Farewell, Floral Fragrances — Meet the Unexpected Desert Plant That’s Scenting Our Homes for Spring 2025

A seasonal home scent that *is* actually groundbreaking

Midnight Cactus candles by LAFCO against a desert background
This spring, LAFCO New York introduces a “skin” scent that just might be the shake-up your home has been waiting for.
(Image credit: LAFCO)

Home fragrance follows a predictable cycle — spring is for florals, summer leans citrus, and by fall, we’re up to our eyeballs in spiced woods and questionable pumpkin blends. But every so often, a scent emerges that rewrites the rules.

Enter Midnight Cactus, the latest launch from Jon Bresler, founder of New York-based home fragrance brand LAFCO, which swaps petals for something more enigmatic: the prickly pear. Subtle, delicate, and slightly fruity, this mysterious muse sparked an entirely new olfactory direction.

Since buying a beach house on Fire Island, Jon had been replanting everything with native flora to support local wildlife. Among them was Opuntia humifusa, a rare variety of prickly pear. He was pleased to discover its "wonderful, slightly fruity and green aroma."

"Once I picked the fruit and tasted it, I thought it was even more wonderful," shares the LAFCO founder. Somewhere between watermelon and pear, with a whisper of green herbaceousness, the scent "was one that I had never experienced," and a surefire way to one of the best candles.

The Prickly Pear’s magic lies in its duality: both fruit and blossom, a contradiction of toughness and delicacy. That complexity is what gives Midnight Cactus its edge.

Available as both a candle and diffuser, the scent falls into what Jon calls “skin fragrance” — a term usually reserved for perfumes that sit close, subtle, and lived-in (think CK One).

Most spring scents are bright, floral, and declarative. Midnight Cactus is not. It’s moody and tactile, the twilight hour of home fragrance — best experienced up close, "surrounded by subtle natural aromas provided by our native earth," says Jon.

Midnight Cactus diffuser by LAFCO

“To enhance the fruit’s softness, I added wild raspberry,” notes Jon, a nuance reflected in the collection’s blown glass vessels, tinged in pale lilac.

(Image credit: LAFCO)

So yes, it’s a spring scent. But it feels like a departure. Midnight Cactus isn’t interested in nostalgia or florals-for-spring clichés. Instead, it treats space like skin — intimate, atmospheric, quietly transformative.

This season, the garden party's ending early. We’re headed for the desert.

Prickly pear isn’t the easiest scent to find, but when you do, it’s worth the hunt. A few well-reviewed options on our radar:

Need a way to diffuse it? Aromatech’s scent diffuser bridges the gap between home fragrance and tech — an everyday luxury this shopping editor can’t live without.

Julia Demer
Style Editor

Formerly covering fashion at L’Officiel USA, style maven Julia Demer brings her love of design to Livingetc’s world of interiors. As the title’s New York-based Style Editor, Julia's work reflects a sharp eye for detail and an innate passion for aesthetics. Her journey began with a strong foundation in design, honing her craft at renowned establishments like The Row and even establishing her own eponymous fashion brand. Julia’s design background is evident in the way she thoughtfully curates shopping edits, always maintaining a focus on emerging trends while preserving timeless sensibilities. For Julia, fashion and interiors go hand in hand, reflecting her lifelong commitment to perfecting the art of style.