The Best Fragrance Diffusers, According to People With Good Taste

Reeddiffusers

Notes:Bergamot, orange, eucalyptus, rose, lily, lavender, mint, red cedar| Scent family:Fresh, floral, woody| Lifetime:3-4 months

P.F. Candle, which makesour favorite affordable scented candles, also makes some of the most well-priced yet complex-smelling reed diffusers I’ve come across. I currently have two of its Ojai Lavender diffusers in my bedroom (one in the closet and one in the main space), which have just enough scent throw (fragrance strength) to fill the space with subtle notes of lavender, eucalyptus, citrus, and cedar. Conversely, plant stylistJon Perdomorecommends putting the diffuser in an entryway to “set the whole vibe and the whole mood for the area.” Wherever you decide to place the diffuser, you’ll want to flip the reeds once a week to prevent oversaturation. On the day you switch the reeds, you’ll find that the scent throw is pleasantly strong. (I like to flip mine on Sundays to make my apartment smell extra-clean for the week ahead.)

Notes:Sea salt, jasmine| Scent family:Fresh| Lifetime:Not available

In my opinion, a reed diffuser works best when it’s part of a team; a diffuser maintains a steady baseline fragrance, while a scented candle can come in for reinforcement. For content creator and Airbnb hostMae Sitler Moceo, her signature home scent is this fresh sea salt from Illume. Outfitted with sea-salt-scentedcandles, a reed diffuser, anda plug-in Pura diffuser(more on that further down), the cottage that she rents is so imbued with notes of jasmine and sea salt that one friend of hers told her that she now associates the smell of jasmine with her cottage. In particular, Moceo keeps the reed diffuser in one of the bathrooms. Since the door typically remains closed, she says the diffuser has lasted for more than a year.

Notes:Peach, mangosteen, pink grapefruit, yuzu petals, orange, mandarin, musk, teak, vanilla| Scent family:Fresh, woody| Lifetime:3-4 months

“When I’m out — like maybe at a store — and I smell something really good, I will seek out where it came from,” interior design creativeAnnie Leetold me. It was at her best friend’s house where she first got a whiff of P.F. Candle’s sweet grapefruit diffuser. After discovering the source of the smell that she describes as “almost like you’re outdoors smelling the fruit from the tree,” she bought it for her own home and has since influenced other friends to buy it for themselves. Above all, she says she’s most impressed by the diffuser’s scent throw, which even P.F. Candle places higheron its scent throw scalethan the others on this list. “If I placed it in a room and there’s another diffuser in the other room, this one’s still stronger,” Lee adds.

Notes:Grapefruit peel, blackcurrant, vineyard peach, red fruits, strawberry, raspberry, orange blossom, vanilla, sweet gourmand notes, smoked woods| Scent family:Floral, fresh| Lifetime:Not available

When Lee happened upon this diffuser in a particularly sweet-smelling public bathroom in Taiwan, she immediately jotted down the name. (After all, “When you’re in a bathroom, you don’t expect it to smell good,” she told me.) Now, she keeps the fruity diffuser in her entryway where it’s still going strong after nine months. Despite the “Di Vino” name, don’t expect it to smell like your favorite Burgundy — Lee, who typically gravitates toward fruity and sweet scents, says the diffuser smells like a grape Hi-Chew.

[Editor’s note: The company lists its prices in euros, so this is an approximation to dollars.]

Notes:White flowers, zesty grapefruit, sparkling yuzu| Scent family:Floral, fresh| Lifetime:9-12 months

In addition to making sure that the diffusers he places in his clients’ homes are non-toxic, Jeff Andrews, the founder ofJeff Andrews Design, says he always factors the packaging into his recommendations. A “tacky” vessel can be solved by pouring the liquid into a new vessel and popping the reeds in (Andrews sources vintage bottles for this). In the case of Apothia’s vessels, though, no switching is necessary because “they make these very simple little glass containers … that don’t have a huge logo on them,” he says. Of the brand’s 13 available scents, “If” is Andrews’ favorite. With notes of citrus and white flowers, the scent is “super light and balanced,” according to Andrews (who has bought this one multiple times).

Notes:Lemon, petitgrain, centifolia rose, jasmine, gardenia, patchouli, sandalwood, cedarwood, musk| Scent family:Floral, woody, fresh| Lifetime:Not available

For King, who is based in Boston, scent is an integral part of the design process, and over the years she’s found a couple tried-and-true brands that she typically recommends to clients. One such brand is Santa Maria Novella, the oldest perfume store in the world whose ornate packaging and earthy fragrances complement the 18th-century brownstones King often works on. She uses it in her office, too — specifically the rosa novella scent, which doesn’t smell like your average bouquet of roses: “It feels like incense and spice, and then if you picture an open window over in the next room and there’s a rose in the distance,” she says.

Notes:Satsuma, sugared black currant, apricot, muguet, cyclamen, passionfruit, madagascar vanilla, sandalwood, white musk| Scent family:Floral, woody, fresh| Lifetime:Not available

While Leah Goryachkovsky, who writes the Substack newsletterYour Maximalist, has embraced her more-is-more instincts when it comes to decorating her own apartment (notably withSeletti mirrorsandMarimekko sheets), she keeps her scent-scene fairly straightforward with this prosecco diffuser from Antica Farmacista, which was a favorite of her mom’s. “My mother never gravitated towards anything too pungent,” she says. “So the prosecco scent was the perfect luxe, subtle, spa-esque, clean-laundry signature scent she was looking for.” Goryachkovsky keeps hers in her bathroom where she says it lasts about three to four months.

Notes:Violet leaf, marine accord, patchouli, iris, cashmere rose, amber, oud, labdanum, musk| Scent family:Woody, floral| Lifetime:3-4 months

Though social-media manager Olivia Frescura, who runs the Instagram accountMatches in LA, has a concomitant “insane candle collection,” she still uses reed diffusers in spaces where she doesn’t want to leave an open flame unsupervised. Like many of the other sources I spoke to, her favorites come from P.F. Candle, which she has noticed popping up in curated boutiques throughout Los Angeles. She’s remained loyal to the sandalwood rose scent in particular — so much so that she’s repurchased it three times. Describing it as “elegant, floral, and a little earthy,” she currently stations her diffusers in her living room and bedroom.

Notes:Eucalyptus leaf, fir needle, ginger root, hinoki wood, cedar leaf, petrichor, green petitgrain, blonde cypress, northern forest cedar, tree root moss| Scent family:Woody, amber, fresh| Lifetime:3-4 months

P.F. Candle’s new Hi-Fi line offers sleek, slightly larger, amber-colored bottles and complex fragrance notes. It has three signature scents — blonde hinoki, smoked cherry, and plush vetiver — that are inspired by “low-lit listening bars and hotel lounges.” After diffusing the Blonde Hinoki scent in my own home for a month, I’d say it’s best for the person who wants something that feels elevated but doesn’t want to spend Diptyque dollars. Though I typically gravitate towards fresher, floral scents, the blonde hinoki diffuser gives off a ginger-forward fragrance that reminds me of checking into a classy hotel. If you’re using all of the provided reeds, you’ll find it has the same lifespan as the brand’s entry-level diffusers — three to four months. But since the reeds are fatter and taller, the Hi-Fi diffuser will have a stronger scent throw. (You can adjust the throw by taking out some reeds.) Still, if your space is around 400 square feet or larger, I’d recommend buying two diffusers to ensure the scent permeates the whole space.

Notes:Bergamot, black current, lemon, cinnamon, violet, orchid, tonka bean, vetiver, cashmere woods| Scent family:Fresh, woody| Lifetime:Not available

In the three months that she’s been living in New York,Mélanie Masarin, the founder of spirits-free apéritif brandGhia, has been steadily adding books, vases, and, now, a diffuser to the big white book shelf in her new living room. Currently, her diffuser of choice is the white forest scent from the Swedish clean-beauty brand Björk and Berries, which she describes as mossy, woody, and bergamot forward. “There are a lot of aperitifs that are bergamot based,” she told me, so even though the diffuser is harmonious enough that she feels it’s “hard to parse out the different notes of it,” she can always call out the bergamot.

Notes:Bergamot, bitter orange, laurel, lavender, thyme, cloves, rosemary, patchouli, cedarwood, peru balm| Scent family:Fresh, woody| Lifetime:Not available

Andrews is also a fan of Santa Maria Novella’s gold-trimmed, round-edged diffuser vessels, and keeps the line’s potpourri-scented diffuser in his office. Compared to thefresh and floral rosa gardenia diffuserthat he keeps in his bedroom, this one is earthy, rich, and reminiscent ofactual potpourri(which he also buys from Santa Maria Novella for his powder room).

Electricdiffusers

Unlike the reed diffusers above, electric diffusers don’t run indefinitely. Instead, they’ll typically run on hours-long timers and give off a pleasant mist. Over the years, Vitruvi’s water-based diffusers have become a favorite among design-minded people who want a discreet solution for scenting their space — it’s the one I heard about most when I interviewed sources about electric diffusers. Content creator and art directorMai Nguyen, who keeps two in her home, likens it to a “sculptural object.” It’s also the oneEllen Pompeouses to freshen up her trailer andthe fail-safe gift we recommend for new homeowners. Using ultrasonic waves to disperse your fragrance of choice as a mist for four- or eight-hour stints, the Vitruvi can be used with any old essential oil, but the real selling point, according to Strategist deals editor Sam Daly, is the brand’s essential-oil blends. While most of them “give fancy spa vibes,” she recommends theRest diffuser blend kit, which includes her favorite scent, Dusk, which has notes of eucalyptus and lavender. “It makes me think of being in the desert after a rainstorm like when the dead wood has been rehydrated a little and everything feels very clean,” she says.

Muji’s diffusers have become one of those products that just feels quintessentiallyMuji. They’re compatible with all essential oils — even Vitruvi’s — and have a built-in light that you can leave on or off. Strategist senior editor Ailbhe Malone has been using hers for about a decade, and since she got it, the model the brand sells has stayed pretty much the same: It has two adjustable LED light levels and four timer variations that time out at three hours. While Malone usesthe larger oneas a night light in her daughter’s room, she recommends the smaller version if you’re looking for a bedside diffuser. (She likes to set off a lavender and rosemary blend before she goes to sleep.)

The Pura is basically the antithesis of a drug store plug-in diffuser. The smart fragrance diffuser has a compatible app where you can adjust scent throw, set schedules and timers, and decide which scent to set off (the device can hold up to two at a time, but Pura has tons of scents to choose from, including collaborations with LAFCO and Apotheke). While it may not be as visually appealing as the Vitruvi, the Pura is about as attractive as a plug-in diffuser can get. Plus, “You don’t have to deal with any batteries or any cords that you have to hide,” says Sitler Moceo. ThePura sea salt vialcompletes her Illume trifecta, but she also likes diffusing thelavender fields fragrancebecause it reminds her of the lavender fields on the North Fork where her Airbnb is. Frescura uses hers — specifically withCapri Blue’s volcano— to cover up cooking smells. (It’d make a greatgift for the college studentwho isn’t allowed to use candles, too.)

Notes:Moss, blackcurrant leaves, oriental spice| Scent family:Woody, amber| Lifetime:Several months

Whiletechnicallynot electric, Diptyque’s reed-less hourglass diffuser feels worth including here. It’s truly simple to use: just flip over the hourglass and let the hour-ish diffusion cycle pass. It’s another key element of King’s design playbook, and something she feels is beautiful enough to keep in her own home, too — specifically in the Dityque’s signature 34 boulevard Saint Germain scent. Stationed in her entryway, the diffuser greets her with the scent of a spa with a “a beautiful Moroccan, kind of East Asian quality to it.”