Men wear cologne for a lot of reasons: to make themselves feel sexier, give themselves some extra swagger, attract other people, or cover up something that doesn’t smell so great. Most men treat cologne as the final step in their grooming routine, like a cherry on top of a sundae. A spritz of cologne here and there has a remarkable ability to completely transform your mood and cover up a variety of evils.
The thing is, most guys’ experience with fragrance ends there. They don’t think about all the other ways fragrance affects their lives and, in particular, their homes. You might not think how your home smells matters, but it does. You’ve definitely been to someone’s house before where you’ve walked in and immediately thought that something didn’t quite smell right. Walking into a funky-smelling space is a hard feeling to shake, even if eventually you get used to it. Now think about a time you’ve walked into someone’s home and it smelled amazing. There’s a feeling associated with that too, and it’s definitely not bad. Wouldn’t you rather be the person whose house smells good?
There has been a lot of discussion in this book about the benefits of aromatherapy, and it’s all true. You can use smell to change your mood and activate certain parts of your brain. The problem is that when your home smells bad, it’s a bit like living in the monkey cage. Eventually you get used to the smell and it doesn’t affect you anymore. At least you think it doesn’t. If it’s been established that certain smells can alter your mood, can you imagine being in a place where the bad smells are consistently bringing you down? If your home has a funk, it could be. You might not even notice it till you make a few changes.
On top of all that, good smells welcome visitors and invite positivity. They also have the power to cover up a lot of things. If you frantically clean your place before someone comes over, shoving dirty clothes in the hamper and loading the dishwasher with dishes, lingering smells can betray you. If your home smells great, guests are much less likely to notice when things are dirty. That should be reason enough.
There is an entire toolbox of options to create a well-scented and happy-feeling home. What you choose comes down to preference.
Scented candles are the valedictorian of the home scent world, but they aren’t the end-all-be-all. Turn back to the previous section for a refresher on why they’re good and how to use them.
People discount incense because of its associations with college town head shops and stuffy church services, but you shouldn’t! Nothing fills a space with fragrance quicker or better than a quick hit of incense. Not only is it a great conversation starter but it also instantly makes your place seem mysterious and interesting.
Fans of diffusers say they are better and safer than candles, but they’re not for everyone. Some diffusers use natural reeds stuck in essential oils to draw the fragrance into the air. Others use small flames to heat liquid or can even be plugged into a wall outlet. They’re usually subtler, and instead of scenting the air quickly like a candle, they offer a constant background smell like white noise.
Think of a room spray like cologne for your house: You spray it into the air and the scent lingers. But don’t think you can use cologne to the same effect. Wearable fragrance, like cologne, is formulated to sit on your skin and react to its warmth. Room sprays, however, have lighter molecules that stay suspended in air longer and don’t need heat to stay fragrant.
You might know linen spray by another name: Febreze. But unlike the famous odor killer, a high-end linen spray won’t leave your couch or sheets smelling like new-car smell. Using a linen spray with essential oils can give you additional aromatherapy benefits too. Spray a lavender spray on your sheets and pillows for better sleep, for instance, or eucalyptus spray on the place your dog always sleeps on your couch to neutralize the odor.
Keeping a scented sachet in your dresser drawers and closet can not only keep your clothes smelling fresh, but can ward off pests like moths too. Closed spaces trap odor and moisture, which is why your sweaters sometimes have a musty smell when you get them out of storage in the fall. Scenting your drawers keeps that under control.
Just like choosing a cologne, deciding on how your house should smell takes some thought. You want people to remember it once they leave—in a good way.
The same principles of aromatherapy go into scenting your home as other areas of self-care. If you want to create a relaxing, calm atmosphere for instance, use notes like lavender to increase chill vibes. Citrus scents are energizing and usually make things smell clean, where scents like wood and smoke create a cozy, warm ambience.
When conceptualizing your scent story, don’t feel like you have to stick to just one thing. Mix products like candles and incense to create layers of discovery. Place different tools in different rooms to keep people guessing. And remember, stronger isn’t always better.
Most men don’t gravitate toward sweet or food-inspired scents in the first place, but when in doubt look to nature. Fragrances that come from trees, plants, and other natural substances generally smell better in larger areas like homes. Think about how great your house smells when you have a Christmas tree up; a pine-scented candle can give you the same effect without your needing to clean up the needles afterward.
Supplement your natural-scented candles and diffusers with the real thing for extra power. Bring in fresh flowers or fragrant plants to make the good smells more layered and more realistic than you could ever get with a candle alone. Think of them as complementing the scent, not competing with it, and choose plants that are similar to the notes found in the candle or diffuser you’re using.
When you start delving into the world of home scents, it’s easy to go overboard. Instead of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks (or, in this case, smells good), pick a theme and build up on it. Choose multiple products that all have the same note. For instance, if you like wood scents, pick a few different candles that all have sandalwood in them, and place them in different rooms of the house. It will keep the scent layers from fighting each other.
You’re doing all this work to make your house smell great, so you don’t want other things competing with it, do you? Household scents can overpower even the strongest candle without you knowing it. Always empty the trash, clear the sink of dirty dishes, and stow away dirty laundry if you want your good smells to take center stage.