Brand Review: Mountain Rose Herbs Essential Oils

If you’ve ever searched online “where to buy essential oils,” no doubt you’ve found a ton of different options. And you’ve probably also felt completely overwhelmed. From blog posts to big essential oil companies, everyone seems to have an opinion on where to buy essential oils. And since the essential oil market is unregulated the phrase, “best essential oil company” is….well, very subjective. 

You can find essential oils almost anywhere: the grocery store, gas station, online. There are tons of places that are selling essential oils now. Why is that? Well, there’s been a resurgence of using natural strategies for common issues like low energy, trouble sleeping, anxiety, boosting the immune system, and the list goes on. There’s a reason why people say, “there’s an oil for that.”

Most likely you landed on this article because you’re on the search for essential oils— and you want to know what the best brand is to buy from. You’ve probably heard about Mountain Rose Herbs essential oils and want an in-depth review. And that’s exactly what I’m going to give you.

In this article, we’re going to review one of the most sought out essential oil companies, Mountain Rose Herbs essential oils. It’s a brand name you’ll see pop up in blogs and wellness articles frequently, so we’re going to take a more in-depth look. We will measure it on a grading scale of A+ – F based on price, selection, and quality. 

When looking for your perfect essential oil brand, it’s important to have a clear goal in mind. Are you looking to use essential oils for therapeutic benefits, or do you want to mix up some all-natural cleaning products?

If you’re looking to make some simple DIY cleaning recipes, then getting a cheap not so pure brand is not the worst idea. But if you want therapeutic benefits, a pure brand that passed all the tests is what you need to get.

By the end of this, you’ll know whether Mountain Rose Herbs essential oils will be the best choice for you. But first, let’s get to know our rating scale. 

Rating Scale

A+ Out of this world value, quality and experience for customers. Ideal for using essential oils for therapeutic benefit and for those that want to make essential oils use a lifestyle. These companies often go above and beyond in customer experience as well.

A Really great value and quality. These oils are perfect for therapeutic benefit and for those that want to use as a lifestyle. They may not offer some of the perks andother nuances of higher-rated companies.

B Above average compared to other brands but falls behind other companies that outperform on quality, value, and customer experience. These oils are still good(but may not be the best) for therapeutic benefit.

C Average. This company falls in the middle of the pack. Not the best and not the worst. Often there are substantial opportunities to improve in one or more areas. These oils are typically best used for their aroma or what I call “smell good” oils. Use for therapeutic benefit likely won’t get results that you’re happy with.

D Below average. There are way better options to choose from.

F I wouldn’t give these oils to my worst enemy.

Price

Money isn’t everything, but this is one of the most searched questions about essential oils brands. What’s the price? Whether you’re on a super tight budget and you’re looking for cheap essential oils or you want the creme de la creme (which can come at a higher price), I’ll let you know what works best for your budget.

Selection

I highly doubt you want to spend your time ordering essential oils from multiple companies – or running errands all over town if you’re buying locally. No thanks.

Depending on what you need, you may want to shop with a company that has a wide variety of options- or if you know that all you want is lavender essential oil to make your laundry and home smell nice…well, variety isn’t really that important. Our insights on selection will help you understand what you can expect in terms of oil options that you have available.

Quality

Purity or quality is important too. Whether you’re looking for organic essential oils or you want to use them for their therapeutic benefits, the quality is really important because it plays a huge role in the results you get. And if results is what you’re after then quality should be what you’re after, too.

Now that we’ve got the basics covered let’s start exploring Mountain Rose Herbs essential oils. 

The Basics: Who is Mountain Rose Herbs

Mountain Rose Herbs was born in 1987 when Rosemary Gladstar began her small herbal business to provide supplies for her students at the California School of Herbal Studies. Today, Mountain Rose Herbs sells a large variety of health products with a focus on “sustainable organic ingredients.” 

Searching through their site, you’ll find tons of herbs and spices; bath, body, and hair care tinctures and lozenges; an array of teas; kitchen tools and books; and plenty of salts, butters, and clays. Right alongside these products are the Mountain Rose Herbs essential oils, which is what we are going to be focusing on today. 

Price

Mountain Rose Herbs oils are a great example of the middle of the road essential oils prices. There’s a noticeable difference in the pricing – you’ll see frankincense being much higher – which is a great sign of proper sourcing (you never want a precious oil to cost the same amount as a common, inexpensive oil). Even still, everything is staying at a moderate pricing point. I took 3 of the most popular essential oils from Mountain Rose Herbs Essential Oils and priced them below. 

Lavender 

$12.75 for 15 mL

Frankincense 

$37.50 for 15 mL*

Peppermint

$8.75 for 15 mL

Selection

Mountain Rose Herbs essential oils has a large selection of single oils – just about anything you’d need. You’ll find all the basics and tons of fabulous specialty oils, which many essential oil brands don’t carry. They also offer a few convenient sample sets: the classic is a great introduction, they have blends specially formulated for energy balance, and the Aphrodite is all about enriching love and passion.

*Pay attention when you’re on their website: Mountain Rose Herbs also offers a variety of aromatic oils that are not pure essential oils. It’s important not to confuse the two!

Quality

Mountain Rose Herbs clearly provide the extraction method and scientific botanical name for each oil, they have a detailed quality page that goes over sourcing and general testing for most of the herbs on their website, but I don’t see anything specific to essential oils.  They do mark which oils have been certified organic (most have), so if that’s important to you then they do offer a wide selection. 

But what about specific essential oil tests? The website says you can request information on their testing results; however, there are no clear details posted, which I’d normally want to see (some other companies will put the results up directly).

Recent research from Consumer Advocates on the most popular essential oil brands showed markers of adulteration in peppermint essential oil from Mountain Rose Herbs. “Addition of menthol, menthyl acetate, and Himalayan Cedarwood were detected in their peppermint oil.” 

What worries me about this is that if this one oil showed markers of adulteration, how many others also show the same thing but were not tested? This is a big deal and really gives them a bit of a black mark in my opinion because oil purity is something that’s so confusing for consumers and they market their oils as “pure.” 

In their defense, I don’t think Mountain Rose Herbs intentionally went out of their way to adulterate their essential oils. I think they are similar to most oil companies in that they source their oils from a “middle man” that claims the oils are pure and of the highest quality. They reference on their site that they purchase botanicals from another supplier:

“Here at Mountain Rose Herbs, the first criteria for purchasing botanicals are the potential social and environmental impacts of growing, harvesting, and drying herbs. This applies to all botanical goods harvested and produced overseas, as well as right here in the United States.”

“When the herb we ordered arrives at our facility, it is immediately quarantined for QC review. At this point, a qualified Quality Control member will extract samples for immediate testing in our laboratory.”

They say all the right things with respect to the quality control and “testing” but why did their peppermint show markers of adulteration? Since they probably don’t actually distill their own essential oils have boots on the ground , they just have to trust whoever they’re buying their oils from. This is just one reason why I prefer not to buy oils from a company that sources from a middle man. 

Mountain Rose Herbs Essential Oils Rating 

Bottom Line: I used to consider Mountain Rose Herbs a considerably high quality company with decent discrepancy. After reading the Consumer Advocates  study, my view has changed. 

After diving deep into Mountain Rose Herbs essential oils I’ve tallied them up to a C on our rating scale. That’s average on our scale. This company falls in the middle of the pack. Not the best and not the worst. Often there are substantial opportunities to improve in one or more areas. These oils are typically best used for their aroma or what I call “smell good” oils. Personally, I’m not comfortable using oils from a company that tests positive for adulteration. If it’s something that you can overlook then it might be a good fit for you. 

Here’s the good news: If you’re all about those single oils at moderate prices, this could be a nice option. But if you’re looking for ready-made blends or want more transparency with testing results, there are other options that would better suit you.

Have you tried Mountain Rose Herbs Essential Oils? If so, what was your experience with them? I would love to know, drop a comment below!