Scent has a remarkable ability to transport us. Evoking memories, setting the tone of a space and creating a feeling of comfort and calm amidst the chaos of everyday life. At Essence of Harris, we understand that choosing the perfect fragrance for your home is deeply personal and not always an easy decision. 

Whether you’re looking for a new favourite or simply looking to refresh your signature scent, finding the one that feels just right, can be a little overwhelming. In the digital age, where inspiration is endless, too much choice can often feel paralysing.

That’s why we’ve created this simple guide, to help you navigate the world of home fragrance with confidence. From understanding fragrance notes, to exploring our most loved collections, we’ll guide you towards scents that complement your space, reflect your personal style and help you fall in love with new scents. 

Understanding Fragrance Notes

Before diving in and choosing your favourite scent, it’s important to understand what gives each fragrance its distinctive character, and that is scent notes. Even if two candles from different brands are labelled with the same core scent, like Black Pomegranate as an example, you may notice they smell surprisingly different. That’s because the composition of scent notes vary from one blend to another, creating subtle shifts in tone, depth and longevity. 

If you’ve ever noticed a candle smells different when you first light it compared to a few hours later, that’s because you're experiencing the different layers of each scent note. 

Fragrance notes are broken down into three categories: top, heart and base notes. Each playing a unique role in the overall scent experience. 

• Top notes are the first scent you notice when you light a candle. These are usually light, fresh and fleeting but they make a powerful first impression. Think citrus, herbs or delicate florals.  

• Heart notes (also known as middle notes) emerge as the top notes begin to fade and form the core of the fragrance. These provide depth and character to a scent, often composed of floral, fruity and spicy notes. Heart notes are the true character of the scent and give it its lasting appeal. 

• Base notes are the foundation of the fragrance, they develop slowly and linger the longest, even after the flame has gone out. Typically rich, warm and grounding - like woods, amber or vanilla - they bring depth and staying power to the scent. 

Understanding the scent structure helps you tune into what you truly love about a fragrance and how it unfolds over time in your space. 

Exploring Popular Scent Categories

While understanding fragrance notes is a great start, it can sometimes feel like cracking a complex code. Most scents contain far more than three notes, and trying to decipher how all these notes come together in one final fragrance can be challenging. 

To make this easier, in 1983 fragrance expert Michael Edwards created the Fragrance Wheel, which is a tool that helps group scents by shared characteristics. This wheel simplifies the way we understand fragrances by organising them into families, making it easier to identify which types of scents you naturally gravitate towards. 

The four main fragrance families are:

• Woody - Grounded in nature, woody fragrances often feature warm, rich notes like cedar wood, sandalwood, and vetiver. They evoke a sense of calm, comfort, and sophistication, perfect for creating a cosy, relaxing atmosphere at home.

• Fresh - These scents are clean, crisp, and invigorating. Often built around citrus, green, or aquatic notes, fresh fragrances bring a feeling of energy and lightness.

• Floral - Soft, romantic, and timeless, floral fragrances are inspired by blossoms like rose, jasmine, and peony.

• Oriental - Warm, exotic, and often a little spicy, oriental fragrances combine notes like amber, musk, and vanilla. They create a luxurious and inviting mood, perfect for evenings or adding depth to your home ambience.

Each of these fragrance families are further divided into subcategories helping you discover the fragrances that best suit your personal style and the atmosphere you want to create at home.

Essence of Harris Fragrance Collections

To help you navigate our fragrance range, we’ve mapped the Essence of Harris scents by fragrance notes and scent families. But first, a little about how our collections were designed.

At Essence of Harris, our fragrances are deeply rooted in a sense of place, our island home on the Isle of Harris. 

The Classic Collection

Inspired by the iconic beaches of Harris, each with its own charm and mood. These fragrances are bright, uplifting, and radiant, drawing from fresh florals, juicy fruits, and zesty citrus notes. Scents like Seilebost, Losgaintir, Huisinis, and Horgabost are full of energy and joy, fan favourites that bring a touch of sunshine into any space.

The Elements Collection

The Elements Collection, on the other hand, is richer, moodier, and more introspective. These scents are layered and complex, evoking the raw beauty of the island, from rolling peat moorlands to bracing sea air. With notes of woods, greens, earthy mosses and a hint of coastal freshness (Mara), this collection speaks to the wild, untamed side of Harris.

Limited Edition Scents

From time to time, we release limited edition fragrances, an opportunity to experiment with new scent stories that continue to reflect our connection to the island we call home. 

Our most recent addition, Peony Whisper, began as a limited edition scent and is now a permanent part of our collection. As our first true floral fragrance, it stands apart from our core collections. This soft, romantic scent is a delicate tribute to the machair flowers that bloom across the dunes of Harris each summer. With its gentle, powdery elegance, Peony Whisper captures the fleeting beauty of wildflowers in full bloom - bringing a sense of calm, joy, and quiet wonder. 

Essence of Harris Fragrance Explained

Unlike traditional fragrance categorisation, our collections aren’t confined to one section of the fragrance wheel. Instead, they were created to evoke emotion, place, and personality, offering something for every scent preference and season.

This thoughtful approach, combined with our commitment to using the finest ingredients, results in a luxurious range of home fragrance products; from soy wax candles, reed diffusers, room sprays, and bath & body products. 

This table helps you explore how our fragrances are crafted and where they sit on the fragrance wheel to help you find the ones that resonate with you most.

Now you’ve got a good understanding of our range, let's delve deeper into some of our best selling scents, exploring their scent profiles and how they can enhance different spaces within your home, reflect your personal style and help you fall in love with our fragrances. 

Seilebost • Black Pomegranate

Inspired by the soft sands and calm tides of Seilebsot beach, this scent has become as beloved with our customers as the beach itself - often captured in photographs and memories of trips to Harris. A core part of our range since 2015, Seilebost remains a favourite with customers old and new.

This scent strikes a perfect balance between fruity brightness and a deep, sensual warmth. With ripe pomegranate and plum layered over soft florals and a musky, cedarwood base, it brings a quiet sophistication to any space. The mood it creates is calming, elegant and comforting – making it an ideal choice for places in your home where you want to unwind, like the bedroom or bathroom. 

Lighting a Seilebost candle or a misting of a Seilebost Room Spray in the room is great for those moments of calm before bed, whether you’re doing your skincare, reading your book, or taking a quiet moment to yourself. With its refined depth and year-round appeal, Seilebost is a timeless fragrance that transforms the everyday into something special. 

Shop the Seilebost Collection today... 

Horgabost • Lemongrass & Ginger

Inspired by the vibrant sands of Horgabost beach, often alive with families, campers and machair flowers in bloom, this fragrance captures that energy in a fresh, citrus scent. An original fragrance in our Classic Collection, Horgabost is celebrated for its uplifting character and bold zesty profile. 

With sharp notes of Sicilian lemon and eucalyptus, layered over a heart of lemongrass and warming ginger root, and grounded by soft, earthy notes of nutmeg and patchouli. The result is a fragrance that’s both invigorating and soothing – a clean, bright and unmistakable freshness. 

Versatile and full of life, Horgabost is a perfect choice for rooms where energy and clarity are welcome like kitchens, bathrooms and hallways. A reed diffuser in the kitchen brings a continuous burst of freshness, while helping to mask everyday cooking smells. In the bathroom, a Horgabost Candle or Hand & Body Wash evokes a calming, spa-like atmosphere. Whether you’re easing into your morning or resetting your space after a busy day, Horgabost brings a natural sense of vitality into the heart of your home. 

Discover your favourite from the Horgabost Collection today...

Adru • Sandalwood & Wild Nettle

Adru captures the island's rugged beauty – moodier, deeper and more atmospheric than any other scent in our range. As part of the Elements Collection, this fragrance evokes the quiet strength of windswept peat moorlands and timeless, untamed landscapes.

With smoky sandalwood, wild nettle, and earthy oakmoss layered over a musky base, Adru is a bold, grounding fragrance with a distinctly masculine edge. It’s a scent that feels both comforting and powerful, that invites you to slow down, breathe deeply, and connect with the elemental side of nature.

Adru works well in living rooms, home offices, or spaces you want to create a sense of warmth and stillness. A candle is best to create a rich, immersive moment perfect for quiet, cosy evenings. While a reed diffuser provides a more subtle scent throughout the day. Whether you’re settling in with a book or creating a backdrop for focus, Adru brings a quiet intensity to your space. 

Make space for the Adru Collection in your home...

Peony Whisper • Peony, Jasmine & White Musk

A tribute to machair flowers in bloom, Peony Whisper is our first and only, true floral scent. It’s soft, romantic and timeless, capturing the fleeting beauty of wildflowers and turns it into something everlasting.  

This fragrance blends fresh peony and jasmine with heart notes of rose and freesia, resting on a soft base of violet and white musk. It’s a scent that evokes early summer mornings, and the quiet magic of peony season, stretching far beyond June. 

Peony Whisper is a beautiful addition to bedrooms and guest rooms, anywhere you want to create a sense of calm and femininity. A candle adds a gentle glow, while a room mist brings a quick lift of freshness when it’s needed most. 

Check out our Peony Whisper Collection today...

In summary

If you’ve made it to the end of this article, you should now have the tools to make confident, thoughtful choices when it comes to home fragrance. From understanding fragrance notes and the fragrance wheel, to exploring our collections and the inspiration behind each scent, you’re ready to discover the fragrances that truly resonate with you and your space. 

Fragrance does more than simply smell beautiful. It evokes memories, sets the tone, and helps you shape the mood of your home. It’s not just about what you like, but what you feel. You might reach for something citrus like Horgabost, to create a refreshing spa-like atmosphere at home, or something warmer and more grounded like Seilebost for a cosy, comforting space.

At Essence of Harris, our fragrances do more than fill a room, they carry a sense of place. Each scent is inspired by the wild, natural beauty of our island home, and they are designed to bring a little bit of that magic into yours.

You can explore our full collection online, or if you’d like to learn more about our scents, take a look at our other blog posts for further inspiration.

And, if you’re planning a trip to the Isle of Harris, we’d love to welcome you to our flagship store in Tarbert. Here, you can immerse yourself in the full Essence of Harris experience, and join one of our candle making classes. Our expert team will guide you through the scent experience, and help you create a candle that truly reflects your favourite scents.

Shop by scent at Essence of Harris now

For more inspiration and advice around home fragrance and bath & body care, explore the Essence of Harris blog…

How to Care For Your Candles So They Last Longer and Burn Brighter | Create a Sanctuary of Calm In Your Home | Five Self-Care Tips to Start Today