Christmastime should be a joy for all of your senses. Celebrate the season by making your home smell like Christmas.
Discover the top Christmas scents and Christmas candles to create joyful aromas throughout the holiday season.
What is the Most Christmassy Smell?
The woodsy allure of pine is one of the top scents of the season. Close your eyes and imagine wandering through an evergreen forest covered with a blanket of snow. Take a deep breath and revel in the fresh scent of pine trees permeating the air.
Recreate this scent at home with a freshly cut Christmas tree or Christmas candles with an evergreen/pine aroma.
Top 10 Christmas Scents
Though the smell of Christmas trees is the top aroma of the season, the woodsy scent is overwhelming for some.
Here are ten more fantastic Christmas scents to embrace this holiday season.
Peppermint
Peppermint smells like a Christmas village covered in snow. The icy, cool crispness of peppermint teases all your senses with a delightful tingle. It’s the perfect scent for visits to Santa, sleigh rides, and winter wonderlands.
Cinnamon
The fresh, warm scent of cinnamon is the perfect contrast to icy peppermint. Peppermint is for playing outside, while cinnamon reminds us of the joyful warmth we feel when we come in from the cold.
Nutmeg
Nutmeg gives pumpkin spice its delightful aroma. Nutmeg is rich and woody, a perfect blend of sweet and spicy that reminds you of lazily lounging with your favorite people after a delicious Christmas dinner.
Fresh Baked Cookies
Nothing says Christmastime like the smell of freshly baked sugar cookies wafting through the kitchen.
The scent of Christmas cookies fills the air with childhood memories of joyful faces glimpsing the perfect white box wrapped with string.
Citrus & Clove
Adding a dash of clove to the refreshing springtime citrus smell transforms it into a magical Christmas aroma.
Lemon and orange are ideal scents to combine with clove for a refreshingly spicy Christmas scent.
Wrapping Paper
The unique scent of paper fills the air whenever you sit to wrap Christmas presents. Wrapping paper, tape, and bows all have that office supply aroma, and when combined with other Christmas scents, create an unforgettable blend of spice and books that only appears at Christmas time.
As wrapping paper gets tossed about the floor on Christmas day, the entire house smells like a bookstore bathed in Christmas.
Gingerbread
Gingerbread combines a variety of Christmas flavors into a deliciously sweet and spicy treat.
The fragrant aroma of gingerbread includes hints of ginger, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar perfectly blended to fill the air with happiness and warmth.
Roasted Chestnuts
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire represented Christmas long before Nat King Cole sang of their charm. The nutty aroma includes sweet hints of fruit as they roast over the fire or in the oven.
Baked Ham
Christmas dinner often includes a succulent baked ham as the main course. The mouthwatering scent of tender ham drenched in brown sugar and clove permeates the air for hours before the feast, making stomachs throughout the house rumble in anticipation.
Hot Chocolate
Warm, rich, and indulgent, hot chocolate has been the go-to winter drink for decades. The delectable aroma of chocolate drifting through the air with a hint of marshmallow reminds us of returning to a warm home after an enchanting day out in the snow.
Bonus: Apple Cider
Another favorite Christmas drink combines fresh sweet apples with warm, spicy cinnamon. The opposing scents create a pleasant treat for your senses, while nothing says home like the smell of apples.
What Scents Remind You of Winter?
Christmas is just a tiny part of the winter season, filled with numerous scents creating nostalgia, warmth, and good tidings.
Here are some other pleasant winter scents that aren’t explicitly associated with Christmas but will help you get through the long, cold winter.
Fireplace
The roaring fire brings warmth into your home on winter’s frigid nights. The smell of burning wood generates a relaxing atmosphere, making those who breathe in the fragrance feel warm and loved.
Vanilla
Varvara Krauchanka via Shutterstock.com.
The warm, sweet fragrance may be popular all year long, but something about vanilla reminds us of a toasty home on a snowy winter’s day. It’s the perfect scent for winter aromatherapy.
Cold Air
There’s a crisp aroma associated with cold air that you can’t find anywhere else.
The combination of your warm breath against the frosty air exhilarates the senses, forming an unmistakable smell that’s hard to recreate.
Sage
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The deep, earthy aroma of sage reminds us of warm, savory dishes on a cold winter’s day.
Sage also offers cleansing properties. Burning a spindle of sage clears an area of dark energy, welcoming optimism for the future, much like winter cleanses the planet in anticipation of spring.
Timber/Wood Smells
Winter is a deep, earthy season that makes us want to nestle in a cozy wooden cabin. Scents like cedar and birch create a woody aroma, filling your home with wintery bliss.
Most timber or woody-smelling candles will work to produce a cozy winter cabin feel.
How Can I Make My House Smell Like Christmas?
If you want to make your house smell like Christmas, display a freshly cut Christmas tree, bake Christmas cookies, and set a bowl of cinnamon-flavored pinecones out in your foyer.
Or, opt for the wide variety of Christmas candles, incenses, plug-ins, and oils available to give yourself that fresh Christmas smell without all the effort.
Candles are ideal because they often come in gorgeous greens, reds, and whites, offering the built in Christmas colored decorations along with fabulous fragrances for Christmas aromatherapy.
What is the Best Christmas-scented Candle?
The best-scented candle for Christmas depends on your favorite Christmas scent.
Woodwick is one of the best brands for Christmas candles. Woodwick offers an array of scents, and its unique wick sounds like a crackling fireplace as it burns, delighting multiple senses with one candle. Woodwick also offers layered trilogy candles that change aromas as they burn.
Here are some of the best options for Woodwick Christmas candles to make your home smell like Christmas.
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- Woodwick Trilogy with crimson berries, Fraser fir, and white teak
- Woodwick Icy Woodland Trilogy with magnolia birch, juniper & spruce, and lavender & cedar
- Woodwick Trilogy with smoked walnut & maple, evening bonfire, and wood smoke
- Woodwick Fraser Fir
- Woodwick Cinnamon Chai
Frugal Christmas Candles
Woodwick candles are expensive. Those willing to forgo the delightful sensory experience Woodwick offers can find fantastic Christmas fragrances for less.
Consider Village Candle Baslam Fir for the fantastic scent of Evergreen if you’re looking for the best fragrance on a budget.
Yankee Candle is the most well-known company offering scented candles. You can find nearly any Christmas scent in a Yankee Candle, and their mid-line prices work with every budget.
Christmas Incense and Oils
Those who don’t want open flames burning constantly may prefer scented oils and incense. Oil diffusers are popular alternatives to candles, and many companies offer similar scents.
Yankee Candle has an essential oil line as an alternative to candles, but you can also find a variety of scents at stores like Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Christmas Scented Plugins
Using scented plug-ins is a final option to make your home smell like Christmas. Bath and Body Works offers a variety of oil plugins and refills in various holiday aromas to help your home smell like Christmas all season long with minimal work.
Keep in mind that plugins work non-stop. You may become noise-blind to them over time. That doesn’t mean they stopped working, but if you want to enjoy the Christmas scent in your home, opt for something you can turn on and off.
Christmas Scents Let You Celebrate the Season with All Your Senses
Embrace the sights and smells of Christmas by indulging in the fantastic scents of the season. Use Christmas scents to brighten your home and spread holiday cheer to all who visit.
Merry Christmas!