ROOM SCENTS TO ENHANCE YOUR HOLIDAY CHEER

Candles and room sprays to amp up the festive ambiance.

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In the same way one might not feel fully dressed without putting on perfume, holiday decor isn't complete without a few seasonal scents. Here, five options to complete your festive ambiance – and bonus: these scents will subtly extend the spirit of the season once all the ornaments are safely back in their boxes.

Canadian natural brand Scentuals’ Winter Wonderland Ambiance Mist ($12.95 CAD and $9.85 USD at scentuals.com*) is an evocative blend of cedarwood, juniper, berry, fir needles and cypress essential oils for a realistic, fresh-cut greenery scent without shedding needles that need constant vacuuming. And a spray is a speedy way to banish stale air.

If you’re looking for some olfactory counter-programming, a sunny herbal stroll through the south of France courtesy of L’Occitane, their Cocon de Sérénité candle (from $34 CAD and $29 USD at loccitane.com) will lighten your mood with lavender, sweet orange, bergamot, mandarin and geranium.

Goutal Une Forêt D’or ($94 CAD at holtrenfrew.com* and $72 USD at saks.com) is gorgeous in its faceted vessel, its pine branches and orange rind scent so refined and subtle — much better than many Christmas candles, which, TBH, smell like the mall at Christmas, not actually Christmas.

Bath & Body Works Winter three-wick candle

Bath & Body Works Winter ($25.50 CAD at Bath & BodyWorks and $24.50 USD at bathandbodyworks.com) is the (much easier) candle version of the old trick of keeping cinnamon and orange slices simmering on the stove. And how beautiful does this vessel look, no matter your colour scheme?

Nest Birchwood Pine Liquidless Scent Diffuser ($84 CAD at sephora.com and $60 USD at nestfragrances.com) with its seasonal woody notes layered over a musky and amber base is a graphic an sculptural addition to any room and is also spill-proof if you want some scent without the risk of someone toppling an oil-filled bottle of a traditional diffuser.