The 13 Best Scented Candles to Enhance Every Space (According to Our Editors)
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It’s official: we’ve reached Peak Candle. No longer a dusty, regiftable option that you dig out of your closet when you need to give an acquaintance something on their birthday, or the elbow-shoving experience of Bath & Body Works semi-annual sale (yes, I am speaking from personal experience here). Nay, candles now are a statement piece, with trendy scents from popular fragrance brands combined with artsy holders that could double as home decor.
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While “best-smelling” is a subjective moniker, the best scented candles are an effortless way to transform any space in your home into the vibe you want — luxurious, cozy, calm, you name it. There’s never been more scent variety to choose from either: designer copycats of your favorite cologne, fun, hyper-specific vibes (for example, Literie’s “i bought another house plant“), and rustic, artisanal fragrances that feel like you just stepped out of the woods.
With so many waxy possibilities, how do you know what the right candle is for you? While sandalwood and pine might remind you of dinner parties and woodsy winter months, to somebody else, it might smell like being whacked in the nose by your old man’s cologne. Depending on the vibe you want to curate in the room, choosing the best candle might mean springing for a lighter, more delicate scent (like for your bedroom or bath), or a stronger fragrance that can fill an entire room and set the mood for a party.
Our editors have done a lot of digging (and sniffing), and we’ve lit up the best candles you can buy online based on our own personal testing, as well as and positive user feedback from top-rated brands. Here are our top picks.
In This Article
What Are The Best Scented Candles?
Buying Guide: How We Picked the Best Candles
What Are Clean Burning Candles?
How to Properly Burn Your Candles
What Are The Best Scented Candles?
Below, we’ve chosen the best candles online considering factors like long burn times, burn quality, scent throw (how well the fragrance fills a space), and positive user reviews. We also chose a diverse range of fragrances for every preference, with our top picks below.
BEST OVERALL: Boy Smells Hinoki Fant?me Candle
BEST SWEET CANDLE: Baies Berries by Diptyque
BEST SPICY CANDLE: Malin+Goetz Dark Rum Candle
BEST BRIGHT CANDLE: Voluspa Gogi Tarocco Orange
BEST FRESH CANDLE: D.S. & Durga Big Sur After Rain
1. Boy Smells Hinoki Fant?me Candle
I purchased the Hinoki Fant?me Candle after testing their perfumes (which have become one of my two go-to scents) and I’m in love. The smell lingers in the air long after the candle is out, and like the spray, the notes shift over time. The top notes are spicy, almost like a cinnamon, but when it settles it gains this really woodsy aromatic quality. Heaven in a candle. —Kyle Rice
$38
2. Baies Berries by Diptyque
Another one of our go-to candle brands is Diptyque. We love this Baies pick because of its subtle, slightly floral fragrance. It’s a great pick that we keep on hand to burn year-round, and once it’s gone, you can repurpose its clear glass base to store smaller items like keys or jewelry. — John Lonsdale
$45
3. Malin+Goetz Dark Rum Candle
Inspired by the old bay rum from the Caribbean, Malin+Goetz’s most popular candle captures the feeling of long days in the tropical sun and even longer nights. The Dark Rum candle is made from a natural wax blend and I love its dark and spicy rum aroma, along with those distinct notes of plum, bergamot, and leather. Although the candle is on the pricier side, it’s a scent that’s noticeably distinct, and I found that it could burn all night long (which is about the length of a typical Caribbean party, anyways). —Sage Anderson
$60.00
4. Voluspa Gogi Tarocco Orange
Voluspa’s Gogi Tarocco Orange candle has been my go-to since college. I am very sensitive to smells due to my chronic migraines (especially artificial ones), so I have to be careful about the candles I burn; the Gogi Tarocco Orange scent is sweet but subdued, and I have found that the smell isn’t just tolerable, but pleasant. Voluspa says it uses perfume-grade fragrance and essential oils to make its candles, and this specific scent contains notes of mango, goji berries, blood orange, and other citrusy fruits. Once you’re done burning this candle, you can also repurpose the ornamental container into a vase, a makeup brush holder, and more. —Morgan Greenwald
$34
5. D.S. & Durga Big Sur After Rain
“Cashmere hills filled with evergreens / Flowing from the clouds down to meet the sea”, The Beach Boys once sang about Big Sur — but you don’t have to picture the coast in your mind, just light up D.S. & Durga’s candle. I can’t stand “fresh” scented candles that dip too far into “laundry detergent” territory, but Big Sur After Rain’s candle had a refreshingly clean-smelling fragrance that took me right to California. Inspired by rain water in the eucalyptus groves off Highway 1, the notes of young green shoots, long spears, and russet underbrush gave me that same “aah” feeling of smelling the air after a storm. —Sage Anderson
$70.00
6. Bibliothéque Candle by BYREDO
Few candles class up your space like something from Byredo, the Swedish fragrance house that offers up its alluring scents in bath and body products too. We’re partial to the Bibliothéque candle, a warm and woody scent inspired by the velvety texture and feeling of crisp paper. —Tim Chan
7. Le Labo Santal 26 Classic Candle
When I was still in college back in 2018, I used to work with this design studio that always had this really specific and intoxicating scent. It was really faint but always sort of lingered in the air so you would catch whiffs of it now and again. Turns out he kept this candle in the center of the room. The kick is…he never lit it! The smell from this candle is so powerful it simply fills a room just being present. This remains a purchase I habitually go back to. —Kyle Rice
8. NEOM Perfect Night’s Sleep Candle
My favorite bedside companion? This candle. The Neom Perfect Night’s Sleep lavender-scented candle is just what I need to create a calm, relaxing environment before I nod off. As someone who has a hard time getting to sleep, I can use all the help I can get so I love to light this up an hour before bedtime to fill my room with its soothing scent. Its fragrance is subtle enough to not feel overpowering but even when it’s not lit, I’ll catch a waft of the sweet basil and essential oil notes that remind me of what it’s like to step into a spa. It’s also lasted me a long time, so I’d definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a bedroom-specific option. —Jasmin Sandal
9. Bonita Fierce Como La Flor
Inspired by the Queen of Tejano, Selena Quintanilla, and her vibrant performance at the Astrodome, I was blown away by the explosive scent of lily of the valley, lilac, rose and jasmine in the Como La Flor candle. It practically turns your room into a botanical garden with the fresh, luscious aroma of a floral bouquet. The Latinx-owned candle brand is hand-poured in New York, and I’m a big fan of their other cultural and heritage-inspired scents, too. —Sage Anderson
$34
10. Maison Margiela Replica By the Fireplace
From the French fashion house Maison Margiela comes this line of candles, which is inspired by familiar scents and nostalgic memories. We’re partial to “By the Fireplace,” which is the brand’s first feminine and masculine fragrance, said to evoke a morning by the fireplace in the French Alps. —Tim Chan
$70
11. Prince x Vacation Ball Boy Scented Candle
I’ve used Vacation’s viral sunscreen before and have appreciated their nostalgic, sun-soaked 1980s-esque ads on Instagram, but their Willy Wonka vaporwave weirdness has definitely hit an apex with this candle. l deeply love the sheer amount of ridiculous fictional lore around this candle, commemorating “historic moment when Prince and Vacation employees at the 7th Annual Interoffice Tennis Championships stumbled an insight that would change the trajectory of the Vacation Sunscreen Company forever”. The Ball Boy scented candle carries notes of, what else? “Freshly uncanned” tennis balls, sunscreen, cotton sweatbands and “courtside cucumber sandwiches”. It’s surprisingly fresh-smelling, and definitely a conversation starter piece. —Sage Anderson
$42
12. Flamingo Estate Roma Heirloom Tomato Candle
We have a lot of candles on rotation in our house, but nothing compares to this one from Flamingo Estate. With its heirloom tomato scent, it fills our space with a fresh, spring-like fragrance that isn’t overpowering — one of the most important features we look for in a great candle. The way the brand describes it, the candle “catapults us to memories of late summer dinner parties in Sicilian gardens and awakens pleasure in all our uncommon senses.” The only problem is that you’ll want to burn it all the time — it smells that good. —John Lonsdale
$58
13. Tom Ford Rose Prick Candle
Well, it says bougie right in the name — it’s a splurge for sure (I got this candle as a gift), but it’s actually cheaper than a typical Tom Ford fragrance (which can run you anywhere from $200 to $500). Inspired by Ford’s own private rose garden, I thought the scent was sharp and pristine, with spicier notes than you would expect from a floral fragrance (Sichuan peppercorn, anyone?). That’s what really elevates the Rose Prick candle to luxury status; the complexity of adding turmeric, patchouli, and spice to your rose bouquet of an aroma. —Sage Anderson
$135
Buying Guide: How We Picked the Best Candles
When choosing the best candles for this guide, these are a few things things we considered, including long burn time, throw, and wide variety of fragrances.
Scent Family: If you’re not sure which specific notes you want out of your candle, it’s easier to think of them in relation to scent families (categories that explain what a cluster of scents have in common). The four main families are floral, amber (previously known as oriental or exotic), woody, and fresh. We tried to pick from a range of families and subfamilies for our list.
Wax: There a few different kinds of wax, but the most common is paraffin, which you’ll see in a lot of mainstream candles from Yankee Candle and Bath & Body Works. That being said, the majority of our list is made up of soy wax, beeswax, and coconut wax options, which tend to burn slower, “cleaner” (without excess smoke), and are generally the more sustainable options.
Burn Time: All the candles on our list have a burn time of a least 40-50 hours, although candle burn times can reach up to 80-90 hours.
Throw: According to Homesick Candles, “candle throw refers to the distance a certain candle can distribute its aroma. In other words, it refers to how far a fragrance travels.” We chose candles with a robust and far-reaching throw, even when “cold” (aka, unlit).
What Are Clean Burning Candles?
“Clean burning” is just another way to describe your candles as non-toxic. As Healthline reported, burning candles releases volatile organic compounds and particulate matter into the air, but their effect is little to no risk. We naturally inhale these pollutants in the air as well. Although there is not enough evidence that candles negatively impact our health, you may want to buy ones that will produce the lowest amount of pollutants.
For a candle that produces the least harmful chemicals, look for natural, plant-based wax such as beeswax, soy, coconut, palm, and vegetable. Check the full ingredients of your candle to see if it’s derived from natural ingredients and uses certified nontoxic synthetic ingredients. Amazon has a good selection of “clean” and non-toxic candles available online.
How to Properly Burn Your Candles
According to the National Candle Association, you should always trim the wick to ? of an inch before you light your candle (using a wick trimmer like this one can help). This helps extend the life of your candle, as well as prevent excess debris and soot from releasing into the air. Additionally, when you burn a new candle, allowing it to burn enough that all of the wax at the top liquifies will help prevent the candle from tunneling into an uneven surface. Don’t burn beyond the recommended time of the manufacturer’s instructions. Finally, keep your candle away from drafty air in order to avoid an unstable flame– this is how you can stain walls and windows.
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