December is fast approaching and my guess is that you are almost ready to put up your Christmas decorations. Putting up the Christmas tree and decorating the house is my absolute favourite part of Christmas, and in my household it is somewhat of a tradition, involving multiple cups of tea, mince pies, Christmas songs (exclusively sung by Mariah Carey and Celine Dion, of course) and plenty of decorations, both beautiful and tacky. It really is fab, and whilst it’s essential to make your home look beautiful for the Christmas season, one mustn’t neglect to make it smell beautiful too because an adornment of scent at Christmas is the ultimate finishing touch to your decorations.
In this guide, I’ll be bringing you some lovely smelling things to scent your home this Christmas. There are plenty of scented candles (I mean, who doesn’t love a scented candle?) and products from your favourite brands, with fragrances that are Christmas-inspired or just so cosy you’ll want to snuggle them by the fire. So by the time you have finished this piece you will have absolutely no excuse not to decorate your home with some beautiful scent this Christmas!
“Too beautiful to give away…”
Annick Goutal Une Fôret d’Or – Noël Scented Candle
Some candles don’t just smell beautiful – they look gorgeous too. Une Fôret d’Or (‘A Forest of Gold’) by Annick Goutal is one such object. Let’s talk look, first off. Une Fôret d’Or is housed within a deep indigo glass jar decorated with festive foliage in a beautiful shade of gold. The candle contains Goutal’s classic Noël fragrance – a fresh, spicy and fruity scent mixed with citrus and Siberian pine, recalling the warmth and the spirit of the most wonderful time of the year. Anyone you know would be chuffed to bits to receive a gift as good as this, but I think it’s too beautiful to give away. So get one for yourself and burn it when visitors come over this Christmas – you’ll make them all very jealous!
“A fluffy blanket of sweetness…”
Acqua di Parma Room Spray – Amber Accord
Scenting the home isn’t just about candles, there are many other ways to do it too! There are reed diffusers and room sprays aplenty, and luckily for us, Acqua di Parma has some of the latter on offer. My favourite of the Acqua di Parma room sprays for the festive season is Amber Accord. Why? Well, amber is just the cosiest fragrance one can enjoy, with vanilla, labdanum and benzoin coming together to create a fluffy blanket of sweetness. Acqua di Parma describes it as “an intense, surprising fragrance which blends the flowery notes of violet with the sumptuous notes of cedarwood and sandalwood, enriched with an unexpected blend of vanilla and warm notes of amber”. Tell me you don’t want to spritz that generously around your living space this Christmas!
“…a decidedly tinsel-esque vibe.”
Let’s finish off with a little Christmas novelty from the house of Comme des Garçons. Now, this candle, which is scented with the brand’s iconic 2 fragrance (more on that in a moment), isn’t actually a Christmas candle, but to me, it evokes one of the most iconic smells of the season: tinsel. That’s right, this silvery, inky delight has a decidedly tinsel-esque vibe to it, without any of the scratchy, tackiness of the real thing (JK tinsel, you know we love you). When burning this candle, one is greeted with a rich floral scent that has a coolness to it, with facets of metal, ink, and tinsel (of course), not to mention a strangeness that can only be described as hot dust burning off the top of a lightbulb. A beautiful scent for the unconventional home this Christmas.
“…blazing red centrepiece.”
Acqua di Parma Large Cube Candle – Red – Spicy
You may be used to thinking of Acqua di Parma as a brand that presents understated elegance in everything they do, and they definitely are, but with their cube candles, Acqua di Parma really makes a statement. These totems of home fragrance are as eye-catchingly impressive as they are richly scented and they have one candle that is perfect for the season.
For Christmas, there’s nothing better than curling up with the scent of warm spices and the Acqua di Parma Large Cube Candle certainly delivers that, with a scent that is intensely imbued with the odour of cinnamon and pepper. It strikes the perfect balance between cosy and delicious, with a dry, powdery glow that says ‘Christmas’ but also has the versatility to scent your home throughout the entirety of winter (it’s certainly big enough) and not just the festive season. Weighing in at a hefty 1kg, this spicy cube candle is the blazing red centrepiece you need in your home this Christmas.
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