Yarrow

Yarrow oil is extracted from Achillea millefolium, a member of the Compositae plant family. This perennial herb is known throughout Europe, but also grows in Asia and North America. Yarrow can grow up to 3 feet (1 meter) high, and is distinguishable by its feathery and aromatic fern-like leaves and pink-white, dense flower heads.

Yarrow has many nicknames, such as milfoil, nosebleed, common yarrow and thousand leaf. It's also called carpenter's weed, because it's useful for helping treat wounds that you can get from a saw or a blade, and may help stop the bleeding.¹

The yarrow plant can also be added to food. The young and tender fresh leaves can be finely chopped and added to soups, salads, meat dishes and stir-fried beans. The Haida people of the Queen Charlotte Islands are also known for drying butter clams on yarrow stalks, which impart a pleasant taste to the shellfish.²

Yarrow oil is extracted from the dried plant via steam distillation. When diffused, it has a sweet, herbaceous and penetrating smell. It also develops a vivid blue color when distilled, which occurs when the chemical chamazulene is released from the plant material during the heating process.