The Best Candles To Uplift, Calm, Or Focus Your Mood

Thanks to social distancing and isolation being the new norm, it's likely that your living room has now also turned into your office, workout studio, and meditation zone–and it's not as easy as it sounds to transition between. That's where a scented candle can help. Yep, candles aren't just meant to set the mood, they can actually help to create whatever kind of atmosphere you're wanting to create.

"While our sense of smell is one of the more mysterious of our five basic senses, we know that smell is highly emotive as well as individualized," explains Melissa Medvedich, Certified aromatherapist and founder of Supernal. "Certain scents can be extremely therapeutic in helping to promote a particular environment or be beneficial for overall mood." With that in mind, Medvedich shared the best scents to look for when creating three different moods you may be trying to emulate in your home: Calm, focused, and uplifting.

Calm: "For a relaxing mood, lavender is one of the most popular and probably the most studied. Oils rich in linalool, a naturally occurring alcohol chemical found in essential oils, have been shown to promote feelings of calm."

Notes to look for:
- Lavender
- Chamomile
- Bergamot

Focused: "When I’m working from home and looking to focus, I’ll burn or diffuse refreshing and invigorating scents like peppermint, spearmint or eucalyptus. Rosemary is great too, but it can be overpowering so it's not for everyone!"

Notes to look for:
- Peppermint
- Eucalyptus
- Rosemary

Uplifting: "To create a mood-boosting atmosphere, I love bright and sunny scents like lemon, grapefruit and sweet orange that are rich in limonene (a chemical found in the peels of citrus fruits) which has been said to help reduce anxiety."

Notes to look for:
- Lemon
- Grapefruit
- Sweet Orange

Here are the best candles to create each of these moods.