Nothing says the holidays like a tree in the corner, and the right candle can enhance your tree fragrance all season long. Below are the ones we recommend, with a few notes on how to enhance your tree fragrance whether the tree is real or not.
Nothing feels like the Holidays like the scent of a Christmas tree. While some like that fresh, vibrant scent you get from a freshly cut fir tree, others like a more earthy scent that encompasses the crisp green needs and warm woody notes from the bark and trunk of the tree.
Finding the perfect Christmas Tree can be fun and frustrating. Here’s our guide to help you find the perfect tree scent, without the frustration.
Nest Birchwood Pine
The aroma of a majestic winter forest is created by blending white pine, fir balsam and Birchwood over a base of rich musk and amber.
The NEST Birchwood Pine candle is bright, beautiful and does wonders to fill your home with the aromatic scent of a freshly cut Christmas Tree. With a refined elegance in both the scent and the styling, NEST Birchwood Pine is definitely one to try if you’re looking for an energizing, true Christmas Tree scented candle.
Birchwood Pine by NEST Fragrances is available in the standard size, votive, 3-wick, grande candle, diffuser and spray for all your fragrance needs. Be sure to set the diffuser by your artificial tree and spritz the tree with the Birchwood Pine spray. You’ll never miss having a real tree again.
Thymes Frasier Fir
Mountain fresh with the aromatic snap of crisp Siberian Fir needles, heartening cedarwood and relaxing sandalwood.
Arguably the best Christmas tree scented candle out there, the Thymes Frasier Fir scent comes in a huge variety of products. This scent is wildly popular with Candles Off Main customers. Deb from Ohio calls this scent “stunning,” adding that “it has the perfect amount of sweetness and just the right amount of warm sandalwood to give it a soothing effect.
Very crisp and uplifting fragrance.” Cheryl from Arizona calls this candle, “the one.” She wrote, “For years I have been searching for a real “pine” fragrance to compensate for an artificial Christmas tree. This is it! I burn this through the entire holiday season to evoke the memories of the past and create new ones for the future.”
I imagine that this powerful scent is what the Griswold home must have smelled like when Clark attempted to bring an enormous tree home for the holidays in Christmas Vacation. If you’re an artificial tree devotee, this candle will bring the forest scent home with one little flame.
Aquiesse Monterey Pine Cande
Aquiesse Monterey Pine Candle is the crisp scent of hilltop Evergreen pines, earthy Canadian balsam wood and fresh thyme, evoking a misty morning journey through a coastal forest grove.
If you want a a Christmas tree fragrance that is not overly ‘crisp’ or bright — we recommend this scent. In this fragrance, I detect soft creamy notes of vanilla blended perfectly with the crispness of balsam. I consider this a very inviting Christmas scent that will be perfect all winter long.
Guests to your home will feel the comforting notes of this idyllic tree scent.
Trapp White Fir
The Trapp White Fir candle fills your room with the refreshing, cool sensation of a winter frost. This top-selling candle features a clean, green fragrance only a Christmas tree brings.
This candle is not only highly fragrant but an incredible value! For a true ‘fir’ fragrance that matches the scent of any freshly cut Frasier fir tree — we recommend this beautifully packaged candle. Great gift!
Voluspa Spruce Cuttings
Spruce Cuttings is filled with the scent of royal Colorado blue spruce cuttings freshly snapped and trimmed for a fragrant garland.
The signature holiday candle by Voluspa make your home festive and bright, featuring a beautiful green glass candle that sparkles! Whether you’re gifting it to a host or hostess or yourself, each candle features a proprietary coconut wax blend with a cotton wick for a pure, clean burn.
If you’re looking for a very fragrant tree candle — this scent has amazing throw!
Votivo Christmas Sage Candle
Freshly harvested juniper berries, tangy hemlock cones and fragrant emerald hued spruce boughs transform the rustic cabin into a light filled workshop where dreams are crafted with pride and hope fills the heart eternal with gifts that truly linger.
The Christmas Sage candle by Votivo is one of my favorites. It’s earthy, gritty, herbal and incredibly grounding. When the holiday festivities of bubbly champagne and sweets can make you spiral out of control, this scent is perfect for bringing you back down to earth.
I love this scent on cool or raining nights when I need to relax and unwind. The travel tin is great for weekend ski getaways.
Rigaud Cypres
The aromatic mildness of lavender, the woody and crackling notes of pine needles and the forceful fragrances of cedar wood all intermingle.
The luxurious French line Rigaud has been around for decades. Ever since First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy introduced Rigaud to the homemakers of the US in the 1960’s, the intensely fragrant Cypres candle has been a Christmas tradition. With its elegant and distinguished history, Rigaud Cypres is the most complex tree fragrance in this list, reflecting more of a cologne or soapy scent than true Christmas Tree.
If you’re looking to make a statement, it’s easy to do with a Rigaud Cypres candle.
From fresh and vibrant focusing on the crisp green needles, to earthy and grounding encompassing all the essence of a forest tree, there’s a Christmas tree fragrance for everyone. We think these are the best Christmas Tree scented candles, but what we really want to know is:
What Christmas tree scented candle is your favorite?
How to enhance your tree fragrance with the right candle
Start by asking what kind of tree you picture. If you remember the bright smell of fresh needles, look at the cleaner options above, such as Trapp White Fir or Thymes Frasier Fir. If you prefer earthy and grounding, Votivo Christmas Sage or Rigaud Cypres lean that way.
Look at the other notes, not just the word pine. Sandalwood and vanilla soften a scent, while cedar and thyme make it drier and more rustic. That is why two candles with similar names can give your tree fragrance a very different mood.
Enhance your tree fragrance with an artificial tree
Plenty of us have an artificial tree, and a candle fills in the missing smell. Place the candle a few feet from the tree on a stable surface, never under or beside the branches. Our review of the NEST Birchwood Pine candle shows a tree fragrance that works well for this.
A candle in the tree room plus a smaller one in the entryway greets guests with your tree fragrance before they see any decorations. For more picks, see our roundup of tree scented candles for the holidays.
Safety and timing for any tree fragrance
A lit candle near a real tree is a fire risk, since dry needles ignite quickly. Keep flames away from greenery, garlands and paper, and put them out before you leave the room or go to bed.
Give the room fresh air between sessions and trim the wick before each use. Wikipedia has short overviews of scented candles and the candle if you want background on how they work, and it is worth rotating scents so your tree fragrance stays fresh to your nose.
Which tree fragrance will you light first this year?
