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

[WeightWhat]

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.

Sorry, quoted the wrong person!

This is a lovely example of why you should always use your 'nice stuff'. Otherwise it ends up in a charity shop for a pound for someone else to enjoy without the mental 'baggage' attached.

All About Eve. Salcombe Bay is my favourite. £26

Or I like Sand and Fog and Villa Hermanos at TK Maxx.

A brand like diptyque for example will put a lot into developing their scents and will use expert noses to create it. But after that the price is about reflecting their brand, if it’s expensive it says high quality and they reach the luxury gift market. People really do like things more if they cost more.

Do not use essential oils in candles! Many become toxic when burned especially to pets.

If you want to DIY use fragrance oils from a reputable candle supplies store.

Daylesford do amazing scented candles which are fairly priced.

Totally agree

I'm surprised at everyone saying tk maxx. Ours has shelves full of beautiful candles but they all smell really bad.

I want to ask the same about diffusers!

Many are £10 at least for a tiny one.

@Mummypete & @Loubelle70 hope it's not cheeky to ask if You can recommend somewhere to buy materials to make candles at home?

I have a bottle of stuff to make diffuser when mixed with essential oils but haven't got round to doing that so not sure how quickly I'd get round to making candles 😬

It's very simple basic economics of supply and demand. Where there are people willing to pay stupid amounts for things, then the suppliers will ask stupid prices. They'd be crazy not to.

@buckeejit I’d recommend Candle Shack as they will sell smaller quantities of everything which is probably what you want for home making. Their Christmas fragrance oils are brilliant, Christmas Spice was always our bestseller if you like a rich festive scent.

Why is some perfume £5 and some £200?!? Lol

Love that!

I'd never spend that much on a candle for myself but have been bought Jo Malone, Diptyque, Neom, Penhaligons etc as gifts. I'm of course very grateful, BUT.

They're honestly not THAT good.

The best I've ever had have been AromaWorks bought in Sainsbury's/Boots and TK Maxx ones around £8 - the best being a DW brand one.

The nicest smelling ones I've had are St Eval basil one and Harvest eucalyptus leaf. It's not just the smell it's the clean burn you get (which, incidentally, I haven't found with neom ones). Soot shouldn't be coming off a marking your ceiling!

I'd love to have found a diptyque one for a pound in a charity shop. Good candles are expensive,

I agree that the Villa Hermanos candles are fantastic & the diffusers. Especially the grapefruit.

Quality candles last longer because beeswax etc burns for longer than cheap paraffin wax does. The scents are also more likely to be high quality and natural, not man-made chemicals. The best candle ever (especially for Christmas) is Rigaud Cypres.

I love Diptyque candles but the price increases mean I only buy them now in duty free or when I have a voucher. The fragrances are lovely but it's mad they use paraffin wax. I think the throw isn't as good as it used to be either but I hate synthetic fragrances so now they're a rare treat.

I have a quick glance in TK Maxx but the overpowering smell of ones that have gone off gives me the boak.

I made candles for a while to sell and as PPs have said, it costs a small fortune to do well.

There are pros and cons to paraffin wax as there are around the sustainability of some soy wax products. Some fragrance oils work better in one than the other.

Once you have factored in all the insurance, safety training etc etc etc on top of the wax, wicks, containers, packaging... it's hard to sell a good quality candle at a low price. Economy of scale means bigger companies can make more profit, that's obvious.

High end candles work with professional noses from perfume houses - the difference between a Cire Trudon candle and an Aldi JM dupe is like night and day.

Which is not to say the Aldi ones aren't perfectly nice. But in the same way that certain cheaper perfumes to me smell really synthetic and plasticky, a lot of cheap candles are the same.

For people wanting to make their own - Candle shack and Cosy Owl are both good but for God's sake use containers meant for candles - I see people making them in bloody martini glasses and wonder how their whole house hasn't already burned to the ground.

Crabtree and Evelyn Noel was my favorite too.
Shame it is gone.

Why not put proper essential oils in a burner (with tea light) and light plain candles? That was you’re not polluting your house and you hopefully shouldn’t get a headache.

I bought one from TK Maxx recently for about 4 or 5quid and it's divine.