What these candles actually smell like
A working reference for the candles people ask about most often. Listed alphabetically, because we do not license search or sales data and will not imply a ranking we cannot support.
37 scents documented · listed A to Z
Every entry says where its information came from. A burn time appears only where someone published one and we opened the page and read it, and it is shown with the name of whoever published it — makers and shops routinely disagree, so the number means little without knowing whose it is. Where nobody has published a figure we say so rather than estimate. Prices appear only where we loaded the page and read the figure off it.
- Aesop
Callippus
Green shiso over incense and vetiver, in a ceramic vessel — closer to a temple than to a living room.
- Size
- 10.5 oz
- Stated burn
- Not published
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Bath & Body Works
Champagne Toast
A fizzy fruit accord built to smell like celebration rather than like any actual wine.
- Size
- 14.5 oz
- Stated burn
- Not published
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Bath & Body Works
Eucalyptus Spearmint
The mass-market spa accord, and the reason most people know what eucalyptus smells like indoors.
- Size
- 14.5 oz
- Stated burn
- Not published
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Bath & Body Works
Japanese Cherry Blossom
The house signature floral, softened with pear so it reads powdery rather than green or sharp.
- Size
- 14.5 oz
- Stated burn
- Not published
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Bath & Body Works
Mahogany Teakwood
The default American masculine candle: dry oak and teak with a cold lavender edge that keeps it from going sweet.
- Size
- 14.5 oz
- Stated burn
- Not published
- Price
- Price not shown — source not recorded
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Bath & Body Works
Sweater Weather
Cold-air herbs rather than baked spice, which is why it reads as autumn without smelling of dessert.
- Size
- 14.5 oz
- Stated burn
- Not published
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
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- Base
- Boy Smells
Cowboy Kush
The cannabis accord most people have actually smelled, softened with suede so it lands nearer incense than dispensary.
- Size
- 8.5 oz
- Stated burn
- 50 hrsper Boy Smells
- Price
- Price not shown — source not recorded
Our editorial pick, not a measurement — Sold as Kush before the Cowboy Kush rename; older listings refer to the same scent.
- Top
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- Base
- Brooklyn Candle Studio
Santorini
Fig pushed fruitier by red currant and warmed with amber, which is the usual compromise a cheaper fig candle makes.
- Size
- 7.5 oz
- Stated burn
- 50 hrsper Brooklyn Candle Studio
- Price
- Price not shown — source not recorded
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Byredo
Bibliotheque
Old paper and binding leather rendered through stone fruit, so it smells like a library without smelling like dust.
- Size
- 8.4 oz
- Stated burn
- 60 hrsper Bluemercury
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Byredo
Tree House
Dry hay and bamboo over leather and myrrh, built to smell like warm wood rather than like a forest.
- Size
- 8.4 oz
- Stated burn
- 60 hrsper Bluemercury
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Capri Blue
Coconut Santal
The house's second signature after Volcano: coconut kept from suntan-lotion territory by sandalwood and amber.
- Size
- 19 oz
- Stated burn
- Not published
- Price
- Price not shown — source not recorded
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Capri Blue
Havana Vanilla
Vanilla with tobacco underneath, which is what stops it reading as a bakery scent.
- Size
- 19 oz
- Stated burn
- Not published
- Price
- Price not shown — source not recorded
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Capri Blue
Volcano
Sugared citrus with a candied, almost syrupy body that reads as a boutique the moment it is lit.
- Size
- 19 oz
- Stated burn
- 85 hrsper Capri Blue
- Price
- Price not shown — source not recorded
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Diptyque
Baies
The most copied candle in the world, and the copies all miss the green leaf that keeps the berry from reading as jam.
- Size
- 6.5 oz
- Stated burn
- 50 hrsper Diptyque
- Price
- Price not shown — source not recorded
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Diptyque
Feu de Bois
A dying fire rather than a burning one, which is why it reads as ash and warm stone instead of woodsmoke.
- Size
- 6.5 oz
- Stated burn
- 50 hrsper Diptyque · publishers disagree
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Diptyque
Figuier
The whole fig tree rather than the fruit: wood, leaf and milky sap, and the reference every other fig candle is judged against.
- Size
- 6.5 oz
- Stated burn
- 50 hrsper Diptyque
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Homesick
New York
An autumn orchard scent rather than a city one, finished with a cold watery note that stops it turning into pie.
- Size
- 13.75 oz
- Stated burn
- 60 hrs and upper Homesick
- Price
- Price not shown — source not recorded
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Jo Malone London
Lime Basil & Mandarin
The house signature: sharp lime pulled off the citrus-cologne path by peppery basil.
- Size
- 7.05 oz
- Stated burn
- 45 hrsper Nordstrom
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
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- Base
- Jo Malone London
Pomegranate Noir
Fruit over smoke: the pomegranate is bright at the top and the guaiac wood underneath is what makes it dark.
- Size
- 7.05 oz
- Stated burn
- 45 hrsper Bluemercury
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Jo Malone London
Wood Sage & Sea Salt
Mineral and faintly damp, built on ambrette rather than fruit, which is why the sweet imitations never land.
- Size
- 7.05 oz
- Stated burn
- 45 hrsper Nordstrom
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Le Labo
Santal 26
The hotel-lobby scent: gentle, smoky and leathery, with cocoa and vanilla keeping the sandalwood from going sharp.
- Size
- 8.6 oz
- Stated burn
- 60 hrsper Cult Beauty · publishers disagree
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Maison Margiela
REPLICA By the Fireplace
Roasted chestnut and cade smoke over vanilla, the candle version of a fragrance that already sells on nostalgia.
- Size
- 5.8 oz
- Stated burn
- 40 hrsper Nordstrom
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
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- Base
- MALIN+GOETZ
Cannabis
The florals around the cannabis note are the point: muguet and magnolia make it read green and clean rather than resinous.
- Size
- 9 oz
- Stated burn
- 60 hrsper MALIN+GOETZ
- Price
- Price not shown — source not recorded
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
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- NEST New York
Bamboo
A green floral that keeps the stem sharp against the white flowers, which is exactly what cheaper versions lose.
- Size
- 8.1 oz
- Stated burn
- 60 hrsper Amazon
The maker lists this as a bestseller — Described as one of the house bestsellers on nestnewyork.com.
- Top
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- NEST New York
Birchwood Pine
A conifer candle with a musk and amber base, so it reads as a warm room rather than a cold forest.
- Size
- 8.1 oz
- Stated burn
- Not published
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
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- Base
- Otherland
Canopy
A cool green fig built on leaf and sap, and cheap enough per hour to undercut most of the candles sold as its alternative.
- Size
- 8 oz
- Stated burn
- 55 hrsper Otherland
- Price
- Price not shown — source not recorded
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
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- P.F. Candle Co
Teakwood & Tobacco
The most widely stocked affordable leather-and-wood accord, and the default recommendation against far dearer candles.
- Size
- 7.2 oz
- Stated burn
- 40 hrs and upper P.F. Candle Co.
- Price
- Price not shown — source not recorded
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Thymes
Frasier Fir
A green, sap-forward fir that smells like a cut tree rather than pine cleaner, and it dominates US holiday gifting.
- Size
- 6.5 oz
- Stated burn
- 45 hrsper Nordstrom
- Price
- Price not shown — source not recorded
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Trudon
Ernesto
Leather, tobacco and rum in hand-blown glass, and among the most expensive candles in wide distribution.
- Size
- 9.5 oz
- Stated burn
- 55 hrs and upper Trudon
- Price
- Price not shown — source not recorded
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Voluspa
Baltic Amber
Soft resinous amber cut with vanilla orchid, warm without the smoke most amber candles lean on.
- Size
- 9 oz
- Stated burn
- 60 hrsper Voluspa
The maker lists this as a bestseller — Listed among best sellers on voluspa.com.
- Top
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- Voluspa
French Cade Lavender
Lavender kept dry and smoky by cade wood, which is what separates it from a soap-shelf lavender.
- Size
- 9 oz
- Stated burn
- Not published
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Voluspa
Santiago Huckleberry
Tart berry wrapped in sugar cane and vanilla, the sweetest thing in the Voluspa classic range.
- Size
- 9 oz
- Stated burn
- Not published
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
- Middle
- Base
- Yankee Candle
Balsam & Cedar
The American Christmas-tree candle, and one of the longest stated burns on any shelf at this size.
- Size
- 22 oz
- Stated burn
- 150 hrsper Yankee Candle · publishers disagree
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
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- Yankee Candle
Clean Cotton
Line-dried laundry done as a real floral-musk rather than a detergent accord, which is why it has outlasted every imitation.
- Size
- 22 oz
- Stated burn
- 150 hrsper Yankee Candle
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
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- Yankee Candle
MidSummer's Night
Yankee's answer to a men's cologne: patchouli and musk over sage, far darker than the rest of the range.
- Size
- 22 oz
- Stated burn
- 150 hrsper Yankee Candle · publishers disagree
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
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- Base
- Yankee Candle
Pink Sands
Fruit and florals over a spiced vanilla base, which is what keeps it from reading as a plain tropical candle.
- Size
- 22 oz
- Stated burn
- 150 hrsper Yankee Candle
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
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- Yankee Candle
Vanilla Cupcake
The bakery accord most gourmand candles are measured against, kept from cloying by a lemon top.
- Size
- 22 oz
- Stated burn
- 150 hrsper Yankee Candle
Our editorial pick, not a measurement
- Top
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- Base