home fragrance

Scent.

The first thing I notice when I walk into someone’s home is the scent (second is the dust on your floor trim…). After all, everyone’s home has a particular scent of its own, does it not? Scent is a funny thing…my kids can smell a certain laundry detergent and recognize it smells like their favorite aunt’s house or their grandparent’s home. Certain scents are categorized as seasonal, and they bring about a beautiful feeling of nostalgia when they hit. For instance, when I smell cinnamon and/or vanilla, I’m transported to the holiday season, baking Christmas cookies with my grandmother and now my own children.

The scent of sunscreen never fails to remind me of the lazy summer days we spend in the pool with our children, and Givenchy’s Gentlemen Only is the scent that reminds me so of my husband. Scent is a strong sense, and probably the most sentimental of all, and that’s why it’s so important to me that my home smells lovely. In fact, it might be an obsession.

For a long time, I only burned Partylite Candles (does anyone remember those?! Or did I just age myself?). Then I decided I loved the many scents from Bath & Body Works – but in the past year or so, my scent preferences have changed. Now that I’m almost 40, I figured my home fragrance choices should reflect a more mature preference, and I ordered my first set of NEST New York candles, which also turned into a Hotel Collection order – and my house has never smelled more beautiful.

NEST New York Fragrances

My chosen scent is Moroccan Amber, but there isn’t a scent that doesn’t strike the senses and impress. I keep a candle on my nightstand in the master bedroom, one on the table in the nook, and I keep a reed diffuser on the bar in the salon. Now that it’s spring, I’m putting the Moroccan Amber away in favor of Driftwood & Chamomile Classic. For the fall season, I choose Velvet Pear. All are lovely.

The classic candles burn anywhere from 50 to 60 hours, and I find that lighting just one in the main area of our first floor covers almost the entire 3,000-square feet as long as interior doors are all open. I have not tried the larger candles – yet – because I am so happy with the classic. As far as the reed diffuser in the salon, it carries throughout the entryway, upstairs, into the dining room, and into our office. We are all exceptionally pleased with the products.

Hotel Collection Fragrances

In all honesty – this is the one I’m obsessed with. But, it’s not the candles or the diffusers that have me obsessed. It’s fragrance oil. Full disclosure – I did not purchase the scent diffusers from Hotel Collection. I did purchase one from Amazon that is more aesthetically pleasing (for my own personal home style). However, the My Way fragrance is to die for. I put a little drop in the oil diffuser with water, and the entire house smells like an upscale hotel lobby in a matter of minutes – and the compliments keep coming. Every single time someone comes to the door or into the house, the first thing they do is compliment how good it smells.

I love the My Way candle, too. I also bought one of the My Way diffusers, but I’ll say with honesty that I cannot smell anything emanating from it even when I’m near it. It doesn’t provide much scent, so it’s been relocated to the master bathroom water closet because that’s about as much space as it scents – I wouldn’t purchase it again.

But the fragrance oil? I find myself infrequently burning candles anymore because the oil provides fragrance to the entire first floor of our home. I haven’t tried any other scents because I’m so obsessed with My Way that I don’t want any other.

If you’re entertaining the idea of upgrading your home fragrance collection, this is your sign. Do it. Don’t worry – you can still order the B&BW candles when they’re on sale – my teen and preteen daughters burn those in their bedrooms, so we still get plenty of use out of them. But, these are the scents that will elevate the luxuriousness of your own home, and I stand by each of them with 100 percent satisfaction.

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