Stock Up on Mood-Boosting Scents to Get Through Winter

Maybe it’s due to the limited daylight hours (Vitamin D deficiency makes the struggle real) or intolerable weather conditions (although so far it’s been quite balmy) or that said circumstances turn most of us into Netflix-binging (not in the Netflix and chill sense), couch-sore forming, takeout-ordering shut-ins. Whatever the reason, there are still at least another three months of crappy forecasts ahead so we’re here with a game plan of sorts. You might think aromatherapy is the stuff of New Age weirdos, spas, and your mom, but it can’t hurt to give it a shot. Immersing yourself in mood-boosting scents, like lemon and fresh mown grass, might be just the thing to snap you out of that grey-for-days funk.

Pine

Molton Brown Rockrose & Pine Hand Wash

The scent of these particular conifers has been proven to reduce anxiety, which can be at an all-time high around this time. Luckily (or not), it’s also flu season so you’ll be needing to wash your hands a lot with this pine-infused hand soap. Two birds, one stone.

$28, nordstrom.com

Fresh cut grass

Jo Malone London Nasturtium & Clover Cologne

Inhaling the scent of a freshly mown lawn can decrease stress levels and have a calming influence so you have two choices: If you have a yard, grab that mower and get down to business or just spray yourself with this cologne to approximate the scent of the most aromatic lawn in the world. Probably go with the latter.

$70 for 1 fl. oz., neimanmarcus.com

Peppermint

Malin + Goetz Peppermint Shampoo

Lift the brain fog and raise your spirits (and get into the spirit of the season) with a whiff of peppermint, like say, while sudsing up with this candy-cane-scented shampoo. Double down on the happiness by downing a hot cocoa—chocolate is also a mood booster—spiked with peppermint schnapps.

$20, malinandgoetz.com

Citrus Fruit

Tom Daxon Reverie Shower Gel

Suffering from malaise? Sniffing lemon, grapefruit and orange is a healthier route towards revival than say chugging cases of Four Loko. This energizing shower gel is packed with citrus, along with equally uplifting notes of rosemary and ginger.

$50, mrporter.com

Eucalyptus

C.O. Bigelow Premium Shave Cream

Like smelling salts, sniffing the oil from this aromatic leaf can clear the inevitable congestion that will strike us all this season. It also works like gangbusters to motivate and energize thus preventing the trench you’re wearing into the couch from becoming permanent so this shave cream might be a life/furniture saver.

$10 for 5.2 oz., bigelowchemists.com