Heaven scent

Think of your home like your wardrobe. And you wouldn’t get dressed without adding an accessory or two right? Well, the same approach applies to décor: add something extra and your home gets an instant style boost.

Fragrance is the final touch to a gorgeous outfit and is also the final touch in creating a pretty lovely pad. But apart from just being a scented accessory, home fragrance is also seriously good for your mood. Inviting the girls over for brunch? Light a zesty-smelling candle to infuse the morning with freshness. Got dinner all prepped for him at home? Add some romantic vanilla-scented candles to the mix.

So, bin your boring unscented candles and treat yourself to something fabulously fragranced. Here are our top picks:

Everyday easy-breezy

The words Jo Malone and lime, basil, mandarin go hand-in-hand. It’s the brand’s most famous scent and it’s both uplifting and aromatic. Ok, so it’s a treat candle (with a price tag of R655 for the Home Candle) but it’s a good all-rounder. It works beautifully to fragrance a dinner party and just as well as a scented accompaniment to a relaxing, hot bath. It’s also a great summer fragrance, so we suggest you add this one to your wish list this festive season. You’ll have a real happy holiday, we promise!

Date night

Commonly found in the base notes of popular perfumes, vanilla can be described as a gourmand scent – a foodie fragrance that reminds you (and him) of delicious sweet treats. It’s a no-brainer that it adds a certain sexiness to cosy nights in. We recommend you get your hands on Charlotte Rhys’s Perfumed Candle in Vanilla, R306.90 for the boxed 340g large slow-burn candle. And if you’re wondering whether to get your bestie undies or something else for her hen night, go for a scent candle instead. Charlotte Rhys also sells 200g candles, R201.85, with silver lids available in all their candle fragrances.

Weekend beauty treat

We love a hard-working beauty product and a scented candle that doubles up as a body treatment gets our seal of approval. Welcome to the indulgent world of massage candles. These little beauts contain cosmetic ingredients that make them excellent body moisturisers offering anti-ageing benefits and a massage oil alternative. A true massage candle will melt at just over body temperature; so much like a hot bath, they are comfortably warm, but not hot.

Try the Spa-Valous Body Massage Candle, R180, made from the finest 100% biodegradable, toxin-free, natural soy wax, derived from easily renewable soybeans. And think of it as a scented candle that masquerades as a body lotion. It’s laced with skin-nourishing ingredients such as cosmetic-grade soy oil, shea and cocoa butters, and vtamin E.

• Find a Jo Malone store here.
• Find a Charlotte Rhys stockist here.
• Spa-Valous Body Massage Candles are available at selected beauty salons nationwide or call 011 440 5643 for stockists.

Other articles you may be interested in:
Rejuvination Moisturising Soy Candle
Body Massage Candle
Uplifting Soy Wax Candle