A scented candle is the answer to all your holiday season woes, says All Ages model David Yang
Having recently moved to New York for work for a few months, I find any quick fix that will cheer up my temporary apartment and make it more homely very welcome indeed. Plus, it is a well-known fact that a scented candle is the answer to all your holiday-season woes: perfect for relaxing, escaping, gifting and re-gifting.
The White Company’s Signature Winter Candle (£20) has notes of cinnamon, clove and citrus, which instantly bring to mind reruns of Home Alone and boozy family dinners. Variations on this blend are a dime a dozen at this time of year, sure, but this one is well balanced and really fills a room.
The warm, intoxicating and addictive Diptyque Feu de Bois candle(from £26), meanwhile, transforms your living room into a cosy log cabin deep in the woods. Muji’s Feu de Bois candle (£4.95), on the other hand, is a much subtler affair – and at a fraction of the cost: lacking the potency and intensity of Diptyque’s more pronounced offering, this little brother is like the secondhand smoke drifting over from the cabin next door.
I have never been one to underestimate the power of scent and its nostalgic sensibilities, but Jo Malone’s English Oak & Redcurrant candle (£45) really did catch me off guard: musky, rosy, bright with redcurrant and mandarin, and hearty with roasted oak, this candle captures the crispness of winter mornings. This is the one I’ll be lighting until I fly home for Christmas.