Fragrance Trends

Fragrance, Fragrance, Wonderful Fragrance

Americans have a passion for fragrance, and scented candles are the number one choice of U.S. consumers for home fragrancing.

Approximately three-fourths of all candles sold in the United States are scented, and candle manufacturers work closely with fragrance companies to develop scents that can create a special atmosphere for our homes and comfort.

Popular Candle Scents

Kitchen Aromas: Vanilla and vanilla-based aromas have remained the most popular candle scent for almost a decade. Other favorites in this category include cinnamon, coffee, mocha, gingerbread, pumpkin, apple pie, brown sugar and hazelnut.

Fruits: Fruity fragrances generally form the second most popular scent grouping for candles. Citrus and apple scents offer an especially broad range of fragrance notes, from light and breezy to warm and comforting. Other popular fruit scents include peach, black cherry and wild berries.

Florals: Soft and light floral scents continue to be in favor, with special emphasis on lavender, lilac, rose, peony, jasmine and gardenia.

Spa/Zen: This category features scents associated with relaxation and mood enhancement. Popular candle scents in this category include ginger, mint, eucalyptus, sandalwood, green tea and ylang ylang.

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Fantasy: This relatively new category includes such hard-to-describe but distinctive and increasingly popular fragrances such as ocean breeze, rain, fresh laundry, etc.

Aromatherapy and Candles

The sense of smell is one of the most powerful senses, and the influence of fragrance on human behavior and response is well known. Although many consumers associate scented candles with aromatherapy, most fragranced candles are not true "aromatherapy" candles.

Aromatherapy calls for creating physiological or therapeutic effects through the use of essential oils extracted from plants and absorbed in the body through massage, ingestion or olfaction. Many scented candles that use essential oils do not contain amounts large enough to produce true aromatherapy effects.

Instead, most scented candles create pleasing psychological effects from the ambient aroma of fragrances. This is sometimes known as "aroma-chology," rather than aromatherapy. In any case, the popularity of scented candles continues to grow.