After the electric light bulb arrived in 1879, candles gradually lost their job as lighting and became something people buy for the smell. So a candle gift works when its scent suits both the person and the room where it will burn.
The National Candle Association's account runs from Roman wicks of papyrus dipped in tallow or beeswax, through spermaceti from the 18th-century whaling trade and paraffin in the 1850s, to a long slump after the bulb. Interest came back in the 1980s, when candles were sold as decoration and gifts, and soy wax arrived in the 1990s.
That revival made candles one of the easiest gifts to give. Among candle buyers surveyed by the association, 76% see a candle as right for the holidays and 66% as a hostess gift, and about 35% of all candle sales happen in the Christmas season, per its facts and figures page.
The same page says fragrance is "by far the most important characteristic" in a candle purchase, and that more than 10,000 scents are on sale in the US. That's a lot to choose from.
Which room will the candle burn in?
Picture the room first, then the scent. The association's survey found the living room is where people burn candles most (42%), then the kitchen (18%), then the bedroom (13%). Most candle gifts end up on a side table or a mantel in a shared space, so choose a scent the whole household can live with, not one that suits only the person unwrapping it.
Lavender candles are often sold for the bedroom, but the U.S. Fire Administration's guidance is plain: "Don't use lit candles in bedrooms, bathrooms and sleeping areas," and blow them out when you go to bed. If you're choosing a lavender candle, give it for the living room.
| Room | What suits it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Living room | A floral or a fuller scent | The largest space, where candles burn longest |
| Kitchen | A citrus or herbal scent | Clears cooking smells between meals; burn it when you're not cooking |
| Dining table | Unscented | Scent competes with the food |
| Entry or hall | A light floral | The first thing a guest smells |
| Bedroom or bath | No lit candle | The Fire Administration advises against it |
Why the dining table is the wrong place for scent
A scented candle on the table competes with the meal. Tasting Table's case against scented candles at dinner parties is that they "can detract from the aroma of the food," and it suggests plain white unscented candles on the table with any scented ones moved elsewhere.
For a host who entertains a lot, a scented candle still makes sense in the next room.
Match the scent to the season it arrives in
Give a candle that says something about when it was given. With about a third of candle sales falling in the holiday season, December gifts tend toward the same few spice and evergreen scents, and a floral stands apart from them.
Orange blossom is a spring scent where we are. The groves around Redlands and Riverside bloom each spring. Lit in January, it's a reminder that bloom is a few months off. Our California Garden Candle is sold on its own in Orange Blossom and in California Rose, a nostalgic floral inspired by the heirloom roses of Redlands, with hints of Turkish Delight and the Cécile Brunner rose. If you've never smelled the real flower, our post on what orange blossom actually smells like describes it.
Read the person, not the candle aisle
The surest clue is what someone already wears or grows. A person who wears an orange blossom perfume, keeps roses, or has lavender along the path has told you their scent. Choose the candle to match, or pair the two: our Citrus Lovers Gift Flight puts the Orange Blossom candle with the eau de parfum and four citrus lip balms, and the Lavender Lovers Gift Flight is the only way to get our California Lavender cloche candle, packed with the California Lavender eau de parfum and four lavender lip balms.
If you know nothing about their taste, we'd skip anything that smells of dessert, since a vanilla or cookie candle has to share the air with whatever that household is actually cooking, and choose a single flower instead. When someone in the house dislikes fragrance altogether, no scent will fix it, and a jar of something to eat is the better present.
How long does a candle gift last?
Our 11 oz soy candle is rated for about 60 hours or more if the wick is trimmed between burns. About three-quarters of candle users burn a candle for 4 hours or less at a sitting, per the NCA survey, so 60 hours covers at least 15 evenings, and more for anyone who burns it an hour or two at a time. The candle sits under a vintage-style glass cloche that can be kept and reused once the wax is gone, and it ships in a fitted box that we drop- and toss-test for shipping. Wherever it ends up, the Fire Administration's spacing applies: keep it at least 12 inches from anything that can burn.
Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash.
