A scented candle is one of life’s joys. Some people dislike them, of course, finding them overpriced or excessive or headachy. But the number of Irish brands producing excellent scented candles – five of the seven in the list below – suggests we have a national appreciation for them. I have a hoarding issue with them, personally. There is always one burning, and if there are fewer than three waiting in my stash drawer (never touch my stash drawer) I will become visibly uneasy. If there were a time when such a luxury item would be crucial for its home-enhancing properties, it would be the depths of winter generally, and Christmas in particular. Here are seven of the best Christmas candles to beautify your home.
Jo Loves Christmas Trees candle
£55 (small) and £350 (large) plus £15 delivery charge from joloves.com
Jo Malone's London-based fragrance brand produces some excellent luxury candles. Her annual Christmas Trees release is probably the closest thing to a real Christmas-tree scent you will find. It is sensational.
Field Day Winter candle
€17.95 (single wick) and €48.95 (three wicks) plus €5 delivery charge (free delivery with orders over €60) from fielddayireland.ie
Derry-based Field Day's Winter candle is a beautiful gift – if you can part with it. Evocative of a pot of hot mulled apple juice warming on the stove, it has a sweet, citrusy scent that also radiates the warmth of cinnamon, clove and vanilla. The three-wick version burns for 50 hours more than the single-wick version if you want to prolong the bliss.
Jo Malone London Green Almond & Redcurrant Christmas candle
€150 plus €3.50 delivery charge from brownthomas.com
Each year Jo Malone London offers a new signature Christmas candle. The fragrances are always complex and sumptuous. The year's colourful, lidded ceramic jar contains a candle with a deep and warm cedarwood and tonka base that breaks into the nuttiness of green almond and a sharp nip of redcurrant. It is Christmas but with a twist.
Cloon Keen Atelier Noble Fir candle
€40 plus €3.50 delivery charge from brownthomas.com
Noble Fir from the Galway-based perfumer Cloon Keen Atelier is still my favourite Christmas candle of all. It is the snapped green twigs of walking a forest floor paired with the sweet, warm sap of fir trees. The fragrance fills a home like nothing else at Christmas. Of all the candles I joyfully burned in our home last Christmas, this one garnered the most compliments, by a long way.
Max Benjamin Christmas Favourites gift set
€35 plus €3.50 delivery charge from brownthomas.com
This Christmas-candle taster set from Wicklow's Max Benjamin is a thoughtful gift for anyone who loves Christmassy home fragrance. The Christmas candle has notes of orange, spice and musk. Frankincense is delicious with oud and incense, while cedar, fig and apricot provide the sweetness in Frosted Fig.
Brooke & Shoals Cinnamon & Cedar
€22 (single wick) and €46 (three wick), with free delivery, from brookeandshoals.ie
Brooke & Shoals, another Wicklow candle brand, has created something special in its Cinnamon & Cedar candle. The three-wick version burns for 80 hours. Both sizes are perfect for anyone who likes warm, woody Christmas fragrances and shies away from sweeter fragrances.
Purcell & Woodcock Midnight Pomegranate
€18 (single wick) and €30 (three wick) plus €5.95 delivery charge (free delivery on orders over €49) from purcellandwoodcock.com
The Irish brand Purcell & Woodcock's Midnight Pomegranate candle is a much more affordable version of a universally loved luxury candle from another brand. As it's so much more affordable, it's definitely worth a try.
