Essential Oils - Cost, Worth and Getting them Cheap

I have used essential oils for years. Basically what Essential oils are is the oils from different parts of plants pulled out without heat (by distillation) to create an oil that is expensive as the time to gather, distill and bottle them is a big expense.

The oils can be from bark, leaves, fruit, root etc. Some plants have many parts that can be used. The hardest ones to get and thus the most expensive are from trees. You can't get the oil from the tree without destroying the tree usually so they tend to be expensive as they destroy the tress in the process causing a shortage in the tree, making the oil expensive. There are places now that grow the trees just for the oils helping restore some balance but they are still usually very expensive.

As you can see by the picture at the top, I have lots of oils. That isn't all of them but most of what I have. There are a few oils that I buy in bulk because I use them for diffusing in the house or use for specific treatments. When you buy oils by the little bottle at the health food store, the item has been marked up 3-10 times with each person who handles it. Many of the main oil companies buy their oils from the same importer. The oil is the same but just sold in different manners.

Some oils I buy in bulk, I get from an importer. I looked into buying larger bulk but didn't want to get into the "business" aspect as they have to sell only to wholesale businesses. So, I buy from a smaller importer when I need those type oils in larger amounts.

If I want larger bottles but don't want to make an order I will buy the larger "Now" brand oils to diffuse in the house. I don't usually use those oils on people just because they aren't all marked "pure" or "Organic" and I don't want to take a chance.

When using oils on people, I make sure I trust the source and they are marked "Pure" and "Organic" as sometimes they add thinning agents. I talk about "Thieves" oil in my health pages off the main page. Here is a link where I describe how I use Thieves.

Three times now I have wanted to get a "set" of oils for my daughters as they leave for school and missions etc. If I were to go anywhere and buy an ounce of every oil the company sells, it would cost hundreds to thousands of dollars. When I say that I have thousands of dollars worth of oils, I am NOT joking. Some of the oils or oil mixtures are $100 an ounce or more.

One of my dearest friends daughter-in-law had a serious head trauma in a car accident about 5 years ago and they thought she would be a vegetable for the rest of her life. My friend went daily and applied some of these expensive oils on her feet and head and did body work on her. I went a few times as well to help. Yesterday, I saw her daughter-in-law with her 11 month old baby carrying her and walking. She still walks with a limp but functions in life.

I used some similar oils on my mother when she almost died a few years ago. They helped her get rid of a brain infection requiring a emergency brain shunt. Link to that here.

You have to decide how much faith you have in the oils and do your research. Those are two witnesses I have of the power of oils and could go on and on about what we use them for in our home. Burns are one of the biggest reasons we use oils. Tea tree oil (melaleuca tree) kills pain immediately on burns. Here is a link to a post about that. It is also good for teething or teeth issues. (Here is a link about how it helps that and wisdom teeth pain.)

What is the best way to store the oils? I have tried several things in the past and end up using an insulated lunch bag. It isn't good for the oils to have drastic heat fluctuations so the insulated bag keeps them at a constant temperature in case I am taking them somewhere. It also protects them against breaking if it fell. They do sell foam containers through some of the oil distributors but I have found that mine are ok if I treat them well. I don't often take all the oils anywhere. If I need some oils, I usually take a smaller padded overnight bag with just the oils and the carrier oil (olive, grape seed or some other oil to add to an oil to make it not so strong on the skin. Cinnamon burns on the skin if not used with a carrier oil) needed for the treatment.

The best way to get a set of oils is to buy the testers from a store when they are replacing the test bottles. Most of the time, the bottle is still 1/4 to 1/2 full. They don't fill the tester bottles but there is still a good amount of oil in the bottle. It is a good way to get some of the more expensive oils and some of those you may have not used before. It lets you try them for cheap before expending money on them. The store gets the testers for free with their purchase so if you ask them if you can purchase them for $1 each, you get a set of oils for $30-$100 depending on how many testers they have. Most oils have about 40-50 oils in their lines.

If you go to a large store, they may not have as much oil left in the tester bottles or may keep them for an employee. I suggest finding a smaller store and ask them to call you when they get new tester bottles. Make friends with the owner. They are usually people who enjoy helping and healing others and would be happy to make $50 on something they didn't pay anything for anyway.

I have purchase tester sets three times now. I offer to pay $1 for each bottle if they sell me the whole set. If you say $1 per bottle, they may keep out the expensive one's and sell you ones that may not be worth $1 like orange, peppermint and Citronella which are quite inexpensive. So, by asking, "If I buy the who tester set, will you let me have them all for $1 each?" they will be happy to clear out the whole set and make $50. Any less, they may only let you have the cheaper oils.

As you can see here, I got a great deal when you think that most of the bottles I bought were 1/3 to 1/2 full and I paid $1. Look at what the full bottle costs. You can see that I got a good deal. I just showed the price of a few but most bottles in the set were at least $10 a bottle.

I put them in this case with a booklet from the company on which oils are good for what and a copy of a booklet from Young Living Oils which talks about the safe way to use the oils. I write on masking tape with a Sharpie, the name of the oil, put it on the lid and cover it with scotch tape or packing tape so I can find the oil at a glance. Some companies sell labels but don't cover all the oils so that is the best way I found to label them.

I use oils daily in my life. I rub them on my sore spots, for headaches, burns, sore throats, I have some diffusing 24/7 to keep germs down in the house, etc.

We make our own bug spray and insect repellant using bulk oils as well. Here is a link to that post. 

If I had to suggest three oils every house should have, "Thieves" mix by Young Living, Tea Tree - bought at Wal-mart in the vitamin section for $8 for 2 oz. used for teeth issues including teething and best for burn pain, and Pan Away - mix by Young Living as well. Used for headaches, joint pain, alertness etc.


If you "put it out there" that you want oils, they will show up. You can find them for less money. I'm living proof.