- About Young Living Oils -
Seed to Seal Commitment
The Process
Young Living’s farms use a process known as steam distillation to separate aromatic constituents (essential oils) from plant materials.
This advanced method is used to protect the complex aromatic compounds found in essential oils.
1. HEAT SOURCE: A hot plate heats the water and converts it into steam. The correct steam temp®erature is crucial to distilling the highest quality essential oils possible. Gas heaters warm the water that is stored in massive holding tanks, called boilers.
2. THERMOMETER: A thermometer is placed inside the heated flask to ensure consistent steam temperature. The stills at Young Living farms use a valve to control steam, regulate temperature, and apply pressure for extracting essential oils. The ideal degree of heat applied differs depending on the plant being distilled.
3. WATER FLASK: Water is boiled to produce steam, and the steam is routed to the still situated below the plant material. Each water tank holds gallons of water. As the water is turned to steam, it is piped to the bottom of a stainless steel chamber.
4. DISTILLATION CHAMBER: The distillation chamber, also called a separator, is filled with plant material. Depending on the plant, its leaves, roots, stems, wood, seeds, flowers, and/or bark are distilled. As the steam rises through the plant material, the aromatic essential oils are released, and they vaporize with the steam. Young Living farms have large, stainless steel chambers to distill essential oils. When distilling lavender, it can take as much as 12,500 liters of lavender flowers and stems to produce 4–5 gallons of essential oil.
5. CONDENSER: Steam and essential oil vapor rise to the top of the chamber where they are channeled into a cooling area called the condenser. This is where essential oils are separated from the water. Cold water surrounds the condenser tube, causing the steam and the volatile plant essences to return to a liquid state.
6. COLLECTING FLASK: The newly condensed essential oil and floral water drip into a collecting flask. Since oil is lighter than water, the oils will float to the top of the flask, where they are collected. The collecting flasks at Young Living farms are located one floor below the stills. There, the essential oils are protected from sunlight exposure and kept cool. This protects the unique qualities of the essential oils until they are collected and stored in dark glass or stainless steel containers.
Are Y.L. Oils Organic?
Young Living prides itself on offering the purest and most effective essential oils possible, and we are often asked if our oils are certified organic. The organic certification, while important, is far from the only standard of quality by which to judge essential oils. Young Living practices a unique Seed to Seal® quality process that goes beyond the current organic standard in many ways. At Young Living, we don’t just rely on others to verify the purity of our oils. We work directly with our farms, growers, and distillers to ensure the quality, integrity, and authenticity of every product we produce. Our passion and commitment is to produce 100-percent pure, unadulterated essential oils that retain all of the natural constituents and therapeutic properties nature intended.Our Seed to Seal process ensures the purest therapeutic-grade essential oils through careful monitoring of every step of essential oil production—from the time a seed is sourced until the oil is sealed in the bottle. Every batch of our essential oils, whether cultivated on our own farms or by one of our carefully vetted partner growers, is rigorously tested and subjected to careful review through every step of production and meets or exceeds industry safety and purity standards. Young Living’s dedication to quality ensures that we provide pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils with the complete, optimal blend of plant constituents to provide maximum potency and results.As millions of satisfied members and customers across the globe can testify, Young Living sets the standard for purity and quality in the essential oil industry. While standards and guidelines can vary and be modified, our dedication to providing the safest, most beneficial essential oils in the world will never change.
Young Living does not use pesticides at our Young Living farms or our partner farms. Both our farm practices and finished products are held to strict standards, and with the measures we have in place, we feel confident that we offer our members the best, purest products available.
