The Best-Smelling Candles for Every Kind of Mood

Over the last few years, Boy Smells' candles have become a mainstay of cooler-than-thou environments: The young L.A. brand has made a name for itself hawking unique-smelling candles wrapped in the type of immediately identifiable packaging that happens to look great on the 'gram. A certain degree of ubiquity (even in all the right places) does not always a quality product make, but the brand's beeswax-blended Kush candle more than lives up to the hype. It mixes notes of white musk, amber and—you guessed it—weed in a formula that'll have your place smelling like a newly-annointed hot spot in the cultural capital of your choice.

Let this serve as a PSA to any newfangled candle upstarts hawking an intoxicating scent made by experts in the field: Diptyque walked so all of you could run. The legendary Parisian fragrance operation has been churning out quality candles since the early '60s, and after all these years ol' faithful still has plenty of pep in its stride. The brand's Baies candle—an aromatic blend of blackcurrant berries and flowery accents—might be the most famous in its extensive repertoire, and if you're on the hunt for a foolproof scented candle you'll never get tired of sniffing it's hard to top this one.

It doesn't matter how many times you've blasted "Deck The Halls" at ear-shattering decibels—the holiday season hasn't officially started until it smells like Christmas. We've called Ralph Lauren's classic candle the Bentley of its genre in the past, and we're sticking by the honorific today. The reigning king of all things Americana uses a warm mix of evergreen, red currant, and juniper berry to get those holiday juices flowing in earnest, and then wraps it all in the type of sleek translucent glass holder (and even handsomer tartan box) you'd expect from a preeminent master of the lifestyle brand. Light it up now to kick off the holiday season with finesse.

Maude's cult-loved candle kills two birds with one very sultry stone. It'll help set the mood via warm notes of amber, cedar leaf, and lemongrass, and then when things are heating up (literally and metaphorically) its oil base means it can be poured or massaged directly onto the skin. Let the candle burn for ten minutes or so to allow a sufficient amount of oil to form, gently blow out the flame, and voila: your evening at home is about to get a whole lot more interesting.

Inspired by the smells of Cape Spartel in Tangier, Aesop's latest home fragrance incorporates sugar, spice, and everything nice (read: cardamom, mimosa, and tobacco) to help transform your dreary apartment into a scenic port city on the edge of Morocco.

An OG formulation that delivers on all the factors you look for in a classically masculine scent—think wood, leather, smoke, and musk—without overdoing it on the raw machismo.

Ahoy there, matey. Looking for a candle infused with the unmistakable scent of the bay rum favored by famously boozed-up sailors of yore? You're in luck: Malin+Goetz makes it. The brand's dark rum candle incorporates hints of plum, bergamot, and creamy milk to sweeten the otherwise spicy fragrance—an alluring blend that manages to balance its namesake's warmth with a welcome dose of freshness. (Treasure map very much sold separately.)

So the closest thing you've got to a study is a single, overstuffed bookcase piled high with the kind of useless miscellanea Marie Kondo has nightmares about. Fret not. Byredo's signature scent will help your home smell like the type of place that's hiding a mahogany-lined library brimming with rare first editions thanks to touches of peach, plum, vanille, and a strong undercurrent of patchouli.

Lockwood's minty-fresh soy candle is poured from non-toxic, bio degradable wax and includes a specially-treated cotton wick that ensures an even burn. (The handblown glass tumbler doesn't hurt, either.)

The latest candle from Acqua di Parma harnesses the early-morning smells of the Bel Paese—hints of lemon, jasmine, and cedarwood—to help conjure up potent images of the Italian countryside at its most picturesque.

Hand-poured in New York and formulated with a warm blend of neroli and fresh jasmine—all in a handsome glass jar you should definitely reuse.

Writing for this very magazine in 2017, Caity Weaver penned the definitive ode to Bath & Body Works' surprisingly subtle candle. (A taste: "As you recline, swaddled in its cozy scent, allow your mind to sift through the various permutations of mental image its riddlesome name is attempting to summon: A comfortably wealthy marshmallow settling down by the magnificent fireplace of its drafty mansion; a hearth crafted entirely of poofy marshmallows in a suburban home otherwise composed of standard building materials; a sticky, blackened lump, plummeting heartbreakingly to earth in the glow of a friendly campfire after stretching past its maximum tensile capacity and melting off the stick on which it had been recently impaled.") What was true then is true now: the beguilingly-named mass-market candle smells as evocative as it sounds.

L.A.-based Charlot Roman is obsessed with the transportive power of film. Each of the brand's locally-made candles are directly inspired by a cinematic classic, in this case Federico Fellini's early '60s epic 8 ½, shot almost entirely in an idyllic retreat outside of Rome. With hits of Italian citrus and fresh eucalyptus, it'll saturate your space with the main character energy of Marcello Mastroianni every time you light it up.

Forget cocoa puffs: Mar Mar's Moon Beach candle will make you cuckoo for coconuts. (And the occasional hint of vanilla.)

Wary Meyers' candle might be poured by hand in Maine, but it takes its fragrant cues from the intoxicating blend of scents distinct to the mediterranean, including herbal cassis, pink grapefruit, and wild celery. Let this soy wax puppy rip and you're three-fourths of the way to a delicious salad—and a living room that smells like an Aegean bed and breakfast.

Small-batch soy wax that'll get your senses tingling—and keep the bugs away—with a heady mix of herbal camphor and ho wood.

Mrs. Meyer's ridiculously long-lasting eco-friendly candle is what happens when you bottle the reinvigorating powers of a glass of fresh lemonade and then throw a wick in it. It's citrusy but not overly so, and boasts a hefty burn time.

You know those days in the dead of winter when you'd give anything for one more perfect summer afternoon? Light this baby up and you're halfway there.

Along with a grip of cold-weather goodies, our latest Best Stuff Box also happens to include one of our all-time favorite candles courtesy of the SoCal scent experts at Makers of Wax. It's no exaggeration to say the brand's sandalwood musk candle is a perennial crowd-pleaser—right now, it's entirely sold out everywhere you look. Except here. Because for our Winter Box, we convinced ’em to bring the candle back exclusively for our members. Subscribe now and you can snag the veritable home goods grail—and a slew of menswear essentials and top-tier grooming products—for only 50 bucks a pop.