Lighting a candle is one of my top ten tips for helping to brighten your winter days. I particularly love scented candles, although I also do love non scented candles for the dinner table so that it doesn’t mask the smell of the food you have cooked. Ikea and Tiger stores are great places to source them from.
To help you pick the perfect scented candle for your home I have listed some of my favourites below categorised by cheap (under £10), mid-range (under £25) and expensive (over £25). All of the candles listed below have decent burn times and are nicely packaged (particularly all those mid-range and expensive ones) so can be used for a long time after they have finished burning as a mini succulent holder or a place to store those makeup brushes.
Best cheap scented candles – under £10
Aldi candle, £3.99 – up to 48 hours burn time
Aldi candle
There are very few in this price bracket that smell particularly good, or have a good burn time but the Aldi candle is the exception to that rule. It is simply packaged and smells nice – I have been buying a few of these at a time and if you want a scented candle on for a couple of hours this is a good, guilt free way of doing it. I only really like the lime and basil one.
Best mid-range scented candles – under £25
White Company, £20 – up to 28 hours burn time
White Company white lavender
I particularly like their White Lavender one – a smell that will forever remind me of my mum who insists on using it for every ailment under the sun.
Clement and Claude, £22 – up to 40 hours burn time (comes in hand made thrown pots)
Clement and Claude candle
I came across their candles in Closet & Botts and they have a great smell and seem to last a long time too which is great.
Seven seventeen, £22 – up to 50 hours burn time
Seven Seventeen candle
Two friends have created these gorgeous candles. They are based in Sussex and support the PANDAS Foundation, which does incredible work offering advice and support to mothers suffering from pre and postnatal mental illness. Candle with heart.
Plum & Ashby, £24 – up to 60 hours burn time
Plum and Ashby candle
Bergamot is probably my favourite scent but all of their candles are fab. Hand-poured, made in England, 100% natural vegetable wax – they tick a lot of boxes!
Best expensive scented candles – over £30
SOH, £45 – up to 70 hours burn time
SOH candle
I think Workshop Living might be one of the few places in the UK to sell these gorgeous Australian candles. Beautiful packaging – in fact I have used my empty one as a mini cactus holder on the mantle piece!
Diptyque, £45 – up to 60 hours burn time
I first got given a Diptyque candle as a gift and what a gift it was! I think that might have actually been the moment I fell in love with scented candles. The scent is so strong that you really only need to light it for an hour for the whole house to be wrapped in its gorgeous scent.
Bella Freud, £45 – up to 40 hours burn time
The burn time isn’t the best but the packaging more than makes up for it. They have some fabulous designs and are perfect for those – like me – that can’t quite stretch to buying one of their jumpers and would love to use the glass jar afterwards to store your make-up brushes or miniature cactus.
