OSYNLIG collection – 13 scents by IKEA and Ben Gorham

Scent can take you places. The olfactory bulb – the part of the brain that senses smell – is tightly intertwined with our emotional system, so it can conjure up memories of where you’ve been and people you’ve met in an instant. This idea inspired our collaboration with Ben Gorham, founder of luxury fashion house Byredo. OSYNLIG is Swedish for ’invisible’. The 13 scented candles in the collection are made to provoke the kind of emotion that’s hard to put into words – like nostalgia and dreams – and above all to heighten the experience of being at home.

What does home smell like?

“The way your home smells is very emotional and plays a huge part in how you feel being there. It isn’t just about things being functional and practical, it’s the place where you come together with family and friends and make memories.” – Ben Gorham, founder of Byredo

An OSYNLIG scented candle, with its ceramic lid, stands on a dinner table next to a cake and a glass of milk.

The power of invisible design

While developing the fragrances in the OSYNLIG collection, we brought in students from the Royal College of Art to explore ‘invisible design’ – the idea that how you feel in your home is about more than just how it looks. Together we prototyped products that used light, sound and smell to transform space, and this helped us put the final range together.

An OSYNLIG scented candle, with its ceramic lid, stands next to exercise equipment on a wooden shelf.

Mix the candles to find your perfect scent

Carefully chosen, quality raw ingredients were used to create these memorable fragrances. They are divided into three categories – fresh, floral and woody – to help guide you towards scents that you like. You could even choose to burn different candles at once to create a unique scent.

A ceramic OSYNLIG candle stands on a wooden table, lighting up an assortment of objects, including a photo frame.

13 scents (and a second life too)

“Something as non-physical as a fragrance needs a tactile context”, says Lina Vuorivirta, Designer at IKEA. Each OSYNLIG candle is housed in a hard-wearing ceramic pot, glazed with two colours that represent the ingredients – from cypress and fig to tobacco and honey – that were used to make it. And when you’re done with the scent, the container is designed to be used again for storing small things or to decorate your home.

A variety of small and large candles from the OSYNLIG collection in a variety of colours stand on a pale tablecloth.

Scents and a second life

When you’re finished with the scent, the container can be used to store small things, or simply as an interesting decorative object with its own story.