ONE consolation of the cold, dark, dank and gloomy winter days is that you can bring light and an warm glow in, as well as delightfully fragrancing your space, with a scented candle. This holiday season, Glass has rounded up some of favourites featuring relaxing and redolent accents of pine, woody, cinnamon and even panattone.
Founded in Dublin in 1488 and the oldest candle makers in the world, Rathbornes have certainly mastered their craft. I am delighted that these wonderful candles are now stocked in London at John Bell & Croyden as I had lost track of where they were sold over the past few years. A new fragrance, Seanchaí Ember is inspired by the glow of the Irish hearth with accents of pink pepper, pear with magnolia and rose, roasted coffee, cedarwood, ambergris and patchouli.
Rathbornes 1488 – Seanchaí Ember Collection three-wick candle
£65 – Buy here
How much style and joy can you pour into a single votive? Well a lot if it’s Ormonde Jayne – founded by Linda Pilkington – her festive trio of Étoile, Nocturne and Infini have become a well-deserved Christmas classic of the most discerning. And this year, all three candles are available to purchase presented in an elegant festive designed box.
Ormonde Jayne, Festive Candle Trio
set of three candles (3 x 170g), £160
Buy here
This season, the coveted elegant French scent house Trudon have worked with illustrator Brecht Evens to design exquisite containers for their mysterious and beautiful candles. Inspired by the constellations and stars, I am drawn to the biblicalyl themed Nazareth with its warming scent profile of clove, orange and bourbon vanilla.
Cire Trudon – Nazareth
available in three sizes
From £105 – Buy here
The admirable Rebecca Jaquest of Nyita has an impressive commitment to producing her beautiful fragrances, oils and candles. She makes great efforts to ensure they are sustainable, sourced ethically and made of the highest quality ingredients. Her Cleaner Burning Candle™ Velvet Nuit is composed of a unique sunflower wax formula, (patent-pending). It’s delicately scented with rose and musk seed and presented in a splendid handblown glass.
Nyita Cleaner Burning Candle – Velvet Nuit
£250 – Buy here
Is it even Christmas without a Diptyque Sapin candle? The classic seasonal Sapin (meaning pine) is housed in a lovely gold-and-white coloured glass vessel and is scented with bosky Siberian pine essence and balsam fir cedar with mossy hints.
Diptyque – Sapin
£42 for 70g; £72 for 190g – Buy here
From Lords, a UK “business based on ethical choices“, Abernathy Forest transports you to the Scottish Highlands with an evocative composition of pine, cedarwood, moss, patchouli, lavandin, clove, spices, peppermint and amberwood
Lords Fragrance House – Abernathy Forest
£42.50 for 225g – Buy here
This winter, the classic British house, Penhaligon’s presents Fireside Fir – a limited edition candle replete with fir balsam, cypress, vanilla and sandalwood.
Penhaligon’s – Fireside Fir
£75 for 200g – Buy here
The very cool British self-care brand Never Go Alone makes exceptional products. Never Go Alone uses has refillable packaging, vegan formulas and uses Somerset-grown ingredients, their Sandstone candle contains hints of mint, eucalyptus, cedarwood, and cardamom. The brand has also recently recently created an exclusive amenities line for the new luxury London hotel, Chancery Rosewood.
Never Go Alone – Sandstone candle
£52 for 230g – Buy here
Hand-poured in Grasse with carefully selected ingredients and are made with 100% natural wax and 100% pure cotton wicks. From the celebrated Argentinian perfume company Frassaï, El Bosque has notes of cinnamon leaf and Patagonian moss.
Frassaï – El Bosque
£51 for 180g – Buy here
One of my favourite Christmas candles, 100 per cent natural fragrance, with an incredibly even burn, delicous scents and composed of very smooth wax, Sparking Joy is a spicy refreshing new fragrance for the brand with notes of lime and vetiver and spicy ginger
Neom Wellbeing London – Sparking Joy Scented Candle
£43 for 420g – Buy here
Sustainable Welsh fragrance and candle brand founded by Ellie Tyler, a midwife who was suffering from burn out and wanted find a way to combat it, Tyler Aromatherapy combines two of my favourite things –coffee and candles. Her refillable candle jars can be also reused as coffee cups if you wish. Inspired by the German cake, Stollen contains cinnamon, cardamon, orange and lemon essential oils.
Tyler Aromatherapy – Stollen refillable candle
£28 for 200ml – Buy here
A candle that smells of panettone? Yes please! With a new design by Cristina Celestino, this candle evokes the gourmand scent of our favourite Italian holiday dessert.
Acqua di Parma – Panettone Candle
£76 for 200g – Buy here
The Belgian brand Boabab Collection is inspired by the diverse landscapes of Africa and produces exceptional candles presented in beautiful vessels. The Rosace candle is inspired by Gothic architecture and the medieval rose windows and is scented with fir, wood fire and vetiver wood.
Boabab Collection – Rosace
£155 for 2.3kg – Buy here
by Caroline Simpson