Exploring the rise of sandalwood, cedar, vetiver, tonka, and amber; and why earthy scents are becoming the new comfort fragrance.

For years, the world of home fragrance has cycled through predictable phases: sweet vanillas, fresh linens, citrus bursts, and the occasional holiday spice explosion. But in 2025, something more grounded, more elemental,  is taking center stage.

Exploring the rise of Sandalwood, Cedar, Vetiver, Tonka, and Amber

These scents are subtle yet powerful, genderless, and expressive. They’re the olfactory equivalent of quiet luxury: understated, timeless, crafted for atmosphere rather than attention.

And unlike trend-driven “flavor” candles (pumpkin pie, marshmallow, gingerbread, birthday cake), wood-centric scents lean into something far more enduring: a sense of presence, grounding, and emotional depth.

Welcome to the new era of fragrance where cedar, sandalwood, amber, and earthy botanicals aren’t supporting notes anymore. They are the story.

Why Wood Notes? Why Now?

The rise of wood-based scents parallels a broader shift in culture:

1. The Slow-Living Movement

Collectively, we’re tired of sensory overload. People want home environments that feel calm, steady, and intentional. Wood notes, especially cedarwood, guaiac wood, sandalwood, and balsam, evoke stability and ritual.

2. A Demand for Genderless Luxury

Wood scents aren’t feminine or masculine. They’re atmospheric. Modern scent lovers are turning to fragrances that transcend gender categories altogether, gravitating toward materials that feel warm, textural, and lived-in.

3. A Craving for Nature Indoors

Post-pandemic, people want their homes to feel restorative, rooted in the natural world. Earth and wood notes help create that subtle connection without overwhelming the senses.

4. The New Aesthetic of Comfort

Comfort used to mean sweet. Today, comfort means real. People don’t want candles that smell like desserts, they want candles that smell like materials, landscapes, elements. Scents that feel familiar without being confectionary.

5. Emotional Intelligence in Fragrance

Wood notes behave differently in a room. They envelop rather than push and settle into fabrics, linger gently, and create an ambient space instead of a “scent moment.” In other words: they age well, like anything truly timeless.

La Lueur’s Woods: Our Fragrances Leading the Movement

At La Lueur, wood-based scents have always been at the heart of what we create. Not as trends, but as an artistic choice. We’ve never followed the “flavor fragrance” route. No pumpkin, no gingerbread, no sugar cookies, no candy canes.

Instead, we focus on fragrances that smell like something real: botanical, earthy, resinous, atmospheric.

Here are the La Lueur scents defining the wood revolution:

Santalum Suede

Leather. Tobacco. Jasmine. Cumin. Sandalwood. Patchouli. Cedarwood.

If wood is the new neutral, Santalum Suede is the movement’s muse. This fragrance is smoky, supple, and textural. Like walking into a dimly lit lounge wrapped in suede. The sandalwood and cedar combination is softened by florals and made intriguing by tobacco and spice. It’s grounding, sensual, and intentionally slow; a scent that feels like evening rituals and leather-bound books.

Why it embodies the trend:

• Genderless, layered, atmospheric

• Leans into the “slow interiors” aesthetic

• Anchored by high-quality sandalwood and cedar; two of 2025’s most in-demand notes
  

Vanilla Oak Leaf

Oak. Sandalwood. Tonka. Amber. Cedarwood. Jasmine. Rose. Vanilla.

Think of Vanilla Oak Leaf as autumn’s luxury renaissance. Yes, it includes vanilla, but not the sugar-forward kind. This is vanilla framed by wood: creamy, warm, and textural, balanced by amber and cedar and lifted with florals. The oak-sandalwood-tonka base gives it an earthy complexity that feels modern and comforting without leaning sweet.

Why it embodies the trend:

• Woods first, vanilla second, a shift we’ve come to love

• Elegant, layered, timeless

• “Comfort” redefined for the luxury space

 

Rice Flower + Wood

Rice flower. Coconut. Sandalwood. Musk.

This is quiet luxury in fragrance form. Rice flower has a delicate, almost ethereal warmth: soft, powdery, and comforting. When paired with sandalwood and musk, the composition becomes weightless but grounding. It’s fresh without being floral, woody without being heavy and the perfect everyday scent for a calm, intentional home.

Why it embodies the trend:

• Minimalist, refined, modern

• A new form of comfort fragrance: airy woods

• Evokes the feeling of soft fabrics, sunlight, and stillness
  

Douce Terre

Eucalyptus. Orange. Violet Leaf. Lilac. Rose. Herbs. Sandalwood. Tonka. Amber.

Douce Terre translates to “sweet earth,” and it captures exactly that: the grounding beauty of nature. It opens bright with citrus and greens, then settles into a warm amber-sandalwood base that feels serene and meditative. This is the “nature-luxury” scent of the group: crisp, herbal, earthy, and romantic.

Why it embodies the trend:

• Earth + woods = 2025’s top fragrance pairing

• The tonka-amber-sandalwood base mirrors modern fine-fragrance direction

• Feels like stepping into a botanical spa

Vanilla Orchid + Cedarwood

Vanilla orchid. Heliotrope. Ylang ylang. Rose. Guaiac wood. Balsam. Cedar. Amber. Vanilla. Musk.

Vanilla Orchid + Cedarwood is a soft-floral-meets-wood fragrance that feels warm, creamy, and subtly atmospheric. It opens with delicate florals and a gentle sweetness, then settles into a grounded blend of guaiac wood, balsam, amber, and cedar; a composition that’s comforting without leaning sugary, and elegant without feeling heavy.

Why it embodies the trend:

• Wood notes that stay soft, not smoky
• A perfect expression of gender-neutral luxury
• A candle that changes a room’s entire emotional temperature

Woods as the New Neutral: More Than a Moment

What makes wood fragrances feel so contemporary is their versatility. They fit into every aesthetic trend of 2025:

• Quiet Luxury: wood notes are inherently subtle. They show taste without theatrics.

• Wellness-Driven Living: cedar and sandalwood are used in spas and wellness environments for grounding and peace.

• Genderless Design: neutral, elegant, sensory; woods work for any space, any person.

• Slow Interiors: the rise of natural materials like stone, clay, and linen pairs beautifully with grounding scents.

• Modern Comfort: today’s comfort fragrances aren’t edible; they’re elemental. They evoke hearth, forest, soil, resin, connection.

A Return to Nature, a Return to Self

In a world moving faster every day, consumers are gravitating toward fragrances that bring them back to earth. Literally. Wood-based scents anchor the space around you. They soften edges, create atmosphere, and let your home (and your mind) breathe.

And in 2025, that’s the kind of luxury people are investing in: the luxury of calm, of grounding, of presence. At La Lueur, we’ve built our craft around the belief that scent shouldn’t overwhelm. Instead, it should support you, move with you, and deepen the beauty of your daily ritual.

The new neutral isn’t beige. It’s cedar and sandalwood. It’s amber and oak and resin and earth. It’s the scent of slowing down.