The 7 Best Pura Scents For the Holidays and Winter (Plus 3 Scents I Didn’t Love)

This is my first holiday season with a Pura, so I put in some effort to hunt down the best Pura scents for the holidays. I’m one of those people who is annoyingly particular about smells. If there’s a scent that’s too strong I get headaches. That kind of person. I also really love a house that just smells like Christmas during the holidays, so I was determined to find something that gave me Hallmark movie vibes

In an effort to find my just-right holiday and winter scents, I ordered a bunch of fragrances to try. I ended up liking and keeping a few of them but I also found a couple that I knew I didn’t like before I even took them out of the box and ended up sending those back.

I also got few fragrance sample cards with my order, and there were a few of those that I absolutely loved, too.

Overall, I found a few classic holiday fragrances I really like, plus a couple more “seasonal” fragrances that feel wintery, but not holiday-esque. I’ve included all of them in a roundup, below!

Best Pura Scents for Holiday & Winter

1. Illume Balsam & Cedar

This is my favorite holiday Pura scents. It’s got that signature holiday evergreen smell, but it’s not over-the-top., and has some cinnamon and cedar notes that make your house smell cozy and inviting.

2. Feau de Bois

This was one of the scent cards I got with my Pura order, and was my favorite sample. The best way to describe it is “subtle, upscale holiday,” like a designer take on a holiday fragrance. It was warm and masculine, and had a hint of a pine and vanilla. The name translates to “wood fire” which is a good indicator of the overall vibe of the fragrance. I’d also use this scent throughout the winter, since it’s not quite as overtly holiday.

3. Anthropologie Blood Orange & Conifer

I’m a sucker for a pine-scented holiday fragrance and was intrigued by the citrus element in this one. The pine scent is definitely the over-tone, but the citrusy notes are also noticeable which makes this one fresh and lovely.

4. Soho

I bought this because it supposedly smelled like a New York City boutique hotel … which to me means Santal. I love any Santal fragrance. This one isn’t quite a ringer for a Le Labo Santal, but it does have similarly earthy and sophisticated vibes.

5. 13-Confidence

This was another fragrance card I got with my Pura order and I loved it. It’s chic and definitely more on the masculine side, which makes it a great choice for post-holiday, mid-winter.

6. Pura White Pumpkin

I love the white pumpkin candles from Homegoods (you know the ones). So I was excited for this one. While it doesn’t smell like those HomeGoods candles, it’s still a nice fall scent that’s great for the Thanksgiving season.

7. Santal Vanilla

I like this scent as a background fragrance. Which means I set my Pura really low, and it sort of just lingers in the background. It’s not too strong or overpowering, and just the right amount of sweet and earthy. Note, if you’re looking for a Santal fragrance that smells like Le Labo, though, this isn’t it. It’s much more toned down and feminine.

Pura Holiday Fragrances I Didn’t Love

So I mentioned I got a few fragrances that I ended up returning. Both had great reviews, so maybe they just weren’t for me.

They are:

NEST Holiday.

I was surprised by this one since it had such good reviews, but I didn’t love NEST’s Holiday scent. It reminded me of a Glade plugin.

Nest Moroccan Amber

I ordered this one hoping for a scent that felt wintery but not “holiday.” As soon as I opened the package I knew it wasn’t for me. It smelled like a combination of baby powder and cleaning supplies. Unless you know you like this fragrance from purchasing it in a candle or diffuser, I’d pass on this one.

Pura Spiced Pumpkin

I tried this one as well as the White Pumpkin fragrance I noted above, and I preferred the white pumpkin. This one also just reminded my of a Glade Plugin.