Best Home Fragrance: Quick Menu
Stocking up on the best home fragrances is one of the quickest ways to make your space feel expensive. Scents are deeply personal, often evoking memories and feelings, and in your home, help to set the mood or ambiance.
Whether you enjoy warm vanilla or crisp balsam, we‘ve tried, tested, and rounded up various scent mediums from air fresheners to candles and diffusers, with our guide showcasing something for all tastes and preferences.
Three of the items we've listed are $20 and under, and we’ve also included some premium options — and categorized our picks by scent family. Whether you're looking for the best candles within a certain price range, or have the capacity to splash more cash for someone special — there's a pick for every person.
The best home fragrances to buy right now
Fresh scents
Size: 6.7oz, 21.16 oz
Scent: Fresh
Price: From $50
This super fresh, ozonic candle is ideal for your bathroom, bedroom, or entryway, and reminds me of the ocean mixed with a spring morning. Think sea air, combined with fig leaves, and a little cardamom to spice things up! The wax sits in an amber glass vessel, burns clean, and has a cruetly-free formulation.
Size: 5.9 oz.
Scent: Fresh
Price: $60
This cruelty-free and vegan reed diffuser is strong enough to banish bad smells, especially needed in windowless bathrooms. It's fresh thanks to the mint, and the woodsy-cool eucalyptus helps strike the perfect balance. You can also buy refills for it, so you can reuse the frosted glass vessel.
Size: 10.5 oz.
Notes: Fresh
Price: Was $52, Now $26 (save $26)
This beeswax candle smells like fresh air, only better. With a twist of bitter orange and underlying notes of cedarwood, sandalwood, and frankincense, I love using it in my entryway to create a great first impression. You can light it in most spaces, though I'd avoid smaller rooms as it might be overpowering.
Floral scents
Size: 9.8 oz.
Scent: Floral
Price: $42
This geranium and juniper berry candle from The White Company is the #1 waxlight I can recommend if you want something modern and luxurious. Light it in any room in your house to welcome and wow guests. FYI, it is made with mineral wax, so expect some soot around the corner of the glass vessel.
Size (in): H4.25 x W2.72 x L2.72
Scent: Various
Price: $69
This is rated our favorite essential oil diffuser for small spaces. It's cordless, compact, and doesn‘t take up much space. I use mine with Neom's Scent-to-Sleep essential oil (available from Amazon) which smells like lavender, basil, and jasmine. It comes in two colors, is a flameless alternative to a candle, and has touch buttons on the top to control its intensity.
Size: 2.6 oz to 14.8 oz
Scent: Floral
Price: From $19.50
Fragranced with 11 essential oils to soothe and relax, this fruity yet sweet smell is designed to fill a large bedroom. Though it's clean and soot-free, you'll want to keep your wicks trimmed at all times as they tend to curl. It's made with vegetable wax, and will burn for 50 hours.
Size: 2oz–43.7oz
Scent: Floral
Price: From $20
This rosewater and geranium candle looks luxurious, smells incredible, and burns cleanly for up to 100 hours. My only complaint? It's made with paraffin wax. I have the three-wick version of the pink-tinted wax and it infuses my bedroom with its exceptional scent.
Size: 2.3oz, 7 oz
Scent: Floral
Price: From $25
This is a scent I will forever repurchase for myself and to gift. It's the perfect mix of peonies, roses, fresh-cut strawberries, and moss — great for forestcore advocates who want to live and breathe the aesthetic. This rapeseed wax blend burns evenly (for up to 50 hours) in its recycled Scandi-style vessel and has an FSC-certified wooden lid for keeping dust away.
Size: 2.3oz, 7 oz
Scent: Floral
Price: From $25
Rosenhave combines alba rose, elderflower, geranium, and blackcurrant buds to create a floral sanctuary in your home. The wax, made from sustainably farmed Swedish rapeseed oil sits inside a pink recycled glass vessel with a wooden lid to prevent dust from collecting inside.
Spicy and woody scents
Size: 2 oz, 8.1oz, 21.2 oz
Scent: Smoky
Price: From $48
This smart-looking candle is my go-to on a wet and windy day. Not only does it sit inside a frosted glass back vessel, but it's made using black wax. With notes of smoky labdanum, patchouli, and cedarwood combined with charred birchwood and a hint of black truffle, it'll look great on a coffee table and make your home smell cozy and sophisticated.
Size: 5.07 fl. oz.
Scent: Warm
Price: $84
I used this diffuser in my entryway last fall, and its seriously luxurious fragrance repeatedly impressed my guests. It's no surprise given the seductive mix of Cuban cascarilla oil, spicy pimento berries, cooling pine needles, and velvety sage. It comes with a bottle stopper so that you can control usage, and avoid it evaporating when it's warm.
Size: 6.7 oz, 21.16 oz
Notes: Spicy
Price: From $50
This sultry, slightly masculine scent is spicy, filling the air with an aromatic fragrance in minutes. As well as Madagascan black pepper, it boasts warm notes of ginger and cilantro and is a strong scent for larger spaces (we could smell it before it was lit). As for the amber glass jar, it's super chic — especially when the flame glows through the glass.
Fruity scents
Size: 10 oz
Notes: Fruity
Price: $42
The juicy, coconutty deliciousness of this candle instantly transports you to that sublime moment on vacation when you take a sip of your first piña colada. Fruity and light, this is the perfect two-wick to light in the day and leaves us dreaming about summer. It's no wonder it evokes strong holiday vibes with its blend of floral and citrus notes, topped with sweet hints of vanilla and tonka bean.
Size: 1.6 oz./7.7 oz.
Scent: Fruity
Price: $21.50 at Rituals
I've repurchased this Rituals reed diffuser, year after year. Its oriental notes of rice milk, Nashi pear, and cherry blossom always wow me, and it's ideal for smaller spaces. I particularly love it in my entryway, as the scent gently floods through other rooms, without needing to flip the reeds.
Size: 8 oz.
Scent: Fruity
Price: $22
This Amalfi-inspired, sherbety soy candle will help any wanderluster feel like they're vacationing in Europe with notes of lemon, strawberry, and jasmine. The fact it sits in a lovely tin is just a bonus, plus it has a burn time of around 38 hours. Fun fact: Taylor Swift uses this in her home.
Size: 7.85 oz.
Scent: Fruity
Price: $52
This uplifting reed diffuser is scented with exotic fruits, including mango, tangerine, passion fruit, and pomegranate. Its aroma reaches every corner of a room, and we think that its minimal bottle lends itself to the fragrance. You can buy refills and its vessel is recyclable.
Size: 10.5 oz.
Scent: Sweet
Price: $65.28 $39.17 (save $26.11) at MyBag
With notes of vanilla bean, juicy pear, orange peel, and bergamot, this fresh-but-fruity fragrance deliciously sweeps across any space. It's best for living rooms, entryways, and bedrooms because it's way too nice to hide away in your bathroom. Its two lead-free cotton wicks and the coconut-soy black wax burns super clean for 60 hours.
Size: 8.1 oz.
Scent: Sweet
Price: $19.02
This candle makes my bedroom feel warm and cozy — in both looks and scent. Its breakfasty blend of honey and oats might seem subtle, but it has an impressive throw performance. I've had guests comment on its fragrance, and I adore its simple white glass vessel. It burns clean for 35 hours, though you'll need to trim the wick often. Save this for a chilly day when you need some comfort indoors.
Types of home fragrance
Candles
Using a candle to scent your space offers a consistent flow of fragrance. Be sure to consider the wax of your candle, with soy being the best and most clean option in our opinion, and evaluate the candle's size in comparison to your room size, and how many hours it can burn for. If you have small children or pets, you may want to opt for a flameless home fragrance solution.
Reed diffusers
These oil-filled vessels offer more control over a scent's reach. You'll need to regularly flip the sticks for a fragrance boost and can add or remove reeds to manage the intensity. Though reed diffusers aren't necessarily dangerous, do place them out of reach of children or pets to avoid spills on your furniture, and reduce the risk of ingestion.
Essential oil diffusers
Essential oil diffusers produce water-fragranced vapor into the air. We've only included one diffuser in this guide, and it works without water. Instead, it uses cold fusion technology to diffuse the essential oils. These mechanisms are a lot safer to use in your home as they usually automatically shut off once their water tank empties. Some are battery-operated and others rely on mains power, so need to be placed near a plug socket.
How to choose a home fragrance
Fragrance is very subjective, but it's one of the things that people with nice-smelling homes do take pride in and often feel particular about.. Just choose what you love the smell of. If you're still unsure of how to make your home smell good, there are a few general rules to help you make the best choice for you.
Living rooms: The living room is usually the largest room in the house and can tolerate a strong fragrance. Bold florals, rich amber-based, or woody-smoky fragrances, and sweet scents can all travel beautifully in this space. We'd avoid anything herbal or overly subtle, as you probably won't be able to smell it much.
Bedrooms: Choosing a scent for a bedroom is all about making sure you won't disrupt your sleep with an overly strong or stimulating fragrance. Avoid citruses or cloyingly sweet scents. We recommend subtly blended white florals, scents with tea notes, or herbal fragrances with lavender or chamomile.
Kitchens: The best fragrance for a kitchen will need to harmonize with the smells of food being prepared. Notes of tomato, passion fruit, basil, citrus, or mint all work particularly well. While a reed diffuser works well in any other room, we avoid putting them in kitchens where they might take on cooking smells, or where heat could impact their oils.
Bathrooms: This is your wild card of a room that can accommodate almost any fragrance, strong or subtle. We prefer to stick to herbal or fresh fragrances in a bathroom and wouldn't opt for anything too heavy, especially if your bathroom is windowless.
Entryways: A hallway is your home’s introduction, so why not go for a blast of scent? Opulent white florals, rose scents, or complex woody fragrances will make a strong first impression.
Home office: A home office fragrance (or a room in which you work) needs to support productivity without being distractive. Bright citruses will help you stay awake and concentrate, while a grounded fragrance with notes of amber or tobacco will create an area for focus.
What to consider when choosing a home fragrance
We've listed a range of specs above, along with each product we recommend. Specifications differ from reed diffusers to candles, but we've made sure to list both size and scent. Go for a larger candle if you‘re shopping for a big space. If it's a reed diffuser, don't be scared to use all of the reeds.
Candle burn time and wax type
We've listed the burn time of each candle. Consider this and compare it to the candle's price. The last specification we’ve included for candles is wax type. This is mostly down to personal preference, but we have found that soy wax tends to be a better option for air quality. People with nice-smelling small spaces might also opt for a non-paraffin wax as synthetic products have been known to cause headaches.
Reed diffuser sustainability
We've made sure to check if each reed diffuser has to be fully replaced once finished or if refills are available. Refilling is eco-friendly and more affordable than buying a new product. Some vessels can be recycled or repurposed into a small vase, just as candle jars can be reused.
FAQs
Is now a good time to buy home fragrances?
We at Real Homes compare prices and provide insight using the Amazon price tracking site, camelcamelcamel. This allows us to see the lowest and highest prices recorded and provide guidance on the right time to buy home fragrance.
How we test home fragrance
A collection of home fragrances on Annie's coffee table
Every fragrance featured has been tested by me or a member of the Real Homes team so that you can buy knowing you're spending your money wisely. I've tested 100+ home fragrances, and have also reviewed scents for Livingetc and Homes & Gardens. I test these candles, reed diffusers, and essential oil diffusers in my two-bedroom apartment that I share with my husband and my dog.
Finding the right home fragrance for you may take a little trial and error. Are you more of a candle person or do you like a subtle air freshener? Think about your surroundings — you'll need to keep flames away from little ones and pets so candles may not be the best solution. If you're prone to knocking over a glass reed diffuser, maybe a plug-in air freshener would be a better option.
