In recent years, DoTerra has surged to the forefront of the Aromatherapy Network marketing niche. Someone in the higher ups has some phenomenal marketing skills. They have "borrowed" ideas from Young Living's Gary Young. I have no problem with this. There are countless companies with "knock off" versions of Young Living blends (including me). The problem I have is with safety issues. I have addressed this somewhat in my Page entitled "Sensitization--VeryImportant". The consultants are poorly trained, if at all. I was able to go online and take their "certification" course and get certified in about 20 minutes, just answering a few questions, without having even taken their "training" courses. Most having not to do with Aromatherapy, but with Multi-Level marketing.
Their "Product Guide" (in 2013) was full of inaccuracies and misleading information. For example, on page 22, it showed someone dropping undiluted oils on someone's back. This is a BIG no-no and a very dangerous practice. Whoever does this could open themselves up to lawsuits. In several places, it was encouraged to drop the oils on the tongue! This is another big no-no. Again refer to my article on Sensitization.
Their "top seller" is blend called "Slim N Sassy", called a Metabolic blend. The ingredients are fairly straight forward, but ginger and cinnamon are considered high sensitizers. the encouragement is given to add 8 drops of the undiluted blend to a 16 oz. glass of water and to use 25 drops per day. This is way overkill and potentially dangerous. Oils are very powerful and one drop is enough to flavor 32-64 oz. More is not better. At the suggested rate, a person would go through a 15 ml bottle of oil every 10 days! This would translate to nearly $75 - $99 a month!
The truth is, a person would lose weight and have their appetite suppressed by drinking a full glass of water before each meal anyway. At any rate, 1 drop per quart is plenty!
Claims that they are the "only" company to have pure, therapeutic oils. When, in fact they get their oils from the same wholesalers that many other companies do. They have pretty much ripped off the recipes for their oil blends from Young Living. Somewhere along the line, the founders have found someone with incredible marketing skills.
DoTerra got a very bad reputation among the international aromatherapy community for their dangerous practices and lack of concern for safety issues, not to mention their high prices and extremely aggressive marketing techniques. (In reviewing their most recent website, this has been toned down considerably.)If you use essential oils (any brand), knowledge is paramount. I have been studying and using them way before Young Living and certainly way before DoTerra.
Their prices for commonly used oils such as Eucalyptus and the Citrus oils are in most cases 4-10 times the cost of getting the same quality oils from other sources. For example, Helichrysum (one of my favorites) is $107 for 1/6 oz. I can get 1/2 oz. for only $120 from Nature's Gift, a trusted supplier. Big difference. Again my problem is not with the quality of the oils, but with the marketing techniques, high prices and lack of safety information.
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