Scent for the road

If the car is a second home on the road, it deserves the same care as any room, with one difference: it is small, it gets hot, and outside the window the landscape is always changing. The right car scent is barely there.

Less than you think

A cabin holds a fraction of the air of a room, so a strength that seems subtle at home can be overwhelming in a car, especially on a warm day with the windows up. Start with the lightest setting or the smallest amount, and remember that scent strengthens in heat.

Notes that travel well

• Citrus and aromatic greens, such as bergamot, petitgrain, cypress and lemon leaf. They are fresh, clean and quick to fade, which is what you want.
• Light woods, such as cedar or hinoki, add calm without heaviness.
• Avoid heavy gourmand and sweet notes in a warm cabin. They can quickly become cloying and, for some passengers, nauseating.

Choose something that suits the drive. Cypress and fig on the lake roads of Italy, bitter orange on the coast west of Lisbon, and stone pine for the Engadin passes. Then open the windows and let the landscape take over.

Practical care

• Keep the view clear. Do not hang anything that could block your view of the road or distract you. Some jurisdictions have rules about objects hanging from the mirror.
• Keep oils off surfaces. Concentrated fragrance oils can mark plastics, leather and paint, so use a proper holder and check it does not leak in heat.
• Think of passengers. Some people are sensitive to fragrance. Ask, and be ready to take it out.
• Leather needs little help. A well-kept leather interior has its own quiet scent. Clean and condition it rather than covering it up.

The best compliment a car fragrance can get is a passenger at the end of a long day saying how fresh the car still feels, without being able to say why.