When it comes to essential oils, we aromatherapy fans want a quality product. There is more to choosing an oil than the price tag. You have to consider production practices, where the harvest is cultivated and extracted, how they conduct their overall business, as well as the purity of the oils. On top of all that, companies that manufacture and distribute essential oils also have other product lines like health supplements, digestive aids, cleansers, mouthwashes, and foaming hand soap.
Today, we are going to take a look at two companies who are not only known for their essential oils, they have several other lines of products as well. Of course, when it comes to this review, we will focus on essential oils only. So, it’s Melaleuca Essential Oils vs Young Living, and by the end of this article, you’ll know which is the best choice for you.
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Melaleuca and Young Living Comparison
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Melaleuca
Our first organization started their line of Pure™ Essential Oils in May of 2015, but they have been using essential oils in their wellness products ever since 1985. Naming their company after one of the most powerful essential oils to be distilled (Tea Tree), this company is run by CEO Frank L. Vandersloot.
Vandersloot has taken this company from a small business in Idaho and turned it into a billion dollar international corporation. All on the premise of helping people become their best selves through good quality products. They have over four hundred products that are natural alternatives to conventional products that fall under the categories of nutrition, personal care, home cleaning, and cosmetics.
How They Sell
This company only sells to their members, which makes it a hassle for someone who just wants to try something out. When you go to their website and try to add something to the cart you’re taken to a page that has a “Member Sign In” portion and a “Not Yet a Member” section, which gives you the option to hit a button that says GET TO KNOW MELALEUCA.
I clicked on that and was taken to a general page about their company, what they believe in, and how they can change your life. At the top is an option to “Create Your Online Account,” which I clicked on. That takes me to another page that asks for my phone number. This is where I stopped, for reasons you will read about below.
It seems that, through my research, to get your hands on Melaleuca Wellness Products you need to sign up for a monthly membership that has an automatic recurring charge. I looked for their products outside of their website, and while I found other people selling their lotions and digestive aids, I couldn’t find a seller of their oils outside of their site.
From the research I’ve done, it seems that Melaleuca is a company that uses multi-level marketing, which converts members to sign up other members and so on. There are no options for the person outside of this network to purchase these products. They even list the income statistics for potential members.
Purity of the Oils
As for the purity, like any other company that creates these oils, they are going to claim that their product is pure, and Melaleuca is no different. On their website, there is little information on their essential oils. They tell us that their extracts are 100% pure, and they list all the different types of testing that their products go through.
Here is the list:
- Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)
- Chirality Testing
- Heavy Metal/Pesticide/Herbicide Testing
- Organoleptic Testing
- Optical Rotation/Refractive Index Testing
- Specific Gravity Testing
- Microbial Testing
- Flash Point Testing
- Isotopic Analysis
These are no different from the tests that other essential oils companies do to ensure the purity of their products. But, Melaleuca doesn’t tell us who conducts these tests. I am not saying that means they don’t conduct the tests they say they do, but it doesn’t ensure the consumer that they use a third party to test their oils.
Basically, they are asking us to take their word for it.
What Are People Saying?
When it comes to the reviews about Melaleuca’s products and customer service, it seems that this company runs either hot or cold. People rave about their products while others absolutely despise this company. Yet, when it comes to the bad reviews, it’s not about the quality of the products.
The negative comments about this company claim that they have been deceived about the recurring prices and didn’t expect them to charge their credit card every month. Some replies contributed that to the representative and not the company themselves. Yet, there are quite a few comments on how difficult it was to cancel the service.
Young Living
While the last company we spoke of started out as a health and wellness company, only breaking into the essential oil end of it in 2015, Young Living has been producing and distributing essential oils in 1993. Of course, that doesn’t mean anything against Melaleuca and their oils, but it does illustrate how experienced this company is in the world of aromatherapy.
D. Gary Young and his wife Mary first started Young Living with the intention to bring health and wellness to the people of the world, just like Melaleuca. But while the latter company started out with health and wellness products for personal care, household cleaning, and cosmetics, eventually moving to essential oils, Young Living moved from a company that sold these oils to a large corporation that also produces their own diffusers and health and wellness products.
How They Sell
Young Living is also a company that utilizes multi-level marketing but getting their oils isn’t as difficult. When you fill your cart on their website, you have an option to either start a membership for wholesale pricing or you can just make the one purchase. This is nice if you don’t feel like making a huge commitment. When you do feel like making a commitment, you can take your time building that as well.
This was a little weird but still, I Googled “Young Living Oils” and found other options to purchase them. Of course, they too offer the opportunity to turn your love for aromatherapy into your own business, like Melaleuca, and they have everything spelled out for you on their website.
Purity of the Oils
Young Living has been planting, purchasing, harvesting, distilling, extracting, and distributing essential oils and the hosts they are from for more than two decades. When you look at their website and start investigating how they go about doing all this, there is more information than one person can read in a day. This company created their own program- Seed to Seal®, which follows the production of their essential oils from planting until the cap is secured on the little dark bottle.
They grow some of the product on their own farms, and when they don’t, the farms they chose go through extensive review before being approved. When you dig deeper into their website, you can learn what farms they did use and the name of the distillery where the batch was extracted.
Young Living also conducts all the same tests we listed above in their own facilities and then their batches are sent out for third-party testing, just to keep them honest. You can search any part of the process and find detailed information about how they conduct their testing to who they use as a third party.
What Are People Saying?
For the most part, both consumers and members who sell their product love Young Living. I personally have some of their oils and blends which are mixtures of different oils to achieve a particular effect. For example, Stress Away was created to do just what the name implies. As an owner, I can attest to the fact that it does what it says.
Of course, as with anything, there are people who were not happy. Mostly, the negative reviews covered shipments of the product taking a long time or costing too much.
*You might also like: JADE BLOOM VS YOUNG LIVING; WHICH ESSENTIAL OIL COMPANY IS BEST?
To Conclude
Multilevel marketing is not the most popular sales model depending on how it is used. When there is an actual product of quality for sale, then there is an opportunity to at least make a part-time living. Yet, for a person who is new to the world of aromatherapy, I think it’s a bit much to ask for someone to dedicate a monthly order when it’s their first.
What do you think of these two essential oil companies? If you have experience with either, we would love to hear your comments. This way we can all help each other achieve a better mind, body, and soul.
There is quite a bit if misinformation in this article about Melaleuca. It makes the whole article suspect.
I agree 100%. For one thing, it is quite easy to cancel membership. Next Melaleuca is consumer direct not MLM. Do better research before posting such nonsense.
Also Melaleuca was the first company to have Essential oils 38 years ago
I see a lot of misinformation about Melaleuca but just wish it was more informed on Melaleuca so it would be more fair.
Definitely biased and misleading,they give many details on their oils on the website
Melaleuca charges $19 for membership as a one time fee. May 2019 special price is $1. You can purchase anything as a one time purchase as a retail customer. To get discounts, you commit to purchasing 35 points of products monthly. You can put your account on hold at any time for any reason. There are now over 500 products in their lineup, and they have over a 95% reorder rate from customers. The business is advertised by referral, and has been in business over 30 years. If you want to check it out, please reference my name!
Have to say this article is biased. You can purchase one time with Melaleuca. And all the information shared By Ann Calabro on May 6, 2019, is absolutely true. That is exactly how it is. I have been a member for over a year and was only charged a one time $1 membership fee as it was a special when I joined too. Both companies are great in my views; Melaleuca is cheaper is the only big difference I see. And, I have used both companies. We use Young Living at my job and have for almost a year. I have friends who sell it.
I must say, along with the above commenters that I agree. I have used both and was originally using Young Living products and made a switch to Melaleuca. Mainly due to the scientific studies that they have shown with their products and that they were far less expensive.
Another thing misconception with the company is that they are not a MLM company. I thought they were to until a friend’s mom who introduced me explained this. They are a Consumer Direct Marketing company. As Ann Calabro stated in her comment, they are advertised by referral.
Very biased. Melaleuca offers great products, and you can order without a monthly membership or commitment! A simple phone call is all it takes!
I did my own due diligence after reading this and there is misinformation all over the place about both companies. I suggest anyone who is interested in purchasing essential oils from either of the companies do their own due diligence.
The only other comment I will make is, there is no such thing as a “therapeutic grade’ of essential oil. This a term that has been made up, and some companies use this term to market their brand of essential oils to make them sound better than their competition. Be wary of false advertising, and do your own due diligence.
Very biased article is all i can say ?
Wow! Very biased article. The info. on Melaleuca is very misleading and limited. I have several friends that use YL oils because they are already committed for one reason or another, but I also know many who have switched because they wanted the affordability of Melaleuca without quality compromise. I also appreciate that Melaleuca does not use the wording “therapeutic grade” as a marketing ploy. This was a phrase coined by a popular essential oil company years ago to describe their oils as superior to others on the market. Others quickly grabbed the term to compete. If you would like to really know how that term was created, by who and why, look into what the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy says about it. This “grading system” of oils does not exist and it is simply a marketing snatch to prevent customers from really doing their own research. It is very important for good quality essential oils to be properly sourced, grown, harvested, processed and bottled but their are companies doing that without the falsehood of superior “grading”
I have been a dedicated Melaleuca customer since 1991. So much incorrect information in previous replies. I attribute my excellent health at 75 to using Melaleuca’s full line of over 500 environmentally safe, holistisic products, purchasing at wholesale at 40-50% off retail from “my own store” for over 28 years!
Very biased article!!! Difficult to cancel is listed as one of the Cons of Melaleuca. This is not true! It is so easy to cancel Melaleuca. Their customer service department goes above and beyond to accommodate customers. Even with cancellation.
I love Melaleuca!!
This is very inaccurate about Melaleuca.. Please do your own research. I have been a customer for 13 years! Love Melaleuca?
I purchase oils from both companies. I have to use twice as many drops of Melaleuca oils compared to Young living. Melaleuca oils aren’t as concentrated. Young Livings oils tend to be a little higher priced. Young Living is slower in their shipping. I like Young Living diffusers more then Melaleuca. As far as other products sold by both companies, Young Living Thieves is THE BEST. Melaleuca has amazing shower and toilet bowl cleaners. Their laundry soap isn’t that great, and their dish soap is disappointing.
At this time I order from both companies, but I am getting frustrated with Melalueca. I don’t like them telling me how money I have to spend. Young Living does not do that. Nor do they tell you you have to order each month weather you want to or not.
I trust Young Living because of their transparency about their ingredients, where the plants are grown, what extraction methods are used. But I have a hard time trusting Melalueca because they are too secretive about about all the details that I need to know.