I am a big fan of scented candles. They are elegant luxury at an accessible price. I light mine when work, parenting and chores are done for the day. The scent and flicker of the candle curled up on the sofa with a good book or movie puts me in a happy place.
The choice of scented candles is extensive and I am currently researching and putting together “The Ultimate Candle Guide”. Julian Charles believe their candle home fragrances outperform the popular choice from Aldi and the uber luxe Jo Malone candle. I put all three to the sniff test, here’s my thoughts.
Julian Charles, £10
The Julian Charles candle is a Soy Candle which is hand poured in small batches using only the finest quality 100% natural soy wax infused with a blend of premium fragrance and essential oils. Housed in a heavy weight glass tumbler and boxed, the packaging is elegant, making it look more expensive than its price tag and also very gift-able. This candle certainly transformed our living space with the warm and refreshing notes of Pomegranate. On leaving and returning to the room the fragrance was delightfully present without being overwhelming. It will burn for up to 50 hours and the fragrance continues to infuse on subsequent relighting. The Julian Charles candle certainly the luxe factor as well as delivering on fragrance and all-round, value for money.
Jo Malone from £23 (travel size)
The ultimate item on any home accessory lust list has to be a large 2.6kg Jo Malone candle. But at £300 the majority of folk choose a weekend away over a room fragrance! The more reasonably priced home candle at £44 or the travel candle at £23 make the luxe scent more accessible for the décor-obsessed. The scent has a depth and subtlety about it. Pomegranate is certainly the lead fragrance blended with heady spicy lily and spicy woods. It was a delicate scent and on leaving and returning to the room the fragrance was there but only just. I can’t help but feel that a significant portion of the £23 goes into the branding and packaging, which makes it a beautiful gift to both give and receive but not the greatest scented home candle.
Aldi No 3, £3.99
The Julian Charles, Jo Malone and Aldi No 3 are all candles. That is what, and only what, they have in common with the Aldi version. The Aldi No 3 Pomegranate candle certainly has the luxe look (but only from a distance) with a double wick and a silver lid. However this is a candle and use of the word luxury would be misplaced here. The Aldi candle is not an equivalent for a Julian Charles, a Jo Malone or any other luxury candle. They are larger and cheaper, but the wax is not the same, the essential oils not the same and the reduced quality of these mean the quality, strength and performance is significantly less. The Aldi candle looks amazing for what it is – a cheap, supermarket candle. The two wick design burns well, leaving little to no black residue and the lid comes in handy as a heat mat or to prevent the scent being lost when you’re done burning. It could not and should not be gifted. Ever!
