12 Delightful Autumn Scents to Bring Fall Magic to Life

A bottle of fragrant incense on a table surrounded by small gourds and fallen leaves.Photo byVera Prokhorova via Shutterstock

They say smell invokes stronger memories than any other scent. Maybe that’s why seasonal smells hold such power – they remind us of family, warmth, and the magic of childhood.

Recreate some of the memories this fall with the best autumn scents embodying the season.

12 Autumn Scents Bringing Magic to the Season

The fall season brings the harvest, cooler nights, shorter days, and some of the most memorable smells of the year.

Let’s discover what autumn smells like.

Pumpkin

The quintessential fall crop fills our homes with delightful smells all season long. Whether baking pumpkin pies, enjoying pumpkin spice lattes, or carving jack-o-lanterns, the pumpkin’s sweet fragrance wafts through the house.

A joy of pumpkins as an autumn smell is how they change when fresh vs. roasted. Fresh pumpkins have a crisp, vegetable-like aroma that invokes memories of harvest while cooking a pumpkin brings out a deep, rich, earthy fragrance that reminds us of cozy nights at the hearth.

Apple

As apples in orchards worldwide ripen, we celebrate the crisp crop with pies and ciders. Enjoy the fresh fruit bathed in caramel with the season’s most delightful confectionery, the candied apple, or cook them to perfection in homemade apple pies.

The fresh autumn scent reminds us of grandma and the comfort of home.

Turkey Dinner

The biggest fall holiday sees families gathered around the table to give thanks and partake in a delicious turkey dinner with all the fixings.

Throughout the day, the enticing smell of roasting turkey travels through the house and neighborhoods as loved ones gather to celebrate another successful harvest. That smell lingers in our collective memories, reminding us of the nostalgic Thanksgiving Days of our childhoods when all our families got together for football, food, and fun.

Sage

Though we often associate turkey with Thanksgiving, sage does most of the heavy lifting. As the stuffing’s secret ingredient, sage injects a smokey herbal scent into the atmosphere that compliments the roasting turkey’s savory aroma.

But sage transcends Thanksgiving, serving as an iconic autumn scent for Halloween as well. It’s used in cleansing rituals and after seances, keeping homes safe from evil spirits during the time of the year when the veil is thinnest.

Hay

Autumn brings the harvest, and with it, the musty odor of hay fills the air. We celebrate the season with hayrides and petting zoos, letting the earthy aroma fill our nostrils as we join the festivities.

The fall scent of hay reminds us of our childhood trips to pumpkin patches and connects us to our agricultural ancestors.

Foliage

If we were forced to describe autumn with one primary scent, it would be the smell of falling leaves that fills the air on cool autumn days.

Fall leaves have an earthy yet ethereal odor, connecting us with nature while reminding us of life’s brevity. Head to a forest preserve in the fall, take a deep breath, and bask in the woodsy aroma of nature, settling in for its long winter sleep.

Cinnamon

Though cinnamon is commonly considered a Christmas scent, it usually makes its first appearance in the fall.

The tantalizing spice is integral to many of our favorite fall dishes, like apple cider and pumpkin spice, and often mixes with the other fall scents on our list to create a tingly treat for all our senses.

Campfire

Though spring and summer are also great for camping, there’s nothing like lighting a bonfire in early fall to commemorate the season’s end.

The smokey aroma reminds us more of cozy fireplaces than summer beaches and provides warm comfort on crisp autumn days.

Maple Syrup

The sweet yet rustic aroma of maple syrup reminds us of mature forests. It’s earthy, woodsy, and smoky, but the sweetness reminds us of grandma’s cabin on cool fall mornings.

Breakfast syrups won’t cut it. To indulge in the true nostalgia of this comforting fall fragrance, you’ll need the real deal.

Chili

Fall brings crockpot season! Our bodies crave warm, hearty stews like chili when the weather cools.

Every Halloween, my mom made a giant pot of homemade chili. We’d duck in and out of the house, grabbing a bowl to warm up before heading out again to score more candy and delight in the night’s festivities.

Even now, the smell of chili slowly cooking in the crock pot reminds me of these glorious fall evenings.

Hazelnut

When the calendars hit September, hazelnut’s decadent aroma fills coffee shops around the nation. Roasted hazelnut smells like curling up with a book on a crisp autumn day or relaxing on the porch in a cozy sweater to watch the falling leaves dance in the breeze.

Candy Corn

The almost sickly sweet smell of candy corn fills the air around Halloween when the seasonal treat makes its annual appearance.

Even people who don’t like candy corn will be transported to their childhood when the scent follows trick-or-treaters every Halloween night.

How Can I Make My Home Smell Like Fall?

Recreate these wonderful autumn scents in your home with scented candles or incense, which can create those fall feelings all year long.

Here are some of my favorites:

1. Woodwick Autumn Harvest
2. Woodwick Pumpkin Butter
3. Woodwick Redwood
4. Woodwick Evening Bonfire
5. Woodwick Cinnamon Chai

I love Woodwick Candles—they’re my favorite variety of scented candles. Not only do they perfectly capture the fragrances, but they also engage all the senses with the little wooden wick that rustles like a real campfire.

If Woodwick is too pricey for your budget, explore the budget pumpkin spice, apple pie, and smokey fireplace candles available from nearly every candle brand.

But for the most authentic autumn scents, opt for the real deal. Burn sage, bake an apple pie, roast a turkey. Enjoy the best of autumn to make your home naturally smell like the season.

This article was produced and syndicated by Partners in Fire.