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10 ml Aniseed China Star (Star Anise) — apothecary hero
In Stock

Star Anise Essential Oil

£7 10ML WARMTH INDULGE
Nobody chooses star anise by accident. It's the dark winter spice, chosen on purpose, by people done playing it safe.
Nobody chooses star anise by accident. It is the dark winter spice, the sweet-and-strange one, the bottle you reach for on purpose when you are done defaulting to the safe, the sanctioned and the inoffensive. Warmth, without behaving itself.

KEPT FOR:

  • Warmth
  • Boldness
  • Depth
  • Winter
Botanical Illicium verum
Origin China
From Fruit
Process Steam distillation
One-time purchase £7
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£6.30£7
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WHAT YOU'VE BEEN SOLD

Everyone reaches for the safe one.

There is a whole culture of the safe choice: the sanctioned, the inoffensive, the scent that could not possibly upset anyone at a dinner party, chosen not because anyone loves it but because nobody will object to it. It is the beige of the senses, the default you reach for when you'd rather not be noticed making a decision. Star anise is not that. Star anise is dark, sweet, spicy and a little strange, the deep warmth of a winter night that has no interest in behaving itself, and nobody, but nobody, reaches for it by accident.

Nobody chooses star anise by accident. Rather the point.

WHAT THIS ACTUALLY IS

Star Anise Essential Oil, steam distilled from the star-shaped fruit of Illicium verum from China. Intensely sweet, warm and spicy, a deep liquorice-anise richness with a dark, balsamic, faintly woody undertone, sweeter and rounder than fennel and altogether more dramatic. This is the smell of a dark winter evening, of spice in the deep months, of warmth that leans in a little too close and does not apologise for it. It is not a background scent. It was never going to be.

Aroma profile
Sweet liquorice
Dark spice
Balsamic warmth
Inoffensive

Sweeter than fennel. Darker than you'd expect. Chosen, never stumbled into.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS

Down in the Scent Sanctum, star anise is what Mull keeps in the Dark Spice, for the ones who are done reaching for the safe, sanctioned, inoffensive default and want something with a bit of dark warmth to it.

  • Warmth that misbehaves: Kept for the intention to have one dark, sweet, spicy scent that brings warmth to a room without behaving itself.
  • Chosen on purpose: For when you're done defaulting to the safe and inoffensive. Nobody reaches for star anise by accident. It's a decision. Make it.
  • Dark sweet-spice air: Deep, sweet, spicy-liquorice, balsamic winter air that gives a room a strange, indulgent warmth.
  • The winter-night hour: For the winter night, the dark spice, the strange comfort of the deep months.

SPIRIT & MOOD

  • Warmth
  • Boldness
  • Depth
  • Winter

WHY YOU NEED IT

The bold one. Chosen on purpose.

Kept for the winter night, the dark spice, the strange comfort of the deep months, the moment you want warmth in a room that doesn't behave itself. A few drops when you are done with the safe, sanctioned, inoffensive default and want to make an actual decision about how a room should feel.

Done playing it safe? This is the one you reach for on purpose.

SAFETY NOTICE AROMA USE ONLY FILED THE SENSIBLE DESK

The sensible bit

For aroma use only with suitable diffuser or aromatherapy equipment; use sparingly, a couple of drops is plenty. Star anise is rich in anethole and contains naturally occurring estragole, so use it in moderation and in a well-ventilated space, and do not use it during pregnancy or breastfeeding, around children, or if you have a bleeding disorder or take blood-thinning medication. It can be a skin sensitiser: do not ingest; do not add to food or drink; do not use in baths; do not apply to skin, even diluted or on broken skin; and do not use for massage or personal care. Avoid eyes and sensitive areas. Keep away from children, pets, heat, sparks and open flames. Store upright and tightly closed. Never leave heated equipment unattended. Seek professional guidance if taking medication, managing a health condition, or using around vulnerable people. Discontinue use if irritation occurs.

GIFT · THE ONE DONE PLAYING IT SAFE

Tired of defaulting to the inoffensive, the sanctioned, the scent chosen so nobody objects. Give them a dark winter spice with actual character.

To the bold one

Chosen on purpose.

GIFT · THE WINTER SORT

Comes alive in the deep dark months and loves a warm, spicy, indulgent winter-night scent. This is that, at full richness.

To the deep-winter one

Warmth that misbehaves.

GIFT · THE LIQUORICE-LOVER

Loves a sweet, dark, spicy-anise, balsamic depth, the kind most people find too much. They won't. This is their bottle.

To the dark-sweet one

Too much, for the right person.

DO NOT GIVE TO

Anyone who chooses scent to go unnoticed. This one does not do unnoticed, at all, and would blow their entire inoffensive cover in about four seconds.

Does not do subtle.

Everyone reaches for the safe one.

PORTRAIT · MULL
IN THE DARK SPICE
MULL

Mull was hired precisely because he never behaves.

Mull is a kallikantzaros, one of the dark little winter goblins who surface only in the deepest, coldest weeks of the year, mischievous and warm-blooded and entirely uninterested in behaving. He keeps the Dark Spice of the Sanctum, and he trusts star anise because it brings warmth to a room without once behaving itself: sweet, dark, spicy and strange, a decision rather than a default.

Mull has watched the Surfacefolk reach, again and again, for the safe scent, the sanctioned one, the inoffensive default chosen so that nobody at the dinner party has to have a feeling about it. He finds this a waste of a perfectly good winter. Nobody, he points out, ends up holding star anise by accident. You reach for it on purpose, or not at all.

So Mull keeps the dark spice ready for the deep months and the bold choosers, the ones done playing it safe, and warms the winter room in a way that leans in slightly too close and does not, under any circumstances, apologise.

Surfaces only in deep winter; never behaves; keeps the one scent nobody picks up by accident.

Two crates, dark and warm

Star Anise keeps company. None of it behaving itself.

LOOSE CALCULATING
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BEFORE YOU GOA WORD FROM THE DARK SPICE
About the safe one you keep reaching for:

Nobody chooses star anise by accident.

You reach, most of the time, for the safe scent. The sanctioned one. The inoffensive default that nobody could possibly object to, chosen precisely so that you don't have to stand behind an actual preference, so that the room stays neutral and no one, including you, has to have a feeling about it. It's a reasonable way to disappear. It is not the only option. Some scents you choose on purpose, or not at all.

PICK THE SAFE ONE.DON'T UPSET ANYONE.GO UNNOTICED.
You chose the beige option again this week because it was easier than defending a real one.

So make an actual decision. Set the dark, sweet star anise going and let the winter room have some genuine, misbehaving warmth in it, chosen deliberately, by you. Nobody chooses star anise by accident. Rather the point.

10 ml Aniseed China Star (Star Anise) — apothecary detail CHOSEN ON PURPOSE
Nº 0060 · ILLICIUM VERUM · CHOSEN ON PURPOSE£7 10ML
In Stock FREE UK OVER £50

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