Please help me understand - why are scented candles SO expensive?

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Just that really. I’ve been sent an ad from an ordinary brand advertising their new scented candle. Standard size, £75.

i mean, do these companies not know what else I could buy with £75?

Just seems a lot.

They're quite literally setting fire to their money! 🤣

I can sadly confirm that the Lidl Luxury Collection candles at £3.49 are not any good. Bought the mandarin and cedarwood one the other day- I sniffed the top and it smelt of cedarwood, but that didn't come through at all once burning, just a sickly sweet smell. Oh well.

Local small businesses, church shops, and Etsy are good shouts. They also are not hard to make.

I don't care what anyone says you can most definitely tell the difference between an expensive scented candle and a cheap one! The cheap ones smell awful or the scent doesn't last 5 minutes!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good

These are lovely and cheaper not because they're low quality but because small businesses don't have the costs of big ones https://www.applecrosscandleco.co.uk/shop

This one is Christmassy! https://www.clydecandles.co.uk/products/frankincense-myrrh-candle-tin

There are others I've been lucky with but can't remember makers.

Can anyone recommend any great candles actually worth paying a bit more for but for example still under 40 pounds ? There got to be some good ones in between lidl and Jo Malone, right ?

Bath and body works - they are now sold at Next
the scents are amazing

https://www.johnlewis.com/skandinavisk-skog-two-wick-scented-candle-400g/p5609686?sppc=2dxxmixedhomeeBAU&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gadsource=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1vDZvpnpggMVjfftCh2hiAPtEAQYASABEgJ06vDD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

These are lovely if you want a Christmas one

Arran candles, good for hygge https://arran.com/collections/candles?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA35urBhDCARIsAOU7QwkIdwXoMC0MpPKBTwrHsvt6nWJuAh6BJpwGBzMH64cJxvLo6bneaxgaAmb6EALw_wcB

Neom are good especially the Christmas ones
Botanical candle company
Bearded candle makers
Seven seventeen (usually offers on too)

@ChristmasTree2023 I personally love Neom candles, especially the three wick versions. The Christmas Wish fragrance is lovely at this time of year but my absolute favourite is the Make Me Happy candle (mimosa and jasmine, I think?). They’re £50 each but I absolutely never pay that as there are always good offers on the Neom website or via QVC - I actually stumbled across a 3-for-2 deal on Amazon, whereby they were initially reduced individually to £31 and then there was a 10 per cent off immediate discount voucher. Essentially, I got three Neom three wick candles in my favourite fragrance for just over the price of one.

By the Fireside by Replica is the queen of scented candles imo … nothing else comes close!

https://www.my-origines.com/gb/fireplace-59L94033.html

They really are good aren't they. I have one burning regularly. I too get a fancy one for Christmas, this year I've bought Woodwick Frasier Fir. It smells just like a Christmas tree plus the added benefit of the crackling wick.

Yep.

Fantastic suggestions thank you all! I was lucky to grab neom one in tk maxx last week but definitely looking into purchasing a few more and trying some new brands .

I used to have a concept store (not quite as bad as Hygge Tygge!) and I wanted to add own brand candles to the offering, so priced it up, and they're SO EXPENSIVE to make! By the time you've got the high quality materials and packaging you're already looking at an insane cost per unit and that's before you get into the oils.

In the end I just stocked True Grace Sacristy and Library, which made the office smell divine anyway, which secretly was probably all I was actually looking for in the first place. 😂

No wonder the M&S ones (which are nice, but don't give off that much scent) are made in China. In fact, even that proves my point - the M&S ones are less than half the price of the White Company ones, but you can tell straight off when you actually light them, how much less actual fragrance there is - quality essential oils seem to be a huge chunk of the manufacturing cost.

Haven’t got time to rtft so likely someone has said already - but along with the skill and experimentation necessary to understand how each oil behaves when warmed, most of the cheap makers dont use oil at all, they use chemical scents. So its like comparing an E number/ UPF vanilla cake with a homemade one made with pure vanilla extract.

I can’t imagine that the chemical scents are good from a health point of view - and there was a study recently that said that candle burning in general was associated with an increase in respiratory problems because of airborne particulates. (Sorry)

These are the expensive ones I love

boujeebougies.com

I use them occasionally but yes they are too expensive.

I like St Evan’s scented candles.

and there was a study recently that said that candle burning in general was associated with an increase in respiratory problems because of airborne particulates. (Sorry)

DH used to like a scented candle in the bathroom, until I showed him how filthy the soot made the tiling. I'm inclined to think essential oil diffusers are a much better idea.

I would love to know, if anyone here does, how you replicate the feu du bois scent (which is my favourite too).
Lavender etc is easy but this...not so much.

I have a diptyque one. Bought in a charity shop unused but with no box for £1. It smells lovely. I've never lit it.

I've tried so many! St Eval doesn't smell like it ( think it's called bonfire of something like that) I bought some essential oil from Nikuku- nothing like.

I've just bought the Muji ones. They're only £5.99 so worth a punt.

My other favourite was Noel by Crabtree and Evelyn, now discontinued. Again, there is absolutely nothing that smells the same. I just forked out £32 on one that's supposed to be the same but it's not.