Who doesn’t love coming home to a house that smells fresh, floral, sweet, or warm and inviting? While essential oil diffusers can perfume a space beautifully, there’s just something nostalgic and cozy about candlelight accompanied by a matching fragrance. If you’re looking to fill your living spaces with lovely scents using candles, read on for tips on choosing the best candles for home fragrance.
Consider the Room
When selecting a candle for a specific room, take into account the purpose of that space. For high-traffic areas like entryways and hallways, citrus scents like lemon, grapefruit, lime, and orange make welcoming first impressions. These bright fruity notes promote feelings of energy and happiness.
Cozy spots like living rooms, bedrooms, and dens invite candles with warming notes like vanilla, baked goods, amber, sandalwood, and musk. These rich aromas encourage relaxation and comfort. Crisp botanical candles featuring herbs, pine, apples, and wildflowers also suit leisure spaces.
In workspace areas like home offices, uplifting florals, herbs, and fruits enable concentration while soothing stress. Rose, jasmine, lavender, basil, peppermint, ginger, and lemongrass work nicely.
For dining spaces where people gather to enjoy meals, mouthwatering candle options abound. Cinnamon, cloves, cake, cookies, coffee, chocolate, nuts, and fruits whet the appetite delightfully.
Consider Scent Intensity
Think about scent throw – how well a candle makes its fragrance known throughout a room – when selecting home candles. If you have an open floor plan or smaller rooms, candles labeled as strong or high intensity suit the setting best to scent the whole space. For larger areas, very strong throw intensity becomes necessary.
However, a small or low ceiling bedroom may become overpowering with a strong candle. In that case, mild or medium intensity works better. You want a soft candlelight glow and subtle aromatic hints for this private sanctuary. Test different intensity levels to find what’s right for each of your rooms.
Mind the Wax
Candle wax variety also makes a difference in home scenting. Traditional paraffin wax, for instance, throws scent strongly. It does produce some smoke while burning, though, which bothers some people. For the cleanest burn, soy wax has a slight edge over paraffin. It has good scent dispersion too.
Beeswax candles emit less fragrance but burn brighter and cleaner than the other two. Vegans will appreciate soy as an animal-free wax, while some favor beeswax as the most natural type that honeybees produce. Try each kind to discover your wax preferences.
Consider Longevity
When possible, opt for candles in larger vessels that hold more wax and last longer. While tea lights and votives lend charming ambience, their tiny size translates to shorter burn times and weaker scent throw. Pouring extra wax beads into recessed bottoms extends votives’ lives.
Take wick length and diameter into consideration too, as these affect how quickly wax pools melt. The wider and longer the wick, the faster the candle burns. Most manufacturers now use braided fabric wicks instead of metal-cored ones, making them safer with less soot.
Give Candles Some Space
Observe fire safety by keeping burning candles at least 12 inches from anything flammable. Never leave wax lights unattended or sleep near lit ones. The vessel shape, width, and material also play a role. Wider jars and shallow bowls allow more wax to liquefy into fragrant pools faster. Contained warmers and glass hurricane covers balance safety with scent dispersion.
Glass holders suit most interiors, while metals like tin and copper give a more rugged, rustic personality. For portability, seek out candles in cups and travel tins. Just take care not to tip over taper and pillar styles. Set these vertically on secure non-flammable bases away from table edges.
Now that you know what to look for in home fragrance candles, it’s time to shop for those signature scents that make your house happily homier. Choose candles purposefully for each living area, and soon your rooms will radiate cozy style inside and out.