Best scented candles UK 2024 – 12 fragrant buys to transform your home

Impress guests with one of the best candles for spring and summer, as tested by the Ideal Home team

The White Company Amalfi Lemon Candle
(Image credit: The White Company)

If you are searching for the best candle to burn this summer – and even beyond – then we can help. The Ideal Home team have been spending their time trying and testing candles at home, to report on all of the best candles that are worth your money. Oh, and we've listed one top pick from each scent group, from ozonic to herbal, floral to fruity and even spicy and woody candles.

Exactly what makes a good candle, you ask? We say that it's a combination of scent, the candle's ability to fragrance a room, how clean it burns and also we can't forget about looks. Because we all know that candles add a design element and a feeling of luxury to our homes, whether placed in the middle of a coffee table or nestled on open shelving.

Burning one of the best home fragrance buys in your home will ensure that your living room, dining area, bedroom or even hallway or kitchen, smells as nice as it looks. Yes, candles are an easy way to mask home smells, whether that be from cooking or a wet dog walk. As well as looking lovely – and luxurious – the majority of candles you buy are also safe to use around pets, just be sure to light them out of reach of children. Otherwise, if you're searching for something a little safer to emit fragrance, and without the use of a flame, then a reed diffuser is a great alternative.

What are you waiting for? These incredible candles below will turn heads – and take your home from medial to magnificent.

Our favourite candles in January2024

The best candles UK 2024

How we tested the best candles

Yep, the Ideal Home team have tested every candle you can find in this guide for up to two weeks, trying them out at home in order to get a picture of their value for money, longevity and all-important scent. We're also always in the process of testing the newest releases and fan favourites so that we can keep this guide up to date.

Read our page for more information on how we test products at Ideal Home, and keep scrolling to find out more about our expert testers.

Molly Cleary
Molly Cleary

Molly is the Ecommerce Editor for Ideal Home, with the fortunate job of testing all of our home fragrance guides, as well as appliances spanning cleaning and cooking. 

She has tested a range of reed diffusers in her two-bed flat in London, popping a candle in each room to see how they can change a space. 

FAQs

Why choose a candle over a reed diffuser?

Candles, as well as smelling lovely, also have the ability to create a calm atmosphere. They also look great on display. Choosing a candle over a reed diffuser or room spray is all down to personal preference. A candle will take longer than a reed diffuser to release scent, and it needs to be lit and blown out by you in order to work. Whilst a reed diffuser sits there and does the work itself, with only the need to occasionally flip the reeds. You can't control how much scent is released with a candle, but you can with reed diffusers and room sprays.

How can I look after my candle?

Unfortunately, it's not as easy as just lighting your candle, blowing it out, lighting it again and so on. In fact, to ensure that your candle burns to perfection, there are some things you will need to watch out for – and a few items that you will need to buy. Get yourself a candle care kit if you're burning candles that are high-quality.

You'll want to use a wick trimmer to trim your wick when it gets too long – the average wick length should be a quarter of an inch.

Using a candle snubber to extinguish your candle will ensure you don't blow any wax out of the jar, or inside and around the jar, to ensure a clean burn from start to finish.

Lighting your candle until the melted wax reaches the corner of your jar should ensure your candle doesn't tunnel. Never light a candle for 10 minutes and blow it out.

Use some tweezers – or a candle dipper – to delicately move your wick if it starts leaning to one side. If you don't do this, your wick could end up underneath the wax making it more or less impossible to light your candle ever again.

Molly Cleary
Ecommerce Editor

After writing for all of Future's Homes titles, Molly is now an Ecommerce Editor at Ideal Home, working across a range of shopping content to find the best buys for your space. Previously, she was the Staff Writer at TopTenReviews, another Future site, where she covered home content, which to a US audience is anything from turkey fryers to ride-on lawn mowers. Now, she spends her time writing reviews of appliances she’s tested at home and at our testing facility (we're talking air fryers, vacuums, dehumidifiers and more!), as well as curating buying guides. She's a certified Consumer Expert for several product categories after passing a five-step program including hands-on experience, consumer interviews and extensive research into her specialist areas including kitchen appliances and vacuums.