The Best Wood and Forest Scents

During the holidays, there are many different scents that will remind you of Christmas 
and other holidays during this time of the year. It might be peppermint candy canes, 
gingerbread cookies, or even a spiced drink. Another popular scent and blend is that of 
the outdoors. There are certain woody and forest-like scents that will smell just like a 
Christmas tree farm. 

Woody Scents

The ‘woody’ scents are actually a type of aroma family in essential oils. There are 8 
main aroma families, each of which give different types of scents to create a certain 
emotion or feeling. These include citrus, floral, spicy, resinous, woody, earthy, and 
herbaceous. The woody scents include anything with trees and outdoor-like scents like 
cypress, fir, pine, cedarwood, and even cinnamon. 

Earthy Scents

The next type of essential oil scent that provides good wood and forest-type scents for 
your DIY projects and seasonal items are your earthy scents. The earthy scents is 
another category of aromas, also called an aroma family. These will remind you of the 
earth, such as with scents like patchouli, valerian, and angelica.

Cypress

Now let’s look at some individual woody scents that you can use for blends that smell 
just like a winter forest or the woods when all the Christmas trees are ready to be 
chopped down. Cypress is a common woody scent to be used for this purpose. It goes 
back to ancient times for its health benefits, from helping with hemorrhoids to improving 
your hair, skin, and oral health. Cypress smells like trees outside, but it has more of a 
subtle scent, so it is not quite as strong as a pine or fir smell. It is a really good woody 
essential oil to start with.

Making Blends

If you want an essential oil blend that resembles a wooded or forest area, you don’t just 
want the woody scents. These provide a good starting base, but you do need some 
additional scents. When you walk through the woods, it isn’t just the trees you smell, but 
the crisp winter air, the citrus fruits, and the flowers. This is why you should add some 
spicy, fruity, and floral oils to the blend as well. Some smells that work great are wild 
orange, lemon, Frankincense, Myrrh, nutmeg, and cinnamon. You can get a wonderful 
blend from these types of scents along with your favorite woody scents.

