Longing for a person, place, or time in life is a universal experience—and whether it’s salt water, vanilla perfume, or a dish your grandmother used to cook when you’d visit, getting a hint of a particular scent is powerful enough to instantly transport you to a different place or time. This makes scent the perfect avenue for evoking a sense of nostalgia—and creating new memories—in your home.
With candles formulated to represent entire states, experiences (from hiking to book clubs), and fictional places (Barbie’s Dreamhouse), Homesick specializes in capturing a moment and translating it into a scent. Established in 2016, the company’s founders started with their home states—and quickly found that people related to their feelings of missing where they grew up.
“That really resonated with the audience that they were going after, and obviously people could share that connection of missing home,” says Lauren McCord, general manager at Homesick. “Everyone is homesick for something or someone or some memories that are special to them at some point.”
Science offers an explanation for why smell can elicit these feelings more than any other sense (i.e. it has the longest evolutionary history), but in basic terms, scent passes through to your brain extremely quickly.
“With lawns being cut, for example,” McCord says. “Fresh-cut grass, like that smell, takes me back to summer camp immediately, where I’m spending time in the grass and rolling around, jumping out of the lake and laying in the grass, and watery notes mixing with grass can bring [that memory] to life.”
The candle company’s recent drop, four additions to their MLB collection (Citi Field, Truist Park, Minute Maid Park, and Citizens Bank Park), plays on that feeling.
HOMESICK
“It’s a nostalgic sport for people,” McCord says. “It’s America’s favorite pastime, right? So it’s such a special memory, just like our other candles—Gone Hiking, Beach Cottage—you have those core memories growing up. And for a lot of people, that’s going to the ballpark.”
A lot goes into Homesick’s process for creating a scent that triggers an emotional response and represents a particular location; sometimes it clicks right away, and other times it takes some trial and error. The first step involves chatting with locals, people who understand the lesser-known nuances of what makes a place special. While it’s meant to be personal, something like a ballpark-themed candle can also be a universal experience.
The MLB candles were interesting, McCord says, because hitting the concessions is a major part of going to a baseball game—some stadiums are even known for their ballpark fare, like the Dodger Dog and Citizens Park’s hoagie roll. Busch Stadium was among one of the more challenging scents to capture for this reason.
“We wanted to bring the scenery to life with the brick walls and lean into red clay,” McCord says. “And then there was this note that we were trying to get just right, which was they have these massive mega slices of pizza. So working pizza into candle fragrance that you want brought into your home and marrying that with notes of hops and clay—that one took a couple iterations.”
Usually a candle contains 60 to 90 fragrances layered together, but only about nine are called out. Top notes are, naturally, what you initially smell at the top of the candle. Once you start to burn it, you get into the mid and base notes: These marry with the top notes and slightly alter the fragrance, helping everything come together.
When choosing a signature scent for your home, one that has meaning, McCord suggests first considering the feeling you want people to experience. She’s always burning something bright and citrusy in her kitchen, because that’s usually where people gather, and she wants guests to feel welcomed and happy. In her bedrooms she prefers more calming fragrances, like lavender and sandalwood, to help her unwind and ease into her nightly routine.
Deciding on the feeling of the space is a very personal choice. Think about favorite memories that took place in your childhood home you want to carry on or experiences you’ve had with the person you’re sharing a space with. And don’t be afraid to mix it up (you can really never have too many candles).