Imagine coming back to your house, tired after a hard day’s work and being welcomed by an amazing scent that lifts your mood, and relaxes you. We are talking about the effects of the humble scented candle.
Well, scented candles do more than just freshening up your living space. Aromatherapy through scented candles can dramatically change your mood based on the scent. Chemicals in your brain react depending on the smells, leading to both mental and physical effects. It can even help you with problems like insomnia, muscle pain, and stress.
But it can get confusing with so many different types of scented candles available. In today’s article, we will tell you which scented candle is best paired with your mood. From Lemon for Reducing Stress, Pine For Depression, Orange For Energy, Lavender For Sleeping to Peppermint For Brain Boost and many more.
1. Cinnamon For Concentration:
When you smell cinnamon, you probably first think of Christmas, but this sweet-smelling spice can be stimulating as well as comforting. It has been proven that the scent of cinnamon improves your cognitive function which, in turn, encourages concentration and heightens attention.
You can get a Nutmeg and Cinnamon fragrance combination which is a christmassy scent but can also be used throughout the year to enhance your mood.
2. Lavender For Sleeping:
As the one of the most popular and highly preferred scents today, lavender candles are known for their relaxant properties. They can be effective to calm and soothe your mind and body in an instance.
This scent is highly recommended for its most useful benefit which is the treatment of insomnia or common sleeping disorders. Researches in the past recorded that lavender helped ease sleeping problems as well as depression among college students, a group most prone to pressure and stress among others.
3. Apple For Headaches:
Eating apples has its health boost and so is the smell of the crisp fruit. Research study showed that apple scent could mitigate migraine and reduce symptoms of headache.
Green apple odor is also known to control anxiety, particularly during stressful situations. It can also help manage cravings and hunger pangs. So, most dieters sniff apple scented candles as an alternative to snacking.
4. Lemon For Reducing Stress:
Lemon scent has many benefits for you, both mentally and physically. It stimulates your concentration levels and has calming effects. On top of this, lemon is able to improve your body’s immune system, helping you fight off all of those pesky colds.
When’s the best time to burn a lemon scented candle? When you are anxious, angry, or stressed out from life, burning a lemon scented candle will help you out tremendously.
5. Lemongrass For Anxiety:
Feeling anxious or on-edge? A lemongrass scented candle may help calm your nerves. In a study published, people exposed to a lemongrass scent experienced a higher reduction in anxiety and tension compared to those who didn’t inhale the scent. These participants also recovered more quickly from a stress-inducing situation.
Lemongrass has a light, refreshing fragrance that is reminiscent of fresh lemons and limes. This fragrance blends well with other vitalizing fragrances such as chamomile, lavender, rosemary, and eucalyptus.
6. Vanilla For Uplifting Your mood:
If you’ve noticed the smooth scent of vanilla makes you feel uplifted, relaxed, or even sensuous, you’re not alone. It turns out the sweet scent has been shown to have a strong effect on mood. A study found that vanilla is naturally uplifting and relaxing.
Another hidden benefit of these sweet vanilla scented candles is that they curb cravings as well. So light a vanilla candle after dinner to stop your sweet tooth.
7. Clean Laundry For Coziness:
There are a number of different scents that contribute to the feeling of coziness, and fresh linen is one of them. It’s no secret that one of the best feelings is freshly washed sheets, and that’s largely in part to how good they smell.
Recreate this smell every day with a candle made of similar scents and you’ll feel at home no matter where you are.
8. Citrus For Happiness:
Citrus scented candles boost the production of serotonin, a hormone that makes you feel happy. They also reduce levels of norepinephrine which is a stress hormone. This makes them the aromatherapy go-to for energizing and re-invigorating.
Citrus scented candles include lemon, orange, grapefruit and verbena. Stimulating scents like juniper, cypress, rosemary, mint and eucalyptus also have the ability to boost energy and clarity in your mind. These stimulants act as vasodilators, literally boosting blood flow simply by smelling them.
9. Orange For Energy:
Lighting an orange scented candle will not only give you a jolt of energy, but it has also been shown to actually help with PTSD. A study found that women who were in labor exhibited reduced anxiety after exposure to orange essential oil.
While these studies show the effects of orange on very specific situations, they are arguably some of the most anxiety inducing which suggests the scent would have a positive impact on less stressful situations as well.
10. Eucalyptus For Allergies:
If you’ve ever been super stuffed up by a cold or allergies, you know that sniffling and sneezing is no fun. You can combat some of that congestion naturally with the scent of a eucalyptus candle.
Studies have shown that the main ingredient in eucalyptus cineole, can help heal the sinuses. It also had milder positive effects on cough, sore throat and infection.
11. Jasmine To Calm You Down:
This beautiful flower isn’t just nice to look at, it can also give you the ability to enjoy a sense of calm, as it has proven to relax nerves and alleviate tension. We all know that stress is a direct result of a bad mood, and vice-versa.
Research has shown that jasmine can allow you to get a better night’s sleep, too. More sleep and less stress? Using a Jasmine scented candle is a no-brainer here.
12. Pine For Depression:
There’s more than one reason why pine trees bring us cheer around the holidays. A pine scent could be decreasing your anxiety and depression, according to research. In one Japanese study, participants who went on a walk through pine forests reported significantly lower depression and stress levels.
The research also discovered that anxious subjects had a greater feeling of relaxation after indulging in the scent. So the next time you feel depressed, light up a pine scented candle to make you feel better.
13. Fresh Cut Grass Smell For Joy:
You may think mowing the lawn is an annoying, menial task, but the fresh scent the chore yields may be making you happier. Scent researchers found that a chemical released by a newly-mowed lawn can make people feel joyful and relaxed.
The aroma may also prevent mental decline as you grow older. The smell apparently is so powerful that neuroscientists came up with a perfume and air fragrance that matches it so the lawnless can also reap the benefits of the feel-good scent. The best part is that you can get this smell in the form of scented candles as well.
14. Peppermint For Brain Boost:
In addition to giving you sweet breath, peppermint may also do your brain a favor. A small study found that smelling peppermint could be linked to greater cognitive stamina, motivation and overall performance. Known for invigorating the mind, peppermint candles have even been used as an aid for students when taking tests.
There is also a small bit of research to suggest that the menthol scent in peppermint even tricks the brain into thinking that it alleviates stuffy nasal passages. Just the thing you need when you’re feeling a little under the weather.
15. Rose To Make You Feel Well Rested:
When one German study examined the effect of roses versus rotten eggs on women’s dreams, the results weren’t surprising. This is because smell is known to be closely related with the brain’s emotional and behavioral control centers.
Women who were exposed to a rotten egg smell were more likely to have nightmares, while those exposed to rose were likely to have happy dreams. Light a rose candle during your evening bath to get in the happy dream mood.
16. Almond To Decrease Pain:
Have a headache or sore back? Light an almond candle. Canadian researchers asked 20 men and 20 women to keep their hands in scorching hot water as long as they could while exposed to various odors.
Women in particular experienced less pain when exposed to pleasant scents like almond extract, while unpleasant scents like vinegar increased pain. Although It didn’t make a difference for men, but both genders reported better moods when smelling enjoyable scents.
17. Rosemary For Mental Fatigue:
This is the perfect Monday morning pick-me-up. In addition to improving your memory retention, rosemary has stimulating properties that fight physical exhaustion, headaches and mental fatigue.
It’s excellent to use in the mornings when you need a bit of help getting going. Rosemary candles can also be effective to relieve muscular aches and pains.
18. Sandalwood For Inner Peace:
Sandalwood is known to calm your mind and body and put you in a meditative state where you can find inner peace. Because of these properties, lighting a sandalwood candle is a great natural healing option for anxiety, nervousness, and depression.
You can also use it if you simply want to have mental clarity and feel relaxed and at peace after the hustle and bustle of your busy lives.
Do you use Scented Candles regularly? What is your favourite Scent?
