The best home scents for men to add to any space
LOEWE Cypress Balls. Picture: Nacho Allegre
January blues can be exacerbated when the promise of outdoors is often cut short by biting temperatures even when blue skies shine deceivingly overhead.
One thing remains consistent this year though: our spaces are an extension of ourselves. Whether that means investing in luxury bedding from Tekla or the most luxurious cashmere sweater from Brunello Cuccinelli, the possibilities for transforming your space are virtually endless.
Like the way we dress — Zoom shirt after Zoom shirt — the fragrance our environment is infused in has the ability to transport us somewhere else, to evoke memories of a time or place. In that regard, they are essential, as integral to men’s lifestyle as your go-to slacks or your most comfortable slippers.
Scents of somewhere different are the kind of sensory experience the pandemic has left us yearning for. Home scents for men is a fast-growing category with most men’s retailers offering a selection.
“We’ve certainly seen an uplift in our homeware category after the initial WFH period: our customers are definitely paying more attention to their homes — our buy has doubled over the last year, with around 100 designers and brands,” said Damien Paul, head of menswear at MATCHESFASHION.com. In 2020, the homeware category witnessed 103% growth year-on-year.
If ever there was a scent to capture the moment it was which embodies a library, “a world of suspension”, as if a playlist of ‘lo-fi beats to relax to’ was trapped in a scent. Poised between a moment of crisis with hope on the virus with imminent vaccine rollout, fill your space with a fragrance rooted in an amalgamation of the wood shelves in a library, compounded with top notes of peach and plum while grounded in a mix of leather and vanilla. As an object, black wax settled into a black glass frame, the candle can add a sense of presence and mystery to any space.
A more subtle option: combines blue chamomile, cedarwood, and sweet musk to perfume a room with softness and nostalgia. A set of room sprays to delight the senses while calming them is containing three of the brand’s top sellers: Cythera (geranium and incense are balanced with woody patchouli and the mellowness of myrrh); Istros (the unlikely pairing of floral and tobacco); and Olous (the rich spice of cardamom gives way to warm cedar).
Similarly, Rodrigo Garcia Alvares, who founded AMEN Candles in 2020, has answers for a zen state in a polarising, noisy world. , punctuated by notes of vetiver is quintessentially masculine and despite foreseeable months spent indoors.
It’s not cloying or overpowering, highlighting a need of the current moment: something reliable and calming. (Moreover, in line with current environmentally-conscious practices, the candles are non-toxic and paraffin-free using natural ingredients and small-scale production — the candles are hand-poured in Grasse, while the ceramic holder is made in Limoges.)
For a moment of escapism, will bring you to a world of utter revelry. Inspired by 1970s rock n’ roll and bohemia, notes of tobacco, vanilla, patchouli, and sandalwood will transport you to an after-party before the clock strikes noon.
Another transportive find, although with much calmer connotations, is which pays homage to the fig trees that trace the belt of Mediterranean countries. (The candle is decorated with a graphic print to celebrate the brand’s 60th anniversary). As an early spring chill persists, this green and fruity blend will leave you lingering in the height of summer before the first warm days even set in.
Ditto which takes inspiration from a Florentine garden, visited by the brand’s creative director, Irishman, Jonathan Anderson, in 2017. For him, the aroma of cypress is personal, a reminder of nature’s olfactive beauty; for you, it can elevate your home, perhaps even your state of mind. We could all use a bit of that right now.
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