Best Christmas candles for 2020, including luxury scents from Fornasetti and Buly

After months of lockdown, your living room might have begun to lose its appeal. But winter is around the corner. The season of lounging before an open fire has finally arrived, and the countdown to Christmas has begun. What better way to prepare for the festivities than by lighting a candle, letting the scents of pine and cinnamon, nutmeg and oak waft through your home? Luxury has brought together a list of the most opulent candles of 2020.

Acqua di Parma: Notte di Stelle

With a bright yellow box to match the candle inside, Acqua di Parma has created a woodland candle, infused with a mix of forest scents, from birch to guajac to pine, and with a hint of clove and raspberry. It is also available as a 180ml room diffuser, for those who want to avoid an open flame sitting about, as well as a 200g candle.

Available from October 1st, £60, Acqua di Parma

Read more: Best Christmas gifts for 2020

Cire Trudon: Abd El Kader

Cire Trudon has captured the essence of luxury and is selling it in candle form. This bestseller combines spearmint and wild blackcurrant with crushed ginger and fresh apple. The Grand Bougie, the largest of the three size offerings, weighs a whopping 2.8kg and should burn for around 300 hours. The amber container it comes in is hand-blown in Vinci (birthplace of Leonardo da…), Italy, covered with gold leaf and embossed in France by the oldest champagne-label maker in the world.

Available now, £550, Trudon

Frederic Malle: Joyeaux Noel

Back from last year, Joyeaux Noel remains a top choice this Christmas. There’s a hint of candyfloss in this candle’s mix of cinnamon, amber and pine. It’s a successful alternative to more traditional offerings.

Available from November 2nd, £60, Frederic Malle

Aesop: Aganice Aromatique

'Thoughts are like stars in the firmament' reads the Margaret Cavendish quote inside of Aesop's Aganice candle, part of its new Aromatique candle collection created with long-time collaborator Barnabé Fillion. Aside from thoughtful verse, this candle is held in a pleasingly weighty ceramic cream container and diffuses calming scents of cardamom, clove, mimosa and tobacco - floral, spicy and fresh notes to pep up cold evenings.

£80, Aesop

Creed: Pekin Imperial

This candle comes in an elegant gold container with a lid, which is removed to reveal candy-pink beeswax-scented candle with a burn time of 60 hours. The sweet, deep floral scent will do wonders to uplift the home during this dark winter indoors.

£100, Creed

Officine Universelle Buly: Campagne D’Italie

Officine Universelle Buly has released three winter fragrances for 2020. Campaign D’Italie, however, is the only one available in two sizes, both in black marble holders. The regular format is 300 grams and comes with a glass dome to cover the flame. Its larger sibling weighs a colossal 11 kilos and is almost half a metre tall. This candle is a combination of grapefruit, bergamot, nutmeg, patchouli and oak, with a base of cedar, sandalwood, vanilla and tonka bean.

Available now, £138 for 300g, £1,200 for 11Kg, Officine Universelle Buly

DS & Durga: Portable Fireplace 

DS & Durga has created a candle that replicates the smell of a fireplace, for when it feels like too much of a hassle to build one yourself. Portable Fireplace blends the aromas of cedar, birch, and pine, with a touch of ash and tar to emulate the scent of burning wood; and thanks to its simple design, it’s possible your guests won’t even know where that cosy scent is coming from.

Available now, £60, Liberty

Read more: Best Christmas gifts for her

Loewe: Scent of Marihuana

Provocateurs, look no further. Everything about this candle warrants a double-take: double wick and ‘vegetable wax’ origins included. Loewe’s candle oozes a laid-back-hippie aesthetic. The olive-green container has the company logo engraved at the bottom and is made from Spanish terracotta.

Available now, £145, Liberty 

Diptyque: Insolite

Liberty and Diptyque have teamed up to present this limited-edition collaboration. The candle is a blend of spices, leaves and citrus fruits, and will burn for 60 hours. And the simple glass receptacle has the added benefit of being recyclable as a drinking glass once the wax has burned up.

Available now, £54, Liberty

Roja Dove: Christmas Candle

Cinnamon and cocoa, gingerbread and tonka bean give this 300g candle the aroma of Christmas baking, making it one for a gourmand. The recipient won’t have to bother with whipping up a batch of mince pies to make a guest’s mouth water. But with ingredients such as cedarwood and fir needles, this limited-run product will also bring a waft of the forest to your home.

Available from DATE, £95, Roja

Diptyque: Floral Majesty

This year, Diptyque has crafted three separate Christmas centrepieces, each with its own bold colour, scent and animal design by the illustrator, Ugo Gattoni. Floral Majesty’s red holder has a lion parading on its front and leading scents of clove, cinnamon and nutmeg. The other two, Amber Feather and Moonlit Fir are available for the same price.

Available from October 15th, £58, Diptyque 

Dior: Ambre Nuit

Every aspect of this candle is linked to a story of artisanship, from enamellers to master blenders. Dior’s perfume maker partnered with Perron Rigot, the French wax manufacturers, to create this blend of ambergris and rose. The candle sits in a Limoges vessel, a type of decorative porcelain popular in 18th-century France, with an enamel interior. At 250g it should burn for about 70 hours.

Available now, £75 , Dior

Bamford: Fig Leaf Candle

Bamford’s Christmas special has a double wick and features a blend of vetiver, basil, cedarwood, patchouli, fir balsam and fig leaf. The candle comes in a bone china holder with a lid, both decorated with a winter wonderland scene in light blue and gold.

Available from November 1st, £100, Bamford

Santa Maria Novella: Christmas Scented Candle

Unlike the other products in this list, Santa Maria Novella’s Christmas offering comes without a vessel. Instead, the candle stands alone, bearing a hand-painted rendition of the brand’s logo. This tall candle should burn for 130 hours and scent the room with a combination of sweet orange, lily of the valley, almond, cinnamon, vanilla and clove.

Available from late October, £55, Santa Maria Novella 

Adare Manor: Brown Candle Three Wick

Adare Manor has produced a candle in its signature scent. This way, the smell of fig leaves, parched earth and blonde wood associated with the Irish hotel can burn, three wicks at a time, in the comfort of your home. Embellished with Adare Manor’s gold emblem, the candle comes with a lid to contain the scent when it's not in use.

£85.50, Adare Manor

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