found answers I was
confident with. Ultimately, it was the misinformation and lack of knowledge of consultants and
leaders in doTerra that led me to my decision to leave their company and purchase Young Living
essential oils exclusively for my family and my co-op.
Just the facts, Ma’am, just the facts…
Okay, the fact is, if you’re reading this you probably are aware of the conflict what I just
told you is probably nothing new. You have probably seen or been informed of some of the hotly
debated issues and, like me, have questions that need to be answered so you can make the best
decision for yourself, your family, your business, or your future. So, here are the questions I had,
and the answers (or lack thereof) I found:
Q: Aren’t YL and DT oils the same? (a rose by any other name…)
A: Not really. If you have ever sat through a doTerra “class” or spoken with a rep, you have
probably had the experience of having a bottle of doTerra Lavender or Peppermint essential oil
given to you to smell while they point out how much stronger the aroma is than YL and make some
comment about how smelling is believing or if they smell stronger they must be stronger. Sounds
logical, right? Well, for those coffee drinkers out there, let me give you an example: blonde coffee
beans are so lightly roasted they don’t even really smell like coffee but boy do they give you a jolt
of caffeine! Dark roast beans have been roasted the longest and have a strong, smoky smell and
taste, but they actually have the least amount of caffeine in them. Why? Because the longer and
hotter they are cooked, the more caffeine is removed. So, just because something smells stronger
doesn’t mean it is stronger.
The reason some of doTerra’s oils have a stronger, sweeter smell than other brands of oils
is because they are complete distillations. I had two separate customer service reps with doTerra
confirm that Peppermint and Lavender are complete distillations. I have been told that other oils
such as orange and lemon are as well. I have tried to confirm this with doTerra, and although I am
still a current IPC in good standing with doTerra and have requested this information in writing
three times they have not responded. I also called Young Living to find out if their oils were
complete distillations and was informed that their individual oils are first distillations and 100%
pure with no additives or dilutions. I personally did a side-by-side direct comparison of doTerra and
Young Living essential oils and was very puzzled at my findings. I found four essential oils from
doTerra that had a “sweeter”, stronger smell. I knew that the oils were essentially the same and
should be the same strength since they are 100% pure with no additives or carrier oils and not
diluted in any way or had anything added to them to make the smell stronger or more fragrant. The
four oils were Lavender, Peppermint, Lemon and Wild Orange (lavender and peppermint smelled
“candy-like” while lemon and orange smelled like fruit juice, not rind). All the other doTerra single
oils, in my opinion, had an “off” smell that I didn’t notice as much until I compared them directly
with Young Living’s oils. The YL oils I smelled had a more pure, clean and plant-like smell. The
doTerra blends had a distinct pungent smell to them that I never noticed in any of the Young Living
blends (and I compared about 30 of them). And these were my personal oils that were only two
months old and had been kept in my home at a constant 72 degrees so I knew they were good oils.
Also, my mother and grandmother are very sensitive to smells and were unable to use several of the
doTerra oils because they were too strong-smelling. They have both used the Young Living oils and
found them not only tolerable but pleasant and are very happy using them. I personally grew
concerned when I started getting a headache from using the doTerra Lavender and have had no
such reaction from the Young Living Lavender, so that was a huge selling point for me.
It really puzzled me how those particular four oils were so different, especially when those
four oils are ones heavily promoted at every doTerra class and presentation I have attended. It
became clear that doTerra developed these oils somehow to naturally have a particularly stronger
aroma than their Young Living counterparts and I wanted to know how they did it. I finally found
information that discussed 1st, 2nd, 3rd and even 4th distillations of certain oils and the resulting
change in aroma when those distillations were blended. In particular, peppermint develops a less
plant-y smell and a more candy-like aroma when it is more distilled or when the multiple distillations
are blended. Similarly, lavender develops a candy-like sweetness when distilled longer and blended. I
was concerned as to how many of their oils doTerra was selling that were complete distillations. I
know we live in a society that puts perfumes and smells in everything so doTerra may be trying to
appeal to a market that craves strong smells, but at what price? Complete distillations are a blend
of first, second, and sometimes third and fourth distillations, with each subsequent distillation
requiring higher temperatures and pressure to extract the oils. This process can and often does
damage the components of the oil. Again with a coffee analogy, the first distillation is like the first
part of a brewing of coffee- strong and dark. However, as the grounds brew longer there is less
coffee and more water that comes out, so the last part of the brew is quite weak. The final pot of
coffee is a blend of the strong and the weak, which is inherently less potent than the first part of
the brew.
There is such a difference in the phases of distillation that the oil cost changes based on
the distillation. For example, the ultra pure and 1st distillation of oils is the most expensive, the 2nd
distillation costs less, and if a plant can still produce oils for a 3rd or 4th distillation the resulting
oils are so inferior they are sold cheaply and often used as fragrances only due to their inferior
quality. I experienced this difference when I tried YL Peppermint oil for the first time. doTerra’s
Peppermint smells like an actual peppermint candy- very sweet and strong. The YL oil smells more
like a peppermint plant in my opinion. I was used to putting a drop of Peppermint on my hand and
licking it to ingest it and although it is strong it is not overbearing, so I opened up my new YL
Peppermint and did the same with it. The YL oil was much, much stronger than the doTerra oil I had
been using- so much so that it nearly took my breath away! I totally understood that although the
oil may smell stronger it definitely doesn’t prove anything about the strength of the actual oil- the
milder smelling YL oil was way more potent than the doTerra one!
Q: doTerra emphasizes quality and testing and claims that they are the only ones that do GC/MS
testing (gas chromatograph and mass spectrometry) to verify their purity. Is that true?
A: Young Living does the following tests on every incoming batch of their oils: gas chromatography,
GC/MS, heavy metals analysis, Microbial, Flash Point, Optical Rotation, Refractive Index, and
Specific Gravity. Oils that exhibit even the slightest hint of possible tampering or adulterationeven
if provided from a trusted supplier-are sent to outside laboratories for even more in-depth
dissection using techniques such as carbon isotope analysis. (cited: Essential Oils: Finding Answers) Furthermore, Young Living regulates quality throughout the process with their Seed to Seal policy,
whereas doTerra has working relationships with outsourced farms but is not involved with
regulation or testing of the life cycle of the plant or the history of the land they grow on like Young
Living.
Q: Is there any validity to the lawsuit?
A: Basically the courts are allowing the lawsuit to progress so they are seeing enough evidence that
it merits further deliberation. Personally, I am not sure how much of the infractions will be legally
enforceable but I personally spoke with two different Young Living reps at different times, and
they both informed me they were contacted by an owner or executive of doTerra and asked to
move their team from YL to doTerra. Whether or not there are legal consequences for their
actions, in my opinion that is not the way to do business.
As far as copying blends, well that one is pretty easy to investigate for yourself. For
example, Young Living created the Raindrop technique and uses an oil blend called Aroma Siez.
doTerra has the Aromatouch technique and uses a blend called AromaTouch which is an exact copy
of Aroma Siez with Grapefruit essential oil added in. A second oil used in the original Raindrop
technique is Young Living’s Valor blend, which has spruce, rosewood, blue tansy and frankincense in a
carrier oil. doTerra’s technique uses their Balance blend which is spruce, rosewood, frankincense,
and blue tansy in a carrier oil. Notice any similarities? Several other oil blends are similar but the
citrus component has been swapped, like in Thieves you have lemon and in On Guard you have wild
orange but the other four oils are exactly the same. You can compare many other blends by viewing
the blends on each company’s website or the books Modern Essentials for doTerra and Essential
Oils Pocket Reference for Young Living. There is a great chart on doTerra’s resource site that
compares the oils, although I have found some oils are not accurately compared- you can view it
here.
Q: Aren’t the blends the same and don’t they cost about the same?
A: Well, this one has a two part answer. Yes a lot of the blends are similar because the owners of
doTerra worked in key leadership roles with Young Living before starting their own company. That
is where a part of the Young Living lawsuit comes from: whether doTerra is benefiting from
proprietary knowledge of oils and blends. Although many blend recipes are known and fairly easy to
duplicate, there is still a basic understanding that doTerra has copied a lot of what Young Living
developed. When I compared the ingredients of oil blends that were intended to treat similar
conditions, I found consistently that the doTerra blends used less expensive oils rather than the
more expensive oils. For example, one blend swaps Melissa for Oregano and another swaps Rose for
Rosemary. However, the blends are similar price even though the Young Living blends have more
expensive and potent oils in their blends. Also, when you take into consideration the fact that Young
Living is using 1st distillations and doTerra utilizes some complete distillations that further
illustrates the greater value in the Young Living oils. This makes me wonder where the extra money
is going in doTerra…
Q: What about the compensation plan? doTerra has way more high level leaders and they make more
money quicker, right?
A: No, not really. This one got me at first until I realized that doTerra’s monetary levels for
achieving a new rank are lower than Young Living, and once you make a rank you never go down in
title (although you’re not paid on a title but on actual volume). doTerra reps are also strongly
encouraged to grow their teams deep, not wide like YL. Therefore it appears you have more volume
than you actually do, and since you can advance to a title quicker and never lose that title you could
have 1,000 high rank consultants that aren’t even working the business or getting paid since you get
paid commission on your sales, not your title. Also, many leaders in doTerra advise their teams to
move members around to develop deep legs on their teams, which often results in new consultants
being placed under people they don’t even know. This happened to me personally and was very
frustrating in my efforts to develop a business.
Also, Young Living pays their reps more for longer in many areas. For example, doTerra pays
a quick start bonus of 20% for each new enrollee’s purchases for 60 days, however Young Living
pays 25% on all purchases for 90 days. I also didn’t like the fact that I had multiple upper level
leaders in doTerra state how much better it is to be in doTerra because they have a lot more
executive consultants, therefore being easier to advance. However, the executive level in doTerra
is actually equal to the Senior Star level in Young Living, and the Executive level in Young Living is a
higher level of compensation and overall volume per consultant. I felt this was very misleading and
deceptive on the part of doTerra representatives.
Q: doTerra has a great variety of oils just like Young Living, right?
A: Young Living has many more individual oils and oil blends than doTerra does. They also address
the aromatherapy side of essential oils, as well as the use of oils for emotional healing and therapy.
This is something doTerra does not address. Also, Young Living is actively seeking out new oils and
developing them for the market, whereas doTerra is simply choosing the easier or more common oils
to promote. Young Living also has unique products such as NingXia Red and Frankincense and Myrrh
resins and a resin burner that are not offered by doTerra. Young Living also offers a great variety
of oils and items in a wide range of prices which makes it possible for many people to be able to
purchase oils and items from Young Living on their individual budget. They have multiple diffusers in
all price ranges and designs whereas doTerra only has two. Also, Young Living has multiple strains of
oils- they have two different Frankincense oils, three Eucalyptus oils, and multiple oils that doTerra
does not offer at all.
Q: doTerra has a lot of training materials and presentations that I can use as an IPC, and Young
Living doesn’t have as much. Isn’t it harder to teach a class without all of that?
A: I have found multiple errors and “truth stretching” in the doTerra presentations I have seen. I
wouldn’t use them because of it while I was with doTerra. For example, the doTerra presentations I
have seen cite the cancer study by Dr. HK Lin using Frankincense essential oil successfully against
bladder cancer while promoting their Frankincense. However they don’t inform you that the
particular form of Frankincense that was found successful in the study is boswellia sacra which is
where Young Living gets their Sacred Frankincense (one of the YL Frankincense variants). You can
hear him state specifically the Sacred Frankincense he was using in this YouTube video. It is also
confirmed in this article. Boswellia carteri, the other YL Frankincense oil, was also cited in this
article as being effective against cancer. However, doTerra only offers boswellia frereana. To me
that is deceptive and misleading. I was also told directly and adamantly by a high ranking executive
within doTerra that they only use first distillations and “there is no such thing as a complete
distillation or second or third distillation”. However, I have confirmed this with customer service
reps as well as multiple sources online that not only are there complete distillations but also that
doTerra sell oils that are complete distillations.
Q: doTerra oils are a higher quality of oil since they are CPTG, a new rating of essential oils, right?
A: CPTG is a brandmark (slogan) created by doTerra and is not an official classification. As a
matter of fact, Young Living oils are now being covered by some health insurance companies as
medicinal supplements. Because the insurance company found a difference in the oils they only cover
Young Living oils- doTerra oils are not covered.
The fact is it’s really hard to reinvent the wheel. You can’t patent essential oils, which is
what drives the pharmaceutical companies crazy, and that has led to a lot of similarities between
these two companies. Unfortunately the way each company negotiates their business operations is a
grey area that can only be regulated by ethics and morals. I have seen firsthand how
representatives and leaders from both companies conduct themselves and I am confident in my
decision to support and represent Young Living oils. I feel that for me to invest my time, effort,
and reputation in a company I need to be confident that they are operating in a way that I can
support, as well as making sure I am utilizing and offering the highest quality product at the highest
potency for the cost. In all these areas I feel confident that Young Living is that company for me,
my family, and my business. I am also proud to support a company that is leading new research and
development of essential oils and EO based products, which has a leader who continues to pursue
new leads and opportunities to develop beneficial and safe essential oils. You will have to decide for
yourself which company you can support with your resources, and I hope that the information I
have to offer will help you in that decision. Either way, a safe therapeutic grade essential oil from
either company is much better than its’ pharmaceutical alternatives so no matter what I hope more
people will discover the blessing of essential oils and focus on growing knowledge of their benefits
and uses rather than which company you buy from.
Resources
Whole New Mom blog: which essential oils are best? http://wholenewmom.com/what-to-buy/bestessential-
oils-company-young-living-review-doterra-review/
(please read all seven articles on the wholenewmom.com site related to this topic, they are very
informative and educating)
Essential Oils: Finding Answers http://www.modernalternativehealth.com/2012/10/24/essentialoils-
finding-answers-part-2/
doTerra/Young Living blends comparison chart http://www.everythingessential.me/Hints/
BlendsCompared.html
Can Frankincense Help Cancer? http://ologsinquito.hubpages.com/hub/Can-Frankincense-Help-
Cancer
Dr. Lin Frankincense interview (YouTube) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=897_84HJ4d4
Essential Oil Quality http://www.aromatherapy-school.com/aromatherapy-schools/aromatherapyarticles/
aromatherapy-essential-oil-quality.html
Frankincense Oil Kills Bladder Cancer Cells http://www.naturalnews.com/
025892_cancer_frankincense_oil.html#ixzz1noJIgfAU
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)