Best scented candles for 2026: tried and tested by The English Home team

The English Home team has delved into the world of the best scented candles, reviewing the top choices that promise to elevate your ambiance with their exquisite scents and captivating designs.

Of all the senses, smell is the most evocative and therefore one of the most useful to harness in our homes. Scent has the ability to transport us back to a happy childhood memory, to a tropical beach on a winter’s day, enhance our mood or envelop us in tranquillity.

For me, lighting a scented candle is a reward at the end of a stressful or busy day, candles with essential oils are particularly suited for this thanks to the aromatherapy benefits. Lighting candles on a dinner table will always make the occasion feel special, elevating the atmosphere, creating a warm and inviting feeling and adding to a beautifully curated tablescape.

Plus, if you’re unsure what to gift someone for a birthday, anniversary or housewarming present – a scented candle never disappoints. For a flameless option, discover our guide to the best reed diffusers.

Best summer scented candles

1. Summer Luxury Signature Candle

RRP£30

View at The White Company

How to choose the best scented candle

When shopping for the best scented candle, it goes further than selecting a fragrance that sounds nice or heading to your nearest shop, removing the lids and doing a scent test of all the choices on offer. There are a few key factors that come into play that go beyond the fragrance. 

Purpose

When choosing the perfect scented candle, it’s essential to consider your primary purpose. Are you seeking a practical, odour-neutralising candle to tackle pet smells or kitchen odours, or are you looking for a mood-setting candle to create a calming or romantic ambience? 

To cover up cooking smells or to mask pet odours, particular scents are better suited. “Choose candles with fresh, clean and strong fragrance notes,” says fragrance designer Hayley Forster. 

Odour-neutralising notes that Hayley recommends include: 

• Citrus notes: Lemon or lime

• Herbal notes: Eucalyptus, tea tree or mint

• Floral notes: Lavender or jasmine

• Woody notes: Cedarwood or sandalwood

If you’re looking for a mood or ambience-enhancing candle, “consider the mood or ambience you want to set, such as, romantic, meditative, relaxing, uplifting and choose fragrance notes that lean into those moods,” Hayley explains.

Mood-setting notes that Hayley recommends include: 

• Romantic: Rose, musk or sandalwood 

• Meditative: Cedarwood, patchouli or frankincense

• Relaxing: Lavender, chamomile, sandalwood or vanilla

• Uplifting: Orange, mango or pineapple

Location

To maximise the performance of your scented candle, certain rooms of the house are better suited, depending on what you want out of it. “A sign of a good quality candle should mean you can smell it even when it’s not burning so really you can place a candle anywhere,” says Roger Biles, co-founder of True Grace. “However. placing it somewhere elevated will give you the best scent throw, especially as I know some people like to have show candles that are never lit!”

As Hayley stated above, placing a candle in the kitchen is best for disguising lingering cooking smells.

“For a bedroom, more calming aromas such as camomile, lavender and sandalwood often suit,” says Sarah Allbright, director and co-founder of Retail 100 and former John Lewis gift and fragrance buyer. “If it’s for your main living areas it’s most likely just to be about a scent that you like.”

As for the size of the room, a stronger scent is more suited to a large room so that it has the power to fill the space. If it’s a smaller space, opt for a fragrance that isn’t too overpowering.

Scent preference

Of course, it all starts with the scent. Hayley’s advice is to consider going for fragrance notes that remind you of something or provide a hint of nostalgia while also going with a scent that you typically prefer and want to smell every day. “Make sure you select a scent that you find appealing and enjoyable,” she says. “You may also want to consider your strength preferences. If you don’t like strong fragrances you may want to stay away from strong overpowering scents such as jasmine or lavender and go for more subtle notes.”

Your personal care items are a great indicator of what scents you are guaranteed to like. “There might already be clues in your home as to what scents and fragrance notes you will like from your perfume to shower gels and shampoos,” Sarah explains. “Checking what fragrances are used in these will also help you narrow down the options.”

Sarah’s top tip when shopping in-store for a scented candle:

“If you are in a store smelling candles, don’t just pick up one after another and sniff as you will become scent blind. Between each one, you need to clear the scent by either sniffing the crook of your elbow or using a pot of coffee beans that many stores will have on hand for you to use.

“If you are in a store with bell jars over the candles you should smell inside the jar and not the candle directly as this will give you a better idea of what the scent will be like once it’s in the air.”

Design

A candle should look the part and blend seamlessly with your interior scheme. “Choose shapes, colours and materials that will match your home decor,” says Hayley. “A wider candle will create a larger wax pool and therefore greater scent diffusion too!”

How to safely burn a scented candle

There are a few rules to follow when burning scented candles to ensure safety and to get the most out of your candle. “Before each burn it’s important to remove any unnecessary burnt wick, trimming the wick to about 5mm above the wax top,” says Paul Firmin, co-founder of Earl of East. “This will ensure that the candle doesn’t give off any black smoke and will avoid the wick turning in on itself and causing what is known as mushrooming.”

Wick mushrooming refers to wicks that take on a mushroom-like appearance after being burned. Essentially, a mushroom wick forms when the candle’s wax doesn’t burn quickly enough to match the rate at which the wick consumes it. “Mushrooming creates a larger flame, which at best will burn through your candle much faster than it should but at worst can overheat the container,” Paul adds.

“Never burn the candle for longer than four hours at a time, regardless of the wax type,” says Paul. “Burning for longer than this can overheat the vessel, and the wax will burn through much faster than it should.”

Top tip: Use a candle snuffer to neatly extinguish your scented candle. Not only do they make a lovely little accessory to place next to your candle, but they also provide an extra layer of safety, as blowing out your candle can cause hot wax to splatter against the container or the surrounding area and create a mess and can burn. Try this charming bluebell-shaped option from Jo Malone.

And of course, never leave a burning candle unattended!