Best scented candles to warm up your home during the holidays

Jo Malone London

Credit: Jo Malone London

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If scents like Wild Berry & Bramble Candle, Pastel Macaroons, Green Tomato Vine and Fresh Fig & Cassis sound like you’re immersed inside a cosy English home, then that’s exactly the point of Jo Malone London’s The Townhouse Collection.

In particular, the collection features six candles ($198 each) that reimagine the scents that one can find inside a London townhouse – from freshly baked treats inside the drawing room to the fresh vines inside the conservatory. And who can miss out the stately bisque ceramic holders with their hand-applied ornamentation, not unlike the Georgian architecture of most London townhouses.

Aesop

Credit: Aesop

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Aesop’s new addition to its Home Care range features a trio of fragrant Aromatique Candles that will inspire a sense of wonder during your nights indoors. Each of the scents are named after famous astronomers Aganice (pictured above), Callippus, and Ptolemy.

Ignite the flame of Aganice and you’ll take in a whiff of its key ingredients like cardamom, clove, mimosa, and discreet notes of tobacco that give off a floral, spicy, and fresh vibe. Get grounded with Callipus and you’ll receive a woody earthy, green fragrance redolent of contemplative rituals. Otherwise, Ptolemy may be your calling as it evokes a more resinous and woody fragrance of cedar, cypress, and notes of vetiver.

Loewe

Credit: Loewe

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Drawing upon Creative Director Jonathan Anderson’s love for gardening and his personal experiences comes the debut of Loewe’s new line of home fragrances and potted candles that evoke the raw, earthy delights of a vegetable garden.

Working together with in-house perfumier Nuria Cruelles to interpret 11 plant-based essences – honeysuckle, beetroot, juniper berry, tomato leaves, coriander, liquorice, marihuana, luscious pea, oregano, cypress balls, and ivy – spanning a range of candles, wax candle holders, home fragrances, rattan diffusers, matches, and soaps.

Harris Reed

Credit: Lukas Palumbo

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As part of the Thriving in Our Outrage 2020 collection, British-American gender-fluid designer Harris Reed partners with their mother and long-time fragrance expert, Lynette Reed, to create the limited-edition scents Patchouli Fever ($107.26) and Charred Rose ($107.26) which are available via www.harrisreed.com.

If you’re in the mood to channel the bohemian aura of ’70s rock-and-roll be sure to light up Patchouli Fever which combines distinctive notes of tobacco, vanilla and patchouli together with hints of amber, sandalwood, and neroli. Otherwise go for Reed’s more sentimental yet equally sexy Charred Rose that’s fortified with a sensuous combination of dark rose, geranium, and patchouli, with hints of frankincense and vetiver.

Dior

Credit: Dior

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This Christmas, Dior wants to give you an enchanting olfactory escape with its luxurious Maison Christian Dior Lucky Luxury Gift Box ($988) that wafts notes of Lily of the Valley and White Flowers in its signature Lucky scent.

Great for gifting or for a special treat to yourself, the set celebrates the art of living and the Lucky fragrance which comes packed all-in-all for both your self-care and home-care needs. Each set includes a regular (250 ml) and travel-sized (40ml) perfume bottle, body cream, soap bar and – and perfect for the home – a candle that comes with two accessories in the shape of a cover and candle snuffer.

Maison 21G

Credit: Maison 21G

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Have a hard time picking the right scent? Well, Maison 21G is now giving you the chance to customise your own bespoke Scented Dual Candle ($150) with two of your favourite ingredients – scents include sage, raspberry, sandalwood, rose, amber, cedar, fig, and vanilla.

Available from the label’s store and KrisShop, each candle set consists of two half moon-shaped brass-plated candle holders with a single scent in each. You can have the options of blending both scents you chose or have them created separately.

Diptyque

Credit: Diptyque

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What does a home scent collaboration with a contemporary artist look like? Well, in the case of Diptqyue, it’ll look like these Othonoiel Rosa eau de toilette ($215) and candle ($109) which was created in collaboration with Jean-Michel Othoniel and derives its inspiration from the latter’s passion for flowers. In particular, Othoniel riffed on his exhibition The Rose of the Louvre which centred around a red rose found in the painting The Marriage of Mary of Medici and Henry IV by the great master Rubens.

For those interested to know what this peppery rose home fragrance smells like, the rich scent combines a medley of ingredients that include pink peppercorn, ambrette seeds, woody vetiver, black pepper sourced from Madagascar, and also Akigalawood, which is a purer form of patchouli with pared-down earthy notes.

Tom Ford

Credit: Tom Ford

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Sweet yet lusciously tempting, Tom Ford has launched the Lost Cherry candle ($163) that will appeal to those who appreciate an unconventional fruity aroma. It’s fortified with ingredients like Turkish rose, jasmine sambac, balsam, and roasted tonka which give the scent a floral touch, which is then accompanied with a musky blend of sandalwood, vetiver, and cedar. Sounds like it’s calling your name? Purchase it from Tom Ford boutiques islandwide at Tangs at Tang Plaza and Takashimaya S.C.

Shanghai Tang

Credit: Shanghai Tang

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Shanghai Tang has updated its Home Fragrance Collection which is known for its delicate Oriental-inspired scents. Besides its signature Ginger Flower series, the brand has debuted a Bamboo series and Chrysanthemum series this season.

The Bamboo scent boasts a soothing green profile, inspired by the legendary Yunqi Bamboo Path beside the scenic West Lake of Hangzhou. Meanwhile, the Chrysanthemum scent is a floral bouquet peppered with spicy accords. The scented candles in the collection are housed in beautifully decorated holders that take their cues from the fine bone china by the brand.

Dolce & Gabbana

Credit: Dolce & Gabbana

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Dolce & Gabbana’s six special-edition candles – Il nostro Giordano, Neroli, Gentiluomo, Pino Mediterraneo, Incenso e Alloro – are made and hand-painted by local Sicilian artisans and showcase Domenico Dolce’s and Stefano Gabbana’s love of the Mediterranean life.

Housed in Caltagirone ceramic vases that take the form of traditional moors’ heads, owls, and vases of fruit. The Gentiluomo candle (bottom left) carries bright notes of spice and fresh citrus while the calming Incenso candle (bottom right) smells of spicy frankincense.

This article was first published in Female.