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.
The best overall scented candle
Scent: Floral
Sizes: 2oz/8.1oz/21.2oz
+ Burns clean
+ Lovely vessel
+ Impressive throw
+ Great for year-round
This luxurious blend combines Himalayan salt with subtle rosewater, geranium, and salted amber, for a burn your guests will never forget. It works well in just about every room of your home, although it might be a tad too luxurious for bathrooms and kitchens, otherwise, we love lighting it in an entryway or bedroom. Go for the three-wick size for added luxury.
The best candle for fall
Scent: Woody
Size: 660g/4.9oz/27oz
+ Great for fall
+ Classic vessel
+ Handmade
- Not for spring/summer
This has to be our favorite scent ever for fall. It smells just like a burning fireplace and will leave you feeling cozy, warm, and most of all: ready for the colder weather. Lighting this in a living room or home office is always a good idea, plus it's never overwhelming. Just go for the bigger size if your living room is large. Otherwise, it emits the scent of smoked woods, birch, patchouli, clove leaf, amber, and creamy vanilla to finish.
The best candle for winter
Scent: Woody
Size: 2oz/8.1oz/21.2oz
+ Great for fall/winter
+ Luxury black vessel
+ Cruelty free
- Not for spring/summer
With notes of birchwood and labdanum, this candle is perfect for conjuring up a winter feel in your home, no matter the weather outside. It also has hints of black truffle, cedarwood, and patchouli, whilst its wax is black and it sits inside the classic Nest frosted glass vessel. It has black wax for that added luxury feel, and it's definitely one for burning in your entryway or in a spacious living area. Moreover, it looks great at center stage of a coffee table.
The best designer candle
Scent: Woody/Spicy
Size: 21oz
+ Minimalist vessel
+ Designer fragrance
+ Black wax
- High price tag
This artisanal designer scent is a self-indulgent oriental leather fragrance that's perfect for burning during the colder months. When burning, it fills a room with a mix of clary sage and fresh lavender. Well-balanced with bitter almond and vanilla to give richness to the scent, it even gives nods to floral notes with the addition of orrisroot — from the iris flower. With a creamy close, this decadent candle looks as good as it smells, inside a black glass curved vessel, and its wax is black for added luxury.
The best Diptyque candle
Scent: Floral
Size: 70g, 190g, 300g, 600g, 1500g
+ Cult favorite
+ Year-round fragrance
+ Luxury vessel
+ Essential oils
Enable the tangy coolness of freshly picked blackcurrant berries to transform any room with this Diptyque's Baies candle. The best-seller is a fan-favorite choice, regardless of your age or personal aesthetic. Aside from being the brand's most popular and well-known scent, its aromatic scent seamlessly blends splendidly with flowery accents of roses with a fruitiness that's subtle throughout. You'll never have to worry about bearing overcome by an overbearing fragrance.
The best floral fragrance for winter
Scent: Floral
Sizes: 70g, 190g, 300g, 1500g
+ Warm
+ Range of sizes
+ Essential oils
+ Luxury vessel
One of Meghan Markles' favorite candles and for good reason, this Diptyque scent in its largest size has a total of 5 wicks. Made in France and scented using essential oils, it's the perfect floral addition to your home, whatever the time of year (and weather). It's floral yet fresh and a little milky, and it's designed to impress.
The best decorative candle
Scent: Spicy
Size: 11.9oz
+ Porcelain pot
+ Comes with lid
+ Beautifully presented
+ Unique blend
This sublime Jonathan Adler candle is the perfect coffee table centerpiece. It's a healthy mix of citrus, floral and woody scents, and overall it's smooth yet peppery. The soy/paraffin blend is hand-poured inside a high-fired porcelain canister that has been hand-painted, glazed, and dipped in a gloss finish. Complete with a lid, we love it for year-round home scenting. The best part? It arrives beautifully presented, and ready to gift, inside a box.
The best eco-friendly candle
Scent: Floral
Size: 6.5oz
+ Hand-poured in NYC
+ Natural ingredients
+ Cotton wick
+ Lead free
Eco-friendly cleaning and laundry brand The Laundress has entered the candle sphere, and No.723 is a real treat. It has Damask rose at its heart, with notes of geranium, jasmine, and lily of the valley. Underneath, it has deeply grounded notes of velvety, spicy warmth of guaiac wood and amber. Reminiscent of the brand's best-selling laundry detergent, we particularly love it for lighting after a deep clean. The formula is also a soy blend.
The best floral candle
Scent: Floral
Size: 10oz
+ Hand-poured
+ Coconut soy wax
+ Recyclable glass
+ Cruelty-free
This floral candle is from The Little Market, a non-profit fair trade shop by Lauren Conrad and Hannah Skvarla. With floral notes of blooming flower beds to relax your mind, body, and soul, the delightful scents of lavender, sage, rosemary, and cedarwood are all meticulously compounded collectively to execute a welcoming, tranquil fragrance. These candles don't just smell good, but each purchase does good for women in need. They are also poured inside recyclable glass vessels.
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.
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