Essential Branch

Herbaceous essential oil

Clary sage

Salvia sclarea

A stem of lilac and white clary sage flowers with a carpenter bee feeding on one bloom.
A stem of lilac and white clary sage flowers with a carpenter bee feeding on one bloom. Photo: Martin Kammerhofer, CC BY-SA 4.0

Clary sage is distilled from the flowering tops of Salvia sclarea, a tall sage grown for its oil in France, Bulgaria and Russia. Its scent is warm, musky and herbal, with a hay-like sweetness that comes mostly from linalyl acetate. It is often chosen for relaxing baths, evening blends and massage oils, and it softens the edges of sharper oils. Some people find it makes them drowsy, so it is best kept for winding down rather than before driving. It is a different plant from common garden sage, which carries quite different safety concerns.

Safety at a glance

  • Pregnancy Use with caution
  • Children From age 2
  • Dogs Generally well tolerated
  • Cats Use with caution
  • Sunlight Not phototoxic
  • On skin No published maximum

Reference

Botanical name Salvia sclarea
Plant family Lamiaceae
Plant part Flowering tops
Extraction steam distillation
Main origins France, Bulgaria and Russia
Aroma family Herbaceous
Note Middle note
Aroma Warm, musky herb with a hay-like sweetness
Main constituents linalyl acetate, linalool, germacrene D, alpha-terpineol and sclareol
Common uses calm, bath, massage and sleep
Suggested maximum on skin No published maximum
Phototoxic No
Shelf life once opened 2 to 3 years
Pregnancy Use with caution
Children From age 2
Dogs Generally well tolerated
Cats Use with caution
Safety notes No skin limit is set for the distilled oil. The IFPA lists it among oils used in pregnancy, but other guidance warns against it because of long-standing claims that it can bring on contractions, so we take the cautious view. Pet poison lines do not flag it.

Blends well with

Used in: Essential Oil Blends for Sleep

Sources

  1. Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Health Care Professionals, 2nd edition (Tisserand & Young), Churchill Livingstone / Elsevier
  2. Aromatherapy and pregnancy guidelines, International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists (hosted by NAHA)
  3. Clary sage and pregnancy, National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA)
  4. Scientific opinion on clary sage (Salvia sclarea) essential oil as a feed additive (EFSA Journal, 2024), PubMed Central (NIH)