Do you ever feel like the fragrance of your favorite scented candle simply disappears as soon as you snuff the flame? We love a good candle, room spray, or diffuser as much as the next person, but they're not all created equal, and some fail to produce a fragrance that lasts. We want our home to smell good around the clock, but finding a way to do so can be difficult.
If you're wondering how to make a house smell good 24/7, then we've got some ideas for you. Creating an enduring fragrance in your home requires layering and some strategic scent choices, so people with the best-smelling homes utilize a range of tricks to make sure their home always smells amazing. To find out what's involved, we spoke with scent experts to get behind the mystery and discover how to achieve a long-lasting home fragrance. Here's what they had to say.
1. Fragrance your furnishings
Soft furnishings hold scent, whether good or bad. This is why it is especially important to make your couch smell great when making your living room smell good, and the same goes for the likes of rugs, curtains, and bed linen. To create a really long-lasting fragrance you need to capitalize on the fragrance-holding ability of furnishings already in your home.
'Spritz your favorite scent on your curtains, sofa, rugs, and cushions,' suggests scent expert from House Fragrance, Grace Young. 'Fabric holds fragrance well, and the scent gets released gradually every time the fabric moves.' Regularly washing your bed sheets, pillowcases, and throws can make your house smell like laundry detergent, but for bigger items use a delicious scented room spray to give them a light mist.
2. Try scent-layering
People with amazing-smelling homes aren't just using one technique. The secret to having a fragrance that lasts is scent layering. This clever trick is a great way to differentiate zones in your home, but it is also imperative if you want to have a home filled with long-lasting fragrances that you always notice.
Utilizing different methods of fragrancing will ensure that the aromas in your home will linger and evolve over time. Don't just stick to one method. Reed diffusers and fabric mists make a great base scent for a room, whilst complimentary candles and incense will enhance their smell and make it more apparent.
3. Switch up your scent
Even with the best home fragrances, we're prone to going 'nose blind'. If you have one specific fragrance that fills your home it's likely you'll stop smelling it fairly quickly. 'People can become nose blind to scents they're constantly exposed to,' says Karina Toner of Spekless Cleaning. 'Constant exposure to a single scent can lead to olfactory fatigue, where your nose essentially tunes out that particular aroma.'
It doesn't mean it has stopped producing scent, just that you've become too accustomed to it. The key to avoiding this is rotating different scents and layering alternative methods of fragrancing together to create an unusual scentscape. 'Use a combination of complementary scents across different mediums, like a vanilla-scented candle and lavender room spray,' advises Grace. 'Your nose is less likely to get used to the scent if it's constantly being stimulated in new ways.'
Which types of home fragrance last longest?
The key to creating a fragrance that lasts is using the best products. 'To make scents last longer, choose high-quality candles and fragrance oils over synthetic ones,' Grace explains. Be sure to check ingredients to determine the quality of your home fragrances, and remember to avoid harmful parabens.
In the case of candles, look for ingredients such as soy wax and natural oils for a luxury scent experience that makes your home smell like a hotel. 'Natural oils disperse slowly and maintain their aroma longer,' explains Grace, while candles with synthetic scents will overpower your space and dissipate quickly.
Really, though, reed diffusers are the longest-lasting home fragrance you can choose. They're oil-based, meaning the scent is of high quality and releases slowly, plus they're an ideal way to introduce a base scent to your home since there's no on-and-off switch, just a clever little bottle that constantly emits a subtle fragrance. They come in a range of sizes and scents, some of which are small enough to be a hidden way to make your home smell amazing.
'Reed diffusers are excellent for long-lasting fragrance,' says Karina. 'Reeds already disperse scent gradually over time, but the trick to making them more potent is to flip the reeds regularly. This will extend their lifespan and refresh their scent.' Don't forget to layer with other types of fragrance too if you want to avoid going nose blind!
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