the moment the weather turns cool, i start craving warm, comforting scents like cinnamon, clove and winter fruits.  short of keeping an oven full of pie at all times, my best shot for maintaining those classic fall scents in my home is via candle.  so, i’ve taken it upon myself to run an exhaustive test, and i’ve come up with my list of favorites for this fall season.

the new joya collection at barneys has my undivided attention.  i haven’t stopped burning their fantastic candles since they arrived.  they’ve collaborated with one of my favorite ceramic artists, sarah cihat, to develop candles that smell amazing, last forever, and are housed in truly gorgeous containers.  my personal favorite is the pomegranate white pepper ($48), which has the deep sweetness of pomegranate, but the snap of white pepper, ginger and cardamom keeps it from being too cloying. 

i know it’s a second pomegranate scent, but the pomegranate noir from jo malone ($65) is so different,  they’re both worth loving.  in the jo malone version, the pomegranate is more prominent, probably because of the raspberry notes in the background.  but by adding patchouli and frankincense, this turns into a much more complex fragrance.  overall, if you’re after a true pomegranate, i’d go with the jo malone…but if you’re after just a generally light sweet scent with a hint of spice, the joya is for you.

i have to admit to some work bias here, but honestly, pacifica’s tibetan mountain temple ($20) is my hands-down favorite for homey, spicy scents this season.  it’s not intended as a holiday candle, but the scents of ginger, orange and vetiver combine to make this as comforting as a scent can be.  i can’t get enough!  archipelago’s gingered grapefruit ($24) is another great option, but the grapefruit makes this one much sharper – a great candle for day to keep you awake, where the pacifica is a night-only burn for me…it just makes me cozy, warm and relaxed.

for something really different, i’ve been obsessively sniffing the new agadir candle from tocca ($36) since it arrived.  it smells exactly like sweet pipe tobacco, a scent i’ve always secretly loved, especially when the air outside is crisp.  the particular beauty of this scent (besides the gorgeous trademark tocca packaging) is that this is a scent your other half can’t pass up…it’s as manly as a candle gets.

what’s your favorite cold-weather scent?

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