Essential Oil Directory

“Of all the herbs, Jasmine thought, basil was her soul mate. She rubbed her fingers over a leaf and sniffed deeply at the pungent, almost licorice scent. Basil was sensuous, liking to stretch out green and silky under a hot sun with its feet covered in cool soil". 

-Nina Killham, How to Cook a Tart 

Basil has a sweet, spicy, fresh scent with a faint balsamic woody back note and a lasting sweetness that makes for a strong top note. Basil Essential Oil emits a warm, sweet, freshly floral and crisply herbaceous scent that is further characterized as airy, vibrant, uplifting, and reminiscent of the scent of licorice.

Known as the “prince of citrus”, bergamot has a beautifully simple, yet complex aroma. Bergamot is a fruit most commonly known for its essential oil used in aromatherapy to minimize symptoms of stress-induced anxiety and mild mood disorders.

Bergamot essential oil is basically citrus, yet fruity and sweet with a warm spicy floral quality, and is reminiscent of Neroli, giving a middle note of medium strength.

Fruity, mellow and exotic, blue tansy essential oil (also known as True Moroccan Chamomile), is a middle note. It seems to display its longest effects if its maximum concentration in a blend does not exceed 5%.

Cardamom was well known in ancient times. The Egyptians used it in perfumes and incense, and the Arabs used it ground in their coffee. The seeds are an important ingredient in Middle Eastern and Asian cooking and has been used historically in folk medicine to relieve pain, tend to wounds and assist in overcoming nausea. 

A top note with a strong aroma, Cardamom Essential Oil is sweet, spicy, and almost balsamic in fragrance.

If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine. You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If we chew every morsel of our food in that way we become grateful and when you are grateful, you are happy. - Thich Nhat Hanh

A middle note with a medium aroma, Carrot Seed essential oil has a strong woody, earthy and musky scent.

• Used in aromatherapy applications, Carrot Seed Oil stimulates circulation as well as brain and nerve functions. Its warm, earthy, woody, and herbaceous scent has a soothing, refreshing, and grounding effect that is known to diminish feelings of fatigue, weakness, anxiety, and stress.

• Used cosmetically, Carrot Seed Oil repairs skin damage, tones muscles and tissue, and tightens skin to prevent it from sagging. By removing bodily toxins, it boosts immunity, reduces muscle and joint inflammation, and addresses fluid retention.

• Used medicinally, Carrot Seed Essential Oil lowers blood pressure, facilitates the healing of infected skin and wounds, soothes sore throats and hiccups, and alleviates ailments caused by viruses.

“The hearts affections are divided like the branches of the cedar tree; if the tree loses one strong branch; it will suffer but it does not die; it will pour all its vitality into the next branch so that it will grow and fill the empty place.”

- Khalil Gibran

A middle note of strong aroma, Cedarwood Himalayan essential oil has a sweet and woody scent.

“Chamomile are feathers from the wings of seraphim angels, thrown as an offering to the earth for each bird hunted in the sky.”

- Corina Abdulahm-Negura

A medium middle note, Chamomile Essential Oil has an herbaceous fragrance similar to that of freshly mown straw, only with a dry, almost bittersweet note.

For though the camomile, the more it is trodden on, the faster it grows, so youth, the more it is wasted, the sooner it wears. – William Shakespeare

A strong middle note, Roman Chamomile has a fragrance like apples and sweet straw, and is considered the finest smelling of all chamomiles.

“An orange day, a happy day, a brand-new day in the secret language that only the three of us seemed to understand. "Mmmmm," Daddy said, taking a bite of his roll. "Orange wakes you up, but cinnamon makes you remember.”

- Judith Fertig, The Cake Therapist

A middle note of medium aroma, it has a warm, spicy scent between that of clove and cinnamon, but with herbaceous notes that are not sweet.

Sprinkling drops of lavender and clary-sage oil into a bath is a totally simple yet complex pleasure. -Isabel Gillies

A middle note of medium aroma, Clary Sage Essential Oil has a nutty and herbaceous with a sweet, floral aroma.

His voice was cloves and nightingales, it took us to spice markets in the Celebs, we drifted with him on a houseboat beyond the Coral Sea. We were like cobras following a reed flute. - Janet Fitch

A middle note of medium aroma, Clove Bud Essential Oil smells like the actual spice.

Copaiba essential oil has a soft woody base note with a slight hint of sweetness to it.

For someone grieving, cook with chives, ginger, coriander, and rosemary. Theirs is the pungent flavor, which draws grief up and out of the body and releases it into the air. - Nicole Mones

Coriander Essential Oil has a slightly sweet, spicy, herbaceous smell similar to that of Cilantro, offering a middle note with a medium aroma.

Remember, the storm is a good opportunity for the pine and the cypress to show their strength and their stability. - Ho Chi Minh

Woody, fresh, and green aroma with a fragrance similar to that of pine, Cypress Essential Oil is a top note with a mild to medium aroma.

“When Jean Valnet, MD, ran out of antibiotics during World War II, he discovered that eucalyptus oil was effective in killing almost three-quarters of staph bacteria in the air. You, too, can squash bacteria with this powerful essential oil: if you’re beginning to catch a cold, try inhaling steam from a basin filled with hot water and a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil. You may just stop that cold in its tracks.”

-Althea Press, Essential Oils for Beginners: The Guide to Get Started with Essential Oils and Aromatherapy

A top note with a strong aroma, Eucalyptus Radiata Essential Oil has a crisp, clean, camphoraceous aroma.

"Why did dusk and fir-scent and the afterglow of autumnal sunsets make people say absurd things?"

- L.M. Montgomery

A middle note of strong aroma, Fir Balsam Essential Oil has the crisp, clean scent of fir balsam needles.

He saw that there was no mood of the mind that had not its counterpart in the sensuous life, and set himself to discover their true relations, wondering what there was in frankincense that made one mystical, and in ambergris that stirred one's passions, and in violets that woke the memory of dead romances, and in musk that troubled the brain, and in champak that stained the imagination…. 

- Oscar Wilde

A base note with a medium aroma, this Frankincense Essential Oil has a warm and spicy, smoky and woody aroma.

“In my own worst seasons I’ve come back from the colorless world of despair by forcing myself to look hard, for a long time, at a single glorious thing: a flame of red geranium outside my bedroom window. And then another: my daughter in a yellow dress. And another: the perfect outline of a full, dark sphere behind the crescent moon. Until I learned to be in love with my life again. Like a stroke victim retraining new parts of the brain to grasp lost skills, I have taught myself joy, over and over again.”

- Barbara Kingsolver from High Tide in Tucson

A middle note with a stronger aroma, Geranium essential oil has a soft rosy floral aroma.

Yellow is a very favorable vibration for mental or intellectual activity, as it promotes a clear state of mind. Yellow heightens your awareness and alleviates depression, sadness, or any kind of despondency. Yellow vibration foods are: pineapples, bananas, grapefruit, lemons and corn. - Tae Yun Kim

A middle note with a medium aroma, Grapefruit essential oil has a fresh, slightly bitter scent that is very characteristic of the fruit.

A middle note with a medium aroma, they have been described as having a scent between burnt sugar and a floral mint. The aroma of our pure Helichrysum essential oil is complex and slightly medicinal with an earthy, herbaceous floral undertone and notes of straw and fruit.

A middle note with a medium aroma, Ho Wood Essential Oil has a sweeter woody scent like rosewood's, with camphoraceous notes.

A top note of strong aroma, Lavender essential oil has a rich and fresh floral scent that is somewhat fruity, herbaceous and slightly camphorous.

“She breathed in the scent of lemon blossoms, inspired by how their citrus sweetness mingled with fresh ocean air. Closing her eyes, she ran the tip of her tongue over her lips, tasting a faint saltiness in the moisture laden breeze. She imagined how dark, rich chocolate filled with the brightness of a lemon filling and dusted with chunky sea salt might taste. Delicious, she decided.”

- Jan Moran, The Chocolatier

A top note with a strong aroma, lemon essential oil smell just like the fruit from which it came.

A top note with a strong aroma, lemon essential oil has a strong sweet lemony scent.

Lemongrass Essential Oil has a fresh earthy and citrusy scent with a hint of smoke.

A top note with a medium aroma, lime essential oil has the same zesty, sweet, fresh scent characteristic of the fruit.

A middle note with a medium aroma, Marjoram essential oil has a warm and spicy scent reminiscent of nutmeg and has an underlying delicate floral note.

Melissa Leaf Essential Oil has hints of Citronella with a warm and sweet lemony scent. Melissa Essential Oil is a middle note with a medium aroma.

A middle note with a medium aroma, Myrtle Essential Oil has a clear, fresh scent that is mildly camphoraceous, similar to that of Eucalyptus.

A middle note with a medium aroma, Orange Essential Oil has a sweet, citrus smell like the orange peels from which it is derived, but more intense and concentrated.

A middle note with a middle aroma, Palmarosa Essential Oil has a sharp, floral note with a hint of rose.

A base note with a medium aroma, Patchouli essential oil has a sensuous and earthy aroma with light fruity notes.

A top note with a strong aroma, Peppermint Essential Oil has a sharp, penetrating scent based on its high menthol content. The minty sweetness of the vapor makes it one of the most popular Essential Oils.

A top note with a strong aroma, Pine Essential Oil has a woody, evergreen scent similar to natural turpentine.

A top note with a strong aroma, Rosemary Essential Oil has a fresh, robust, medicinal, camphor, woody and herbal scent.

A top note with a medium aroma, Sage Essential Oil has a herbaceous scent with strong musty notes.

A base note with a medium aroma, Sandalwood essential oil is oriental and balsamic with a soft, sweet, rich, woody aroma.

A top note with a medium aroma, Spearmint essential oil has a fresh minty smell reminiscent of Peppermint that is sweeter and not as sharp.

A middle note with a medium aroma, Spruce Essential Oil has a wonderful balsamic scent that is sweet with light fruity notes and smells just like the tree.

A middle note with a medium aroma, Tangerine essential oil is typically fresh, tangy and sweet. It smells much like Mandarin and is lighter and sweeter than Sweet Orange.

“Some of the most powerful antiseptic essential oils include lavender oil, tea tree oil, and clove oil.”

- Althea Press, Essential Oils for Beginners: The Guide to Get Started with Essential Oils and Aromatherapy

A middle note with a medium aroma, Tee Tree has a fresh, slightly medicinal scent with characteristic woody, camphoraceous notes.

A base note with a strong aroma, Vetiver essential oil has an earthy, woody scent characteristic of oils derived from roots, with a deep, rich note that is popular in products designed for men.

A middle note with a strong aroma, Wintergreen has a characteristic sweet and woody odor with a strong distinct ‘medicinal’ scent.

A base note with a medium aroma, Ylang Ylang has a sweet, exotic, floral scent that is one of the most sought-after.