Light a mint candle and the room seems to feel cooler. Nothing has changed on the thermostat. So what is going on? The answer sits in a tiny sensor in your body, and in the candle aroma oil, the scent blend mixed into the wax. The science behind it helped win a Nobel Prize.
What candle aroma oil with mint does to your senses
Your skin, mouth and nose are full of nerve endings that sense heat and cold. One of them is a sensor called TRPM8. Think of it as a tiny thermometer. When things get cool, it switches on and tells your brain "cold".
Menthol, the main cooling part of peppermint, can switch on the same sensor. No ice needed. The Nobel press release for 2021 says David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian each used menthol to find TRPM8. In other words, mint helped scientists find the body's cold sensor.
Does a mint candle actually cool the room?
No. The air stays the same temperature. What changes is how the scent reads to you. Most of us link mint with the cool tingle of toothpaste and sweets, so the smell alone can feel fresh and crisp.
Why a fresh mint scent works in winter
In a cold month, a fresh scent might seem odd. Yet mint is part of a British Christmas, from candy canes to after-dinner mints. It brings a bright note to a season full of heavy spice.
Fresh scents also give your nose a break. After an evening of cinnamon and clove, a clean minty smell feels like opening a window, without letting the cold in.
Mint on its own can feel sharp, so perfumers often soften it with other notes. Citrus makes it brighter. Woods give it depth. Candy Cane, one of the 12 scents in our Advent Calendar, blends peppermint with lemon, mandarin and soft woods.
How to enjoy a fresh candle scent at its best
Mint works best when it has the room to itself. Burn it in a hallway to greet people as they come in from the cold. Try it after a big meal, when cooking smells hang about. Avoid lighting it next to a spicy candle, as the two can muddle each other.
Quick answers
Why does peppermint feel cold?
Menthol in peppermint switches on TRPM8, the sensor your body uses to detect cold. Your brain gets a cold signal even though the temperature has not changed. That is why mint feels cool.
What is candle aroma oil?
Candle aroma oil is the scent blend mixed into the wax. We call the amount the fragrance load, meaning how much scent oil is in the wax. Our advent tealights have an 8% fragrance load.
Next time a mint candle makes a room feel crisp, you will know your own sensors are at work. Want to try it? Candy Cane sits behind two doors in the Glow Collection Advent Calendar, alongside warm spices and berries.
Related reading
- Strong Scented Candles Fading? Blame Your Nose, Not the Wax: more on how your nose plays tricks on you
- Candle Perfume Notes Explained: Top, Heart and Base: how a scent is built, layer by layer
- Coffee Scented Candles and the Coffee Bean Nose Myth: another smell myth, tested
