Christmas candles: Quick Menu
1. Christmas candle deals
2. Sweet
3. Spicy
4. Outdoorsy
5. Luxury
6. FAQs
7. How we chose
8. Where to buy
Christmas candles are our favorite thing to buy as gifts and for ourselves. Nothing quite gets one in a festive mood like a brand-new candle that smells of sugar and spice and all things nice — or of resinous pine, if you prefer clean and woody scents that can transport you to a Nordic forest in no time at all.
The other thing we like about Christmas candles is the gorgeous packaging and limited edition sets from our favorite brands — there are a couple of stunning limited edition candles in this guide that we want to buy before they sell out forever.
From traditional spicy accords to more modern takes on Christmas, these will delight you and everyone who comes to visit. Want more scent-spiration? Our best candles buyer's guide hasn't been installed with smell-o-vision just yet, but we've tried and tested to the lot to be your scent sommelier if you will.
Christmas candle deals
Want to get a head start on your Christmas shopping? With less than two and a half weeks to go until Xmas, these deals on scented festive candles are still live. If you love Yankee Candles, all three of these large Christmassy jars are currently discounted.
1. Wax & Wit Hot Cinnamon Roll Christmas Candle | Was $24.95 Now $15.95 (save $9) at Amazon
Is there anything that sounds more inviting and wholesome than hot cinnamon rolls? I don’t think so. It is a smaller 9oz size, but reviewers do say that it still has a good throw and can fill a whole room. The size also makes it an ideal stocking filler. This candle is handmade and made by a small business, so you’ll be supporting an independent maker even by shopping on Amazon. With 36% off, this is the lowest price we've seen in 30 days.
2. Yankee Candle Sparkling Cinnamon Candle | Was $30.99 Now $21.48 (save $9.51) at Amazon
One of the most highly rated Yankee Candles on Amazon, this spicy beauty has over 52,000 five-star ratings on the site. The mixture of cinnamon and vanilla is the perfect combo of sweet and spicy scents according to shoppers — some who even say that they normally hate cinnamon say that they love this candle. If straight cassia bark isn't your thing, Amazon has also slashed the price of Kitchen Spice to $16.88. This scent blends sweet orange, clove, ginger, and cinnamon for a simmer pot-style smell.
3. Yankee Candle Christmas Cookie Scented Candle | Was $30.99 Now $28.98 (save $2.01) at Amazon
If you ever baked Christmas cookies and wished that you could bottle the scent, this candle jar comes pretty close to doing just that. With notes of vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, and sugar, it sounds irresistible. The Paraffin-grade wax delivers a clear, consistent burn, and this jar will burn for up to 150 hours.
12 Christmas candles to get you in the festive spirit
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Ready to find your perfect festive scent? We've split these out into different scents and into a luxe section, so you can easily find what you're looking for.
The prices below were correct at the time of publishing this article.
Sweet Christmas candles
If sugary scents are your thing, you'll love these candles that smell as delicious as they look.
Sugary scent
Burn time: 110-150 hours
Size: 22 oz
Scent: Sweet and spicy
Wax: Mineral wax
Price: $29
Having been in the business for nearly 50 years, Yankee knows a thing or two about Christmas candles, and this particular one leaves no crumbs! The buttery-sweet vanilla cookie scent smells almost good enough to eat. If you're a real connoisseur of candles, you might be able to pick up hints of nutmeg and cinnamon too. Just so you know, while this jar is decorated with the 'old' design, the brand has given its jars a modern makeover.
Candycore aesthetic
Burn time: 40 hours
Size: 6.5 oz
Scent: Peppermint, sugar cookie, vanilla
Wax: Food-grade paraffin wax base
Price: $26
Presenting the "Mariah Carey" of Christmas candles. Just like the Queen of Pop, the classic colorway and familiar fragrance that make up this product are comforting reminders that we're counting down to the holidays. And year after year all we'll want for Christmas is you, oh minty waxlight. It's sweet, cool, and crisp all at the same time. I'm 100% here for the novelty container too.
Budget beauty
Burn time: 50 hours
Size: 4.1 oz
Scent: Sweet
Wax: Paraffin and soy wax
Price: $5
No, that price isn’t a typo. This red Christmas candle really is just $5, making it an ideal festive candle for those on a budget or who want to mix up their scents seasonally. It has notes of clove, vanilla, and orange, which are all classic Christmas scents. The fun red color and Christmas lights label are very eye-catching, too. Target shoppers say it has a primarily spicy aroma, which marries well with the sweeter and fruiter scents.
Spicy Christmas candles
Like your candles to have a little festive kick? Spicy scents will add a touch of warmth and exotic to your space.
Memory-evoking fragrance
Burn time: 33 hours burn time
Size: 4.9 oz
Scent: Spicy and warming
Wax: Mineral wax
Price: $29
Blended with sweet and spicy touches of cinnamon, rich warming cloves, fresh berries, and zesty orange, this epitomizes the Christmas spirit, without the need to create a holiday-inspired simmer pot. This scent has been in circulation for more than 20 years, proving just how popular it is. The beautifully illustrated festive gift box makes a special treat or present, and it can be paired with the matching room spray and reed diffuser.
Made with essential oils
Burn time: 20-50 (depending on size)
Size: 2.6-6.52 oz
Scent: Spiced fruit
Wax: Hand-poured natural wax
Price: $19.50-$55
This organic ’s beautiful organic votive in matt white with a glam gold label is certain to be the subject of admiring looks at your next holiday get-together, but it’s just as wonderful kept all to yourself. The warming spicy scent, with bright bursts of mandarin and sweet tonka, is reminiscent of Christmas cake. Plus, despite being very sweet, it won't give you (or your guests) a headache.
Golden era
Burn time: 50 hours
Size: 8.5 oz
Scent: Woody/spicy
Wax: Coconut and beeswax candle
Price: $48
Sure Jesus may have been #gifted gold, Frankensense, and Murr, but in the 21st Century, this is the next best thing. Featuring Nigerian ginger, Indonesian nutmeg, Guatemalan cardamom, and Somalian incense, this woody and exotic cocktail of spices will give your home a cozy, but regal feel.
Outdoorsy Christmas candles
Bring the outdoors into your home with these refreshing scents that are still very Christmassy. This selection is particularly good for city dwellers who don't have a backyard or balcony garden.
Three wick
Burn time: 50 hours
Size: 14.5 oz
Scent: Outdoorsy
Wax: Paraffin and soy wax
Price: $24.95
Let’s be real: Real Christmas trees are beautiful, but they are so high-maintenance. If you don’t have the patience to pick up all the needles but love the smell of them, this candle is a brilliant option. Bath and Body Works candle reviewers say it’s super strong and refreshing, thanks to the notes of balsam, eucalyptus, fir branches, and cedarwood.
FSC-certified packaging
Burn time: 20 hours
Size: 3.17 oz
Scent: Herbaceous
Wax: Rapeseed wax
Price: From $35
We can't get enough of the Skog candle around Christmas time — it's the best representation of the scent of Christmas trees around. The trouble with some pine candles is they can smell a little like toilet freshener. Straight-up pine isn't necessarily gonna give you that Christmas tree vibe. This candle, on the other hand, really does, by combining pine with the fresh and sweet aroma of lily-of-the-valley, giving it a resinous and lingering quality we adore.
pure essential oils
Burn time: 50 hours
Size: 8 oz
Scent: Woodsy
Wax: Soy wax and coconut base
Price: $62
An essential for all wintertime enthusiasts, Jackfir's crisp, outdoorsy fragrance is everything you could want this season. Soothing, inviting, and 100% plant-based, this is a candle you'll look forward to lighting on cold days. Its mix of cedar wood, pine needle, lavender, and bergamot is refreshing, but you might find yourself wishing that the scent carried from one room to another more noticeably.
Luxury Christmas candles
If you're looking to spend a little extra on Christmas candles, take a look at these fan-favorite buys from popular luxe candle brands.
100% lead-free and cotton wicks
Burn time: 20-175 hours (depending on size)
Size: 2-77 oz
Scent: Festive fruits
Wax: Food-grade paraffin wax base
Price: $20-$290
This candle really proves you don't have to spend megabucks on scented candles — your home will still smell nice. The classic Christmas concoction includes mandarin, orange, pine, cloves cinnamon, vanilla, and amber — with the genius addition of pomegranate for a more complex scent. The packaging is gilded and glowing — just what you need for Christmas.
Limited edition
Burn time: 20 hours each
Size: 2.47 oz each
Scent: Assorted
Wax: hand-poured, high-quality paraffin wax
Price: $150
Diptyque has come up with the perfect trio of winter scents — perfect for creating different effects in different rooms or splitting out as stocking fillers. Enjoy delicate, resiny pine notes of Sapin, take in the decadent and mouth-watering scent of dried fruit vanilla in Délice and for a fresh and clean feel, Coton (blended with cotton and tonka bean) is where our noses are at.
Gift worthy
Burn time: 55 to 60 hours
Size: 9.5 oz
Scent: Woody
Wax: Mineral wax
Price: $100
Can Cire Trudon make a bad-scented candle? We seriously think not. This festive offering smells so good, that we almost wish they bottled it up and sold it as perfume. The scent is an evocative, woody fragrance with classic notes of cardamom, clove, cinnamon, cedarwood, amber, Indonesian Patchouli, Haitian vetiver, and citrus. Think sitting by a smoky fireplace at Christmas time.
FAQs
What candle scent for Christmas?
Choosing a Christmassy candle fragrance can be quite a personal decision, as different scents can evoke emotion and nostalgic memories. In short, some people like gourmand notes (think vanilla sugar cookies and sweet gingerbread), others lean towards fresh fruity notes like mandarin and cranberry, and more sophisticated noses may appreciate smokey-scented waxes that recreate the smell of a logfire without the commitment of a real one.
How do you make Christmas smell at home?
There are loads of different ways to infuse your home with the smell of Christmas. As well as buying Christmas candles, you could also bake gingerbread, make a spiced winter simmer pot, or prepare batches of mulled wine or cider. But out of all of these options, lighting a candle is the quickest by far.
How we chose these candles
Not to toot my own trumpet or anything, but I shop for a living, browsing the internet for the most highly-rated homewares. Our team regularly calls in home fragrance straight from brands and their PR representatives, but if we can't get our hands on the best Christmas candles, we will scan through (literally) hundreds of customer reviews to make sure you're getting the best product that your money can buy. Oh, and I've personally tried the Nest New York Holiday Candle myself having been gifted a sample at one of the brand's festive events.
Where to buy Christmas candles
If we're barking up the wrong (Christmas) tree with this pool of scents, here are a list of retailers that you can shop at for festive fragrance. Some are department stores, and others are direct-to-consumer brands.
- Shop Ace Hardware Christmas candles
- Shop Amazon Christmas candles
- Shop Anthropologie Christmas candles
- Shop Balsam Hill Christmas candles
- Shop Bath & Body Works Christmas candles
- Shop Bloomingdale's Christmas candles
- Shop Bluemercury Christmas candles
- Shop Boy Smells Christmas candles
- Shop CVS Pharmacy Christmas candles
- Shop Diptyque Christmas candles
- Shop eBay Christmas candles
- Shop Etsy Christmas candles
- Shop Garmentory Christmas candles
- Shop Hobby Lobby Christmas candles
- Shop Homesick Christmas candles
- Shop Joann Christmas candles
- Shop Jo Malone Christmas candles
- Shop Kohl's Christmas candles
- Shop LAFCO Christmas candles
- Shop LookFantastic US Christmas candles
- Shop Macy's Christmas candles
- Shop Molton & Brown Christmas candles
- Shop Neiman Marcus Christmas candles
- Shop Neom Christmas candles
- Shop Nest New York Christmas candles
- Shop Nordstrom Christmas candles
- Shop Pottery Barn Christmas candles
- Shop QVC Christmas candles
- Shop Rifle Paper Co. Christmas candles
- Shop Revolve Christmas candles
- Shop Saks 5th Avenue Christmas candles
- Shop Sephora Christmas candles
- Shop Skinstore Christmas candles
- Shop Target Christmas candles
- Shop The White Company Christmas candles
- Shop Ulta Beauty Christmas candles
- Shop Walmart Christmas candles
- Shop Wayfair Christmas candles
- Shop West Elm Christmas candles
- Shop Williams-Sonoma Christmas candles
- Shop World Market Christmas candles
- Shop Yankee Candle Christmas candles
- Shop Zara Christmas candles
Want to envelop the house in festive fragrance? Our Christmas reed diffuser guide will allow you to layer scents to create a multi-dimensional experience in your winter abode.
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Hi, I'm the former acting head ecommerce editor at Real Homes. Prior to working for the Future plc family, I've worked on a number of consumer events including the Ideal Home Show, Grand Designs Live, and Good Homes Magazine. With a first class degree from Keele University, and a plethora of experience in digital marketing, editorial, and social media, I have an eye for what should be in your shopping basket and have gone through the internal customer advisor accreditation process.
- Annie CollyerHead Ecommerce Editor