Spring is in the air, and it’s time to shake off the winter blues. Warmer days, longer nights, and the scent of fresh blooms signal the perfect moment to refresh your space. Whether you're trading in cozy layers for sun-soaked adventures or swapping soup season for garden season, don’t forget to update your home ambiance, too.

Light, fresh fragrances can instantly brighten a room and chase out the stale winter air. From crisp greens to soft florals and airy ocean breezes, spring scents bring a renewed energy — just like the season itself.

Green is a fresh scent trend, but we’ve loved these bright and crisp scents long before trendsetters told us what’s hot and what’s not. Green scents are most offen associated with spring, giving off fresh, happy and rejuvenating vibes. These are scents inspired by nature’s flora - cut grass, lush vines, soft leaves, dewey foliage and earthy moss. They’re fragrances that evoke memories of running barefoot across prickly blades of tender grass (before dad yells at you for running on the newly planted seed), or walking through an overgrown forest with soft, budding pine boughs (also called candles!), or sticking your nose in a bouquet of Easter tulips.

Some of the top iconic green scents in the perfumery world include —

• Cut grass  Cut grass is arguably the most recognizable green fragrance out there (and without the allergies!). It’s sweet and dewy and a touch earthy, loaded with tons of nostalgia for anyone who catches a whiff of this sunny, ripe scent.
• Jasmine, violet, lily, dusky rose  These floral scents are bursting with rich, juicy and sensual aromas, which can be overpowering on their own but add soft, relaxing balance when combined with other scents.
• Moss  Like a damp forest floor, moss is a grounding scent. It’s often used as a base note in candles, though it’s lighter than many true base fragrances like mahogany or sandalwood. This makes it a good choice for spring- and summer-friendly candles when the temperatures are warmer.

The ritual of spring cleaning is cathartic and therapeutic. It inspires better focus, moods and well-being — and has its own category of scents. Fresh lavendar, forest rain, juicy lemongrass, dry sage and the whole family of citrus fruits are known throughout the aromatherapy world as purifying scents that relieve stress, boost serotonin and reawaken the senses. And when your senses are firing, so is your ability to store memories, which can be stirred up years down the road from something as small as a single scent.

Some of the most popular purifying scents used by candle makers include —

• Ozone  You know when you can smell rain coming? That’s the scent of ozone. Musky, yet fresh, like fresh rain falling on dry rocks, but reminiscent of clarity, lightness and spaciousness, just like the sky.
• Sea salt  Like the fine mist of the ocean spray on a beach walk, sea salt is lightweight fragrance that diffuses with a deep clean feeling that soothes your senses. It’s often used in wellness and spa products to promote detoxification.
• Mint, spearmint, eucalyptus  While technically green scents purely by color, these herbaceous purifying scents are sweet, spicy and refreshing. They’re tingly and cool and provide an energetic backdrop to stickier, sweeter and heavier scents.
• Lime, lemon, orange, grapefruit  These citrus fruit scents are zesty, tart and sweet — just like spring weather. They’re energizing and often used to invigorate dull senses and pair well with creamy, warm fragrances for a delicious conconction of scents.

Much like the spring season itself, our memories are layered in complexity and contradiction. We remember the warmth of the sun on our skin after being bundled up all winter, but shiver at the times we wore shorts too early; we love the season’s first picnic in a grassy park, but choosing the wrong picnic blanket means sitting on a wet butt for the rest of the day.

When used in balance, complexity and contradiction create incredibly unique candle scents that unfold slowly and mysteriously. But ‘tis the season to keep it light and fresh, too. To help you get in the spirit of spring, get a whiff of our top candle picks (below).