The month of September brings many things;  football season, Starbucks starts serving Pumpkin Spice Lattes, the weather is starting to cool off, and most importantly my favorite season of the year is beginning, fall. The official first day of fall or Autumn for the U.S. is September 22nd but since fall is by far my favorite season of the year, I like to start getting into the fall season as soon as possible. There is just something about the changing of the seasons and the cooler weather that makes me want to curl up in my office recliner with a stack of new books and a hot apple cider.

The only downside of fall, is that I live in South Texas where cooler weather basically means no more 100+ degree days, which isn’t entirely conducive to the scarf and boot trends of fall. When the average temperature isn’t expected to hit mid 70s til November, it’s a lot harder to get into the spirit of fall. Which I am just not okay with.

Because of where I live and the lack of temperature diversity, other than cold, hot, and on fire, I’ve had to get crafty. One thing I do is box up all my summer house decor in mid September and replace it with all things pumpkin and fall hued (think lots of rich browns and orange colored items). I tend to decorate more based on season than holiday, so my fall decor also includes pieces that are interchangeable between Halloween and Thanksgiving themes.

Outside of decor, I love to diffuse essential oils throughout my whole house. Each room has it’s own diffuser, generally 150ml in size. The one pictured here is my YoungLiving Desert Mist Diffuser, which I keep in my front entryway.  This particular diffuser holds up to 180ml of water and has three run modes:
• High mode runs approximately
5 hours continuously.
• Low mode runs approximately
8 hours continuously.
• Intermittent mode (1 minute on/1 minute off) runs approximately 10 hours.

I tend to use the intermittent mode. In an effort to keep my house from smelling stale when I get home from work, I generally turn this baby on in the morning and let it run itself for most of the day.

The other thing that sold me on this particular diffuser is that it has 11 different light settings, including a candle flicker mode. The later is what makes this one my favorite and if you don’t think candle’s flicker makes you feel in the fall spirit, then you’re wrong.

While I tend to stick with basic oils for most of the year (things such as lavender, lemongrass, and stress away which is a blend from YoungLiving), once September rolls around I have a handful of oil blends I rotate to keep my home smelling ‘Fall Ready’. I find that imitating the scent of fall to be the best way to beat the heat, in a sense, and really helps to put me into the fall mindset.

So, if you live in South Texas like I do or I just want to get more into the fall spirit, diffusing certain essential oils can help with that! Here are some of my go to essential oil blends to diffuse which will help you feel as if you’ve walked into a Hallmark’s fall movie special.

My 5 favorite fall essential oil blends

1.  Autumn Fresh: My absolute favorite fall scent is a blend of Orange, Lemon, and Cinnamon Bark. This is my go to blend. Orange and Lemon overall have such a sweet and clean scent that even by themselves they’re my favorite to diffuse. Citrus essential oils are said to help energize and boost moods. Pairing these two with Cinnamon Bark, which is more warm and spicy, creates the perfect scent for when I’m in need of some fall sunshine. Remember that Cinnamon is an extremely strong scent, so I would caution you to not use too much as any given time. 
2. Cinnamon Orchard:  Both Cinnamon and Nutmeg have a spicy scent to them, add in a little orange, and you’ll feel as if you’re walking through an orange grove with a cup hot apple cider in hand. 
3. Pine Fresh: Personally, I prefer to diffuse citrus, minty, or floral scents. Too much of a woody scent and I’ll be sneezing all afternoon, so you’ll never find me just diffusing Pine or Cedarwood by themselves.  I do, however, enjoy the smell of fresh Pine trees in the fall. To overcome this dilemma and to avoid setting my allergies off, I like to mix in both orange and lemon to balance out the Pine. Orange, Lemon, and Pine together are the perfect combo for a crisp woodsy aroma. Occasionally, I’ll add Eucalyptus into the mix, to add some variety.
4. Woodies Woo: Adding onto my dislike list, in regards to aromas at least, I stay clear of anything that is remotely similar Vanilla. For whatever reason, the scent of Vanilla makes me nauseous, so you can understand why I would avoid diffusing it in my house. However, I have found that Copaiba acts as a good replacement for Vanilla. Copaiba is more of a caramel-vanilla scent with a hint of something spicy and mixing it with Pine and Tea Tree will make you feel as if you are standing in the middle of the Piney Woods on a brisk October day. 
5. Outdoorsy: This blend is perfect if you love being outdoors, or at least pretending to be outdoors while drinking wine on the couch. Because let’s be real, it’s way to hot in south Texas, to stay outside still. The Rosemary, Cedarwood, and Juniper pair perfectly with the fruity scent of Orange. Switch out Cedarwood for Cinnamon and you’ve got a 6th blend to keep you in the fall spirit.

Did you try any of these blends out? Let me know how you liked them in the comments!