I adore the smells of the holidays—Christmas trees, holiday baking, cocoa, and woodsmoke. I formulated these scent blends around my favourite winter memories, from picking out a Christmas tree to spending the entire weekend in the kitchen making pies and cookies. I’m loving them in my Saje Aroma Cloud ultrasonic diffuser these days.
Winter forest
3 drops cajeput essential oil
6 drops fir essential oil
5 drops pine essential oil
5 drops white spruce essential oil
1 “toothpick swirl” cade essential oil (can swap for vetiver or birch tar)
This crisp, cool scent blend is inspired by picking out a Christmas tree. It seems our Christmas tree picking day is often the coldest day in December, and while we end up getting our tree from a parking lot instead of a forest, I blended these essential oils with the forest in mind. Fir balsam, pine, and spruce essential oils create a forest of fragrant conifers. Cajeput is a cool, stiff breeze, and the tiniest hint of smokey cade is a warming fire in the distance.
Holiday baking
4 drops cinnamon bark essential oil
2 drops clove bud essential oil
3 drops orange essential oil
1 drop nutmeg essential oil
6 drops benzoin essential oil
4 drops peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada)
I spend what could be called too much time planning out my holiday baking each year. I love to try new, extra-decadent recipes whilst sipping a great winter beer, and my family always obligingly helps me devour the results. Here a base of vanilla-like benzoin blends with Christmas spices, citrus, and peppermint to channel the house during a holiday bake-a-thon. Yum!
Christmas morning
7 drops fir essential oil
2 drops cinnamon bark essential oil
1 “toothpick swirl” cade essential oil (can swap for vetiver or birch tar)
2 drops 5-fold orange essential oil
2 drops benzoin essential oil
1 drop coffee essential oil
Christmas morning is one of my favourite mornings of the year. Things move slowly, the coffee cake bakes, and the coffee drips into the pot. This blend combines the fragrant scent of the tree with warm cinnamon, bright citrus, soft benzoin, fragrant coffee, and smokey cade. Now, on to the presents!
When I say “toothpick swirl” I want you to dip an unscented toothpick into your bottle of essential oil, and then swirl it in the rest of the essential oils for the blend. This is a great way to avoid overpowering the blend with particularly potent essential oils.
are these skin safe blends
At straight concentrations, no, definitely not. If you’d like to make the blend and add a few drops to a larger recipe that’s a different story, but do keep in mind that citrus EOs are photosensitizing, and cinnamon & clove EOs are quite warming and can be irritating to more sensitive skin.
How gorgeous of you to share these luscious blends! Thank you, and Happy Holidays
Thanks, Becky 🙂
Your Christmas Morning is very close to what I call Christmas Magic. I love your blog and I get so inspired to try your recipes, even the food ones!
The holidays are my favorite time of the year!
Thank you again for the wonderful ideas!
Cathryn
Thanks, Cathryn!
Could these recipes be used as a spray also? If so, what would I add to the essential oils? thank you.
Hi Elle! You definitely can. I’d start by dissolving the essential oils in some high-proof alcohol (I usually use rubbing alcohol that’s at least 70%) and then diluting that mixture with water until you get the strength you like 🙂
I love your recipes and blog. I was just wondering about the swirl cade essential oil. I have never heard of that. I know you purchase via New Directions Aromatics is this the only place I can find it?? Thanks again!
Hi Melissa! The “swirl” is part of the measurement, not the EO name 🙂 I got my Cade from NDA, but you can swap it out for vetiver or birch tar as it’s mostly a smokey note.
It’s like you were reading my mind! I just received a new nebulizer ordered from Saje (bought one for my daughter also), and am looking forward to trying different blends. Thanks for posting this!
Fantastic! Be sure to check out my other scent blend entries as well 🙂
This is such a great idea! What came to mind was using these in a diffuser to make my whole place smell like Christmas. Loving it~
That’s exactly what I’ve been doing! The winter forest blend is divine these days 🙂
How are these blends delivered? Do you spray them or heat them on a diffuser? Can you recommend something?
Thank you
I use an ultrasonic nebulizer by Saje 🙂
Hi Marie,
I really love your blog, thanks for all your recipes. I’m finding it hard to find white spruce essential oil. New Directions Australia just has black spruce essential oil. Should I use black spruce essential oil instead, or can I just up another ingredient instead? Thank you 🙂
Hi Stacey! Black spruce essential oil will do just fine here 🙂 The blend will also be fine without it, just a bit less… spruce-y 😛
Hi again, I had a further question. I’m looking for benzoin essential oil on NDA, and can only find: benzoin Siam infused/macerated oil, benzoin crystals, benzoin gum, and benzoin tincture. Are any of these the right one?
Hi Stacey! This is the one I used. It doesn’t sound too much like any of the options you mentioned. Mine is very thick and quite sticky.
Thanks so much for your responses, I understand that you are very busy! Sadly the Australian version of the New Directions store doesn’t have quite the variety that the US/Canada versions do, so I guess I’ll do my best with my tincture 🙂
Do be careful if you use it in soaps—it’s got a bunch of alcohol in it and I’m not sure how that’ll go.