Luxury scented candles can transform the ambience of a space with one strike of a match. The Wallpaper* edit takes into consideration both intriguing scent profiles and designs, spanning from sleek sophisticates to colourful creatives, and everything in between.
For the former, think Celine’s collection of candles crafted by the house from faceted black glass and black wax. For the latter, Bottega Veneta’s recently launched range has one-of-a-kind volcano-glazed pots that can be kept and re-used once the contents have burned down. No matter which from our ongoing list is your preference, this advice remains universal: do not forget to trim the wick.
Luxury scented candles to intrigue the senses, as selected by Wallpaper*
Celine
Celine’s candles are undeniably chic, with their faceted black containers and candle wax, which is created in-house by the Maison’s own wax maker. His dual training in perfumery (something of an anomaly in the trade) provides a unique understanding of how fragrance and wax work together to saturate a room. Like the brand’s perfumes, all of the candle’s scents are designed by creative director Hedi Slimane. Each one is a crowd-pleaser but we have a soft spot for ‘Illuminations’ (a blend of incense and resinous rockrose that is inspired by Rimbaud’s poetry) and ‘Nightclubbing’, based on Slimane’s memories of Paris after dark, with white orris butter, patchouli, tree moss, vanilla and musk.
Bottega Veneta
Bottega Veneta candles come in a one-of-a-kind volcano-glazed clay pots, that are designed to be reused around the home when the wax has burned down. For a gentle scent, try ‘Raintree’, which is inspired by a hot Italian sun warming fresh fig leaves. There’s also ‘Redstone’, a richer scent with notes of plum nectar and woody tobacco leaves. While ‘Lantern’ makes for a slightly more subtle option with notes of suede rose and woody vetiver roots.
Tom Ford
Tom Ford perfumes have gained a cult following thanks to their opulent, distinctive and overtly sexy scents. His candles are no different. And, although they come in relatively streamlined packaging, their scents pack a punch. If you’re having trouble deciding which one to get, we recommend trying ‘Fucking Fabulous’ which lives up to its name with a heady blend of leather and amber-hued tonka bean.
Diptyque
Part of the Dipgtyque’s summer fragrance collection, the ‘Citronelle’ candle is full of zest, with lemongrass, verbena, neroli and orange blossom. It’s currently available in a limited edition design, featuring playful illustrations by artist Alexandre Benjamin Navet. The candle is ‘an instant reminder of balmy summer nights’, and has the added benefit of warding off any bugs and insects that might interfere with the mood.
Trudon
In a list of luxury scented candles, it would be remiss to exclude Trudon, a storied fragrance house that once made candles for Marie Antoinette. (A recent collection even paid olfactory tribute to Versailles). The brand’s ‘Ernesto’ candle – a blend of tobacco and leather – is the most classic choice. If you prefer a slightly less heady fragrance, however, then ‘Abd El Kader’ is decidedly refreshing, containing slightly spicy notes of Moroccan mint tea, tobacco and ginger. Or, there’s ‘Carmelite’, a woody incense-tinged scent inspired by the mossy stone walls and silent chapels of medieval convents.
Harriet Allure
Harriet Allure is a niche Stockholm-based candle brand created by childhood friends, Freddy Mackensy and Alex Adu. Each of the brand’s four candles is inspired by the founder’s friends and family and is intended to conjure up the feeling of ‘home’ from anywhere one might be in the world. The most impressive scent in the collection is perhaps ‘Faiyaz’ which blends tobacco with violet, saffron and pine cedar. But ‘Amu’ is the perfect option for those who prefer the slightly sweeter fragrance of apple and cardamon.
Loewe
Loewe’s plant and vegetable-inspired scented candles have become icons of the genre, inspired by Creative Director Jonathan Anderson’s own garden. There’s ‘Mushroom’, ‘Luscious Pea’, ‘Beetroot’, and the now quintessentially verdant ‘Tomato Leaf’, to name but a few, each housed in colourful terracotta pots based on the design of a 5th-century BC Greek mug.
Acqua di Parma
The Acqua di Parma ‘Chapeau!’ candle is a brand collaboration with designer Dorothée Meilichzon. Infused with the notes of Luce di Colonia: orange, lemon, petitgrain, neroli, patchouli and vetiver. Crafted from ceramic, the candle weighs a total of almost 2,000g, with a two-in-one design inspired by the Art Deco forms of Acqua di Parma fragrance bottles. The glazed top (in the signature house colours of either yellow or blue) slots onto a matte white base, revealing itself as a small candle in itself once removed.
Cloon Keen
Cloon Keen is an Irish fragrance brand that has garnered a devotional following among those in the know. Brand founders, Margaret Mangan and Julian Checkley have curated a range of phenomenal scents inspired by their home country. ‘Aesthetic Lily’ pays homage to Oscar Wilde, blending the delicate freshness of lily with spicy ginger and Egyptian jasmine on fine, carved mahogany.
Le Labo
A candle from cult fragrance brand Le Labo is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. Its three-pack discovery set is a great way to find out which is your favourite. But fortune favoures the bold. So don’t hesitate in taking the plunge with ‘Ambroxyde 17’, a candle infused with synthetic molecule Ambroxyde, which produce the scent of ambergris or ‘floating gold’. This alluring ‘can’t quite place it’ note is paired with musks, woods, and jasmine for a heady, distinctive scent.
Maison D’Orsay
Maison D’Orsay was founded 200 years ago by French aristocrat (and inspiration for The New Yorker’s top-hatted mascot) Alfred d’Orsay. The brand’s range of candles are inspired by romantic meetings, with names corresponding to the time and place for each. ‘02:45 Enfin Seuls’ is a blend of incense, burned birchwood and rose inspired by a fireside conversation that goes on until the early hours; ‘23:15 À l’abri des regards’ is a heliotrope and lavender fragrance that pays homage to incognito rendezvous late at night; ‘21:30 Sous les draps’ is a spicy, floral blend of cumin, rose, patchouli and moss; and ‘06:20 Où tu sais’ combines linden flower, acacia wood, and hay, designed by celebrated perfumer Olivia Giacobetti.
Haeckels
Fans of Haeckles natural skincare will want to extend the love to the Margate-based brand’s candles, too. The collection sees its cult perfumes become home fragrances in the likes of ‘Dreamland’ (a singular mix of rose and charred wood inspired by the 19th-century amusement park) or the ever-popular ‘Pluviophile’, which evokes the smell of rain hitting coastal pebbles. Repackaged in recycled sandblasted containers made by UK glass manufacturers, the containers are also emblazoned with coordinates from the Kentish coastline.
Ormaie
Haute parfumerie Ormaie has made a name for itself with some of the most beautiful, modernist-inspired perfume bottles (and perfumes) around. It’s no surprise, then, that their candles are equally as elegant. Five of the brand’s scents can be purchased in gold-toned refill containers, held in a white porcelain vessel. When it comes to choosing between them, we have a soft spot for ‘Pain Perdu’, a blend of bran, cedar, and tonka beans meant to evoke the smell of an after-school snack in a French kitchen.
Perfumer H
Perfumer H’s candles come in elegant hand-blown glass containers that can be endlessly refilled in-store after purchase. Scents conceived by brand founder and Grasse-trained nose Lynn Harris include ‘Smoke’, a deeply intense blend of burnt cade, smoking birch tar and frankincense that smells like scorched wood in a dense forest. Or, there’s the the gentler ‘Dandelion’, created to evoke the first waves of a childhood spring, with green leaf, basil, honeysuckle, tagete, neroli, oak moss and vetiver.
