13 Best Home Fragrances to Make Any Room Smell Wonderful - Buy Side from WSJ

To find the nicest room scents, we asked perfumers, interior designers and a neuroscientist to reveal their favorites

Written By

Written by

Contributor, Buy Side from WSJ

Erica Finamore is a contributor to Buy Side from WSJ.

Updated September 16, 2024, 5:57 PM EDT

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Everyone's had that moment: You walk into a shop, a hotel or someone's home, and you're immediately taken by the aroma of it. Your mind becomes singularly focused on finding out what that smell is — and maybe where you can buy it. Finding a stop-you-in-your-tracks kind of scent, whether a candle, room spray, air freshener or oil, can be a challenge. We spoke with experts of all kinds — interior designers, perfumers and even neuroscientists — to get their recommendations for finding the most captivating and uplifting home fragrances.

$22 at Thymes

Global Fragrance Expert Marian Bendeth discovered the Gold Leaf Home Fragrance Mist a few years ago when it was wafting in the air of a small vintage boutique. The room spray blend is filled with pops of jasmine, rose, hyacinth, lily of the valley and oak moss, which gives it a romantic garden vibe (think TV's "Bridgerton"). "It reminds me of an English country garden on a warm summer day," she says.

$26 at Amazon

Diffusers may be the easiest way to fill a space with a gorgeous smell. You simply set them and forget them, though arguably this Ocean Breeze Reed Diffuser by Maison Berger is hard to forget. It has a bit of the marine scent you'd expect (called Calone, in case you were curious), and also packs top notes of rose, black currant and white musk. Bendeth loves the base notes of wood and amber that give a space "a serene, beach vibe."

$82 at Nordstrom

$82 at Jo Malone

If you're looking for a candle with fresh scents to use every day at home, this is one you won't burn out on.

The Orange Blossom Home Candle smells so good that it became scent expert Olivia Jezler's signature candle for six years. With light citrus notes and heartier floral scents, it reminds Jezler of her childhood spent in Thailand, falling asleep next to jasmine flowers. "It's a light, feminine, fresh and clean scent that can brighten up any room," she says.

$60 at Aera

$60 at Amazon

Refillable fragrance diffusers are popping up everywhere, and it's easy to see why. With just a quick swap of a cartridge, you can change the vibe of your entire space. This Moondance scent is characterized by amber, vanilla, tonka (a sweet, woody bean) as well as finishing notes of bergamot, iris and honeysuckle. Rich and inviting, it became a staple in Jezler's home during the pandemic. Note: It must be used with the Aera Diffuser, which you can control manually or with an app. She suggests using it to warm up a room during the winter or to add a touch of invisible sophistication to a space.

$70 at Neiman Marcus

$70 at Amazon

In a dream world, every one of us would have a home or an apartment with a working fireplace. If you don't have one, designer Tariq Dixon, co-founder of TRNK Studio has a quick fix to get that iconic smell and ambiance. D.S. & Druga's Portable Fireplace candle nails the nostalgia factor with hints of cedar, birch, oak and smoke. "It's hard to replicate the fireplace's warmth and embrace, but this candle is a very respectable interpretation," Dixon says.

$50 at Pura

$50 at Ulta

$15 at Pura

$19 save $4

$19 at Ulta

Capri Blue's Volcano fragrance is iconic. It's used in Anthropologie stores (yes, that scent) and it's one of those smells you can recognize the second it meets your nose — a delicious mixture of tropical fruit and sugary sweetness. It's one of neuroscientist and author Rachel Herz's favorite scents to use in her Pura — a smart plug-in diffuser that allows a user to control the intensity of a smell and put it on a timer.

$87 at Nordstrom

$87 at Saks Fifth Avenue

Le Labo launched in 2006 and continues to be a darling of celebrities and tastemakers, especially their versatile, complex Santal scent. This Palo Santo candle is a bit stronger and smokier, carrying the aroma of the namesake South American tree, but adding cedarwood and patchouli to soften it. Palo Santo is believed to reduce stress, and that's exactly why interior designer and licensed therapist Anita Yakota favors it. "It stimulates my olfactory system, which tells my brain to relax and calm," she says. "I put it wherever I need to get rid of negative energy."

$47 at Nordstrom

Scent and memory are strongly linked, notes Yakota: "Candles are a beautiful home therapy tool to stimulate our senses at home and build core memories — without our rooms smelling like a candy store," she says. Many home scents capitalize on this, using fragrance to remind you of freshly-baked cookies or a spring garden. But this Bibliotheque candle is inspired by the best smells of a library. The base of the candle is a mixture of birch woods, patchouli and vanilla with hints of leather accord and plum. A sophisticated crowd pleaser, it also makes a great gift for the woman who has everything or a book lover.

$70 at Neiman Marcus

$70 at Violet Grey

Read the glowing review of this sensual scent by author and former New York Times scent columnist, Chandler Burr, and it's hard not to toss this in your shopping cart. He describes this scent as perfectly balanced with a beautiful burn, and says it “diffuses like a dream.” Tuberose Myrrhder is a complex concoction that leans heavily on Tuberose, a powerful tropical scent, but also weaves in Ethiopian myrrh (smoky and sweet), black currant, cacao and Madagascar vanilla. It's a candle you might want to save for your bedroom or den.

$62 at NEST

Nature-y scents are popular for room freshening for obvious reasons, and this earthy fragrance is a prime example — smelling almost better than any fresh field could possibly smell. The Bamboo Reed Diffuser contains concentrated oil and rattan reeds in a glass bottle so pretty it could hold French perfume. It's perfect for a powder room, where it looks right at home among apothecary bottles. "The scent is a brilliant creation of a natural green (leaves, young grass shoots) that doesn't actually exist," Burr says.

$4 at Walmart

This happy, summery scent comes at an incredible price: At under $5, this Mainstays candle in Juicy Watermelon offers a lot for your buck, and is a favorite of perfumer Kimberly Walker. "It's a girlie, juicy, sweet blend that reminds me of a strawberry daiquiri," she says. The three-wick design allows the sweet, tropical fruit odor to permeate quickly.

$45 at The Hotel Emma

When perfume podcaster Emma Vernon grabbed a drink at San Antonio's Hotel Emma a few years back, she was immediately struck by how much she loved the hotel's signature scent: Recuerdos. "It's smoky and woody in a more palo santo, desert type of way," she says. "It goes with the hotel — the décor is rustic and eclectic, with Spanish colonial and midcentury influences," Vernon says, so you may enjoy it if your home décor checks any of those boxes.

$38 at Basik

"This is an everyday candle that I love to burn when I work out," interior designer Kristen Pena says of the Basik Candle, which she came across at her favorite San Francisco shop, Super Simple. "It's fruitier, which feels nice when you're moving your body." The bouquet of grapefruit, pomelo, peach blossom and green tea notes brings an invigorating energy to any space.

$90 at SSENSE

The Monocle 01 Hinoki Candle looks high fashion, which makes sense, since it's co-produced by French fashion brand Commes des Garçons and British magazine Monocle. It's more than just a pretty face, though. Saskia Wilson-Brown, founder of the Institute for Art and Olfaction, says, "It smells like a spring morning in the woods of Japan," noting its pine, cypress, vetiver and Treemoss aroma.

Erica Finamore is a contributor to Buy Side from WSJ.

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