Wild As The Wind, DoTERRA Or Neal's Yard?

A spiritual take on comparing things...

The question relating to, which UK essential oil brand is better than the rest, is a difficult one. This is because I run one of the few quality essential oil businesses in the UK, and the question is always presented as a challenge to compare my UK essential oil business, with other essential oil companies that operate in the UK.

I try and be as impartial as possible when I answer people’s questions, as it doesn’t ‘do’ to spend our lives discrediting others. It doesn’t make the world a better place… so, I try and answer questions like these in as life-affirming and inspirational ways as possible.

It is efforts to do this that allow us to develop spiritually… that are the precursor to ‘black sky’ thinking!

“Black?”

“Surely that should be blue?”

Well, no… but, I’ll explain why black sky thinking is the way forward a little later on. First, I’d like to share the most recent enquiry inviting me to compare Wild As The Wind, DoTERRA and Neal's Yard…

I am just starting my journey into exploring essential oils and I am loving your ethos, am finding your website full of interesting info and really like your price range.

I have used Neil's Yard in the past (not sure if that is a good thing?) but recently have been told that doterra oils are the best to use. I am really interested in using oils as cleaning products and know that doterra are safe to ingest, although I find their price tag expensive.

Please could you explain what the differences are (if any)  between your oils and Neil's Yard and doterra. Not sure where to start.

Thanks Jo

These questions are troublesome from a number of perspectives, not least because they are framed in the same way as ‘spammy’ emails.

Yes, for some unknown reason, I get really random emails asking the most peculiar questions about essential oils and how to use them etc, and it’s very difficult to know which are genuine or not… So, despite already working around the clock, I have to make the effort to answer them all. It’s one of the most distressing aspects of the job, if I’m honest… there are so many more pressing things, that would be beneficial to people, that I could be doing, rather than wasting my time on someone who is consciously trying to waste it!

It’s theft!

And, to steal time from the time-poor, is deeply unkind.

Nevertheless, this question, I am very glad to say, turned out to be a genuine enquiry. Here is my response:

Dear Jo,

Sorry it's taken me a little while to get back to you. I did a double event over the weekend and have had a lot of catching up to do as a consequence.

To answer your questions...

Neil's Yard used to be fantastic, but as with so many businesses, after they were sold, things changed.

DoTERRA operate a business model which is very much part of the 'old paradigm'. It can be construed as deeply exploitative, and whilst people continue to support it, they will continue to perpetuate it.

Our spending power equates to some of the most available power and influence we can hope to exert within our world at this time. It is imperative to invest it in a way that supports our outlook and intentions. DoTERRA aren’t a UK essential oil brand, but, are instead, an America company who operates in the UK. This means that DoTERRA revenues are likely all sent back to the US.

DoTERRA essential oils are very good quality. But, they don't have a monopoly on being able to source exceptional essential oils.

Wild As The Wind also sources exceptional aromatherapy oils. The difference being, we don't try and convince anyone we are the only ones who can do this.

But, we don't need to... Our prices are very affordable. Only a business trying to sell essential oils, at the price DoTERRA is selling them for, needs to make these kinds of claims.

The following is an excerpt from an article I published a little while ago.

"DoTERRA unquestionably sell excellent quality essential oils. However, they are the brand who receive the most negative mentions within Wild As The Wind feedback. Nevertheless, it is very rarely the quality of DoTERRA oils that are in question. Instead, it is their business practices and marketing claims which are highlighted.

There is another large US essential oil brand who arguably operate on a similar basis, which is facing a class action lawsuit in America for predatory practices. Both this company, and DoTERRA, are multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes.

As of Novemeber 2021 DoTERRA have a 3.6 rating out of 5 from 68 reviews on Trustpilot

They have a 2.99 rating out of 5 from 41 reviews on Sitejabber.”

I didn’t mention it in my response, but Wild As The Wind have a 5 star rating out of 5 across the board, aside from a 4.9 rating in Google. All the Google reviews are 5 star aside from one 2 star rating that isn’t accompanied by any text. (I personally think it’s from someone who wanted to leave a review, but got overwhelmed by the technical challenge of it all, and bailed… I am sure they didn’t want to tarnish the Wild As The Wind reputation intentionally.)

Several people have written reviews comparing Wild As The Wind with DoTERRA... Wild As The Wind always come off best, but, in DoTERRA’s defence that's somewhat inevitable, seeing as the feedback is usually left on the Wild As The Wind website.

This oil is on a whole new level of fantastic. I used to make my own facial serum. I used to buy my oils from Doterra. I stopped doing both when I found Wild as the Wind! The quality and choice of oils is far superior to anywhere I have used before. And the facial serum is perfect for my skin which feels amazing every day now.

Angela, UK

There are a lot of people who are working for [DoTERRA in Malta] and there is quite a bit of info being distributed on how to use them whether food wise, for cleaning, health wise and many work shops on emotions etc using these oils.

*They say there are the only oils that can be ingested. You make your own blends if you wish. I find them very different to yours [Wild As The Wind Essential Oils]. Yours are more upmarket in my opinion and not the same at all to these.

Stefy, Malta

All I can ultimately say about Wild As The Wind essential oil quality is that it is exceptional, and, I feel, the intention behind Wild As The Wind is very important and progressive. It is all about caring for people and supporting them on their health journey as much as possible.

And, the part about helping and supporting, which is often left unsaid, is that respecting people, and not trying to extract egregious profits from them, is also deeply important.

I hope this answers your questions... It's hard to write equitably when performing comparisons. I know customers must compare, but it's certainly not what's going on internally at Wild As The Wind.

Here, the focus is actually ignoring what other essential oil businesses are doing, and doing the best job possible, helping as many people as possible, by creating a unique way of doing this... That's what makes Wild As The Wind tick.

Sending much love. x x x

I guess the only way that we achieve true innovation is by ignoring the rest and stepping out into the abyss. It is only when we enter the unknown can we find something new.

The abyss isn’t blue!

It’s black!

I feel that what we do, if we are going to be doing it in a healthy way, has to be a reflection of who we are. But, sadly, too many people are being compromised in this regard.

I don’t know how the immediate future is going to look. I think things are going to look pretty messy for a while… But, if we all opt to act with integrity, to issue in a new dawn, then the world we will inhabit will be very different from this one. It will be a world where personal integrity can flourish.

It will be a world where we get to be who we are.

I look forward to the day when we all stop putting the cart before the horse… When we stop saying, “how do I fit into this world…? How do I mould myself, squeeze myself, and ultimately misrepresent myself, so that someone will give me a job?”

Instead, we are going to declare", “Hi, I’m here, and this is who I am! This is my giftedness, and THIS is what I wish to share with the world. This is how I am personally going to make the world a better place.” And, when that day dawns, the days of the corporate lackey will be done.

And, when the corporate lackies are no more, then maybe the all-powerful, monopolistic corporations will crumble into the dust.

WE need to stop fixating on how we need the corporations to give us a job, and acknowledge that it’s the corporations who rule the world, and that they are shaping it in ways that are reductive, restrictive and often repugnant.

Independent research has confirmed that corporations are PSYCHOPATHIC in their intent. So, that is what they are in the business of propagating.

It’s time to push back against psychopathic entities and make life-affirming choices instead.

Investing in small, independent businesses, instead of corporations, is one of the most potent things we can do to bring about positive change in our world.

Thank goodness this idea is catching on…

I have researched many companies to buy my oils from. It was shortlisted to Wild as the Wind and Doterra. Wild as the Wind won! I love everything that you and your company stands for and would love to support your business. I love supporting small business. I love how there is so much information on the website and lots of informative articles.

Angela’s Testimonial

Hello Rachel,
I just wanted to thank you for the lovely oils you make available for us & also say just how surprised I was to find so much insightful information on your website. It’s not everyday you buy a product & find quality information about natural law & health. It’s really quite impressive & I can see it comes from a genuine place of care for helping people find the truth, so thank you & I wish you all the best. Sincerely
Steven.

Testimonials Page - Wild As The Wind

Those of you who subscribe to the Wild As The Wind Shop website will know that I am in Bulgaria buying oils at the moment.

I love it in Sofia… it is filled with delight.

Yesterday, I stumbled across a tiny glass fronted unit down a side street. In it were three elderly women, cutting fabric, and sewing, using electric sewing machines.

There were crafty items on display… leather coin purses, ceramic Christmas decorations, and fabric tulips… I decided to let myself into this little hive of industry to explore some more. The women quickly demanded that I close the door. I smiled. It was so bloomin’ hot in there!

After trying to enquire about the price of things, one woman said, “Wait, I go get boss”…

A naturally beautiful younger woman arrived a few minutes later. In broken English, she explained that the woman who had come to collect her was fluent in English, and that she was from Afghanistan.

When I first entered the shop this woman had been wearing a mask… but, out of respect, when she spoke to me, she had pulled it down. She didn’t replace it for the whole time I was there.

She was shy to speak English, but I looked at her with delight when I was told that she could, and I nodded appreciatively when it was explained she was from Afghanistan.

Then the attention returned to the diminutive lady, at the sewing machine, closest to the door. When she stood to show me something, a little earlier, her movements betrayed her. She clearly has arthritis or rheumatism… body-wide inflammation that is probably due to her diet, and from stress.

Later, I learned she is from Syria. No wonder it was so hot in there!

Now, with more English-speaking support in the room, I tried again to explain that this beautiful Syrian woman needed to use Frankincense Essential Oil for her inflammation and pain.

As usual, I resorted to the three wise men and baby Jesus story, pointing to my fingers as I slowly announced the three gifts… “Frankincense, Myrrh and gold”.

Gold is a bit of a universally acknowledged word, so I was hoping they were going to be able to reverse engineer everything back from that, but I’m not sure they did.

So, I abandoned that tack, and started on a new one. Diet!

Having recently learned that the Bulgarian for milk sounds a bit like Mel-ek-o, I again pointed to my fingers to count out the things she should stop eating. (The universal hand sign for stopping something is the horizontal, backward and forward hand movement in front of the throat… Nice!)

Apparently sugar is a bit of a universally understood word too. The moment I mentioned it, she started waving her arms and shaking her head, as though firmly and clearly saying that she didn’t eat sugar.

Then I moved on to grains and bread, and she fell silent, sitting pensively, head bowed.

I turned to everyone and said my goodbyes. They knew I needed to get to the dentist.

Then, just before turning to leave, I reminded the beautiful Syrian lady… “No meleko, sugar, bread or grains”.

“Noooo!” she repeated wagging her finger, and then ventured one word, a little timidly, but still somewhat optimistic…

“Cake…?”

I immediately burst out laughing, and said as jovially and warmly as I could, but firmly:

“No cake!”, and burst out laughing again. She smiled, and shook her head. “No cake!”, she repeated. Only the corners of her mouth signalling her disappointment.

But, we only crave sugar when the world isn’t sweet enough… Hopefully, I brought a little more love into her world yesterday. x x x x x x x