Trending Questions

After careful investigation of the variability of appearance of the Thieves Fresh Essence Plus Mouthwash, we have identified the cause of the color changes.

Thieves Fresh Essence Plus Mouthwash contains a technology known as liposomes. Liposomes are made with surfactants which are a group of ingredients that have a hydrophilic (water soluble) end and a hydrophobic (oil soluble) end. When enough of these molecules come together, they create “bubbles” with the oil-soluble end pointing inward. These liposomes allow our essential oils to be captured inside the bubble and then evenly distributed in a water-based solution. Normally, the essential oils would float on the top of the mouthwash.

Our liposomes utilize Quillaja Extract as the primary surfactant. This is a natural extract that can range in color. The Thieves Fresh Essence essential oil blend is often amber to yellow in color because of the natural variability of each of the oils. The liposomes themselves have an opaque or “milky” appearance that can range from white to light tan in color. However, using a natural surfactant and the strength of our Thieves blend can cause the liposomes to open and release the essential oil into the formula. Historically this is what has given the product some separation and a more yellow and darker color. Some lots have kept the liposomes intact, and therefore, the product has appeared opaquer and milk-like.

Please rest assured that we have evaluated the product at each variation and have determined that the product coloration is not changing the product's performance or safety. If separation is apparent, shake before use.

If you are still concerned about your Thieves Fresh Essence Plus Mouthwash, we would be happy to submit a report regarding your experience for our files. Please contact a member of our Member Services or Product Support Team to submit a complaint record.

In 2020, the National Advertising Division (NAD) issued a directive to several companies in our industry, including Young Living, to stop using certain taglines when referring to essential oils and oil-infused products.  

During this period there were multiple labels with different taglines that were put into production while we worked through the NAD request. Our new labels now say “Premium Essential Oil”; however, because of our inventory levels, some customers may receive the previous label versions until the corresponding batches have been sold. 

Rest assured: The essential oil found in every Young Living bottle—regardless of label version—meets the unmatched quality standards we've always demanded. 

Our status as the world leader in essential oils means we differentiate ourselves beyond common claims of quality. Our product labels say “Premium” because it represents our unmatched commitment to sourcing, testing, and providing superior essential oils and oil-infused products. Of note: In 2020 the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau issued a directive that companies in our industry stop using the phrases “100% pure” and “therapeutic grade” when referring to essential oils and oil-infused products. Since this directive, we’ve updated our product labels to reflect “Premium”; however, some products you receive in your order may reflect previous language while we move through our inventory. Rest assured the essential oil found in every Young Living bottle—regardless of the language used on our label—meets the unmatched quality standards we require. We’re proud of how this lets Young Living continue to set ourselves apart.

Yes. Runfa has been a supplier for Young Living for 20 years and was well known to founder Gary Young. Young Living sources our Wintergreen essential oil from a region of China where the highest quality of wintergreen ground cover is prevalent. We have visited the locations where wild-crafting and distillation occur to ensure that the process meets or exceeds our Seed to Seal standards. No matter the company’s name, this supplier continues to pass all audits in providing the best wintergreen available.

Since our inception, Young Living has sourced 100 percent of our oils from our corporate farms, partner farms, and Seed to Seal®-certified suppliers. The percentage of the total we source from each varies from year to year, depending on a variety of factors. We’ve invested unmatched time and resources to ensure that our high standards for quality are prioritized at each farm, so your home and family get the absolute best that nature has to offer.

Since 1994, Young Living has set the industry standard for the highest-quality essential oils available anywhere.

Only premium-quality essential oils come with a Young Living label. We have corporate-owned farms, partner farms, and suppliers that must pass rigorous sourcing standards. They’re subject to regular review of compliance with those standards.

Young Living’s investment of nearly 30 years into the farms, processes, research, science, testing, and people means we provide the leading essential oils in the market. We set the industry standard and remain dedicated to inspiring other companies to rise with us.

Bottles produced for NingXia Red are custom screen-printed to include all legally required labeling information for each market where we sell NingXia Red.

At times we might have a shortage of empty bottles in one market and a surplus of empty bottles in another market. For example, if we have a shortage of empty bottles for the U.S. market, we can take empty bottles from another market (e.g., Mexico) to support demand in the U.S. When we do this, we apply a shrink-wrapped sleeve of the U.S. label over the screen-printed Mexican label to make sure the U.S. NingXia Red product is properly labeled according to U.S. labeling regulations.

During this process, U.S. members continue to receive the same product they have always received.

Young Living is not going public nor being bought out by another company. We remain fiercely independent and fully committed to doing what our Brand Partners and customers need us to do. Our recent reduction in operational costs was to ensure the company’s overall health and sustainability so that we can continue to empower entrepreneurs worldwide. 

Young Living Colombia continues to operate its business as usual. There are no plans to suspend operations of Young Living Colombia.

Young Living operated in Guangzhou, China, from 2018 until 2019. Young Living products are still available under a Not for Resale (NFR) model.

Young Living Hong Kong continues operations as usual.

Yes. All Young Living essential oils are tested for lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury, using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). 

Oil-Infused Products 

We test Young Living’s other oil-infused products for heavy metals according to all applicable global regulations and our stringent quality specifications. 

Dietary Supplements and Foods 

Each lot of Young Living products categorized as foods or dietary supplements, including the Vitality collection of essential oils,is tested for lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury. 

Yes. Young Living products are tested for a full range of microbial contaminants, including pathogens like e. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, salmonella, and other possible organism contaminants (such as yeasts or molds).  We use validated methods based on industry requirements and standards.

Young Living tests for some agrochemicals in house, and we use specialized third-party laboratories for others. Recently we invested in additional analytical instrumentation so we can perform all required analyses in house in the future.

Young Living offers products no one else does, so essential oil and natural product testing presents unique challenges: Samples can vary from year to year and harvest to harvest, due to the variation inherent in natural ingredients; samples also may vary from location to location and even within the same source location. Our talented scientists continue to look for improved analysis methods, even if we have analyzed a sample in house thousands of times over the course of our history.

Yes. Young Living uses third-party or contract laboratories when specialized testing is needed, and/or the specific test methods are not available at our in-house quality-control laboratory. Third-party laboratories also are utilized during verification and validation activities to help ensure Young Living’s methods and data are accurate. Testing conducted at third-party laboratories include active ingredients (vitamins), agrochemicals, phthalates, preservative efficacy, and skin sensitivity (also known as repeated-insult patch testing, or RIPT).

We know more about our products than anyone else because we have studied and tested our products in our own laboratories since our earliest days, in 1994. Developing the expertise internally allows us to be more thorough and agile in our analysis, and we can quickly identify and address any issues.

Because of our decades’ worth of testing essential oils, we have an extensive data library, and we understand our products better than any third-party or contract laboratory.

Another advantage of in-house testing is that we control the scheduling, so we save time and resources during sample analysis, resulting in better timelines and launch execution. For example, if expedited testing is required for a Young Living product to meet supply chain deadlines, our quality-control laboratory can prioritize the testing for optimal results. Young Living has limited control over sample scheduling when using third-party or contract laboratories, which increases the chance of having issues with timing and/or potentially going out of stock.

Young Living has taken the position to not publish test results to protect our intellectual property.

Young Living routinely tests approximately 30,000 different samples each year, performing multiple tests on each sample. This results in more than 315,000 tests annually.

Young Living test results are documented, reviewed, and reported internally, then they’re stored in Young Living’s Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and measured against our specifications prior to release. Certificates of Analysis (COAs) reporting these test results are created for every Young Living product and become part of the release record. These records are routinely provided to governments or other regulatory bodies who require them for product registrations and regulatory audits. This includes prominent organizations like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in Australia, and Health Canada (HC). COAs also are provided to Young Living’s contract manufacturers to ensure they’re part of their quality systems.

Not necessarily. In order to fully assess oil quality, test results for essential oils should include, at minimum, specific gravity, optical rotation, FTIR, color, aroma, individual components, and relative component amounts determined by GC, etc.

Additionally, specialized test results such as chiral chromatography and isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) should be included for select essential oils. Presenting only a GC printout provides some information about an essential oil, but it does not contain enough information to allow an informed user to determine if an oil meets a quality standard.

 Click here for more information on testing.

Yes. We analyze essential oils from our Young Living corporate farms, partner farms, and Seed to Seal®-certified suppliers for agrochemicals including pesticides and herbicides. Some of this testing is performed in-house, and some are sent to specialized, third-party laboratories. We recently invested in additional analytical instrumentation so we can perform all required analyses in-house in the future. 

In 1986 California voters approved a law known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, better known as Proposition 65. Proposition 65 is a California law that requires businesses to provide a warning label on products that contain any of over 800 chemicals, even when these chemicals are found in amounts that are exceedingly below the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and internationally recognized standards for dietary supplements (ANSI 173).

Note: This issue first came to our attention in 2015, and we’ve been meeting or exceeding the requirements ever since.

Young Living’s products are safe, but some are required, under California law, to have a label since they include trace amounts of naturally occurring lead, which can be widely distributed through the environment in soil, air, water, and rocks. Young Living does not add lead to its products. The low levels found in each of these products are a result of natural occurrence from the soils where the plants that produced the oils and other ingredients included in these products were grown.

Note: This issue first came to our attention in 2015, and we’ve been meeting or exceeding the requirements ever since.

Prop 65 has among the most stringent standards in the United States. To provide some perspective, Prop 65 mandates a warning if there are more than 0.5 micrograms of lead consumed per serving, while the Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA) exposure level for infants and children is 60 micrograms per day—making California’s law 100 times stricter than federal standards.

Moreover, virtually all botanical products contain trace amounts of lead and other heavy metals. For example, the typical amount of naturally occurring lead found in 4-ounce servings of the following health foods necessitate Prop 65 warning labels:  

• Avocado: 4.5 mcg;  

• Spinach: 7.0 mcg; and 

• Brussels sprouts: 7.9 mcg. 

Note: This issue first came to our attention in 2015, and we’ve been meeting or exceeding the requirements ever since.

No, you shouldn’t worry—Young Living’s products are run through a battery of tests in our own laboratory to ensure they meet our quality specifications. Young Living never compromises on quality, and we’ve made great efforts to offer our customers only the highest-quality oil-infused products that they can feel good about using themselves, with their families, and in their homes.

A Prop 65 warning does not mean that a product is unsafe; many other essential oil and supplement companies also carry Prop 65 warning labels. The standards for Prop 65 are extremely stringent—much more so than those established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It’s been shown that just because another brand doesn’t have a Prop 65 warning label, it does not automatically mean that the other brand is free of the substance or that it has lower levels.

Note: This issue first came to our attention in 2015, and we’ve been meeting or exceeding the requirements ever since.