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Find the right scent and enhance the energy of your room.
Caroline Fabrigas was in a bind. Her company, Scent Marketing Inc, creates custom fragrances for luxury retailers and resorts around the globe (its most famous commission is the 1 Hotel in Miami’s warm, woodsy blend), but in March 2020, nearly all of her clients pressed pause on their projects. Fabrigas found herself stuck in her hometown of Scarsdale, New York, surrounded by hundreds of gallons of high-quality oils with nowhere to go. The entrepreneur quickly set up a little pop-up called ScentFluence Aroma Design Studio, where she sold the surplus oils, candles, and diffusers. Within two months of opening, the shop sold out of top scents, like Spiritual Woods and all of its 1 Hotel candles. “At home, fragrance is a way for us to create moments,” says Fabrigas. “It creates sensory cues throughout the day.”
Last year, sales of home scents grew by more than 20 percent, according to market-research company the NPD Group. The obsession isn’t waning, says Justin Welch, creative marketing director for the fragrance company Firmenich. “Fragrance is no longer a noun, it’s an action,” he says. When Welch evaluates a blend, he doesn’t just ask himself, “Is this pretty?” He also asks, “What will this do for my mood?”
Candles have become an obsession, says Linda G. Levy, president of the Fragrance Foundation. While the medium is hardly new, it’s evolved way beyond being a stuffy status hostess gift. Picking up on trends that are happening in the worlds of food, perfume, hospitality, celebrity, and even TikTok, the best candles don’t just give good scent, they give us something to chat about—a sense of fun and novelty. “At dinner, I choose a candle and my husband, Steve, chooses the wine,” says Levy, who is obsessed with founder-led companies like Boy Smells and Harlem Candle Co., which have not only unexpected scent combinations but also a story behind them.
Every scent here was chosen because it has the ability to shift your energy, elevate your space, or both.
Give your workspace a little atmosphere with a Byredo Cotton Poplin Scented Fan. Available in three scents (try the leathery Bibliothèque option), this dramatic piece comes with a wooden holder for display.
Part decor, part very fancy French air freshener, the Un Air de Diptyque diffuser works with Diptyque’s cartridges, which are available in the brand’s most popular scents. Go for Baies or 34 Boulevard Saint Germain.
The ScentFluence Sleek Diffuser pairs with the brand’s library of oils. (We love Child’s Pose and Fireside, the scent of New York’s Baccarat Hotel.) Available in six colors.
Place these Bastide Ambre d’Or Potpourri Crystals in your prettiest little dish. They look gorgeous and give off a sweet but fresh scent that feels right for any room.
Costa Brazil Vela Candle is infused with breu resin from Brazil. Brand founder (and former Calvin Klein designer) Francisco Costa chose this signature ingredient not just because it has a beautiful, singular scent but also for its mood-enhancing powers.
Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle Perfume Gun in Jurassic Flower brings the scent of lush French florals into your home. Juicy citrus, blooming magnolia trees, and just a hint of lavender fill the air.
Since 2014, Maison Francis Kurkdjian Paris Baccarat Rouge 540 Eau de Parfum has been shorthand for extravagance, but this year TikTok—and a mention on Gossip Girl—is giving the fragrance a second life. Reinvented as a candle, the sweet, woodsy blend is worth the splurge
Another big trend in home fragrance? Vegetal scents. Malin + Goetz helped create this category with its Tomato Candle, and few have improved on it.
Courteney Cox is bypassing the celebrity beauty line and diving into home care with Homecourt, which includes scented countertop mists, hand wash, and candles. Each comes in four fragrances: Cipres Mint, Steeped Rose, Neroli Leaf, and Cece, Cox’s signature scent, a blend of cardamom, cinnamon, and leather.
With swamp rose, mallow, moss, and creeping bent grass, D.S. & Durga Salt Marsh Rose recalls a long, lazy walk on Cape Cod on a warm July day.
The Harlem Candle Co.’s Speakeasy is an invitation to take a trip back in time. Chocolate, incense, and tobacco notes evoke the sort of energy that jumps off the candleholder’s 1930s illustration, “A Night-Club Map of Harlem” by E. Simms Campbell.
Nest Fragrances founder Laura Slatkin was inspired by the scent of the spa at the Beverly Hills Hotel when dreaming up this Wild Mint & Eucalyptus candle.
"Cold spices give a sense of energy and bring you back to a state of consciousness,” says Welch. Boy Smells Hinoki Fantôme is cool and earthy.
Right now, it’s all about a daring palette, says Welch. P.F. Candle Co.’s Black Fig combines evergreen and fig. It’s delicious.