These are the best candles for modern men
Burnouts, be damned! This winter, we're taking a breath, striking a match and relaxing with the most calming candles money can buy...
Words: Jonathan Wells
Photography: Sam Hofman
Feel like you might be burning out? Light a candle. You’ll find that the world is a less stressful place when it’s bathed in the glow of a gentle, scented flame. Simple-but-effective, these humble home accessories bring wax and wick together to help us rest up, wind down and mellow out. They’re a soothing, twinkling balm to working week worries — and who couldn’t use one of those?
Some come in handsome, handcrafted vessels. Others are cut or cast in solid wax. But all are worthy investments for bedrooms, bathrooms and bachelor pads alike. And the scents! Whether subtly perfumed or bursting with big, potent notes, the calming aromas are the real appeal of these candles. So take a breath, strike a match and relax with a calming candle this winter. Burnouts, be damned.
Penhaligon’s ‘Anbar Stone’ Candle
First up; Penhaligon’s. The royal warrant holder has delivered an affordable option, poured into a handsome brown jar and brimming with sweet, spicy notes of cinnamon, honey and amber. It’s the perfect choice for a cosy evening — and a living space mainstay from the first flurries of autumn to the last frosty moments of winter.
Creed ‘Aventus’ Candle
The House of Creed has converted its best-selling Aventus aftershave into a masculine-charged candle. If that dark, mysterious vessel wasn’t enticing enough, its heady notes of peppercorns, oak moss, musk and the rare ambergris should do the trick. It also comes with a neat lid — to extinguish the flame without unsightly blown wax or harmful smoke.
Loewe ‘Scent of Marihuana’ Candle
Now for something a little different. Not only has Spanish fashion label Loewe presented its ‘marihuana’ wax blend in a huge glazed earthenware pot — that’s multiple wicks’ work — but they’ve also infused the vegetable wax with the deeply relaxing and herbal smell of ‘Cannabis Sativa’.
Diptyque ‘Opopanax ‘Candle
French fragrance house Diptyque offers up a candle created using ‘opoponax’, a cousin of the soothing resin myrrh. It’s an ingredient that was once widely used as both a perfume and a remedy — and its restorative effects are on full display here. It may be one of the cheaper candles on this list, but its enveloping, balmy, delicately vanilla scent makes it a worthy addition to your home.
Floris ‘Cinnamon & Tangerine’ Scented Candle
This is a candle blended by fragrance royalty. Floris has drawn on its redolent heritage to conjure up a candle with hints of orange and tangerine, infused with the warmth of a rich spice blend of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg — and finished with a dusting of crushed black peppers. It’s even got a suitably regal gold lid.
Acqua di Parma Black Cube Candle
Italian brand Acqua di Parma has perhaps the boldest of all the candles; a standalone cube embossed with the brand logo and guaranteed to have 60 hours of burn time. It’s big, it’s jet black and it’ll blend seamlessly into any room in any home. Once lit, it’ll gently release the sweet scent of amber — a blend of labdanum, styrax and patchouli fragrances.
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