You can snag some pretty darn good smelling candles in the air freshener aisle at Walmart, so why do certain candles that approach or far surpass the $100 mark have such a frenzied following?
Diptyque and Jo Malone are the two most famous names in luxury candledom, and it’s not just because they hit some passing fragrant fad. Rather, these producers of quality-scented, hand-poured wax have a great tradition of adding beautiful smelling elements to their worlds: Diptyque has graced its home Paris with style and scent since the early 60s, while Jo Malone hails from England and has been handcrafting unique and natural fragrance combinations since childhood.
Both brands have made themselves stand out in different ways: Diptyque, through recognizable, unique, yet highly French design; Jo Malone, through unconventional scent blends.
If you’d like to dive in and see what the hype’s all about, here are some of the most popular choices from each brand to get started:
Most popular Diptyque candles:
- Baies (blackcurrant leaves, Bulgarian roses)
- Figuier (fig tree)
- Feu de Bois (rare woods, wood fire)
- Most popular Jo Malone candles:
If you don’t want to invest too much and be disappointed, you can purchase travel/sample size collections of Jo Malone or Diptyque, or you can look for them to go on sale. I’m a big fan of Diptyque and have had much success snagging them at Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off 5th, or in online clearance sales on high end department store websites.
What are your favorite home fragrance splurges? How do you make them affordable?
Note: no sponsors here; I just love to dream about one day buying overpriced wax blocks for my home.
I personally do believe in investing in more quality and yes more expensive candles that are made organically with natural wax and ingredients, and that do not burn black. When I light a candle and it burns black that’s when I know I’ve been duped.