Room Frags, Scented Candles, and Similar

[The Knize]

Various, often high end, perfume makers sell candles scented in their fragrances. Others, fewer to my knowledge, sell spray scents designed to scent rooms. (I am not talking about Ogallala, I do not think, which makes absolutely wonderful "air freshners," which I do not know how anyone does without, but which I think are more designed for bathrooms and say for getting rid of kitchen smells, rather than room scents, per se, although they would work for that, I think.)

Does anyone out there on this forum buy such things? Do you end up using them? Love them? Hate them? Indifferent to them, after yoy bought them? To strong, too weird? Any impressions?

Prefer cheaper scented candles or sprays for the job?

I have written before that I have poured Florida Water into a spray bottle and used that as I bathroom deodorizer, and have also used the Santeria type good luck and protection scents one finds in some Hispanic sections of grocery stores for the same purpose (hoping that that is not considered sacrilegious.)

I did buy some scented candles from Nancy Boy when I was in San Fransisco. But more in say their wood blossom, or whatever it is than in, say, their signature scent. And I have not used them much. One because I never really think about scenting the house, except around, say, Christmas, or to get rid of cooking smells, and also I had a lot of trouble getting their candles to behave. The wick seemed to burn down quickly and go out without using much wax.

Frankly, I have never been tempted to scent my house with Pen's BB, but maybe I am missing a trick.

As I think about it, Costco used to sell some very big spray bottles of some natural scent to be used as room freshener or fabric scent. The lavender was nice to spray on bedsheets either in the morning or before bed. But for one thing I think laundry detergents are often loaded with lavender, so there was an association with fresh clean sheets without cleaning the bed! The apple seemed to make room smell nice while being barely noticeable.

Commercial air fresheners tend to smell to me like public restrooms!

 

[Geordon]

Insence. That's what I use, when I use anything. I have several varieties of Baiedo insence from Japan that I burn, with a favorite being "Tokusen Kobunboku" or the Korean "Chui-woon" which has a distinct cinnamon smell to me.

My wife has a particular nose, so I don't often use much "room scent" when she's around. She's fond of the Chui-woon, though.

Now, if I could get my hands on a room scent of T&H Grafton, I'd be all over that!

 

[The Knize]

I should have included incense as a room scent, although we have that separate incense thread going. I guess it would be useful to know in what circumstances folks are using incense.

I guess I was thinking I was a long way from setting up a "puja table," but one might be a nice and auspicious addition to a house, and would scent the house!

 

[Kevan]

Before I got into incense I was a fan of reed diffusers. Though they can get expensive, most are cheap and last forever (even though I noticed I became "indifferent" to the scent after awhile, at which time I flipped the reeds).

 

[Geordon]

I guess I was thinking I was a long way from setting up a "puja table," but one might be a nice and auspicious addition to a house, and would scent the house!

Lol, even though I "should" have a shrine set up (part-time/lay Buddhist), I don't. I don't think there is any reason that incense should be relegated to "for religious purposes only" by any stretch, so I burn when I feel the inclination. I also think that incense is something that can be over-done and done poorly, ending up rather rank, especially indoors. I suspect that I might feel differently if I attended an open-air temple. Then, too, I am not particularly fond of nag champa etc.

My major complaint with reed diffusers is that they get passe fairly quickly. I get bored with scents that are present for too long (days on end).

 

[JaDo]

Commercial air fresheners tend to smell to me like public restrooms!

You probably won't believe this, but I swear the mens room at a doctor's office (actually in a medical office building) I visited recently had some air freshener that very closely resembled Knize Ten. And that is not at all to say that Knize Ten is like a commercial air freshener. I have really been enjoying a sample I have of it. Perhaps, someone who was doused in it was there before I was.

Back to your point, I have been interested to try some of the incense sticks from C&S, and got an email the other day about the Frederic Malle candles, but when I started looking at them and saw the price....whoa

 

[The Nid Hog]

My sister-in-law uses Diptyque's "Santal" room fragrance at home and it's very nice, but I'm far too cheap to do that. On the lower end, I have an Archipelago Botanical candle in my office--I think it's "Havana." I work in a pretty old building and it sometimes has a cold, musty smell. I do a lot of work there and the candle's fragrance makes it a little more habitable.