It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas
Six seasonal scents for your home
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, gingerbread men, a clove-studded orange, nutmeg, cinnamon and pine. Add the smell of a roasting turkey to the list, and there you have the smell of Christmas.
Unfortunately for all us aromaphiles out there, chestnuts are rare this time of year, real Christmas trees can be messy, and nutmeg can be poisonous to dogs (just FYI). So how do we get the scent of Christmas pumping in our homes, when the real smells are lacking? Here are six ways to bring the scent of Christmas into your home this holiday season.
Pine
If one aroma says Christmas, it's pine. But it's hard to find a pine-scented diffuser or candle that gives the full, resinous pinene hit. They often have fruity, middle notes that feminise the smell – more woodland sprite, than bearded lumberjack.
Fresh Pine, Ecoya, $35:
Ecoya’s Fresh Pine mini diffuser has top notes of citrus, bergamot & pine, with a sweet, fruity middle, held up by musk & cedarwood base notes. Neither cloying, nor artificial smelling, it gives off the essence of “living next door to a pine forest”. The diffuser is small & discreet, so it won’t look out of place anywhere in the home.
Pine, Christmas Wishes, $35:
This comes in a box set of soy candle & mini reed diffuser, for maximum effect. The scent is actually more vanilla pine. It’s subtle, with a sweet middle & woody basenotes. The scent is artificial, but not cloying. The packaging is a very chic dark green & gold that whispers Christmas like the Bently girl whispers “Bheeently”.
Pine Tree, Amberjack Candle Co., $25-$39:
This is the good stuff, pure pinene without the sweet, foody undercurrent. The top notes are pine & leafy greens, with citrus midnotes, & a spicy, cedar & menthol base. Like running face-first into a pine tree. The apothecary-style packaging is simple yet hip. And it’s all made in Paeroa, Aotearoa.
Food
Christmas is all about over-indulging, and many of the scents we associate with the season are food-based. If you’re not keen on pine, but still want the holiday spirit to infuse your home, these could be the flavours for you.
Xmas pud, The Aromatherapy Co., $30:
Fruity, warm, with bursts of citrus, vanilla; this is the smell of Grandma’s Christmas kitchen. It also comes as a hand cream, but I’m a little unsure about having hands that smell like cake. The diffuser is a swirl of clear glass.
Gingerbread Man, Blow My Wick, $29:
This candle is described as the scent of homemade gingerbread; spicy, sweet, warm with a hint of cinnamon, nutmeg & brown sugar. This little candle comes in an amber glass jar, with a wooden wick.
The simmer pot
This is a cheaper alternative to a pricey diffuser, but won’t have the same scented staying power. Oranges are so good right now. Most simmer pot clips will show folks cutting up whole oranges and wasting them on this recipe. There’s absolutely no need to waste food. Just collect your orange peels in a ziplocked bag in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Snip a couple of sprigs of fresh pine off the nearest tree, or if you’d rather, use five drops of pine essential oil. On Christmas morning, chuck them in a pot with two cups of water, a couple of star anise, a tablespoon of cloves and a couple of sticks of cinnamon. Turn the pot on low, and let it simmer away, but keep an eye on it in case the water evaporates. Merry Christmas vibes all round.