The Controversy & Hypocrisy Surrounding Essential Oils

To be honest it deeply saddens me that there is a need for this discussion however there comes a point when silence is no longer useful and something needs to be said. Seriously, they are little bottles of essential oil, how could something so pure from this beautiful Earth spark so much rage in some people? It’s pretty interesting.

These are the top things we cop heat about as doTERRA Wellness Advocates so I’d love to address these concerns right now up front so we can all get back to using, loving, educating and empowering people as one, no matter which brand of essential oils or products we are using to make a difference in people’s lives.

“You are not qualified to share essential oils.”

I’m not (currently) qualified to prescribe anything to anyone. As a Wellness Advocate I never claim to be able to cure, diagnose, treat or prevent any specific condition. That is not what we are about. If someone asks me a specific questions I answer with what I would personally do or have done in my experience, direct them to appropriate resources and recommend they check with a health care professional.

Using essential oils in the home is not about taking away from a health care professionals role or dismissing any and all mainstream/medical or other alternative help. It is about having another tool in the incredible tool bag now available to us. It is about taking a proactive role in our health and that of our families. It’s about getting rid of toxic, endocrine disrupting, health damaging household chemicals and cosmetics, cleaning with something pure and natural, supporting ourselves on a physical, cellular and emotional manner to assist the body in doing what it does best, maintaining homeostasis.

When professionals with Qualifications tell me I shouldn’t be allowed to sell essential oils I am quite frankly shocked and appalled that they want to take people’s options away. That they want to make it harder for people in remote areas, or people stuck at home with children that can’t make appointments and don’t have the means to pay for them, that people with busy lives who would not consider seeing an Aromatherapist as top of their priority list (but might after having an in-home experience of how incredible oils are!)

What the hell!! I thought people in the Wellness industry were about freedom, about the joy of plant medicine and cultivating and sharing the abundance the Earth has to offer us (ethically and sustainably of course). I think we all really need to calm down, look at the situation sensibly and work together to have as many options as possible available to people.

Of course if someone is claiming to cure your Cancer or your child’s Autism then yeah, report them, feel rage. But for the love of sanity, don’t take away people’s options.

“They are unsafe and should not be applied NEAT (undiluted).”

I do not advocate slapping oils on undiluted willy nilly and as someone with extremely sensitive skin I do not believe this is best practice. It can certainly cause skin sensitivity and the possibility of a skin reaction which is not ideal. Although comparatively speaking when you look at the list of side effects including death from pharmaceuticals and the fact that PROPERLY PRESCRIBED medications are the leading cause of preventable deaths in the US, the possibility of skin sensitivity becomes far less daunting, but we do need to be sensible.

Some essential oils such as frankincense are very safe and can generally be used as is or with very little dilution of a carrier oil such as doTERRA fractionated coconut oil or jojoba oil.

All of our packaging says CAUTION: Possible skin sensitivity. Keep out of reach of children. If pregnant or under a doctor’s care, consult your physician. Keep out of eyes, inner ears and sensitive areas. Dilute with fractionated coconut oil to minimise any skin sensitivity.

As a GENERAL guideline for younger children I use-

1 drop of essential oil to an American tablespoon or 10ml carrier oil. To make this easier at home we use roller bottles. So for a 10ml bottle 1 drop for my youngest child (18 months) on the soles of the feet works great.

For older children 6+ we generally use 1 drop of essential oil to 5ml carrier. So if using a 10ml roller that is just two drops and filling the rest with carrier oil.

For adults we use 1-2 drops per 2ml. So 5-10 drops in a 10ml roller and fill the rest with a carrier oil.

Again this is a general guideline for someone just starting out with essential oils and particularly for safety with hotter oils such as oregano. I often use a higher dilution rate with some of the mood management blends or when I make my own perfumes and deodorants or for more acute situations on adults.

It is also true that citrus essential oils will increase photo-sensitivity of the skin if used topically- making the skin more likely to burn. So if I am going to be out in the sun I won’t use them topically on areas that are going to be in the sun for 12-24 hours. I prefer to difuse citrus oils or use the blends on the soles of my feet.

“Essential Oils should NEVER be used internally.”

This is an interesting one and probably the one we come across the most that sparks extremely passionate debate. I find that most of the concerns are coming from a place of fear and ignorance so let’s clear it up.

Our oils are imported into this country as food or cosmetics (the latter if they are not able to be used internally) and yes we are allowed to talk about using them internally. WE COMPLY WITH AUSTRALIAN LAWS AND REGULATIONS to do so.

Essential oils are used in thousands of food products on the market to provide flavour, and most a LOT lower quality than our oils. Remember they have been labeled as GRAS for internal use. That is generally regarded as safe.

At the end of the day if you’re not comfortable with internal use just use them topically diluted with a carrier oil or aromatically in a diffuser or sniffed from the bottle. No one is forcing you or anyone else to use them internally.

I personally receive amazing benefit out of using a drop or two of the Digestive blend in water half an hour before meals on a daily basis and also find the supplements and softgel range amazing, I take them with food, quality fat and water for better digestion, absorption and assimilation.

doTERRA is based on the French model of Aromatherapy, not the English, I also personally know a number of Qualified Naturopaths and Aromatherapists that have been taught about the benefits of internal and have amazing results with their clients using them in this way. You will even find many practitioner prescribed products on the market that list essential oils as ingredients.

This is what a Naturopath friend of mine said to me when I was chatting with her about it..

“I’ve always thought EO’s were safe to take internally, I’ve used them that way for years, as young as 15. Probably not the best choice with the oils I had access to many years ago but my first books were ones by Valerie Worwood and she teaches internal use.The French model is based on internal use but we’ve gotten our beliefs from the UK which have used essential oils for perfumery and so have always added things to their oils to make them unsuitable for internal use. The people that complain about internal use are the ones that don’t understand it.”

Watch this video from 4.41 in many cases internal use of essential oils is actually SAFER.

“I’m typically analytical so, when presented with information I get people asking questions so, what oil? How much? What quality? How was it used? Were there any prior illnesses? For example, the reason that fennel is believed to induce seizures is that one lady consumed a large amount of cakes containing fennel oil and had a seizure. She was epileptic so I ask these questions, how much oil? What quality? Was it real oil? Had she missed her medication? Had a spike in blood sugar caused the seizure possibly? Even how much stress is she under? Because when I’m stressed I’m more likely to have seizures (I’m epileptic) When you start to show people how little real info there is on essential oils (and natural medicines in general) people become empowered to look for more answers and understand that we actually have very little data on side effects from oils.”

“Rosemary/Peppermint/Eucalyptus should NEVER be used on children under 10.”

Is it necessary to be fearful about using these oils on young children? I personally don’t believe so, read this post for more info http://alaskahealer.com/eucalyptus-rosemary-safe-children/

“The warning is based on a mother in Europe accidentally putting 1 ml of Eucalyptus (unknown brand, origin, or % or 1,8 Cineole) up her 2 month old’s nose. The child did have a toxic reaction. [There was a reference to 9 cases of reaction from having an 1,8 Cineole oil directly up the nose causing reactions. I cannot find the other 8 cases documented.Regardless, we don’t put essential oils up our noses, infant or otherwise. [I suspect this was a UK product being used improperly based on the information.] Keep in mind, 1 ml is a lot of essential oil and there is no reference to the brand, whether it was synthetic or pure natural quality essential oils or the chemical constituency of the oil.”

There are ALWAYS exceptions to the rule, for example with children that have epilepsy or a prone to seizures rosemary may be contraidincated and therefore any blends containing rosemary would be as well. Read and understand the safety considerations which are also sent to every person who purchases oils from me along with dilution recommendations (noted above).

If you are uncomfortable with it don’t do it!

Use other oils such as frankincense/lemon/wild orange/oregano. Again appropriately diluted or in a diffuser.

PLEASE WATCH THIS IN FULL prior to making comment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m5Ihq32zX8

“CPTG is a registered trademark and can’t be trusted. They are not Australian Certified Organic.”

Everyone knows it’s a registered trademark, that would be because the essential oil industry is so poorly regulated much like many other industries. doTERRA developed their own standard and also have EVERY batch third party tested to ensure transparency.

The indigenous, co-impact sourcing model for me is the NUMBER ONE reason I love these oils so much, there are many other reasons of course but this for me is the clincher.

As it say’s on their website.

dōTERRA‘s quality standard for essential oils, CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade^® , exceeds industry standards. Because organic certification varies from country to country, province to province, and in the US, from state to state, it is not currently possible to acquire all oils under certified organic status. However, through the GC/MS analysis process, we are able to determine if any chemical residue exists in the essential oil, such as pesticides, herbicides, extenders, and solvents. With this rigorous analysis process, we are able to ensure that all CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade® essential oils offered by dōTERRA are a step above organic.

“CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade® essential oils mean something very different. It means we protect the chemical compound of the plant just as it was produced from the earth. We don’t need to improve upon that. If we have the care, the scientific knowledge, the commitment and the integrity, we can preserve that.” -Dr. David K. Hill, dōTERRA’s Chief Medical Officer.

We source our essential oils from a number of growers and distillers from around the world. Each location has its own specific laws and rules governing agriculture and collecting wild crafted botanicals. We look for plant materials that are grown in specific environments, but we cannot say that our oils are all “organic” as that requires specific certification that we simply cannot produce for some of our oils.

Our CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade^® testing standard requires that our oil extracts be both free of other foreign materials, which is one of the main reasons for people seeking organic botanicals, and it tests for certain compounds at certain levels so that our oils meet the performance criteria for each lot of oil. If an oil fails the test, specifically pesticides, there is no secondary process for removing the pesticides or foreign matter. The oils failing the test would simply be rejected. Other than the careful distillation of the oils from the plant material, there is no other processing that takes place. They are aromatic extracts, nothing added, and nothing removed—they either meet our standard or they don’t.

We partner with experts that have a lot of experience in this field, and their long history is part of the art of producing such beautiful oils. They are farmers, collectors, and chemists, but they are committed to distilling essential oils as artisans; and we believe are mindful of their environments and are committed to sustainable practices. Our network is vast and our suppliers’ methods are diverse. If we were to learn of any actions of a supplier causing harm to either the environment or to the local people of their community, we would certainly seek other and more appropriate sources. Our long-term hope is as we grow the demand for essential oils, we can help develop clean industry for local economies around the production of plants and extracts. Steam distillation is a very clean process. No solvents are used in the process, the left over plant material can make good compost, and the water waste stream is clean but for a hint of beautiful-smelling aromatics.

Click here to learn more about Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade standards and testing.

“You’re not Supporting Australian’s and Australian Farmers when you buy doTERRA Essential Oils.”

When you buy these oils retail or sign up as a Wellness Advocate to get wholesale access to these oils through an Australian Wellness Advocate like me you are supporting myself, my family and many other Australian’s to feed their families. Not only this but through our co-impact sourcing model which means we source all of our oils from the Indigenous land where they traditionally thrive you are supporting the Australian Tea Tree and Eucalyptus farmers. Both of these oils are from Australian soil!

I love that we are not only supporting Australian’s but that doTERRA support 37 countries worldwide including a total 18 developing countries such as Guatemala, Haiti, Somalia and many more, not only is this providing thousands of jobs globally where they are needed most but it means the energetic quality and therapeutic value of these oils is second to none as they are being grown where nature intended they thrive.

“doTERRA is an Illegal Pyramid Scheme and I’ll be forced to buy every month and on-sell.”

doTERRA is not an illegal pyramid scheme! Haha! I love this hilarious little video sketch which perfectly explains network marketing and the pyramid myth.

One of the things I absolutely LOVE about doTERRA is that when people join as wholesale members there is NO min forced autoship amounts (unless you are wanting to earn commission), simply options to earn free products and product points should they wish to take advantage of our incredible loyalty rewards program, which can be edited down to as little as one item to maintain points or cancelled completely at any time without any kind of fees or charges, or you can just place standard orders at any time as well!

And no, you absolutely do not have to on sell, your wholesale account is yours to do with what you like, use your products for personal use, share a bit if you want OR build a business, you will be supported to do whichever you choose and can change your options at any time, you will not be hassled to do anything you don’t wish to do. Our business is based on the product, not selling an opportunity and you are rewarded for effort, there is no first in best dressed earns the most. There are very little start up costs and massive potential, you can learn more about the ins and outs for earning with doTERRA here.

“There is no Science behind Essential Oils.”

Actually there is a lot of Science and incredible research behind essential oils. In fact doTERRA are putting a LOT of their own revenue money back into research and clinical trials and these oils are currently being studied at Johns Hopkins, one of the most prized research facilities in the world.

Jump on pubmed and type in essential oils and have a look at all the incredible research going on. Also check out aromatic science.

“The Essential Oil didn’t work for me.”

Different essential oils seem to work better for different people, sometimes it takes some playing and adjusting to work out exactly what you need, sometimes it also takes time, regular application and several weeks of use to notice a significant difference. For example some people don’t find Lavender is particularly relaxing or helpful to get them to sleep, while others do, but that person might find a blend of Vetiver, Marjoram and Cedarwood absolutely perfect or the Grounding Blend on the soles of the feet. Give the oils a chance and understand each other’s differences.

If you are going to only try one oil, one time for one thing and go in with a negative perception around it you probably won’t get the miracle result you were desiring. Be open minded and continue to learn and use resources to educate yourself.

If you think of anything else you would like addressed please let me know. Remember there is enough abundance and room for everyone, if you are trying to do business by publicly mocking and putting down other people YOU will lose out in the end. Get back to doing what you are passionate about and making a difference in as many people’s lives as possible.

If you have other concerns about doTERRA they have most likely been addressed in this wonderful letter from CEO Dave Stirling.