Top 5 compared
The best scented candles
A room filled with scent and a soft, flickering glow for slow evenings at home.
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The top 5 at a glance
A scented candle has fragrance blended into its wax, and once it’s lit the scent comes off the pool of melted wax around the flame. Waxes run from paraffin to soy and other plant blends, often mixed, and wicks from natural fiber to flat strips of wood.
Most here burn from a single wick; a three-wick candle fills a room faster and runs for fewer hours. Fresh scents like citrus and lavender suit any time of year, while warm spice is more of a fall and winter choice. The boxed set also has two scented sachets to tuck into a drawer. Whichever you light, never leave a lit candle unattended.
What matters
- A burn time in hours, not just a jar size.
- The wax type, if you’d rather soy or a plant blend than paraffin.
#1WoodWick Vanilla & Sea Salt Ellipse Candle with Crackling Wick (16 oz)
$20–$30
The flat wooden wick crackles softly as it burns, the sound of a small fire in the room, and the wide ellipse jar lets the wax melt right across so the vanilla and sea salt scent comes through evenly. It’s poured from a soy and paraffin blend, with up to 50 hours in it.
What owners say: Owners say it keeps going past the burn time on the label, find the crackle calming and love the scent, though some feel it costs more than a candle should.
A closer look: Before each lighting, pinch off the blackened tip of the wooden wick so the flame catches and keeps crackling, and keep it out of drafts. Put the wooden lid back on once the wax has cooled to keep dust off the surface.
- Crackling wooden wick
- Wooden lid keeps dust off
- Wax melts right across
- Pinch the wick before lighting
Best for: Cozy evenings in
- Burn time
- Up to 50 hours
- Wax
- Soy and paraffin blend
- Size
- 16 oz ellipse jar
- Scent
- Vanilla and sea salt
#2Yankee Candle Kitchen Spice Large Jar Candle (22 oz)
$10–$20
The big 22 oz jar holds up to 150 hours of burning, enough for weeks of evenings, and Kitchen Spice is a warm mix of ginger, cardamom, cinnamon and clove with a little sweet orange. Yankee began in 1969, when 16-year-old Mike Kittredge melted crayons to make a candle for his mother.
What owners say: Owners like that the spice smells warm rather than sickly sweet, and say one jar keeps the house smelling cozy for a long time, though a few found it burned unevenly.
A closer look: Trim the wick before every lighting, as Yankee asks, and on the first burn let the wax melt right out to the glass so it doesn’t tunnel down the middle. At almost 7 in tall, it belongs on a kitchen counter or a mantel rather than a narrow shelf.
- Natural-fiber wick
- Hint of cardamom
- Made in the USA
- Almost 7 in tall
Best for: Warm spice for weeks on end
- Burn time
- Up to 150 hours
- Wax
- Plant wax blend
- Size
- 22 oz large jar
- Scent
- Ginger, cinnamon, clove, orange
#3Glade 2in1 Scented Candles, Hawaiian Breeze & Vanilla Passion Fruit (2 × 4.08 oz)
Under $10
Two small jars that pair Glade’s Hawaiian Breeze with Vanilla Passion Fruit, so you get pineapple and coconut water on top of creamy vanilla. They’re the easy way to freshen a bathroom, a guest room or an entryway.
What owners say: The scent carries through the whole house and leaves it smelling clean, owners say, and each little jar keeps going for hours.
A closer look: The pair splits nicely between two rooms, say a bathroom and a hallway, and the small jars sit happily on a windowsill or a narrow shelf. Put each one out for good once only a thin layer of wax is left in the bottom, so the glass doesn’t overheat.
- Fragrance with essential oils
- No phthalates or parabens
- Single wick each
- Pink and orange wax
Best for: Bathrooms and guest rooms
- Burn time
- About 23 hours each
- Wax
- Paraffin
- Size
- 2 × 4.08 oz jars
- Scent
- Pineapple, coconut, vanilla
#4Yankee Candle Lemon Lavender 3-Wick Candle (14.5 oz)
$20–$30
Three wicks melt the whole top at once, so this wide, low jar puts out a lot of scent quickly and suits a living room or an open-plan space. Lemon and lavender is fresh with a herbal middle, and the metal lid keeps dust off between burns.
What owners say: The lemon and the lavender balance each other nicely, by owners’ accounts, and it burns cleanly and keeps going through several evenings.
Heads up: Three flames use the wax up faster: up to 40 hours here, against 150 for the large jar, so save it for evenings when you want plenty of scent quickly.
A closer look: With three flames going, give it at least a couple of hours each time so the melt reaches the edge, and keep it well away from curtains and shelves overhead. At 3.6 in tall and a little wider than that, it sits neatly on a coffee table or a side table.
- Whole top melts at once
- Natural-fiber wicks
- Metal lid keeps dust off
- Low 3.6 in jar
Best for: Filling a big room fast
- Burn time
- Up to 40 hours
- Wax
- Plant wax blend
- Size
- 14.5 oz, three wicks
- Scent
- Lemon and lavender
#5ADELEGOURDAIN Scented Candle Gift Set (4 candles and 2 sachets)
$20–$30
Four 4.4 oz candles in colored glass, scented with jasmine, bergamot, wild berries and Maldivian Breeze, plus rose and lavender sachets for drawers and closets. It’s a scent for each room, in a gift box.
What owners say: Owners like the colored glass jars and the presentation; some find the scents faint and the candles quicker to burn down than they hoped.
A closer look: Tuck the sachets into a sock drawer, a linen closet or a suitcase, where they scent the space with no flame at all. Once a candle has burned down, warm water loosens the last of the wax, and the jar can then hold makeup brushes or pens.
- Rose and lavender sachets
- Lead-free cotton wicks
- Colored glass jars
- Arrives in a gift box
- Empty jars hold pens
Best for: Four rooms, four different scents
- Burn time
- About 40 hours each
- Wax
- Soy wax blend
- Size
- 4 × 4.4 oz jars + 2 sachets
- Scent
- Jasmine, bergamot, berry, breeze
How they compare
Swipe sideways or rotate device to see all 5.
| Feature | #1WoodWick Vanilla & Sea Salt | #2Yankee Kitchen Spice | #3Glade 2in1 (2 jars) | #4Yankee Lemon Lavender 3-wick | #5ADELEGOURDAIN 6-piece |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall | Best budget | ||||
| Picked Rating | 9.4 | 9.3 | 9.3 | 9.1 | 9.0 |
| Price | $20–$30 | $10–$20 | Under $10 | $20–$30 | $20–$30 |
| Burn time | Up to 50 hours | Up to 150 hours | About 23 hours each | Up to 40 hours | About 40 hours each |
| Wax | Soy and paraffin blend | Plant wax blend | Paraffin | Plant wax blend | Soy wax blend |
| Size | 16 oz ellipse jar | 22 oz large jar | 2 × 4.08 oz jars | 14.5 oz, three wicks | 4 × 4.4 oz jars + 2 sachets |
| Scent | Vanilla and sea salt | Ginger, cinnamon, clove, orange | Pineapple, coconut, vanilla | Lemon and lavender | Jasmine, bergamot, berry, breeze |
| Best for | Cozy evenings in | Warm spice for weeks on end | Bathrooms and guest rooms | Filling a big room fast | Four rooms, four different scents |
| Buy now | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon |
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