Filling a home, office or business with a favorite scent can personalize a space. Consumers are using candles, room sprays and other home fragrance products as design extensions that can be updated for season or mood.

Per the National Candle Association (NCA), everyone has a signature perfume or cologne and now candles are being utilized the same way. 

Candles are an accessible, affordable, luxury. Lit or unlit, candles add to the ambiance of a space—particularly because they are versatile and can be catered to different household décor styles. Candles add sophistication giving your home a curated look and smell. Also, candles provide ambient lighting for those looking to relax, entertain or have a romantic evening indoors and outdoors, noted NCA, the trade association representing US candle manufacturers and suppliers.

New Scents & Products

Yankee Candle Company, Inc., part of Happi Top 50 Company Newell Brands, launched its latest fall-centric assortment of fragrances.

The new fall collection – The Cottage Getaway – features six fragrances that marketers say capture the essence of the perfect fall weekend away into the foliage-adorned outdoors.

“People dream year-round of the memories made in the fall; exploring the outdoors, taking time to relax and being cozy in a fall flannel,” said Nick Virginio, senior director of brand management at Yankee Candle. “At Yankee Candle, we’re committed to crafting fragrances that evoke a classic fall getaway bucket list. With this collection, we’ve brought these moments to life with fragrances featuring notes of fall fruits, soft amber, black pepper and cedarwood.”

The candles feature trend-forward fragrances crafted with high-quality fragrance oils and premium soy wax for a clean, long-lasting burn.

The Pourri brand added a few recent innovations to its home fragrance solutions. Pet~Pourri expanded into two new scents: Canine Coconut and Purrfectly Bamboo. Per the company, its air and fabric sprays and candles don’t just cover up pet odors; they eliminate them, leaving behind a fresh, clean scent. 

“At Pourri, our mission is simple: to keep life smelling funk-free without funky ingredients,”  Suzy Young, founder, told Happi. “What makes us unique is how we’ve created these plant-based formulas with the safety of our own homes and furry loved ones in mind to freshen up nearly every aspect of life. From pee pads, dog beds and carriers, to couches and rugs, we want pet owners to feel self-assured when they use our products.”

The latest fragrance creation at Bath & Body Works is Gingham Glow. The new scent joins the top selling Gingham collection at the home and personal care company. According to BBW, Gingham Glow brings together notes of golden nectar, marigold petals and sandalwood inspired by the “magic” of golden hour. The original Gingham is a fragrance that was created in 2019. Since then, the Gingham family has expanded and candles are sold at Bath & Body Works in all of the Gingham scents.

Additionally, on the heels of its successful Bridgerton collaboration, Bath & Body Works is continuing its year-long partnership with Netflix and expanding its fragrance portfolio with the “Stranger Things” show. The Bath & Body Works x Stranger Things collaboration features Hopper’s Coffee; the freshly made scent of Eleven’s Waffles; the rich, velvety vanilla and sweet parlor sprinkles of Steve’s Scoops; and the freshness of the pineapple and Italian herbs of Argyle’s Pineapple Pizza all infused in Bath & Body Works’ best selling 3-Wick Candles. 

Meanwhile, Febreze is still seeing success with its scent of the year products. The P&G-owned brand calls 2024 “the year of connection” with the launch of its third annual Scent of the Year, Romance & Desire. 

Wick and Glow Candle Company announced a collaboration deal with the estate of the singer and songwriter Betty Wright, BWL Entertainment and the Betty Wright Music Royalty brand to create the Betty Wright Limited Candle Collection. The curated, three-wick luxury scented candle collection features fragrances chosen by Betty’s daughters Namphuyo Aisha, Patrice Parker-Latimer and Asher Timmons to honor their mother and give her fans a deeper insight on her personal history.

Wick and Glow Candle Company is a Black-owned, female-led home fragrance brand based in New Jersey.

“Betty represented empowerment, ownership and strength,” said Brandi H. Munden, CEO and co-owner of Wick and Glow Candle Company. “We feel a very deep synergy with the values she held dear and are honored to create these candles and introduce the world to another aspect of who Betty was, a candle lover.”

Homecourt, the homecare line by actress Courteney Cox, is adding the Cocomoi collection, which is named after her daughter, Coco. Fragrance notes include coconut water, cedarwood, vetiver, sweet cardamom and black pepper, and are available as a candle amongst other personal care products.

Indie home fragrance company Flamingo Estate is celebrating the launch of a global partnership with JW Marriott. The hospitality company tapped the brand for a wide-ranging, multi-sensory collaboration inspired by the gardens located in Marriott properties.

Flamingo Estate will create a custom fragrance that will scent all JW Marriott public spaces and be available for purchase as a candle. Additionally, several JW Marriott properties will host The Suite Shop: a retail pop-up where hotel guests and the public can buy the collaborative products as well as a selection of Flamingo Estate’s best-sellers tailored to travel, such as pulse point oil. The first Suite Shops opened at JW Marriott Essex House in New York City and JW Marriott at Dallas Arts District; they’re Flamingo Estate’s first dedicated retail stores in both cities. 

Home fragrance brand Illume is celebrating its 30th anniversary. For three decades, the brand says it’s been reimagining olfactory experiences in the home with best-selling candle varieties, diffusers, mists and more. 

To celebrate this milestone, Illume partnered with its founder, artist Lynette Reed, to develop a collaborative, art-focused collection.

Reed found inspiration in the fragrances of her California gardens and global trips. With experimentation and play, she created Illume in 1994. Since then, the brand has become a leader in the world of home fragrance, manufacturing more than 50 million units annually which are available in 4,500-plus specialty and department stores such as Anthropologie, West Elm and Whole Foods.

The packaging features artwork by Reed and will include scents like Pineapple Cilantro and Gardenia, as well as the brand’s best-selling fragrance, Coconut Milk Mango. Each scent will be available in three formats.

“Illume is a leader in the home fragrance market, and we are happy to celebrate its 30th anniversary,” says Heather Stewart, president of the company. “We have built from Lynette’s legacy, growing the brand to be at the forefront of providing affordable, elevated fragrance experiences, and are overjoyed to support artists with the new Artist Founded, Artist-Led series working in tandem to bring our work and theirs to life.” 

Home fragrance brand Voluspa launched a new scent, Foraged Wildberry. Like all Voluspa candles, Foraged Wildberry is hand-poured in California using the brand’s clean-burning proprietary coconut wax blend.

According to the marketers, the scent fuses tart and fruity berry freshness with the earthy aroma of fallen leaves and warm golden amber light.

The scent is part of the brand’s signature Japonica collection and it’s housed in a muted rouge embossed vessel, evoking the fresh berry fragrance within.

The Future of Home Fragrance

Global sales of scented candles will grow 4% a year to reach $4.75 billion by 2033, according to Spherical Insights, a market research firm.

Spherical Insights says growth will come from an increase in the number of hotels, restaurants, spa centers and religious organizations. What’s more, the global scented candle market is also predicted to expand substantially as fitness facilities and social media influencers encourage stress-relieving activities such as yoga and meditation, found Spherical Insights in its findings.

There’s been significant progress in the realm of sustainability in the home fragrance industry, according to Spate.  

Spate says upcycling is showing to be a rising trend, such as #empties photos on Instagram, where consumers used empty Diptyque candles as makeup brush holders. There are currently 34.1K average monthly searches and the term “upcycled” has grown 34.6% in the past year.  

Trends can be hard to predict; however, food-inspired candle sales are growing and NCA expects demand to continue for the foreseeable future. Additionally, luxury candles as part of home décor are increasing as well.