THE FESTIVE season is the perfect time to burn a candle. Whether it evokes crisp walks in the silent icy countryside or the crackling of a cosy fireside or an incense-filled church, our gift guide has the candle for you.
Mr Voss – Signor Casanova candle
£65 for 330ml – Available at Space NK
From the luxury Australian fragrance brand, Mr Voss, founded by Australian floral designer, make-up artist and event stylist Simone Voss, these high quality hand-poured soy-blend wax candles burn beautifully. They are a lovely thing to give as well – being presented in a covetable gold metal candle jar
Signor Casanova has warming labdanum, patchouli and tonka bean with fresh and invigorating conifer and cypress with a dash of citrus to liven things up.
Neom – Christmas Wish 3-Wick Candle
£50 for 420g – Available from Neom
One of my favourite festive candles ever, Christmas Wish from British well-being company Neom is the perfect seasonal scented accompaniment– it smells just like Christmas.
Scented with 10 pure essential oils to calm and relieve stress (no tinsel tension here) and made of 100% naturally-derived wax. Christmas Wish contains mandarin, tonka bean and cinnamon.
Also, £5 from every sale of the brand’s Christmas Wish 3-Wick Candle will be donated to the Mental Health Foundation.
Muji – Frankincense and Myrrh 3 Wick Candle
£14.95 for 840g – Available from Muji
Muji’s Frankincense and Myrrh 3 Wick Candle is a great value offering from the brilliant Japanese homeware company. With a nice wooden lid, as well as Churchy frankincense and myrrh, this candle also contains spicy cardamom, Sichuan pepper and yuzu, as well as aromatic juniper, musk and oak wood.
Bamford – Cinnamon and Clove Christmas Candle
£35 for 140g to £195 for 1.7kg – Available from Bamford
From the thoughtful organic sustainable British company Bamford, their Cinnamon and Clove Christmas Candle is a luxurious delight.
Fragranced with a redolent mix of woody and spice notes – as well as citrus peel and cloves – its wax is a natural blend of rapeseed, carnauba, and beeswax – this is Christmas personified.
Aja Botanicals – Into the Mystic, Three-wick Candle
£125 for 525g – Available from Aja Botanicals
Created by make-up artist and entrepreneur Tilly Wood, her brand Aja Botanicals has sustainability and a mindful approach at its heart. It is inspired by her love for the English countryside and natural fragrances that are as ”“pure as possible.
Her scents are named after 1970s songs, and In the Mystic (by Van Morrision if you are interested), is earthy, green, woody and rich with accents of cedarwood, lavender, oakmoss and galbanum.
Its beautiful glass container is hand-blown in Istanbul by highly skilled artisans and available in black or white wax.
Cloon Keen – Noble Fir
£45 for 280g – Available from Les Senteurs
Irish scent company Cloon Keen excel in high quality, well-made, beautiful fragances and candles. Perfect for the festive season, Cloon Keen’s limited edition Noble Fir candle is infused with crisp pine needles, rich sticky sap, amber and cedar, as well as compelling clove, cinnamon and thurible smoke to enhance the seasonal atmosphere.
Marc-Antoine Barrois – N°IV candle
£60 for 220g – Available from Marc-Antoine Barrois
French couturier and now fragrance house owner, Marc-Antoine Barrois – who works with leading master perfumer Quentin Bisch – loves to create imaginary worlds with his scents.
His latest candle N°IV – with hints of carrot flowers, lavender and iris – evoke the fairy tales and fantasies of “an English family from children’s tale like Alice in Wonderland or Peter Pan”. An ideal Christmas tale.
Paul Smith – Storyteller Candle
£65 for 240g – Available from Paul Smith
Inspired by significant places and memories in life of the founder Paul Smith, Storyteller, composed by perfumer Meahb McCurtin, evokes the Nottinghamshire winter landscape – with redolent and warm Madagascan clove bud, intense woods and birch.
Storyteller is house in a striking tinted green and blue glass vessel which is a beautiful object in its own right.
Santa Maria Novella – Firenze 1221 Edition Pot Pourri Candle
£75 for 250g – Available from Santa Maria Novella
Founded in 1221, Santa Maria Novella is the world’s oldest fragrance company. For this season, it has debuted a wonderful candle collection. The Pot Pourri Candle is ideal for the festive season with its evocative balmy, green and aromatic scent profile made of bergamot, bitter orange and laurel entwined with cloves, lavender, rosemary, thyme and an almost sacred base of cedarwood, patchouli and Peru balm.
Carrière Frères – Siberian Pine Candied Ginger Candle
£60 for 85g – Available from Carrière Frères
Noted French home fragrance company Carrière Frères, founded in 1884, has botanical ingredients and the art of wax making at its heart. This winter it has introduced a Siberian Pine collection.
Made of 100% vegetable wax composed of European organic rapeseed, the resinous wood rich pine needles are paired with sweet and spicy Candied Ginger to create a gorgeous concoction.
Cire Trudon – Noël Gloria candle
£103 for 270g, £270 for 800g and £580 for 2.8kg – Available from Trudon
The classic Christmas offering from the esteemed heritage candle house Trudon’s limited edition Noël collection, Gloria radiates woody splendour with accords of Indonesian Patchouli, Haitian vetiver and cedarwood, blended with spicy cinnamon, nutmeg and clove – finished with a twist of citrus
Moncler – Le Cedre Bleu Candle
£74 for 200g – Available from Harrods
From its fragrance home scenting collection, Les Sommets Moncler, Le Cedre Bleu takes its inspiration from the interiors of Moncler’s boutiques which are made of three different types of cedar trees – Atlas, Texas, and Virginia.
Housed in an elegant faceted transparent brown glass vessel, Le Cedre Bleu has intriguing accents of incense, oakmoss and musks.
Officine Universelle Buly – Annibal Scented Candle in Marble Vessel with Cloch
£138 for 250g – Available from Selfridges or Buly 1803
This striking and impressive candle and cloch from leading French fragrance, bodycare and lifestyle House Buly 1803 is designed to transport you – in scent at least – to the Apine peaks.
Made of plant-based wax to give a lovely burn, Annibal is scented with cedar, patchouli, and leather entertwined with a spicy and rich accord of cumin and jasmine.
by Caroline Simpson