Let me start with a confession: I’m new to the candle world, but I dove in headfirst and at full speed.
It began innocently, three years ago, with an impulse buy: a Carrière Frères Frangipani candle. One little candle. What could go wrong? Fast forward to today, and I own a small collection of fancy candles from some of the best-known brands, and my wallet has opinions about it.
The funny part is that my favorite candle is still my very first one. Cheaper candles can’t make that claim, and neither can the ones that cost three times as much.
So what does $90 buy you that $20 doesn’t?
I can give you the sensible answers: cleaner ingredients, better perfume, a nicer atmosphere. All true. But if I’m being honest, I now feel like I’m in a cult, where living without a lovely scent burning in the background is simply not an option. Maybe it’s all in my head. If it is, it’s a very pleasant head to live in.
The candles I actually keep burning
| Brand | Wax | Scent personality |
|---|---|---|
| Carrière Frères | European rapeseed-based vegetable wax | Botanical and realistic. It smells like the actual plant (tomato leaves, cedar, lavender, sandalwood), fresh and green, and not very “perfumey”. |
| Skandinavisk | Swedish rapeseed vegetable wax | A Nordic forest in a jar. Pine, fir, birch sap, sea air, amber and soft woods, cozy and atmospheric. |
| Diptyque | Mainly mineral wax blends, including paraffin | Elegant and artistic. Fig leaves, blackcurrant, rose, tuberose, amber and woods. Nature, but with a French perfumer’s polish. |
| Byredo | Exact blend not confirmed | Modern and a little rebellious. Plum, leather, violet, patchouli, woods and spice. The most “perfume” of the bunch. |
| Trudon | Vegetable and mineral wax blend | Dramatic and layered. Tobacco, leather, amber, citrus, spices and moss, like walking into an old library with secrets. |
| Santa Maria Novella | Wax of the standard candles not verified | Classic Italian perfumery. Pomegranate, rose, citrus, spices and musk, traditional and a bit powdery. |
Notes listed are examples from each brand’s collections, not shared by every candle. Scent descriptions are my own impressions, not scientific rankings.
How I’d pick one
If you love “smells like the real thing”: start with Carrière Frères (plants and leaves) or Skandinavisk (a walk in the woods without leaving your sofa).
If you want to smell like a perfume: Diptyque, Byredo and Trudon are the ones to look at. Diptyque is the balanced, polished one, Byredo is the modern rule-breaker, and Trudon is the dramatic one.
If you like old-world elegance: Santa Maria Novella, for the classic Italian touch.
One honest caveat: plant-based wax isn’t automatically healthier to breathe than mineral wax. How well a candle burns matters too. So trim your wick and don’t fall for marketing alone.
What they cost
| Brand | Candle | Size | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrière Frères | Tomato | 185g | $63 | Green tomato leaves, fresh, tangy, slightly sweet |
| Skandinavisk | Skog | 200g | $55 | Pine needles, fir cones, birch sap, lily of the valley |
| Diptyque | Baies | Classic | $90 | Blackcurrant berries and leaves, rose |
| Byredo | Bibliothèque | 240g | $95 | Plum, cinnamon, leather, violet, birchwood, patchouli, vanilla |
| Trudon | Ernesto | 270g | $140 | Bergamot, rum, clove, oakwood, tobacco, amber, leather, moss |
| Santa Maria Novella | Melograno | 250g | $105 | Bergamot, bitter orange, pomegranate, rose, spices, oakmoss, patchouli |
So, are they worth it?
For me, yes, with an asterisk. A good candle doesn’t just smell nice. It changes the mood of a room, makes a Tuesday evening feel like an occasion, and gives you a tiny daily luxury for the price of a dinner out. Is it essential? No. Is it fun? Absolutely.
My advice: start with a scent you truly love, not the priciest one on the shelf. Then hunt for deals (I’ll post them here whenever I spot one). And fair warning: it’s a slippery slope.
