These are the best candles for autumn to burn in your home

It’s currently pouring outside, and for the first time this year, it feels like Autumn in Sydney. Coincidently, it’s also the best season to buy and burn candles.

The candle you burn actually says a lot about you: there are those of us who want our space to smell like freshly-baked goods, those who want the olfactory experience of clean laundry, or maybe you preference a fragrance that’s woods-y, smoky, or recreate the sweetness that follows a summer storm.

Whatever you choose, the right candle should feel warming, ambient and feel like the smell of ‘some place you’d rather be’.

From log fires to sun-drunk Italian holidays, we’ve got one for every mood, taste and desire below.

 

Like a house upstate

Try: Byredo Tree House

 

This is my all time favourite home smell. It’s green and sweet, a little bit smoky. Cosy but somehow clean. I love the way it suits all seasons, but the blonde woods and leather base render it perfect for Autumn.

 

Like a Nancy Meyers film

Try: Jo Malone London English Pear and Freesia

This is classic, ripe and very British. The pear accord is freakishly close to an actual pear: juicy, fresh, very crisp. It’s impossible to have the trans-seasonal blues with this sweet in the air.

 

Like freshly cut roses

Try: Aerin Rose de Grasse

 

Romantic but beautifully light, Aerin’s Rose de Grasse is true to its namesake. It’s very much a floral — sweet, girly, classic. It’s a grown up candle with timeless appeal.

 

Like a forest

Try: Diptyque Temple des Mousses

Made up of moss, matcha and cedar, Temple des Mousses smells green, unspoilt and very zen. Pure and weightless, it’s sure to appeal to anyone with an Akari lamp in their home (or their 1st dibs wish list).

 

Like cottage-core

Try: Editions de Parfums By Frédéric Malle Candle Country Home Scented

 

I love the straight-forwardness of this candle. According to Frederic Malle, it smells like a crackling log fire, fir trees and and expensive antique furniture. It’s comforting and warm — an escape from the weather outside (whatever it may be).

 

Like Christmas in July

Try: Trudon Fir Astral

Christmas is technically in December, but who am I to deny those who love clove, spice and pine year-round?  Trudon’s take on Christmas is the most sophisticated I’ve found: it’s not manufactured or sweet, but instead marries myrrh, incense and Siberian pine. Just add Ella Fitzgerald and some mulled wine.

 

Like a dimly-lit dive bar bar

Try: Celine Illuminations

 

If you want clean and fresh, move along, But if you want smoky grunge, Illuminations is for you. Inspired by the late-night music scene in California, this smells rich, warm and smooth like velvet. It has a smoky, incense-y thing going on that’s sexy and alluring.

 

Like you’re meditating

Try: Tom Ford Ébène Fumé

If you like to sage, or feel comforted by the ritual of palo santo, Ébène Fumé was made for your space. It’s leathery, peppery, smoky and seductive.

 

Like you’re about to have your tarot read

Try: Vyrao Witchy

Energetically charged, Witchy is an esoteric mix of Moroccan orris, thorny rose and frankincense. Inspired by the idea of a higher power, it’s enchanting and a little bit woo-woo. Burn it when you want to feel inspired or in tune.

 

Like a storm just passed

Try: Byredo Summer Rain

 

This smells like petrichour, or the way everything is damp and sweet after rain. Not rain on hot concrete, but the rain that clings to a leaf, before seeping into the soil. Initially it’s quite fresh — spearmint, basil — but a tonka base wraps you up.

 

Like a cafe in Copenhagen

Try: DS & Dura Breakfast Leipzig

This is creamy, milky, laced with cinnamon. I love the softness — it’s like coffee, a cigarette, sheets of warm paper and baked goods.

 

Like Timothée in Call Me By Your Name

Try: Maison Margiela Replica From The Garden

If a sun-warmed, vine-ripened, super sweet tomato was turned into a candle, this would be it. It’s sweet, fleshy and delightfully nostalgic. One to bring the warmth while the weather cools.

 

Like a farmer’s market

Try: Flamingo Estate Roma Heirloom Tomato Candle

Another tomato candle, but Richard Christiansen’s version is more aromatic. It’s green, herbaceous, vegetal, even. While not a typical ‘home’ smell, it’s warm, delicious and strangely addictive.