One of the first things I notice as soon as I step into someone's house is the scent. And many times, it'll feel like a warm embrace or a soothing waft of perfumed air carrying you into the home. However, there are moments when a space can come across as overbearingly scented and even stuffy.
While a common cause of this is overspritzing a house spray and lighting one too many candles, the other culprit is picking the wrong scents. Instead of making your home smell nice, it can bring down the vibe of your space, make the air feel heavy, and even mess with the taste of your food.
To avoid these unfortunate consequences of perfuming your home with incompatible scents, here's what you should avoid and some alternative notes you can trust.
1. Overly Masculine Scents
"While masculine scents can be great for personal wear, in a home, they often feel too bold and cologne-like," says Caitlyn Grubb, fragrance evaluation specialist at ScentAir.
"Instead of creating coziness, I find that overly masculine home fragrances sit heavy in the air and lend a synthetic edge that quickly tips into sensory overload."
However, that's not to say that you can't have a home that smells masculine. It's all about mastering the balance. So, as an alternative, you can bring in fragrance mixes of vanilla and tobacco, musk and oud, or leather and florals for a broody but mesmerizing scent that will make your living room smell great.
Burn Time: 25 Hours
Malin+Goetz's Dark Rum Votive Candle feels handsomely masculine and grown up, too. It's moody, layered, and perfectly versatile for almost every space in your home.
2. Exaggerated Powdery Fragrances
As with all things in life, indulging in too much of anything is never a good thing. "Like overly masculine scents, powdery fragrances can lean too far feminine, making a space feel less neutral and harder to linger in long term," says Caitlyn.
"These heady fragrances also carry a nostalgic quality, reminiscent of fragrances you might have worn growing up, which can feel a bit dated today."
In my opinion, some of the best home fragrances meet in the middle. Think of androgynous scents like spicy notes for fall, organic earthy scents for spring and summer, and soft gourmand themes for winter.
Notes: Ylang-Ylang, Sambac Jasmine, Benzoin Resin
TRUDON's Maduraï Room Spray is unconventionally feminine with familiarity in florals. And its scent is just as beautiful as the vintage glass bottle it comes in.
3. Sickly Sweet Gourmands
Fragrance expert Emilie Mascarell tells me that excessively sweet gourmand scents are another genre of home fragrances to avoid. "Syrupy caramel, cupcake, or candy-like notes tend to linger in a way that can feel heavy and cloying in a living space," she notes.
The key to avoiding this sickeningly saccharine air is to maintain balance. "I enjoy gourmand scents in moderation, but once they veer too synthetic, I tend to steer clear," says Caitlyn. "And chocolate can be tricky to get right, so I tend to stay away from anything chocolate-based."
If you still want a home that smells like the inside of a Parisian bakery, then choose lighter gourmand scents or home fragrance with sweet middle notes. One of my tried and true favorites is the Earl of East Croissant Candle — thank me later.
Burn Time: 45 Hours
I swear by Discothèque candles, and its Mudd Club Candle features top notes of milk, almond, coconut, and sea salt that weave together a gourmand fragrance made to mesmerize the senses.
4. Heady White Florals
According to Emilie, another genre of home scents to avoid is overwhelmingly heady floral scents. "Bold florals like tuberose or gardenia can take over a room and feel more suffocating than elegant," she notes.
Caitlyn agrees and finds that scents centered around white blooms can be especially discomforting. "Lilies have always been challenging for me, even in their natural form, so I tend to avoid fragrances that feature them," she shares. "They can feel sticky and heavy, making a space less airy and harder to enjoy over time."
So rather than filling your room with a flower-forward scent, consider finding scented candles that blend subtle floral fragrances. However, you can also experiment with scent layering and balance the florals with herbal notes and moodier, woody scents that naturally reside within the realm of earthy fragrances.
Burn Time: 10 Hours
Loewe's Honeysuckle Scented Candle is crafted from 100% vegetable wax and carries a gentle floral fragrance that will make your home feel like a soothing, blossoming nook.
5. Sharp Citrus Notes
Lastly, Emilie warns against using home fragrances with harsh citrus notes to refresh the air in your living space. "While citrus brings freshness, overly sharp lemon or synthetic lime accords can veer into 'cleaning product' territory, which feels sterile rather than refined," she says.
And Caitlyn also shares a similar sentiment. "These citrus-forward scents that smell like cleaners can feel more like masking odors than creating a fresh and inviting space."
To combat this problem, you can invest in designer-approved cleaning products that host sweeter, fruity fragrances. Or, you can keep your detergents citrus-scented and avoid these notes in your home sprays and candles.
Material: Glass
Aside from being a beautiful modern fragrance format, this Mimosa Hourglass Diffuser by Diptyque is a great example of citrus blends that refresh without overwhelm.
Another common mistake is using out-of-season fragrances that don't reflect the natural ambiance outdoors. Since its fall, here's our guide on how to make a room smell cozy and autumnal.
