The 10 Best Aromatherapy Candles of 2021

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lavender aromatherapy candle — Getty Images

Our Top Picks

Best Overall: Craft & Kin Candle at Amazon

"Made with soy wax and essential oils, it burns cleanly for hours and fills your home with the right amount of scent."

Best Natural: Lulu Candles Natura Belgium Lavender Candle at Amazon

"Genuinely clean, biodegradable, and filled with the aroma of authentic lavender."

Best Budget: Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Scented Soy Aromatherapy Candle at Amazon

"Made with cruelty-free, renewable ingredients like soy wax, vegetable wax, and cotton wicks, they're offered in signature scents."

Best Splurge: L'or de Seraphine Premium Scented Jar Candle at Amazon

"The ceramic container makes for a miniature piece of art while the candle itself gives off soothing and uplifting vibes."

Best Scent: Anecdote Candles Comfort Zone at anecdotecandles.com

"The epitome of serenity, with notes of cedarwood, coffee, orange blossom, vanilla, and patchouli."

Best for Smaller Rooms: Wild Beautiful Free Lavender and Vanilla Organic Aromatherapy Candle at Amazon

"Limited square footage calls for a slightly subtler candle, such as this lavender and vanilla blend."

Best for Larger Rooms: Klayre Essence Aromatherapy & Relaxation Candle at Amazon

"Premium fragrances are artfully blended to create its perfectly balanced sandalwood rose scent."

Best With Botanicals: New Moon Beginnings Peaceful Home Candle at Amazon

"This candle legitimately brings a sense of magic and positive energy into your sacred personal space."

Best Small Batch: Way Out West Aromatherapy Scented Candles at Amazon

"Fills your home with clean and soothing fragrances that linger well after you’ve blown the candle out."

Best Gift Set: Wax and Oils Soy Wax Aromatherapy Scented Candles at Amazon

"This customizable set allows you to give three perfectly paired scents in one recyclable box."

Aromatherapy candles have a special way of transforming the space in which we live—and it’s not all in our head. Although more research is needed, some studies suggest that aromatherapy—or the use of natural plant extracts to promote health and well-being—can be an effective way to alleviate depression symptoms, improve sleep quality, and reduce overall stress levels.

Each plant impacts the human body and its senses in different ways, but the right combinations of ingredients can provide true relief for those in need of relaxation and self-care.

As we all navigate significantly stressful and anxiety-inducing times, the least we can do for ourselves is bring clean aromatherapy candles into our homes. Go on—light that wick, settle into a cozy seat, and let the power of essential oils waft through the air.

Here are the best aromatherapy candles on the market.

Best Overall: Craft & Kin Candle

Craft & Kin makes 100% natural, hand-poured aromatherapy candles exclusively in the United States. Made with soy wax, a cotton wick, and essential oils, the candles burn cleanly for hours upon hours, filling your home with just the right amount of scent. They come in pretty amber-gold glasses that add a nice touch to any home decor. We are partial to the fresh linen scent, which gives off a clean laundry aroma, but you truly can’t go wrong with any of them.

Best Budget: Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Scented Soy Aromatherapy Candle

This popular cleaning product manufacturer offers candles in its signature scents. The candles are made with renewable ingredients—like soy wax, vegetable wax, and cotton wicks. Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day does not use essential oils due to their instability when produced in large batches, but it does use synthetic fragrances that are compliant with guidelines from the International Fragrance Association and the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials.

With a 35-hour burn time, these cruelty-free candles make for a nice addition to your home and leave you with a cute reusable glass jar.

What Our Editors Say

"My house smells like a relaxing spa whenever I light a Mrs. Meyer's candle. My favorite scent is lavender, which carries well throughout our small home. And the glass jars really do make great containers—I often use them for yogurt or other small, single-serving food storage." — Ashleigh Morley, Editorial Director of Verywell Mind Commerce

Best Natural: Lulu Candles Natura Belgium Lavender Candle

Nothing brings you into nature quite like the aroma of authentic lavender—and the knowledge that you’re burning a genuinely clean and biodegradable candle. This pick from Lulu Candles Natura line is made entirely of vegan soy wax, pure organic essential oils, and unbleached, lead-free cotton wicks.

Free of toxins, phthalates, paraffin, parabens, and dyes, this candle can help you stress less about the safety of your home and Zen out with the scent of soothing lavender.

Best Splurge: L'or de Seraphine Premium Scented Jar Candle

If you want to go all out with your aromatherapy candle collection, check out these premium scented jar candles from L'or de Seraphine. The ceramic container makes for a miniature piece of art in your home while the candle itself fills your space with just the right amount of scent.

The candle is made with a blend of sustainably sourced palm waxes, pure essential oils, and 100% organic cotton wicks. They are free of parabens and phthalates, and the largest candles have a burn time of 80 hours. Each one smells amazing, but we are partial to Fragrance No. 07, a soothing and uplifting blend of sea salt, violet, and vetiver.

Best Scent: Anecdote Candles Comfort Zone

Comfort Zone Anecdote Candles — Courtesy of Anecdote Candles

Add an extra dose of relaxation to your home with a candle from Anecdote. Their Comfort Zone Candle is the epitome of serenity with notes of cedarwood, coffee, orange blossom, vanilla, and patchouli. Described on the jar as "smells like the joy of missing out," this candle is the perfect scent for those cozy nights indoors.

All of Anecdote's candles are made with a blend of coconut and soy waxes, and they are free of additives and preservatives. Available in a 7.8-ounce standard jar or 3.4-ounce travel tin size, you can choose the right size for you. And since they offer a wide variety of unique scents, they make the perfect gifts for your loved ones.

Best for Smaller Rooms: Wild Beautiful Free Lavender and Vanilla Organic Aromatherapy Candle

Limited square footage calls for a slightly subtler candle, such as this lavender and vanilla blend from Wild Beautiful Free. Perfect for your bedside table or Zen office space, the candle is made with organic coconut wax, an organic cotton wick, and pure aromatherapy-grade lavender and vanilla essential oils.

What’s more, it’s hand-poured into a beautiful 24-karat-gold, elephant-stamped glass that can be reused once the candle is gone. Made in the United States, this 7.5-ounce candle has a burn time of 60 hours.

Best for Larger Rooms: Klayre Essence Aromatherapy & Relaxation Candle

Go big or go home, right? This 8-ounce Klayre Essence candle isn’t the largest on our list, but it easily fills your home with the most relaxing aroma. Its natural soy wax base is made from American-grown soybeans, and it uses eco-friendly cotton for the wick to burn for 40 hours.

Better yet, premium fragrances are artfully blended to create its perfectly balanced sandalwood rose scent. Handmade in the United States, the candle is vegan and cruelty-free, and it’s made without parabens or phthalates.

Best With Botanicals: New Moon Beginnings Peaceful Home Candle

If you are sensitive to the energy of your home, this New Moon Beginnings candle is the ideal pick for you. Made with natural eco-soy wax, therapeutic-grade essential oils, lead-free cotton wicks, homegrown organic herbs, and a careful curation of authentic crystals, this candle legitimately brings a sense of magic and positive energy into your sacred personal space.

The rosemary, eucalyptus, and mint scent combination instantly creates a calming and stress-relieving atmosphere.

Best Small Batch: Way Out West Aromatherapy Scented Candles

Love the mom-and-pop shop feel of certain candlemakers? Then you need to check out these fun finds from Way Out West Candles. Small-batch crafted for more than 30 years, these aromatherapy candles are made from a natural soy wax blend, pure essential oils, and lead-free cotton wicks. Each 17-ounce jar provides 60 hours of burn time, filling your home with clean and soothing fragrances that linger well after you’ve blown the candle out.

While there is a wide assortment of scents to choose from, you can’t go wrong with the classic Fields of Lavender aroma. Each jar makes for a kitschy piece of home decor that can be repurposed after the life of the original candle.

Best Gift Set: Wax and Oils Soy Wax Aromatherapy Scented Candles

Candles make excellent gifts for aromatherapy lovers, and this customizable set from Wax and Oils allows you to give three perfectly paired scents in one box. Each 8-ounce candle comes in a safe metal tin, and the candles themselves are made from non-GMO soy wax and pure cotton wicks.

The melting point of the wax ensures a clean, soot-free burn that lasts more than 20 hours per tin. We find the lavender, vanilla, and peppermint eucalyptus combination to be particularly soothing and a perfect gift for anyone in your life.

Final Verdict

While every candle on this list is natural, clean, safe, and wonderfully fragrant, we think Craft & Kin wins when it comes to candle quality, overall aesthetic, and price point. But if you’re on a tight budget and still want to enjoy the soothing benefits of a good aromatherapy candle, you can’t go wrong with one of Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day scents.

What to Look for in an Aromatherapy Candle

Type of Wax

Look for candles made exclusively from natural waxes, such as soy, beeswax, or non-GMO corn. Many candles are made with blends of paraffin wax, and while there is such a thing as food-grade paraffin, it’s worth noting that paraffin wax is derived from petroleum, coal, or shale oil depending on the manufacturer.

Type of Wick

Most candle wicks are made with cotton, but it’s important to look into whether the wick is coated with another substance. It’s not uncommon for candlemakers to coat wicks in paraffin, which impacts how cleanly it burns and what byproducts end up in the air of your home. We recommend looking for "organic cotton wick” on the candle label and avoiding unknown wick coatings when possible.

Scent Source

Lots of popular candle brands use “premium fragrance oils” to scent their candles, which are made from synthetic, not natural, ingredients. Quality aromatherapy candles, on the other hand, are scented with "pure essential oils," which tend to burn cleaner. You want to see those three words on the candle label.

Why Trust Verywell Mind

As a seasoned health writer, Alena Hall understands how important it is to know exactly what you’re getting in a wellness product. Over the years, she has reviewed dozens of products, from athletic recovery aids to homeopathic essential oils to ever-trendy CBD topicals, to help readers like you discover products that can help you live your best life.

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Article Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Toda M, Matsuse R. Endocrinological effect of lavender aromatherapy on stressful visual stimuli. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2020;17:100547. doi:10.1016/j.conctc.2020.100547
Jakpor O. Indoor Air Pollution: A Comparison of Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Emissions From Paraffin and Soy Candles. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2020;201:A1756. doi:10.1164/ajrccm-conference.2012.185.1_MeetingAbstracts.A1756

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