Beauty Report: Scented candles

Scented candles don’t technically count as beauty products, but they’re certainly a passion of beauty lovers. A nice scented candle is a universally pleasing gift that literally makes your home more beautiful.

There’s nothing as welcoming as a high-quality fragrance when you cross the threshold of someone’s home, and good scented candles will enhance your home’s atmosphere as well as providing a warm, cosy glow. I keep a glut of them in a confusingly over-fragranced drawer set aside for the purpose of housing them, and am always overjoyed to receive the gift of a new one. There is permanently a scented candle burning in my home; I run through them at a frightening pace.

Brands that traditionally focus on beauty and fragrance can turn out great scented candles.

Clinique

have recently released candle versions of their fragrances, Aromatics in Black, and Aromatics in White (both €48). The Black candle fills a room with the deep, wintry scent of myrrh and exotic floral fragrance. Its white counterpart is equally warm, with wood and amber notes. Both lack the homely packaging of a more traditional scented candle, but look very chic indeed.

Irish brand Rathbornes (from rathbornes1488.com and Brown Thomas) has been making the most divine candles in Dublin for over 500 years. Priced between €19 and €54, this brand is perfect for stocking fillers. Their new collection – Beyond the Pale – is a range of six scents inspired by the Irish landscape. All of the fragrances are interesting and unusual, but Dublin Tea Rose, Oud and Patchouli is positively transporting.

Innovation in candles is difficult, but the Shot Candle from

Jo Loves

(a company headed up by Jo Malone herself after she sold the company that bears her name ) is so clever. You choose from two scented interlocking waxes, insert one into the other, and have an instant customised candle. Their latest combination – salted caramel and charcoaled lemons (£75 from joloves.com) is strange and delicious. An excellent dinner party candle, it compliments desserts nicely.

NEOM reign triumphant as usual in the scented candle department, and this year's Christmas Wish candle (€60 for a large three-wick candle from neomorganics.com) is a really comforting winter home fragrance. Mandarin, cinnamon and tonka bean warm the whole house and make this candle perfectly suited to Christmas festivities.

Jo Malone London

offers something pretty sensational each Christmas, and this year’s offering is a crisp contrast to the other, warm home fragrances that I’ve already mentioned. Their Pine and Eucalyptus Home Candle (€52) has all the zesty pine aroma of a new Christmas tree, while the eucalyptus adds freshness rather than an overpowering impression.

Pine is surprisingly difficult to get right. If you like a candle that mimics real pine trees, then look no further. Candles are excellent for gifting, but I challenge you to give any of these away once you’ve got your hands on them.

[ lkennedy@irishtimes.com ]