Buying Guides
Buying Candles
Evoke memories and create a welcoming atmosphere with our collection of candles and home fragrances
Choose your type
Opt to fragrance your home with candles, handy diffusers or oil plug-ins
Candles
Candles infuse rooms with warmth and atmosphere, with those that are fragranced adding a pleasing scent to spaces too. The wax composition of candles has an effect on burn time and on scent diffusion in a room.
Paraffin wax
The most common and oldest man-made candle wax:
- offers room-filling scent thanks to a high melting point
- has good stability as it burns
- might leave black soot marks inside glass candle holders
Soy wax
This vegetable wax is a renewable source:
- burns cleanly with no toxins and little to no soot
- soy candles burn longer and cooler than their paraffin counterparts
- have an excellent scent throw
- wax spills can be cleaned up by simply using warm water and soap
Vegetable wax
Similar in consistency and appearance to soy wax:
- made from extracted and purified wax from different plants
- often mixed with other wax types for improved stability
Beeswax
Beeswax is completely natural with its own unique scent:
- releases negative ions into the air for purification
- has an extended burn time compared to other types
Diffusers
Consisting of reed sticks and an oil and alcohol solution, diffusers deliver a constant fragrance that’s perfect for greeting you when you enter a room. They’re ideal for the summer months as warmth helps increase the fragrance intensity. Unlike candles, they don't require lighting to enjoy the scent, but you’ll still need to keep them out of reach of children and pets.
Room sprays
Deliver a hit of fragrance with room sprays, for an instant refresh. Room sprays are a great way to add a pleasant fragrance to the room after cooking.
Ultrasonic diffusers
Ultrasonic diffusers use no heat and act as a humidifier to add moisture to the air while circulating scent. This makes them a fuss-free, completely safe option to use around children and pets.
Choose your fragrance
Take your pick from one of the 8 main fragrance families
Floral
Floral fragrances can be split into two types; heavy (like rose and lavender) or light (such as gardenia, jasmine and lilac)
Woody
Citrus
The zesty and distinct aroma of oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes and bergamot can be found in citrus fragrances
Fruity
Floral fragrances can be split into two types; heavy (like rose and lavender) or light (such as gardenia, jasmine and lilac)
Fresh
Green
A distinctive natural scent with leaf, grass and herby aromas. Ingredients may include bay leaf, wheat grass, bamboo and green tea
Spicy
Sweet
Floral fragrances can be split into two types; heavy (like rose and lavender) or light (such as gardenia, jasmine and lilac)
Mood
Smell is one of the most powerful triggers for our memory and particular scents can take us back to childhood or a happy point in life. Certain ingredients and aromas can help us if we’re feeling anxious, stressed, or in need of relaxation or a burst of energy.
Calming
Aromas containing extracts of lavender, sage, bamboo, vanilla and tea are great for promoting a comforting, calming and relaxing environment; perfect if you want to unwind after a hard day’s work.
Relaxing
Fragrances containing extracts of ylang-ylang, patchouli, sage, bergamot and camomile are great for soothing, relaxing and restorative environments, creating a feeling of well-being before going to sleep.
Invigorating
Scents containing extracts of orange, lemon, grapefruit, mint and moss are great for uplifting your mood – ideal if you want to enhance your concentration, or need extra energy in the morning.
Romantic
Aromas containing extracts of tuberose, chocolate, jasmine, amber and patchouli are the perfect choice for creating romantic ambience.
Season
You can update your home based on the season.
- Reflect the arrival of spring with fresh and green tones, such as linen and lemongrass
- In the summer months, you can keep fresh notes but introduce citrus fruits, like grapefruit, and add light floral tones for a bright atmosphere
- Autumn is a time for the more fruity fragrances, such as the deep scent of fig, and spicy aromas like ginger
- Winter is the perfect time for sweet and spicy scents, bringing cinnamon and frangipani into the home. Heavy floral scents add warmth and homeliness
Location
The room you’re looking to fragrance may play a part in your selection.
- We wouldn’t recommend a strong fragrance in a room where you spend a lot of time, or in a dining room
- If you place a strongly-scented diffuser in the hallway, it will send fragrance throughout your home, leaving a lighter aroma in every room
- Bathrooms benefit from ozonic aromas, with clean and fresh tones
- Light floral fragrances are perfect for the bedroom
- For the kitchen, we recommend green and herby scents that don’t conflict with your cooking
- Using a woody aroma such as sandalwood in a living room has a clean and cosy sense
Fragrance notes
Top
The initial scent that that’s perceived immediately – they’re light and radiant.
Heart
Sitting at the centre, it’s the core of the fragrance and is detectable after the top notes have developed.
Base
The depth and richness to the fragrance, it’s what lingers longer in the air and is last to develop. This is where the bolder notes come into play.
Top Tips
- To maximise your candle’s burn time, always allow it to become molten across the entire surface before extinguishing the flame: this prevents tunnelling.
- Trim your candle's wick to just below 1cm before lighting, and in between burns. To prevent sooting, ensure the excess wick does not fall back into the molten wax.
- Instead of blowing out your candle, snuff it to prevent the wick from smouldering and leaving a smoky scent.
- When your candle is not in use, store in a cool dry place and cover with a candle lid to protect the wax from dust.
- For a diffuser, make sure you use the correct number of reeds, depending on your room and fragrance.
- For a heavily-scented diffuser, or in a small room such as a bathroom, use around 5 sticks. For lighter aromas and bigger rooms use reeds accordingly, add and subtract until you get the right strength.
- Warmer rooms will diffuse faster, so if you want to get an instant hit of scent, place your diffuser on top of a covered radiator. Refresh your fragrance quickly by turning over the reeds.
Care info
Don’t save candles for special occasions, as over time the fragrance becomes weaker and can sweat out. When storing them, don’t leave them in too warm or too cold a place, and clean dust off with a baby wipe.
When you buy a refill oil, make sure you change your reeds, as old ones will be clogged with the oil from your last diffuser.