The warm baking-spice oils
The warm spice oils carry the baking scent of fall, the smell of cinnamon bark, clove bud, cardamom, ginger, allspice berry and star anise. Cinnamon and cassia run the hottest and sweetest of the group, while ginger and cardamom sit warmer and rounder. A single spice oil is there to blend with, while the ready-made Pumpkin Pie Spice, Chai Spice and Cinnamon Bun blends give the finished baking scent on their own. Cassia, cinnamon bark and clove are strong on skin, rich in the aromatic compounds behind their scent, so they are always diluted well in carrier oil and never used neat.
The resins and the deep woods
Resin and wood oils are the deep, long-lasting scents of the season, its incense-and-forest-floor character. Frankincense, a fragrant tree resin from Boswellia carried here in several species, sits alongside myrrh, opopanax or sweet myrrh, copal santo and palo santo, all balsamic and long used as incense. The woods and roots run drier and earthier, among them cedarwood, the sandalwoods, amyris, muhuhu and Hawaiian, and vetiver, slow to fade and lingering for hours. These are the deep, quiet scents a blend keeps long after the lighter oils have faded.
The crisp conifers and bright citrus
Crisp and bright, the conifers and citrus are a blend's fresh edge. The conifers, fir needle, black spruce, cypress and juniper berry, smell green, fresh and resinous, like cold forest air, while the citrus, sweet orange, mandarin, blood orange and bergamot, add a clear, sweet lift. Citrus and conifer oils oxidize with time, so both families are best used while fresh and kept cool and dark. Two of them also need care in the sun. Expressed bergamot and bitter orange peel are phototoxic and are kept out of leave-on skin blends before daylight, while blood orange, mandarin and sweet orange are not.
Frequently asked questions
What makes an essential oil smell like fall?
An oil smells like fall when it sits in one of the season's three scent moods, the warm baking spices, the resins and woods, or the fresh conifers and citrus. Cinnamon and clove give the warm side, frankincense and cedarwood the resin-and-wood side, and fir needle and sweet orange the crisp side. Many autumn blends draw on two or three of these at once, so the scent has depth as well as brightness. No single oil smells like fall on its own, the season is the mix of them.
Which fall essential oils give the warmest baking-spice scent?
The warmest baking-spice oils are cinnamon bark, cassia and clove, the hot, sweet centre of the group. Cardamom and ginger sit a little rounder and warmer, and star anise and allspice berry bring a darker, sweeter spice. For the finished pie-and-mulled-spice scent without any mixing, the Pumpkin Pie Spice and Chai Spice blends are made for it. All the hot spice oils are used well diluted, never neat.
How do you build an autumn diffuser blend?
To build an autumn diffuser blend, pair a warm spice, a resin or a wood, and a bright citrus, so the scent has depth from the resin and lift from the citrus. A little clove or cinnamon with frankincense or cedarwood, brightened with sweet orange, makes an easy first blend. Only a little is needed from the hot spice oils, so add them sparingly. Diffuse in a well-aired room rather than a closed one.
Which fall essential oils smell like a forest?
The forest-scented fall oils are the conifers, among them black spruce, cypress, fir needle and juniper berry, green and piney like cold woodland air. Cedarwood and vetiver sit beneath them with a deeper, drier, earthier scent. Together they give the piney, forest-floor smell of a walk in the woods. None of them carries the sun caution that some of the citrus oils do.
Do cinnamon bark, cassia and clove essential oils need extra care on skin?
Yes, cinnamon bark, cassia and clove are always used well diluted, never straight onto skin. They are rich in strongly aromatic constituents, cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon and cassia and eugenol in clove, that can irritate skin when applied neat. For that reason they sit among the oils that call for the most care. Bay rum and allspice come from the same spice family and are treated the same way.
Which fall essential oils are phototoxic on skin in daylight?
Bitter orange peel and bergamot are the phototoxic fall citrus, both expressed and both carrying enough furanocoumarins to react to sunlight on skin. They are best left out of skin products worn in daylight, while sweet orange, mandarin and blood orange do not carry enough to matter. A diffuser is fine for all of them, since the caution is about oil left on skin in the sun. Naming them matters, because the rest of the fall citrus is safe in daylight.
Are any oils in this fall collection best avoided during pregnancy?
Yes, wormwood is traditionally set aside throughout pregnancy, and this fall edit includes both absinthe wormwood and African wormwood. They belong to the oils long avoided during pregnancy, labour and breastfeeding. Anyone pregnant is best guided by a qualified practitioner before using essential oils at all. No other oil here should be read as approved just because it is not on this list.
Which fall essential oils are best used fresh?
The fall oils to use while fresh are the citrus and the conifers, orange, mandarin, bergamot, fir needle and juniper. These oxidize with age, and an oxidized oil is likelier to bother skin than a fresh one. Kept cool, dark and tightly closed, they hold their scent and stay kinder on skin for longer. The resins and woods change far more slowly and keep well.
