The smell of Christmas is in the air—or is it? If you’re hard-pressed to find a signature scent that goes along with your holiday festivities, we’ve got some local ‘tis-the-season scents you’ll want to check out.
First up, from owner E.J. Wood’s local Untamed Supply collection—which she says “captures nature’s pheromones”—comes Blue Spruce. ($12 and up.) “It’s fresh and invigorating. This scent perfectly captures the scent of an old-growth forest. Perfect all winter long and even beyond if you ask us trail nerds.” (We found it earthy and bright. 5 out of 5 flames.)
Next? From local candle conglomerate Pickwick comes Fraser Fir. ($22.50 and up.) It’s the “perfect smell of Christmas,” says interior designer Sara Noble, who knows a thing or two about spicing up a room. “Not only does it smell good when you open up the candle, but it’s my favorite candle that actually burns to fill the room with just the right amount of aroma.” (We find it outdoorsy and harmonious. 4 out of 5 flames.)
Can’t be bothered to have just one lovely holiday aroma permeating your house? May we suggest a pilgrimage to Trapp & Company, which has just unleashed six different signature holiday scents, sprays and wax melts. You could have a different scent for each room. (Buy four, get one free, $119.) Our fave? Lemon Sugar Cookie. No, wait! It’s Golden Cypress! Oh, bollocks—just sign us up for the whole lot. (For sheer variety—5 out 5 flames.)
Want some sparkle with your candle? Brookside’s 5B&Co’s Plaza Lights offers up an “artful blend of ripe holly berry with warm notes of vanilla,” says owner Lori Woods. ($10 – $28) “It might be the name or the great container it comes in—but the scent itself is lovely. We love to top it with sprinkles of sugared glass to enhance the nostalgia of the Plaza Lights.” Even better? 5B&Co partnered with Emily Bordner of EB and Co. to create the beautiful container. (Bonus points for making us reminisce—4.5 out of 5 flames)
Embers Candle Bar in Lee’s Summit is famous for letting you create (or recreate) your fave candle scent. This build-a-candle workshop has several seasonal aromas Santa might find appealing including Spiced Orange and Cranberry, but owner Shara Derks says her favorite holiday scent is Fraser Fir. ($12 and up.) “We have yet to find something it doesn’t blend well with,” she says. Plus, local artist Katie Minion created the fab Plaza Lights artwork on the holiday-riffic candle jar. (We love mixing and matching! 4 out of 5 flames)
A toast to Ursula Terrasi’s candle line, Sempre Beve, and its festive Champagna candle, which smells just like Christmas. ($18 and up.) Available at Terrasi Living & Scandia Home, the posh sand-etched glass candle holder doubles as a chic wineglass when the candle is finished. And if you really love it, the scent is also is available as liquid soap, hand lotion, and “on the rocks” in chunky, scented Himalayan salt crystals. (We raise our glass and say cheers to that and this seasonal fragrance. 5 out of 5 flames)
What better way to celebrate Christmas with family and friends than with Weston Bend Candle Company’s Bayberry candle! “Given as a gift, these beautiful bayberry-scented candles promise health and wealth if burned on Christmas Eve,” say owners Angie Vasquez and Jeff King. “As the traditional poem so beautifully explains: ‘This bayberry candle is a gift from a friend. On Christmas Eve, burn it down to the end. A bayberry candle burnt down to the socket, brings health to the home and wealth to the pocket!” (Catchy, eh? Count us in! 4 out of 5 flames)
We’ve saved the biggest for last. Stacey McCowen of Candle Queen Candles in Leavenworth says her fave scent this year is her hand-poured Candy Cane. “If you could wrap up all the memories of Christmas—and flashbacks of Santa at the mall when you were a little tyke—what would the scent be? Candy Cane!” she says. With ten different sizes, you can spend $1 on a wax melt or $85 on Candle Queen’s whopping 4-wick, 10 lb. Big Mama candle. That way it can smell like the holidays until, say, Easter. (Pretty and festive. And bigger is better! 5 out of 5 flames.)