Oil Origins: Study The Needles

When getting to know essential oils, the best place to start is getting in touch with your wellness needs and finding the right essential oils to support them. We’re here to help with some of the introductions, and this post is focused on some essential oils that you may not even know you need yet. In fact, “need” is their name! Say hello to the needle essential oils—Black Spruce essential oil, Cypress essential oil, Douglas Fir essential oil, and Siberian Fir essential oil.
 

This particular group of essential oils is derived from pines and firs, and also represents some of the most significant environmental initiatives doTERRA practices. Sustainable, environmentally conscious sourcing and Co-Impact Sourcing® efforts make these essential oils all the more special. Let’s meet them!

What are Needle Essential Oils?

These types of essential oils come from the needle of the coniferous trees—both fir and spruce—from which they are sourced. Several of these essential oils also utilize the lumber in the essential oil making process, but the primary source of the trademark fragrance and benefits of these trees’ innate volatile compounds are held in the evergreen needles. Needle essential oils are most often characterized by their fresh, invigorating, and forest-like aromas.
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Here in this post, get to know Black Spruce oil, Cypress oil, Douglas Fir oil, and Siberian Fir oil and better understand the differences between them. While their related origins give them some similarities, each needle essential oil offers a distinct aroma and collection of incredible benefits.

Black Spruce Oil

Black Spruce essential oil is a truly special member of the needle oils, thanks to its familiar place of origin: the vast Canadian Tundra. The black spruce tree sweeps the landscape of northern Canada due to its ability to thrive in the frigid cold all year round. This spruce variety has a thin trunk with grey, scaly bark, and short blue-green needles that grow in individual rows along the flexible branches. These branches and needles are responsibly collected through the doTERRA Co-Impact Sourcing® initiative and transformed into the essential oil we know and love.
 

The aroma of Black Spruce essential oil is cool, woody, and invigorating. When used topically it has a distinct soothing sensation to the skin, as well as cleansing properties that can help support healthy-looking skin. When diffused, Black Spruce essential oil welcomes the serene scents of the Canadian forests into the home.

Why choose Black Spruce oil?

A member of the needle family, Black Spruce oil shares common characteristics with its relatives, such as being good for the skin and hair and having a calming, grounding aroma. However, due to its significant concentrations of camphene and delta-3-carene, Black Spruce essential oil has powerful surface cleansing properties perfect for use around the home or in your daily personal care routines.

Learn More About Black Spruce Oil Read the Black Spruce Story Buy Black Spruce Oil

Cypress Oil

Native to Southern Europe and Western Asia, the cypress tree is a lush evergreen that can grow to exceptional heights. Slightly less needle-like than the other evergreen essential oils, cypress tree foliage resembles tight, scale-like clusters that are vibrantly green in color. These flexible and fragrant boughs are softer than the average conifer on this list, but they yield an essential oil with similar (yet beautifully distinct!) properties to other needle essential oils.
 

Cypress essential oil has a crisp, clean, forest-like aroma, making it a perfect choice for diffusion when you’re looking for an invigorating aromatic boost or a fresh, calming scent during meditation. It also provides a cooling sensation to the skin during massage. Its chemical makeup, including the compound α-pinene, gives it effective topical cleansing properties for household surfaces and skin.

Why choose Cypress oil?

The energizing freshness of Cypress essential oil’s aroma makes it perfect for use in professional or home spa experiences, whether that means diffusing in the air or coupling with soothing massage. Cypress essential oil is also especially high in chemical compounds called monoterpenes, which make it a powerful addition to skincare for its ability to help improve the appearance of skin.

Learn More About Cypress Oil Buy Cypress Oil

Douglas Fir Oil

The Douglas Fir tree is a large, sturdy species of the pine family native to North America. This towering conifer has the potential to grow over 30 meters tall and is characterized by its soft, flat, green fir needles. doTERRA responsibly sources the needles and branches used to produce Douglas Fir essential oil from New Zealand, where the invasive species threatens the natural landscape. This initiative provides stewardship over the natural ecology of New Zealand while producing a beautiful and versatile product, Douglas Fir essential oil.
 

Douglas Fir essential oil has a distinctly airy, green, piney aroma that can be particularly energizing to the environment when diffused. With a chemical makeup rich in both α-pinene and b-pinene, Douglas Fir essential oil has potent surface cleansing properties. Several drops in a spray bottle make an effective home cleaning solution, which leaves behind an invigoratingly clean aroma.

Why choose Douglas Fir oil?

While all needle essential oils have helpful skin-soothing and topical cleansing properties, Douglas Fir essential oil is uniquely and powerfully cleansing. Combined with its stimulating aroma, Douglas Fir essential oil makes an ideal addition to personal facial cleansers, bodywashes, and soaps.

Learn More About Douglas Fir Oil Buy Douglas Fir Oil

Siberian Fir Oil

The Siberian Fir tree is a tall and limber fir variety known for it’s ashy-colored bark, towering height, and wise age (they can live up to 200 years). Its needles that contain the essential oil compounds are soft and flat, like those of other fir trees, but have a distinct light green color and strong natural fragrance. These needles are harvested along with the flexible twigs to produce the delightful and forest-like Siberian Fir essential oil.
 

The aroma of Siberian Fir essential oil is fresh, woody, and energizing. This and the soothing sensation it provides to the skin make it a perfect addition to an invigorating massage on desired areas before or after strenuous activity. When diffused, Siberian Fir essential oil creates an uplifting environment and engages the senses in a stimulating forest escape.

Why choose Siberian Fir oil?

Siberian Fir essential oil shares many of the skin-soothing benefits of Douglas Fir oil and Black Spruce, and its gentle yet balancing aroma suits it particularly to your facial and skincare routines. Siberian Fir essential oil is also one of our top choices for various diffuser blends, and can complement all your favorite spice oils, citrus oils, and wood oils with its fresh, peaceful aromatic notes.

Learn More About Siberian Fir Oil Buy Siberian Fir Oil
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Whether you are already familiar with these needle essential oils or this was your first introduction, we hope we’ve given you more reasons than ever to love this unique group of essential oils. If nothing else, we hope you walk away with at least one valuable lesson: when in need, turn to the needle essential oils!