Well, a lot has happened and a lot has changed since that last post. I did switch essential oils companies. And then I switched again. I haven't posted this story yet mostly because I didn't want to offend the people I left in the company I had switched to. But I have to speak my mind and get my voice heard. I feel this information is important and needs to be circulated, and I can't hide it from you in fear of possibly upsetting some people.
I wasn't going to name any names, but since I am no longer affiliated with anyone, I guess I can't get in trouble for naming names. So as most of you know, I started out with Young Living Essential Oils. I was told they were 100% safe. I was told to ONLY use Young Living because they're the ONLY true Therapeutic Grade essential oils. And that means they're 100% pure, undiluted, unadulterated, additive-free, and therefore safe to put anywhere and everywhere on anyone anytime - even internally. Drink up! There were very few cautions and limitations, and since they're 100% natural, YL followers and customers are led to believe they're 100% safe.
Before I get too much farther, here's a really good article about what essential oils actually are, how and why they work, and why there needs to be more awareness on safety: http://essentialoilblogging.com/2014/01/14/can-essential-oils-be-ingested/
If you don't want to read the whole article, here's what I found to be the important stuff:
Essential oils are composed of dozens of naturally-occurring chemical constituents. Each oil has a unique mix of constituents, although some constituents occur in many essential oils. Linalool, for example, is one of the major constituents of lavender oil and coriander oil, but it is a minor constituent of about 200 other essential oils.
Essential oils have one, two or occasionally three major constituents (about 20-90% of the oil), a few minor constituents (1-19%,) and many, many trace constituents (less than 1%). Sometimes minor or trace constituents still can have a significant effect on the body but most of the effects of an essential oil are attributed to its major constituents. These effects are now being revealed by published scientific research. Some plants of the same species can have major differences in constituents. These are called ‘chemotypes’ and are named after the largest constituent in the plant. Rosemary oil, for example, may be a pinene chemotype, a cineole chemotype, or a camphor chemotype. The majority of commercially available essential oils don’t have these variations however, most of the effects of an essential oil are attributed to its major constituents. ...
... There are some constituents in essential oils that can be toxic, irritating and sensitizing if the essential oil is used in large enough doses. Just because an essential oil is 100% pure and natural, does not mean that it cannot harm you. Harm from an essential oil is not always due to impurities or adulterations; more often it’s simply about the constituents it contains. This is not about purity; it’s about safety.
Another concern is the possible interaction between certain essential oils and certain medications (drug interactions). ... One of the known interactions is between essential oils containing methyl salicylate (Wintergreen & Sweet Birch) and blood-thinning medications. This combination can cause the blood to thin too much, leading to internal bleeding and bruising. This is one of the concerns [had] when recommending the ingestion of essential oils.
Hopefully this explains some of the importance of understanding essential oil safety.
Well, I'm pretty ashamed of myself for falling into the YL marketing hype head-first without doing any research. I ALWAYS research before jumping into something. Why was this any different? Probably because their marketing scheme is pretty powerful. In fact, I guarantee you that if you're with YL right now, you're probably getting upset, and you may close this blog and never read any further or ever open it again. If you even made it this far at all. That's fine. I just hope you don't get hurt from misuse and blind faith.
I was sucked in. And that scares me because I'm not one to get sucked into things that quickly. I have to make sure it makes sense and all the angles line up first. But, you live and you learn. I had my incidents with them that finally led me to learn that it's not safe to use them anywhere and everywhere, and I wrote this post about essential oil safety to warn others from making the same mistakes. I had learned about goDesana essential oils and was happy with their company because they promoted safe use. They don't want people to use them internally because it's not safe and the oils are so concentrated that they can cause toxicity in the liver and other organs. GoDesana's oils were just as pure as the others, only they don't try to coin their own terms like Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade or Therapeutic Grade Essential Oil (which the FDA doesn't even regulate, those are actually terms made up by their respective companies and they don't mean anything - "therapeutic grade" isn't a real term). They're just USDA Organic or wild-harvested, plain and simple. I was happy, they seemed to work great, signing up was free, so I went ahead and joined.
I wrote a post about having switched companies and why, and within an hour or so of posting it I got a call from Young Living headquarters in Utah. Yeah. I didn't answer (I don't answer unknown numbers, especially out of state), and they left a message saying they needed to discuss my recent post and that they'd follow this message up with an email. I waited for the email, and sure enough they were upset with me for "defaming" the Young Living name and for violating their non-competition policy (you can't be part of YL and another company at the same time - they're pretty hard core about their loyalty). For the record, I don't think I "defamed" them - I actually said I feel they have good products, and I'll still say that, despite all that happened. What I said was that I was disappointed in their lack of safety information, and had they been more clear and made sure their representatives had all the correct information, I could have avoided a lot of illness in my family. What's wrong with that? Anyway, their email said I needed to take down my blog post within a certain amount of time or they would take legal action. So of course I went ahead and took the post down. I did email them back and apologized, saying I was only trying to help prevent others from getting hurt due to lack of safety information, and that maybe they should be a little more clear about safety on their website and in their seminars. The only response I got was "they'd look into it". Yeah. Anyway, I didn't leave goDesana, so they terminated my account with YL, and I am no longer affiliated with them. I would have shut my account down anyway on my own but oh well. I now have no qualms about telling you exactly what happened and naming names and all that jazz. You can draw your own conclusions from all that. (And if you want some more information, check out the links at the bottom of this post.)
So I was now only a GD customer and representative. I will say, the whole time something didn't feel quite right, but I joined anyway since it was free to create an account (you have to spend $150 to join YL and get their starter kit). I'd give it a try and see what came of it.
Well, I got caught up in spending the required BV in products every month to stay on the rewards program, and I was encouraged to build my downline so I could make commissions. I wanted to take it slow, though. But it was getting expensive, and taking it slow meant not making any money, only spending it. And that's the second thing I'm ashamed of. Getting caught in the money. Luckily it wasn't so bad that I was trying to force these products on people, and I don't think I really did that while I was with YL (I hope not anyway). I just believed in the product and wanted to be able to purchase them at "wholesale" and offer them to my clients at my office. But I did get caught up in the excitement that I could possibly build a secondary income off of this.
Meanwhile, I got to talking to a friend of mine who doesn't want to deal with the Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) essential oil companies and buys her essential oils from a direct company. She's used them for years with great results, and sees no difference in quality between them and the leading MLM companies. Fortunately I was open-minded to the possibilities at this point, after my incident with YL.
The company she told me about is Plant Therapy.
I looked into them and first of all was BLOWN. AWAY. by the price difference. Now, if I were still with YL, I would have scoffed at the prices and said, "Oh, they're certainly not pure with prices like that, the true therapeutic grade oils are more expensive - you get what you pay for!" And I would have stopped looking.
No, they're that inexpensive because they're not a multi-level marketing company. They don't have commissions to pay out. And they don't have anyone in their upline to send on a free cruise or win a free iPad. When a company doesn't have to mess with that, they can shave quite a bit off the cost for consumers. I can't believe I was blind to that before.
Do you realize that "wholesale" in a MLM company is actually still a 300-500% markup from the actual "wholesale" the company pays for? I was throwing my money away while I was with MLM companies. Well, no, I take that back. Someone got to go on a free cruise. I hope you enjoyed your cruise, whoever you are.
Anyway. Aside from the price difference, it seemed like Plant Therapy had a pure, high quality oil, they consult with Robert Tisserand who has spent the majority of his life working to advance aromatherapy and using essential oils the best and safest ways possible and is highly respected in the aromatherapy world, they are very clear about the oils' origins and extraction methods, they have easy-to-understand information regarding safety, they have fantastic customer service with aromatherapists on call to answer your questions (aromatherapists who were actually trained by broad-spectrum aromatherapy schooling, not just trained by their company, like I know YL does), all the while not being a MLM company so you don't have to "sign up" and hand over your first born every month to remain a member.
This whole non-MLM thing was really resonating with me. I mentioned before that something still didn't sit quite right with me when I joined goDesana - I believe that's it. I didn't like spending my own money, or charging the public money, that only goes toward paying the commissions to the people in an upline.
So I talked to my friend some more about that whole topic, and she made some VERY good points that, honestly, I'm embarrassed to say I hadn't thought of myself. First off, let me be clear: I am not opposed to MLM - I have lots of Thirty-One products and love them, I use Pampered Chef and love them, I bought Lia Sophia jewelry before their company closed up and still wear and enjoy their products, I can't get enough Norwex - and I don't mind spending the money to get a good item and know that I'm helping someone make a go of a "small business" opportunity. Plus, I'll admit, I kinda like going to the parties (getting out of the house, seeing friends, eating food, drinking wine, who doesn't like that?). However. Those are all personal and home-use items. The essential oils? Those are healthcare. They help ward off illnesses. They help us recover from illnesses. They boost the immune system, strengthen our emotional health, enhance the brain's function, disinfect wounds, heal burns, the list goes on and on. And if not used properly, they can be very dangerous. And yet here we have MLM companies selling them. And the whole point of an MLM company is to sell sell sell to reach a broader spectrum of people, build downlines, and make more money. I was irritated with YL for becoming too consumed by marketing and not the healthcare that the oils are - so, why should goDesana be any different? I'm not saying it is (this is where I was afraid I'd offend someone - so I will say that honestly at this point in time I don't feel they are just out to get your money, however, it is a very young company), but that's what MLM is. And that's the funny feeling I was getting. And the point my friend made was: aren't these MLM essential oil companies doing the exact same thing the pharmaceutical industry is doing? Pushing and selling healthcare products on the public to make more money?
And I knew at that moment my questions were answered. That's why I felt funny about all those companies. And contrarily what ignited my excitement about Plant Therapy. But let me reiterate: at this point in time, goDesana is a great company! And I was under some people who genuinely care about your health and safety about using the oils, and I don't believe making money off of them is their primary concern. I can't speak for everyone in the company, but I feel confident that's the case for at least them.
So I had ordered some oils from Plant Therapy (and did not have to hand over my first born to do it), and they've been great! Their Thieves equivalent "Germ Fighter" knocked out a fever blister right off the bat, lavender has soothed allergies, eucalyptus relieved sinus pressure, and tea tree oil has effectively cleaned wounds. I was really pleased to see "Kid Safe" marked on some of the bottles, indicating that, when diluted, they're okay to use on kids. Some oils are NOT okay to use on kids - please be aware of that!! Don't put your child at risk simply because a representative from the oil company you are using said it's okay! Anyway. I was happy with my oils, happy with what I read about them, happy with the testimonials from my friend, and I got in touch with the company to get permission to sell them at my office. They asked for a copy of my business license and that was that! I now have Plant Therapy essential oils on my shelf at my office, and I feel great about it. Their prices are VERY affordable (the Germ Fighter I mentioned is $7 for a 10mL bottle - Thieves is $35 "wholesale" for 15mL and has the exact same ingredients), and you get them for the same price at my office as you would if you ordered online. And shipping is always free! So I'm perfectly happy to supply you with good quality essential oils, or you're more than welcome to buy them from the website - nobody's getting any kickbacks, and nobody's going on a cruise.
Meanwhile, I'm sure I'll try out other oils - I'm not going to ONLY use Plant Therapy now. I'm not going to allow myself to be that close-minded ever again. But I'm happy with their oils and their team and their prices, so that's what I'm offering on my shelves.
And that's my story. I'm glad I got away from the MLM thing before it sucked me in again. I feel cleaner, lighter, and just overall better about this decision - I am able to use a good quality essential oil from a good quality company who isn't trying to focus on building teams and monopolizing the industry, and now I'm able to offer those same oils to my clients for amazingly affordable prices so that I can do what's most important to me - guide them on their natural healthcare journey safely and effectively.
Oh yeah, here's that link I mentioned earlier, if you can stomach it... it's pretty disturbing: http://www.kidnurse.org/why-the-founder-of-one-of-the-largest-essential-oil-companies-should-go-back-to-jail/
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