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Best candles: 9 luxury scents you'll love

Peruse the best candles as rated and ranked by the Homes & Gardens team, for fall and winter

Best candles: Nest NY black candle, Diptyque Baies, Jonathan Adler green candle
(Image credit: Future)

If a new scented candle is on your wishlist, to welcome the new season in style, then our experts can help you make this decision. We've been testing a range of candles, from woody to spicy and even floral scents that are slightly warm, and our favorites have been featured below. Keep scrolling for 9 of the most luxurious fragrances on the market, to buy this fall and winter.

A new candle isn't just great for adding scent to your rooms. In fact, the Homes & Gardens team like to use candles to decorate their homes, whether that's bestowed on a coffee table, perched on a console table, or sitting on a nightstand to lull you to sleep. A high-quality home fragrance has the power to lift our spirits (and mood) in a matter of moments. And these scents below are simply exquisite for anywhere including your kitchen, bathroom, living room, home office, and even your entryway.

Whether it's a woody warm fragrance for fall or a fresh fragrance for year-round scenting, these buys below have been approved by our fragrance expert. What are you waiting for?

The best candles to buy for your home

Why you can trust Homes & Gardens Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.


What to consider when choosing a candle for your home? 

It's imperative to consider the location of where you're looking to display your candle. 

For the living area: it's best to consider your aesthetic or decor; minimalists will want to reach for woody scents, whereas traditional settings require a scent floral-based. 

For kitchens: it's best to reach for something lighter and airier; the last thing you want to do is compete with food aromas, so we suggest a spicy scent or subtle aqua. 

For your bedroom: opt for an aroma that's lavender or vanilla-based; you'll want to calm your senses and create a peaceful oasis.  

Otherwise, if you have pets or inquisitive children, or if you are worried about the safety worries that come with burning a candle, a reed diffuser is an elegant alternative. 

How we test candles

We selected these luxury candles based on two factors: reviewers' opinions, and our thoughts. Yes, our home fragrance expert Annie has managed to get hands-on experience with a few of these candles, so we can recommend them even after testing inside our homes. Rest assured, though, the ones that we've not yet tested came highly recommended by happy fragrance lovers far and wide.

A bit more about our candle tester: Annie lives in a spacious 2-bed apartment just outside of the city with her husband-to-be and two pets, so it's imperative that her home always smells welcoming to guests, whatever the season.

These candles are ranked by scent, depending on the season, and by throw performance while considering each one's vessel and its price tag, too. You can find more info on how we test products at Homes & Gardens.

After testing these candles, we're always environmentally conscious and will try our best to reuse these jars. Find how to get candle wax out of jars so that you can reuse yours, too.

Annie Collyer
Deputy Ecommerce Editor

Annie is Deputy Ecommerce Editor at Homes & Gardens. With a penchant for shopping, a first-class Journalism degree, and four years of eCommerce experience behind her, she is our shopping guru when it comes to what to buy for your home, when to invest — and where to do your shopping. Her eCommerce experience has inspired countless online purchases across the titles of Ideal Home, Livingetc, Gardeningetc, Real Homes, and Woman & Home. Annie and her team currently curate shopping content for Homes & Gardens, so whether you're searching for luxurious towels to spruce your bathroom or a pantry organizer to maximize space and add style, they can recommend a product (or 10).